Chapter 173 Joseph Has Been Tamed

Chapter 173 Joseph Has Been Tamed

Joseph desperately spurred his horse to flee, with Cressida chasing close behind.

From the corner of his eye, Joseph caught sight of seven or eight wounds crisscrossing his back, and immediately decided he couldn't keep taking hits passively. Quite a crowd had gathered around them—he absolutely couldn't let Cressida dominate him in public.

Joseph pretended to turn his horse around to retreat, then suddenly spun back when his opponent let her guard down, thrusting his spear straight forward.

Cressida had already predicted this feint. She dodged the spear tip by bending down while raising her weapon, the shaft striking hard against Joseph's horse's rear. The startled warhorse suddenly reared up on its hind legs, letting out a piercing whinny. Starlight, incredibly smart, charged sideways and directly knocked Joseph's horse off balance.

Joseph lost his balance and tumbled from his saddle, his spear flying from his grip and rolling in the dust. Swirling dust clouds covered the sparring ground, and everyone watching froze in shock. The group of noble youths who'd been so arrogant earlier now stood rigid, eyes glued to the fight.

After unhorsing Joseph, Cressida didn't stop. She dismounted, grabbed Joseph by the collar with one hand, yanked him up, and slammed him hard into the ground.

"Do you give up? Speak!" Cressida's face was cold, her tone sharp.

Joseph instinctively raised his hand to break free, only to discover that her seemingly slender hand had far more strength than expected, gripping his collar firmly without letting go.

His face showed anger. "Cressida, you've gone too far . . ."

Before he finished speaking, Cressida used his momentum for a back throw, flinging him through the air. Joseph's body scraped across the ground, kicking up dust as the crowd gasped in shock.

"Has she lost her mind!" one noble youth exclaimed. "That's Prince Joseph!"

Joseph tried to get up, seething with anger, but Cressida quickly stepped forward, pressed her knee against his chin, and kicked him flat on his back.

"I'll ask one more time—will you admit defeat?" Cressida leaned down, looking down at him from above.

Only then did Joseph realize that she'd been holding her weapon the whole time but hadn't once used the blade to hurt him—she'd clearly held back on purpose. This consideration only made his anger burn hotter.

He struggled to sit up, but Cressida immediately reversed her spear and pressed the blunt end against his abdomen. The slightest movement sent sharp, dull pain spreading through his belly.

Since birth, Joseph had never been treated so humiliatingly.

"Cressida, get away from me right now!"

"If Your Highness won't admit defeat, the match isn't over."

Joseph's chest tightened with rage. He turned and shouted at the noble hangers-on watching from the sidelines, "Are you all just going to stand there gawking? Get over here and help me!"

They looked at each other. One reluctantly drew his sword and rushed into the ring, but the moment he approached the boundary, Cressida's sweeping spear knocked him down. He curled up on the ground wailing, unable to get up.

Joseph seized the opening to rise, but Cressida's spear was already across his throat.

"Your Highness, do you want to keep fighting?" She lowered her eyelids, her dark eyes calm and still.

Joseph groaned inwardly, completely unable to figure out what had changed in Cressida. Previously at the sparring ground against the royal guard Rodolfo, her fighting style had been restrained and steady, but today against him, every move was tricky and her behavior aggressive.

The crowd kept growing. Given how bad this looked, Joseph could only lower his voice in compromise. "I give up, satisfied?"

Cressida withdrew her spear and instantly switched to a respectful manner, raising her hand in salute. "Your Highness is too kind."

Joseph stood up and immediately scolded her harshly. "This was just a sparring match, yet you deliberately humiliated royalty—how should you be punished!"

Cressida looked him straight in the eye. "Your Highness, do you think what I did was improper?"

"Of course it was!"

"Then when this group was publicly insulting the Royal Huntsman earlier, why didn't you step in to stop them?"

Joseph was momentarily speechless, unable to find a single word of rebuttal. With nowhere to vent his anger, he turned and strode toward his trembling hangers-on. He kicked two of them over in succession, but the frustration in his chest still wouldn't dissipate.

"A bunch of useless trash, dragging me down to this state, only knowing how to hide when trouble comes!"

Originally six people had accompanied Joseph on this outing. Two had been stuck with dung buckets and left in disgrace earlier, one had been injured by Cressida and sent for medical care, leaving only a few to silently endure his scolding.

Cressida spoke up at the right moment. "Your Highness, the agreement we made earlier—it's time to honor it."

The agreement was that he would personally equip the Royal Huntsman with armor and lead his horse around the city three times.

Joseph resisted through gritted teeth. "You want me, a prince, to lead a horse for a low-ranking official? He doesn't deserve such treatment."

The Royal Huntsman immediately dropped to his knees in fright. "I wouldn't dare. Thank you for your kindness, Lady Cressida. Let's just forget this agreement."

Cressida raised an eyebrow at Joseph, a meaningful cold smile playing at her lips.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing. I just didn't expect Your Highness to be someone who doesn't keep his word. I'd heard others speak highly of you before . . ."

Cressida said half the sentence, then shook her head and stopped. "Never mind. If Your Highness insists on backing out, I'm just a noble's daughter—I have no way to force you to keep your word."

Joseph caught the mockery in her words, his tone suddenly sharp. "What exactly did others say?"

"Many people said that Your Highness has great ambitions, just lacking the opportunity to display your talents."

The anger on Joseph's face suddenly froze. He'd always thought people only compared him unfavorably to his brothers Marshall and Miguel, and to Yosef whose birth was more valued.

Cressida laughed coldly. "Seeing it with my own eyes today, Your Highness, you look down on even a royal huntsman, let alone care about ordinary people. Even if you held real power in the future, you'd most likely just hide behind the lines, too cowardly to fight."

"How dare you!" Joseph shouted. "I'm no coward! If I lost the bet, I'll accept it—I won't go back on my word!"

He immediately ordered his attendant, "Bring the armor and prepare a mount!"

The attendant quickly brought sparring armor. The Royal Huntsman stared in shock as Joseph personally helped him put on the armor, repeatedly declining the honor. "Your Highness, you mustn't."

"Shut up. Am I going to let a woman look down on me?" Joseph helped the huntsman onto the horse's back.

He turned to look at Cressida. "Watch carefully—I keep my word."

Cressida mounted her horse and patted Starlight's neck. "Follow along with the prince."

It was mid-morning, and Emerald City's marketplace was bustling and noisy, with shops and vendors along the street constantly calling out to attract customers. But when passersby saw the strange sight of a richly dressed prince leading a horse with a low-ranking official on its back, the noise gradually died down and people stopped to watch. When someone recognized the person leading the horse as Joseph, the entire street erupted in commotion. People couldn't understand why a noble royal prince would lead a horse through the streets for an ordinary official.

At first, the Royal Huntsman kept his head down, full of anxiety, but after noticing that although Joseph led the horse at a brisk pace, he didn't abandon the task halfway, he slowly raised his head to observe the street scenes around him. Twenty years ago, he'd been repatriated to Emerald City as a prisoner of war. Years of feeling inferior had kept his head down—this was the first time in many years he'd straightened his back and calmly appreciated the city's peaceful prosperity.

Cressida rode her horse at a distance behind them, not interfering with anything.

As Joseph walked, his ears filled with the discussions of people along the street.

"Prince Joseph's character is truly rare."

"Willing to set aside his status to lead a horse for an official—he has the people in his heart. He's a good man."

The praise in his ears made Joseph smile coldly to himself. He'd decided to use this opportunity to change Cressida's opinion of him, to show her he could bend when needed and was no mediocrity. With this thought, he held his head higher and walked with steady steps to complete the circuit around the city.

After three circuits, the Royal Huntsman immediately dismounted and knelt to give thanks.

"Get up. This matter ends here," Joseph dismissed him.

He turned to look for Cressida, planning to give her a good scolding, but she was already nowhere to be seen. Joseph nearly choked with rage.

Just then, his personal attendant ran up quickly. "Your Highness, the clothes on your back are completely torn and damaged. Let me escort you back to the residence to change?"

Only then did Joseph suddenly remember that his clothes were torn and he looked a mess—he'd paraded through the busy market for three full circuits dressed like this.

In his heart, he hated Cressida to the extreme, determined to be enemies with her from now on.