Embarrassing Himself

That was of course impossible, because her chest was far too flat. Her hair color was wrong, too, and she was a different height.

Even though the other person was on horseback, it was clear she was no ordinary size. After all, the tall, powerful horse beneath her didn't make her look especially small.

The brief moment of surprise on Franz's face was immediately noticed by Wichli Jasiński beside him. The latter thought things were going well, while Franz felt a little awkward.

The female rider and her white horse galloped toward Franz without any sign of slowing down. Although Franz and Wichli Jasiński both understood what this meant, the guards nearby did not.

A wooden fence stood between Franz and the female rider, but when they were about fifty meters apart, a line of Lever-action Rifles was raised.

The female rider clearly hadn't expected this. After all, she was a pampered young lady. But to Franz's guards, this person was unquestionably dangerous.

Approaching a member of the royal family without permission and charging toward him on a tall horse—even without a weapon, crashing into the Archduke would have caused a tragedy.

Even setting that aside, frightening the Archduke at such close range was a serious crime. Still, beautiful women were always more readily forgiven, and people were more inclined to associate them with pleasant things.

But as the royal guards and Franz's personal troops—the Royal Dragoon Regiment—their first duty was to protect Franz. This would affect not only themselves but their families as well.

And so Miss Celestina's debut became a farce. The moment she saw dozens of guns pointed at her, fear completely took hold of her.

Fortunately, before she could do anything, her mount sensed the danger first. It came to an abrupt stop, flinging its rider