I’ll Become the Female Lead in this Trashy Webnovel

32. Good day, perfect plan (2)

The man descended from the horse to the ground with light footsteps.

The early winter wasn’t that bad to perform some outdoor activities since the bright sunlight still shone upon them despite the cold wind.

“The weather is nice. I like it.” Joshua muttered and the Chief of the Knights, next to him, affirmed.

Dozens of citizens had gathered around them.

Most of the people in the crowd had flocked just to see the crown prince.

A man mixed in that crowd had greeted Joshua with a subtle nod when their eyes met.

The masked man held a camera in his hand.

A huge carriage engraved with Duke Filtmore’s symbol stood in front of the tower’s entrance.

One person from the entourage, pulling the said carriage, also gave a subtle nod when he made eye contact with Joshua.

The most important thing in spreading rumors was to mix the truth with the lies to make it believable.

In this case, Duke Filtmore’s entourage had steadily played its part by telling Joshua the truth.

Joshua carefully examined the luncheon he had set up and smirked.

The bright weather made him feel the best throughout recent years.

It couldn’t get even more perfect than this if the special guests in this particular luncheon showed themselves.

Gripping the sword hilt at his waist, the crown prince opened his mouth to speak.

“No matter what happens, don’t come forward until I tell you.” He said in a low voice.

The chief of Knights lowered his head without asking further questions.

Soon after, a huge wooden door opened and a man trapped there for quite a while stepped unto the dirty floor.

Deon, dressed roughly in thin linen shirts, halted for a moment, his eyes narrowing as if to examine the current weather.

He was about to climb into the carriage, which the Filtmore servants had prepared when he noticed something.

“Why are they, onlookers?” Deon shouted.

“Joshua?” Deon whispered when he found a man standing a bit farther away from him.

His gaze sharpened.  “Why is he here again?”

Instead of greeting him, Deon turned away from the carriage.

His strides accelerated, even more, when he recalled the abuse and disrespect he had to deal with because of him.

His dark grey eyes, which seemed ready to kill anyone, made the people around him shrink.

Joshua’s mocking grin became more obvious as minutes passed by.

Deon stood close in front of the laid-back stranger’s face.

“What else does our crown prince intend to do?” Deon asked sarcastically.

Joshua stared at him and bestowed him a kind smile.

“Duke Filtmore, I heard you are  the leader of the rebellion.” He declared.

“I’ve figured out everything you’ve done, you punk.” Deon snarled with gritted teeth.

Joshua tapped Deon’s left shoulder lightly and chuckled.

From a distance, he looked like he was merely greeting a close friend.

“You will be investigated for a few days.”

Deon hit his left shoulder and he barely lowered his clenched fist below his waist.

His patience had already crossed the threshold.

If it was just the two of them, Joshua and his two generals would have already been rolling on the dirt floor due to Deon’s fists.

He felt more than one or two pairs of eyes watching him so he suppressed his anger by biting his lower lip.

“I gave the consolation money to the Filtmore mansion out of pity.”

“What?”

“If you return there after the investigation, a lot of money will be piled up somewhere underground.”

Joshua smiled, amused at Deon’s glowers.

“Oh. It’s already an open secret that you managed to acquire royal property through evil deeds. Marquis Bandelli had originally stolen it in the first place but I decided to forgive him out of my generous heart. Now, it’s all yours.”

“How long do you think you’ll remain powerful if you keep this up?”

Joshua chuckled at Deon’s fierce shout scratching his ears.

Since he could no longer rein his anger in, Deon eventually raised his clenched fists and grabbed Joshua by the collar.

The aggressive act drew a lot of exclamations from their surroundings.

Then, the ‘shutter sound’ suddenly burst out from the camera as if they had been waiting all along for Deon to lose control.

Blinded by his temper tantrums, Deon couldn’t afford to look around.

On the other hand, Joshua’s twinkling gaze examined the nearby situation from the corner of his eye.

Perhaps, a stronger trigger was needed to provoke Deon after he had initially asked Bandelli to deliver his plan.

Of course, Joshua couldn’t pin Deon for treason after Ariad burned the documents that should have served as the evidence.

Nevertheless, the truth didn’t matter to people.

No matter what he did,  it was difficult to remove a nasty label once dirt had  touched his reputation.

Joshua knew that well and she also knew how to use it.

After leisurely scanning the area around them, Joshua’s blood-red eyes scrutinized him and said. “Oh. It’s not just about the pile of money.”

Joshua didn’t bother shaking off Deon’s fists from the collar of his shirt even if it was already tightening around his neck.

“A lot of letters were piled up with them as well. It says, I won’t be able to do business with you.”

Deon shook him with all his might that the sword around his waist fell to the ground like he originally planned.

“People should know who you are in real life.  You’re a disgusting piece of sh*t. I’ll find out the truth somehow and bury your baby.” Deon spat out furiously, the veins on his reddened throat becoming visible.

“Yes. Please do whatever you like. I have high expectations for you.”

Joshua ran his fingers through his dark hair.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, Duke Filtmore. People aren’t interested in the truth. You will be at my feet for eternity, fool.” He whispered.

Subsequently, his blood-red gaze which usually reflected peace and calm rose with a surge of emotion.

“Ariad will be mine in the end.”

*PUCK*

A blow had accompanied the end of his statement.

Deon handheld Joshua’s head and hit him in the face.

Joshua relaxed and willingly rolled to the ground.

Soon, the shutter sound exploded again.