Summoned and Unwanted

Vincent moved his head to look at Mirey. He could not help himself but pass a light chuckle at the view of Mirey looking nervous from the many gazes looking at her right at this very moment.

[Hehe. Mirey. You look quite nervous. Hehe. You look cute.] Kazumi teased delightfully.

*Humph* Mirey crossed her arms and averted her gaze.

The more audience members saw Mirey act anxious and nervous from afar, and the more they started to accept the result of her being the victim of a horrible experience, the more they started to feel bad for Mirey as she had be in the presence of the five noble teens.

"I want to thank everyone who is present and who wanted to attend but couldn't. " Vincent said gratefully while looking at the audience.

"I am thankful to see each and every person attending the judgment by combat. Most especially, I want to thank all those who believed in our cause and stayed with us to witness our victory. All of you have chosen to trust the right noble family."

Many people in the audience looked at each other curiously. Most of them wanted to discover who were the people Vincent was thanking and those who sided with the Lionheart family instead of the most favored to win.

Many people knew Vincent wasn't talking about them. Surprisingly, as some of the audience looked around, they discovered via expressions and reactions that about a quarter of the audience sitting on the side most favored to win was happy to see the result.

It showed more people were supporting the Lionheart's side than meets the eye. Similar to these kinds of people, there were many angered and frustrated audience members about to start pulling their hair from losing the bet.

"Now my wife can receive a proper and public apology for what happened to her. Furthermore, I hope the authority of this great kingdom will perform a proper investigation without any..."

*Clap, clap, clap* "Great talk, Baron Vincent Lionheart." The commentator abruptly interrupted Vincent while clapping.

[How rude. Why did he have to interrupt you at this moment? I feel we should have more time to talk.]

Vincent turned his head with a visible frown on his head. His eyes soon met with the commentator's eyes. At that moment, the commentator lowered his eyes and slightly nodded.

[Wait... did he stop us because he wanted to protect us?] Kazumi pondered before arriving at a conclusion. [Is he trying to stop us from making more enemies and forcing those involved from cutting their tails?]

Vincent and Mirey looked at the commentator after hearing Kazumi's train of thought. They saw the commentator Egidio Faulkner in a different light now. Instead of an entertainer doing his job without caring about others, he appeared to be a person of integrity.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Next is the final part of the judgment by combat. Now I do hope the Lionheart family will be content with their demands." The commentator looked at the five noble teens. "I do hope the losing party will honor the rules to the last full stop."

The teens stared at the commentator as if they were not liking what he was saying. But not wanting to complain and show they were not going to back on their words, they gritted their teeth and did not utter one complaint. Their honor was on the line, or so they believed to justify the reason for silence.

The commentator looked at the audience. After catching a glimpse of everyone, he looked at the royal area. Afterward, he went in between Vincent, Mirey, and the five noble teens.

"Now, the time to begin has arrived." The commentator extended both arms, one toward each side. He closed his arms, saying, "Please stand before each other. One meter or at least half a meter distance will be enough."

Vincent moved the gemstone away from his mouth. He extended his hand in front of Mirey and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Let's go, Mirey. Kazumi and I are with you. Furthermore, remember who I am and what I can and am willing to do to protect my wife."

Mirey momentarily stared into his attractive emerald eyes. She never thought a man would care so much about her well-being. The more she heard and saw Vincent act kindly, the more she started to accept that she was not wanted because of her body.

Mirey started to think she was not going to be put aside like she had to experience after awakening as a Soulmancer. She started to think she might live a life of a proper wife with Vincent both in body and soul.

'Why do I still feel scared to face these repulsive, disgusting humans? Why is it making my heart beat very fast? Why am I feeling scared to the point of feeling my cheeks warm?'

However, Mirey still did not want to accept the true feelings her body was expressing. Feeling like an unwanted and abandoned person was a lifestyle full of distrust that needed time to recover from.

While Mirey was not accepting her true hidden feelings, she also did not want Vincent to think he was doing her a favor, even if she felt calmer and her heart fluttered after hearing his caring words.

Mirey became astonished when she saw her hand had raised by itself after watching Vincent offer his hand. After gulping, she grumpily placed her hand on his as if she was being forced to hold his hand.

The moment both hands touched, Mirey frowned. She heard Vincent chuckle and felt all the confusing emotions she felt at a moment's notice were all for naught.

"Hehe. I can feel your hand cutely trembling in mine. You can hold my hand for longer if you are this excited." Vincent teased playfully, hoping he could make Mirey feel less tense before reassuringly telling her, "You can lower your guard with me around because I will do my best to protect you."

Mirey's cheeks blushed brighter, and her heart fluttered more than before. Gradually, the more she thought, and the more she focused on Vincent, the more she started to overlook the presence of the five noble teens who tried to force her to become their wife by doing unspeakable things to her.

*Step. Step. Step* One step after the other, Vincent and Mirey moved enough to reach about half a meter distance from the five noble teens.

Vincent looked at the five with an intimidating frown while Mirey moved her head to face their direction while anxiously averting her gaze.

The commentator had a bad hunch all of a sudden. He feared one of the two parties was going to make the situation turn out of his control after seeing the five noble teens express their anger and frustration more than before. He started to believe it was better to get this over with as quickly as possible.

The commentator cleared his throat, held the gemstone in his hand firmly, and started announcing a short summary of why Vincent demanded his wife receive an apology.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Because the Lionheart family won, based on the law of the judgment by combat and the benevolence of the dragon gods, the losers have been found guilty."

"Lady Mirey Lionheart is the victim, and she deserves justice. She was cornered by the five perpetrators while they had malicious and lustful thoughts." The commentator glanced at the five noble teens and gently shook his head out of disgust.

"It is a blatant lie!" One of the five teens complained.

"Ahem!" The commentator did not like to be interrupted while he was talking. With a simple glare directed at the noble teen, the royal soldier standing behind him slapped the back of his head as if he was dealing with a disobedient child.

The five noble teens became shocked they were being treated this way. They were nobles with powerful noble parents, yet now not only were they being treated like small children of commoners, but everyone could witness them being treated in this manner.

The five noble teens became more frustrated than before. Their gaze moved on to Mirey. They started glaring as if they were the victims and not the other way around.

"Stop glaring." Said Vincent while emitting intimidation intent. The fresh vigor he replenished from the potions made the pressure of intimidation make the five in front of his gaze flinch.

The five royal soldiers noticed Vincent was being hostile. Like the commentator, they had the hunch of a fight about to take place.

With the authority to keep the five noble teens in check and protect them, each royal soldier placed one hand on their shoulders. They squeezed their shoulder as a sign to stop resisting.

The commentator extended his hand toward Vincent as he knew from Mirey's expression she was in no emotional shape to speak to the five perpetrators.

"Baron Vincent Lionheart. Please state your demands."

Vincent looked at the five noble teens. He could see that they could not look at him while he looked at them. The moment their eyes met, their body would slightly shudder in fear and immediately avert their gaze.

[Vincent. I think Mirey needs to see them in their most vulnerable position while they forcefully apologize. I hope Mirey can start to feel reassured and worry less.]

Mirey glanced at Vincent. "I... I am not scared of them..." She murmured in a low voice.

Vincent moved his gaze to Mirey. He caressed the top of her hand he held with his thumb. "We understand. That is why I want to make sure you never have to feel scared because of these five."