The Marquis scrambled onto his knees, spitting blood onto the pristine floor. "Father, please! They are her grooms! They are meant to marry her to secure the family's future!"
"Secure the family's future?!" the Old Marquis laughed, a dark, terrifying sound. "By beating the actual heir to the ground? By letting your wife scream at her? You call yourself a Marquis? You are a pathetic, weak-minded fool!"
The Grandfather turned his furious glare back to the four grooms.
"And you," he spat, his voice dripping with pure disgust. "If any of you were actual men, you would have thrown yourselves in front of my granddaughter the moment this coward raised his hand! But instead, you sat there like a bunch of frightened concubines!"
Kavien, the Second Groom, Orion, and the Fourth Groom all flinched, their faces burning with absolute shame. They had just been completely, publicly emasculated by the highest authority in the empire.
"Guards!" the Old Marquis roared.
