Wait. Huh? Who? What? Me?

I pointed to myself in confusion, "Me?"

Penelope snarled at me, "Yes you. You have been bullying everyone into submission by using your connection to Prince William. Just because you are childhood friends, does not mean you can get away with everything."

I'm pretty sure I've gotten away with things because I am so cunning.

I smirked at her, "And just who have I bullied?"

"Everyone."

"Name one person."

Penelope turned to Johnathon while she spoke to the crowd, "Just ask Johnathon. Seri bullied him and tried to trick Dante into hurting him severely. He is just one person who had to suffer at the hands of Seri. Tell them Johnathon."

He put his hands up defensively, "Don't bring me into this."

Penelope glared at him, "Don't be afraid. She can't hurt you in front of so many people. Just tell them how she wronged you."

Johnathon shook his head quickly, "No, thank you. I value my family's reputation and my life."

Penelope was fuming and turned to the other classmates, "Tell them just how awful she has been to you all!"

They all looked up to the ceiling pretending to not listen. I chuckled, "It looks like I haven't bullied a single person."

She glared at me, "It's because they are scared of you that they dare not speak up!"

"Why would they be so scared of me when they have the opportunity to gang up on me and take me down? From my point of view, I am the one being maliciously attacked and slandered."

Actually, the crowd was in fact too scared to dare speak up. Over the years they have come to realize one thing: As long as you don't anger or go against me, I will not take action against you. Thus, it is better to put your head in the sand.

Unfortunately for Penelope, she was too pea brained to understand this fact.

Really. I hate the 'I will shout and complain' cannon fodder characters. I am always irritated to encounter characters in novels that go against the main character in such an obvious and annoying manner. It makes me really just want to toss them out of the door.

Well on the other hand, this is like killing two birds with one stone.

I flipped my hair and turned away from her in a haughty manner. I turned to face the King and Queen with a blank face. I spoke in a clear voice, "Your Majesties. My entire life I had to endure everyone whispering terrible things behind my back. They have always tried to bully me into abandoning mine and Prince William's friendship. However, I have ignored these malicious and painful words because I treasure my friendship with Prince William."

The Queen looked extremely worried then extremely pleased when she heard this. I'm sure she is replacing the word friendship with relationship in her head.

I continued, "I am not saying this for any benefit. I am also aware that my ranking in nobility is not very high. Therefore, if your Majesties believe that I should no longer associate with Prince William, I will do so."

William and the Queen glanced at me in a panic. Even the King looked like he was a bit nervous. I waited for the idiot to take the bait.

And in 3...

2....

1.

"Your Majesty. Since this is being brought up, I will have to trouble you to listen to me as well." Marquis Blythe, that stupid "grandfather" of mine, stepped forward. He wore a polite and troubled expression, however I could see his scheming face underneath it.

I contained the urge to laugh wickedly. I can't wait to destroy this idiot in front of everyone.

Marquis Blythe continued, "I have heard rumors that Seri has been acting suspiciously lately, however I never thought about this matter until she visited my humble home. There she demanded that I reinstate my disowned daughter in my will. Certainly this could only mean that Seri has malicious intentions about inheriting my fortune."

My mother looked at me with wide eyes. I didn't look back, but kept my eyes fixed on Marquis Blythe. My face was impassive despite the tingling sensation trying to make me smile. Dante thought I was worried, so he reached over and squeezed my hand.

He is such a good boy...

Unfortunately, he is misreading the situation.

Queen Luna frowned and spoke up protectively, "And just what malicious intentions are you speculating?"

There was an unspoken rule in nobility. You could not slander another noble without evidence. While it is not illegal, it is very frowned upon. One misplaced complaint could result in your expulsion from nobility. As such, nobles would rarely complain about another noble in fear of being accused of slander.

Marquis Blythe spoke politely, "Your Majesty. I am not speculating. I say this with proof. Before Seri left my home, she threatened to kill me and even incapacitated my guards with that ogre of hers. I have enough servants who can testify to this."

From his hiding place, Bertram felt a bit hurt from being called an ogre.

Marquis Blythe motioned to a servant who walked to the King and Queen holding a stack of papers with his head bowed down. The King took them and frowned, "This is?"

Marquis Blythe explained, "Recently I have met with other of the high ranked nobility to discuss this issue. I discovered that Seri has been threatening many more people than me. This is a list of us nobles who request your immediate and fair punishment for her behavior. If your Majesty does not do something about her behavior, I fear we may become at odds with the Royal family."

Thus, the greatest threat that could be issued- was. Translated to simpler terms, if the Royal family did not enact justice on behalf of the nobles, then the nobles would rise against the Royal family. The Royal family may be in charge, but without people and resources they are nothing. These resources are all under the watch of the high ranking nobles.

It was quite the power move.

The King realized this as well. His face grew dark as he looked through the pages he had been given. William frowned, "Father! You can't honestly be listening to him!"

Marquis Blythe frowned, "I fear that Prince William is far too soft when it comes to Seri. I wonder just how well he can fulfill his future duties when he is so easily influenced by his feelings."

Oof. Wrong answer bud.

William glared at Marquis Blythe not even hiding his hatred. He then looked at me in a slight panic. I winked at him and he immediately relaxed. He was relieved to see me looking confident. He knew that it meant I knew what I was doing.

I rolled up my sleeves and cracked my knuckles.

Now it's my turn to play.

I turned to the King with a bright smile, "Your Majesty. Since Marquis Blythe has a list, it would be rude of me not to provide a list as well." I nodded to Bertram and he hurried to give a stack of papers to the King.

The King grabbed the papers in confusion, "A list? For what?" When he read the contents, his eyes widened in shock.

I smiled victoriously, "It's a complete list of all the nobles and their known crimes. It ranges from severe crimes to lesser crimes. However, you will find that Marquis Blythe has committed the most heinous crime listed."

Marquis Blythe glared at me, "What kind of heinous crime could I possibly commit?! You dare try to slander my good name!?"

I sneered, "What good name? As for the heinous crime..." I paused for a theatrical effect, "You are guilty of the crime of high treason!"

A collective gasp rang out among the crowd who was watching the show. Treason was already bad enough, but high treason?! That was probably the worst crime that could ever be committed. It also had the cruelest punishment associated with it. If someone was found guilty of high treason, their immediate family would all receive a death sentence. They would be hanged in front of their peers. Furthermore, the rest of the family would have their last name removed; essentially giving them a commoner status. For a noble, this was a fate worse than death.

Marquis Blythe's face turned red with anger. He sputtered out, "Nonsense! You have been backed into a corner, so you could only resort to falsely accusing me!"

I smiled at him with a toothy grin, "I can assure you. I would never falsely accuse someone. I fully know the punishment of doing so." I glanced at the crowd of men who were on my list, "I am sure you all do as well."

They shifted uncomfortably and felt a grim foreboding.

As the King flipped through the pages, he noticed that the names on this list matched all the names for those complaining. The King wasn't stupid. He knew I was aware about the list Marquis Blythe had prepared. That's why I only included the names of those who were trying to get me kicked out of nobility. The King found this interesting and decided not to bring up what he realized.

The King spoke, "Seri. Do you have further proof for your accusations?"

I nodded, "Naturally I do. If documents and the like are not enough, then I suppose I will have to bring in a neutral third party. Simon?"

Simon strolled in wearing a dashing smile. No matter how handsome and charming he looked, he couldn't hide that intimidating and bloodthirsty aura that always seemed to follow him around. Anyone he walked past immediately felt a chill as if a ghost had passed through their body.

Simon took a knee in front of the King, "Your Majesty."

The King nodded allowing Simon to rise. He spoke, "What have you found Simon?"

Simon met the King's golden eyes with his own ruthless set of eyes, "After Seri was kidnapped, you put me in charge of finding the culprit. Although the three kidnappers were found dead, Seri had told me a very interesting thing. She said she had found evidence for Marquis Blythe's act of high treason and confronted him about it. The Marquis attempted to kill her at his home, if it had not been for Bertram; he would have succeeded."

The Marquis spat angrily, "Bah! And you believe a little girl over a Marquis?! It is clear she is lying to save her own skin!"

Simon turned to look at the Marquis and his murderous eyes seared coldly into him. He spoke in a menacing tone, "I was not finished."

The Marquis gulped in fear and dared not to speak more.

Simon turned back to the King devoid of the terrifying look he had just given the Marquis. "Your Majesty. I investigated it thoroughly. I discovered that Seri's claims of high treason are true. Furthermore, I found something else."

The King nodded, "What is that?"

Simon continued, "I discovered that Marquis Blythe had the son of the Earl help him. The Marquis had promised the Earl's son that if he helped him, the Marquis would help him get rid of the Earl and his elder brother so that he could inherit the Earldom."

The King was startled from this sudden revelation. He did not doubt Simon's words one bit. Simon was known for his cold impartiality. In fact, everyone in the room had such a blind faith in Simon because of this feature of his personality.

The Marquis shouted quickly, "My King! You can't believe him! I am innocent of this crime! The Earl's son is not even here. It is obvious that he is taking advantage of his absence to make you doubt me! Since the Earl's son is not here, you can not trust this information."

Everyone in the room clearly trusted Simon over the Marquis. Simon had never lied before, why would he start now? However, the King and the rest of the people had no idea just how obsessed Simon was with me. He had such a warped attraction to me that he was even willing to lie.

Simon turned to the Marquis with a twisted malicious smile, "I tortured the Earl's son to get this information. The reason he is not here is because he died right after confessing."

The room became silent immediately. Once again, Simon the Barbarian tortured someone until they gave their confession and died. They were not surprised in the slightest that this occurred. Simon turned to the King and produced even more documents, "Here is a list of those present when the Earl's son confessed. I find that the King will trust my words. The Marquis conspired with the Earl's son to commit high treason with intention of dethroning his Majesty."

The Marquis turned pale. As he looked around in a panic, he became aware of one thing.

Everyone had accepted that he was guilty of high treason.

He turned to the King in a panic, "Y-Your Majesty! You can't even be thinking about condemning me!! I am the Marquis! I control more land than most of the Dukes!"

The King frowned, "Now I understand why you created this list to call for action. You wanted to sow discord among the nobility class as well as destroying the Royal family. The evidence submitted here today is more than enough to charge you for high treason."

The Marquis felt his legs wobble, "Y-Your Majesty..."

The King held up his hand, then looked over to me with a smile. "Seri. Since you managed to uncover this evidence so flawlessly, I would like your opinion. What do you think I should do?"

I smiled at him then spoke calmly, "I think we should leave the decision up to someone who is closely related to the Marquis." The Marquis felt a twinge of hope at this suggestion. I then turned to my mother, "I believe my mother should decide."

Everyone turned to my mother who had been hiding in the corner with her mouth agape as she watched the show. Now seeing all attention turned towards her, she choked in surprise. The Queen spoke quickly, "I agree with Seri. We ought to let Lady Sharon decide. She's been the victim of the Marquis for so many years. Now he even tried to go after her only daughter. She deserves to decide his fate."

The King chuckled, "Very well. Lady Sharon, what is your decision? If you take pity on him, I will merely strip him of his nobility and demote him to a commoner. However, if you want to find him guilty of high treason; I will punish him to the fullest extent of the law. This would mean that he would be hanged and the rest of the family will be removed from nobility."

My mother blinked speechlessly, "I-I..."