Provoking a Graceful Bloom Novel

---- Chapter 117 "You dare?! If you hit me again, Fred will never forgive you!" Freya was truly terrified and thoroughly cowed. Since her arrival in the capital, aside from the obstinate Ruth and that opportunistic Adelaide, both of whom gained their position by a man's favor and dared to have her punished, no one had ever treated her so disrespectfully. Everyone else had shown her nothing but the utmost deference. Even Selena and Sebastian had never laid a hand on her.

Freya never imagined she'd run into someone even more unruly than herself-a wild girl who swung a whip without rhyme or reason and actually thrashed her like this. Was there truly no one to stop such blatant bullying? "Selena! You dare have someone strike me? I'll tell Fred! He'll kill you both! I'll-" "What concern is that of mine?" Selena leaned casually against a tree, her gaze slanted and sharp. "Do you honestly think I'm so powerful that | can even command a princess of Dawnmere? Besides, you came here to spar, and are being beaten because your skill is lacking.

You've disgraced our kingdom. As a loyal subject of Aurensia, I've yet to hold you accountable!" ---- "What?!" "Now, let us see who else you might call upon for rescue," said Lilia. The princess raised her hand, and the whip lashed down upon Freya once more. This time, the latter no longer had the strength to even dodge. She collapsed on the ground, taking the lashes as she wailed in pain. "Fred! Fred...!" "Weren't you the one who looked down on women who depend on men? Why are you crying for one to save you now? You strut about with borrowed authority, yet you dare to sneer at others?

Take a good look at yourself first!" Selena taunted, her voice ice- cold and laced with biting mockery. Freya clenched her teeth hard, refusing to call out for Frederick again, no matter what. "This is your reckoning for abusing the innocent!" Lilia declared as her whip came down again, striking her without mercy, Freya's eyes brimmed with tears. Never in her dreams had she imagined such outrageous things could happen in the very heart of the kingdom. "D-do you still have any sense of law?" she whimpered, ---- bewildered and furious.

"Did you ever consider the law when you tormented General Campbell?" Lilia's whip paused mid-air, her chest tightening at the memory of Sebastian's earnest, unyielding gaze. The thought stabbed her heart. For causing him pain today, she also deserved punishment just as much! And so, when she lashed her whip again, it struck with even greater severity. Freya's cries were nearly drowned in her own agony, her strength waning as pain threatened to overwhelm her. Not far off, a soft sigh reached Lilia's ears. Selena's chest tightened painfully. "Seb?" Her thoughts were a storm.

Freya's words, the image of her brother trapped by Frederick, the injuries he had suffered at Freya's hands, and the despair and indignation in his eyes haunted her. Had Lilia not intervened today, Freya would have paid with her life. But in the end, Selena forced herself to calm down. "General Campbell..." Lilia's gaze fell upon him, guilt flooding her heart. Unconsciously, her whip slackened.

---- Seizing the opportunity, Freya scrambled to her feet and charged toward Frederick with reckless abandon Nathaniel withdrew and drifted lightly to one side, out of the way, where Cloud immediately set a chair before him. He settled into it, his striking star-bright eyes twinkling with faint amusement, as if he was watching a most entertaining scene unfold. "Fred..." Freya tumbled into his arms, sobs wracking her body as she clung to him, helpless and trembling. "T-they beat me! They all attacked me together! Fred, you must help me! Kill them all!

Kill them!" Frederick's gaze swept over the few figures approaching, finally landing on Selena. His eyes blazed with fury. "You actually joined hands with them to bully Freya? Selena, you've gone too far!"