Chapter 26 - The Cost of Insult

Bozes opened the innermost door, what greeted her was a cheery, lively atmosphere.

The room was brightly lit with candles, and the maids were chatting and having tea with the soldiers from another world.

Worse, nobody seemed to have noticed Bozes'.

"..."

She was ignored almost completely.

"..."

She was overlooked.

"..."

She was about as substantial to them as air.

"Gggg...."

"I worked so hard to gather my resolve, and this is how you treat me?" she screamed inwardly.

"How dare you ignore me, Bozes, the second daughter of House Palesti?"

No one looked in her direction.

"What huge brass balls you have."

She was still completely ignored by the crowd in the room.

"Are you mocking me for being a rag that you throw away after filling me with your seed? "

Of course, she did not actually say that, but her rapidly-growing hysteria filled in the blanks for her. As a woman, she could not tolerate the insult of being overlooked.

The only way to vent the anger building within her was with the work of her two hands.

"Ha"

slap!

She slapped Itami's face with all of her power and Itami passed out again.

Ahhhhh

....

Itami was out of cold all night. Thanks to Bozes inhuman strength what was the result of her sudden rage and her hard knight training.

In addition to the black right eye from yesterday, now there was a bright red palm print on the left side of his face. In addition, it looked like some kind of five-clawed cat had scratched him on both cheeks. Truly, the victim's face was a picture of the tragedy.

"That... what on earth happened?"

After a huge disturbance in the middle of the night that had nearly flipped the roof of the house, the JSDF members now stood before Piña, along with Bozes, who had been dragged before her, as well as the manor's maids.

The Imperial Princess Piña Co Lada now felt like she had swallowed a burning stone, given the scorching pain in her abdomen, and then asked for an explanation why there were more injuries on Itami's face. She was scared stiff, of course, but given her circumstances, she had to ask.

"Who else could there be but her ~nya?" said the cat maid Persia.

"Ara, but everyone knows that already, right, Miss Persia?"

After Kurata had followed up on her words, Persia led the maids aside.

"The bruise on the right eye was already there; it had nothing to do with this time."

After their testimonial, Rory, Lelei, and Tuka stepped away from the group.

The only one left was Bozes, her hands pressed behind her back by Kurata and Kuribayashi.

Bozes lowered her head. "It, it was me," she said, in a voice as loud as a mosquito's buzzing.

Piña's sigh was deeper than usual, so much so that everyone in the hall could hear it.

It wasn't just her stomach which hurt. Piña grabbed her head, which felt like it was going to explode.

"How am I going to take care of this...?"

"Well, about that, we just came to take the Lieutenant back. We'll let you guys handle the rest as you please. We're moving out at dawn."

Tomita said that in order to wash his hands of any messy responsibility. He had no idea what was going through Piña's head. To him, all he had seen was a girl he liked beating up Itami.

But the way Tomita said it, "Do as you please," sounded like an ultimatum to Piña.

And when Lelei translated it, her flat, emotionless tone made it seem even more like a threat.

"That... that is quite troubling..."

Piña could not just let 3rd Recon go like that, so she was looking for ways and means to keep them here, like saying "How about breakfast with us," "Please accept our hospitality," and so on.

Kurata stood aside and explained in an apologetic tone, "In truth, Lieutenant Itami's been summoned to address the National Diet, so he has to get back to his country by today."

Lelei's translation used a slightly different word, and thus the meaning changed.

"Lieutenant Itami has been summoned by the Nihon Senate and must return by today."

When Piña heard this, she had a look on her face much like Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

In the Empire, only individuals with super-elite bloodlines and careers were granted the honor of stepping into the Senate Chamber. A highly-placed person would have a chance to steer the ship of state and become a leader of men. Even if one were a low-ranked officer, they would be permitted to brief the senators on the progress of the war, and they might even have a chance to address the Emperor himself directly.

And once Piña learned Itami had been called to speak before their Senate, she immediately mistook him to be part of Japan's elite and an important man in his country.

"To think we upset such an important person... if this gets worse, the Empire is doomed, I have to think of something quickly... Piña shook her head inside.

'Besides that. My stubborn father would rather die than let that. But if things will go in this direction we may have to do that. We don't really have another chance. Either the JSDF destroy us. Panicked Piña lowered her head. Then a idea came into her mind. "Unless..." her posture straightened as a new revolutionary but desperate idea came into her mind.

At that moment, Piña instantly made a decision.

She clenched her fists and rose forcefully to express her determination.

"Then, I pray you will allow me to travel with you!" Every JSDF member looked her wide eyes, and Lelei translated her words with the best of her ability.

Itami started to scratch his face nervously. "Are you sure Princess? This is really not necessary..." Lelei translated this also.

She cleared her throat then bowed her head. "I am sure Sir Itami. It was my subordinate who made the insult against you and your country. As the Emperor child and the highest ranked Imperial Person in the city, it is my duty to apologize from your country senate personally."

Itami sighed. Bowed his head in defeat. "Very well. Lieutenant General Hazama wanted to invite higher ranked person in the fort anyway to negotiate with them." He starched the back of his head nervously while smirked.