The princess receives a face-slap!

Eluf left the princess's room before sunset and when it was time, the princess finally decided to dress up and visit her so-called fiance. She planned on spending some time with him so she could find out the whereabouts of the map. 

As she walked through the hallway, various servants would pass by and immediately lower their heads when they saw her. She reveled in the fact that she was already accepted here as the Crown Princess of Krudak Kingdom and that meant that she could possibly wield more power than her own older sister in the future. 

While she was deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice a female servant approaching with a tray of food and collided with her. The servant's tray tumbled over on her dress along with its food contents, making her scream as she watched one of her favorite dresses ruin before her very eyes. "You wretched servant, how dare you?! Look at my dress!"

"Forgive me, Princess!" The female servant knelt down on the floor with her head lowered after she realized the serious blunder she had committed. The fellow servants around her who had also seen the scene couldn't help but feel sorry for her and so they also knelt down along with her in fear. 

"How is that going to fix my dress?! Did you do this on purpose?" Princess Selene's eyes turned vicious after she said her last words and did not even give the servant a chance to refute her accusations as she landed a ruthless slap on her face, causing her to stumble backwards. "I am going to teach you a lesson on how to respect your mistress....Maids, drag her out and beat her!"

Her maids immediately moved on her command to subdue the female servant as they tried to drag her away but she resisted fiercely. She seemed very frightened and unwilling. "Princess, please have mercy on me! Princess..."

"What's going on here?" A low baritone voice suddenly echoed in the chaotic hallway, causing the place to fall silent as everyone turned to face the incoming person approaching them. This person who was escorted by several guards, was dressed in a sleeveless thick black fur jacket that barely covered his golden skin and muscled abdomen along with black trousers that seemed to cover his firm bulging legs. He looked down on everyone like he was a god as his right hand held his giant sword pointing to the ground unsheathed. "Didn't I not ask a question? Are you all waiting for me to repeat myself?"

Princess Selene snapped out of her trance when she heard his words and resumed her unhappy countenance as she pointed at the maid lying on the floor. "Gudmund, you are finally here! You have to punish this maid right now, she ruined the dress that I specially wore for you!"

Gudmund turned his attention to the maid in question and saw that it was Yrsa who had just left his room a few minutes ago. He had just finished his breakfast and was planning to the training grounds in order to calm his restless sword and his temperament that seemed to be on edge recently. Who would have expected such a thing to happen? 

He looked at the maid lying pitifully on the floor and asked her with an extremely cold expression. "What are you still doing here? Have you done the mission I sent you to do? SCRAM!"

His loud voice thundered through the hallway, sending tremors through everyone present as the servants dropped to their knees in fright. Yrsa was scared silly by his words and instantly stood up when she realized that she was no longer restrained by the Yottera maids and left the scene as fast as she could. Selene saw this scene and recovered her senses immediately as she glared at Gudmund with a murderous intent. "Gudmund, what is the meaning of this?!"

"What does it look to you, Selene?" Gudmund remained unfazed by her angry expression and even shared a leveled look with her as he spoke to her. "She is my servant so no one has the right to punish her except me."

"But I am your future wife!" Selene countered heatedly. She could not accept the fact that she had just lost a lot of face in front of all these people present, her heart was filled with so much anger she could barely restrain herself from attacking him. "How could you disrespect me this blatantly?"

"You are supposed to be but that has not yet been confirmed until you pass the priestess's test." Gudmund watched her blanch further under his words and he reveled in it happily. In his past life, he was the one who suffered countless humiliations just because he wanted to win her heart but now it was time to pay her back. He continued to say. "Until then, you are merely a guest and you should respect the customs and traditions of my kingdom. If you have a problem with it, you can just go back home."

Selene was more than dumbstruck with his sudden change of attitude towards her. She couldn't understand what had made him change this drastically towards her and for a second, she wondered if he was suspicious about her motives for coming here but she quickly dismissed it because of his previous amicable behavior towards her. 

Perhaps, it could be.....

Her eyes quickly teared up as she stared into his eyes with a wronged expression. Anyone looking at her would instantly feel guilty and want to comfort her immediately as she said to him in a sad voice. "I didn't know you thought of me like this...And here I was, calling you my husband in front of my family back home. Gudmund, you really disappointed me this time!"

Gudmund watches her turn away from him as if she couldn't bear to expose her weak side to him but he noticed that she had not yet taken a single step to leave. This made him chuckle darkly in his heart as he gripped the hilt of his sword as he stepped forward to say beside her. "Since I have said these words, I naturally won't retract them at all. I advise you to stop looking for trouble with my servants or you would not have any face left at all. Princess Selene, please conduct yourself."

Selene stood stiffly as she watched him walk away, her face altering between green and white as she saw all the servants from the corner of her eyes disperse. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred after seeing her plan fail so drastically. Her pride urged her to return home and report things to her mother bur she obviously knew better. She had to stay here and fulfill her mission at all costs. She turned away in the opposite direction and left with heavy footsteps.