The one that had tried to threaten me was only one of the guards, so while he was a bigger man than me, he didn't have enough in him to threaten the knights.
The knights were specially trained warriors after all.
When this guard saw that the knight was stepping up for me, he couldn't help being caught off guard. It was the same for the men who were behind him.
But at the same time, it was the same for me.
Before this, the knights and the guards had all looked down on me. None of them had any respect for me since they just thought that I was Baroness Rose's boytoy.
That wasn't completely incorrect, but still…I had become the Baron and should have commanded some respect.
Still, there was no real conflict before me and the knights and guards before this, so I hadn't really minded it.
So seeing them stand up for me now…really was something else.
After taking a moment to come back to his senses, the guard said with a careless smile, "We're just playing around, there's no need to be this serious."
The guard was just trying to play it off now.
He didn't know why the knight was acting this way, but he wasn't foolish enough to provoke someone who was stronger than him.
Unfortunately for him, the knight wasn't planning on letting this go that easily.
The knight gave a cold laugh before saying, "It was just playing around? Do you understand who you are playing around with?"
The guard couldn't help taking a step back when he heard this and he unconsciously shook his head.
The knight waved his hand and several of his followers came forward to grab the guard.
After being grabbed, the guard couldn't help saying in a panicked voice, "What are you doing? Don't touch me!"
But those followers firmly held him and didn't give him a chance to break free.
The knight said in a cold voice, "This man is the baron, the noble title holder of this land. The words that you've just said to him can be considered a threat towards a noble, which is a crime punishable by death."
The guard immediately felt a chill run down his spine after the knight said this.
He knew that this was the case, but he also knew that no one respected the new baron. They all thought that he was nothing more than the boytoy of the baroness and didn't have any power, so they were free to bully him however he wanted.
After all, he didn't command any respect from the knights or the soldiers that would back him up. So even if someone were to do something to him, no one would be held accountable for it.
But now that the knight was actually standing up for the new baron, the guard couldn't help being confused.
However, this wasn't the time to think about this.
What he needed to do now was figure out a way to get out of this mess, or else it really would be his life on the line.
The guard immediately looked to his companions, but he found that not a single person was looking in his direction. They even went out of their way to turn away from him, avoiding his gaze.
It was as if they didn't want a single part of this.
Since that was the case, the guard said, "I wasn't the only one who thought this! The others all thought the same thing!"
As soon as he said this, his companions all glared at him.
They never expected him to drag them all down with them.
The knight's eyes swept over the rest, but he didn't do anything to them as he turned his gaze back to this guard. As he looked at the guard, he said, "You're the only one that has shown disrespect to the baron and baroness today, so you will be the only one punished."
The rest couldn't help letting out a secret sigh of relief when they heard this, but then they held their breaths when they heard what the knight said next.
After a pause, the knight added, "However, if anyone were to show the same disrespect for the baron and baroness in the future, understand that you will be punished just like this dissenter."
All of them felt a chill run down their spines the moment that they heard this.
The companions of the guards lowered their heads and started moving away from this scene, as if they were trying to escape from this place as quickly as possible.
Seeing that he was left all alone, the guard revealed a look that was like dying ashes. He knew that he had been abandoned by his companions to suffer alone.
As he was being dragged away, he couldn't help glaring at me.
The way that he looked at me, it was as if he was blaming me for everything that happened. This felt like it was a flag for something that would happen in the future, but it wasn't as if there was anything that I could do now.
After the guard had been taken away, the knight came up to Baroness Rose and me and gave a slight bow as he said, "My lord, my lady, I apologize for this incident. I will make sure to personally take care of this matter."
Both me and Baroness Rose couldn't help being taken aback when we saw this.
We had both known about the disdain that the guards had towards me all along, but we weren't able to do anything about it.
Baroness Rose had just taken over her husband's title as the baroness and while she had her prestige, she didn't have full control over the knights and soldiers.
A noble's power was only stable if they could satisfy the keys to their power, which was the military and their key officials. The knights and soldiers were considered the military in this case.
She didn't have full command over them yet and they all looked down on me, so she couldn't just risk offending them by punishing those that offended me. That was why she and Cecilia had endured the advances of those men just now.
But now this knight actually stood up for me…
Just what had changed?