The hero's acting wasn't quite good enough to fool most people, and his inebriated behavior was so fake that if this had been a movie, the director would have already kicked him out of the set.
Of course, this was not a movie, and there was no one to stop Amos from doing as he pleased. Even if there had been a few 'well-wishers' who didn't want to see Emilia humiliated, they still had to think twice before offending someone like Amos so directly.
And this short hesitation was more than enough for Amos to flawlessly execute his plan. Of course, even if someone had managed to squeeze out a warning, he would still have succeeded.
As he finally 'stumbled' on his own feet and the glass was sent flying towards that villainess he hated so much, Amos felt a feeling of elation and relief in his heart that he hadn't felt for a long time now.
'This is it… this is the feeling! Only when she's suffering is the world right…'
Of course, Dixie had been paying close attention to the safety of her princess, and noticed something was wrong. She barely managed to step forward in an attempt to shield her, but felt her waist being grabbed as Emilia spun her around.
The people who had seen Amos clearly throw the wine glass towards Emilia had already turned excited as they wondered how Emilia will react. When Dixie tried to stop it, that was still fine, but what happened next made their eyes almost bug out in shock.
Emilia didn't step aside to avoid it, nor did she try to grab it mid-air. Oh no. Of all the absurd things she could have done, she just had to do a fucking backflip and kick the glass up and away, sending it flying high in the air.
Their shock was justified, because first of all… who in the world would react like that?
Secondly, even if someone did that, the fragile wine glass should have been shattered by their heel, making the situation even worse. Because now there aren't just wine stains on their body, but glass shards too.
And if they go flying in other people's eyes, that makes it all infinitely worse!
But somehow, Emilia's flip was executed in such a smooth, slow arc that not only did the glass not shatter, even most of the liquid was retained in the glass by the centrifugal force.
Some of it did spill on Emilia's bare ankle and thigh, but it didn't reach her dress.
Of course, whatever goes up, must also come down.
Amos had been so gobsmacked by what happened that he couldn't move a muscle even as some people shrieked subconsciously as they saw the glass fall towards his head. He stood stock-still until it shattered less than half a foot away from his position, forcibly startling him out of his daze.
'Fortunately', he wasn't injured, because the glass only shattered after hitting the floor, and its sharp shards could only futilely brush against shoe leather.
But the remaining contents of the glass had all ended up raining down on the hero himself. His pristine white three-piece suit was completely ruined, and the stinking look on his face was like that of a demon from hell as he stared at the girl in rage.
As some of the red liquid flowed down the silver-haired boy's brow, combined with his furious expression, many shuddered at his almost fiendish appearance.
Was Emilia the type to let this chance go? Of course she would milk it for all it's worth.
"AH! I'm sorry, I panicked! Are you alright?"
Looking at her fake concern, the hero almost popped a vein. He could feel the murmurs and glares from the audience as they compared Emilia's innocent and sincere reaction to his obvious unreasonable fury.
"Y-You—"
He knew he couldn't get angry. He had known how he should react the moment the glass landed on the girl. Apologize gently and sincerely, and it would make whatever furious response she was making look infinitely worse.
But somehow, their roles had been completely reversed, and he couldn't adapt to the sudden change at all.
Amos hadn't lost his mind completely to anger, though, so he just gnashed his teeth and stormed away, accidentally knocking away one of the waiters who had been collecting the broken glass on the ground.
In his fury, the hero didn't even notice, and left without looking back.
The waiter's hands ended up being pierced by a few of the glass shards, but he could only grimace and bear with it as he got back up.
In sharp contrast to the hero, Emilia's mood was ecstatic. Earlier, she had even been a little down, thinking that despite that interview and accomplishment, it seemed like the people's impression of her wasn't quite deep enough.
Too many here believed it all to be her father's doing, while using her as a mere figurehead. But even if they were blind, they couldn't hold on to that 'incompetent' image of Emilia now, could they?
At the very least, they now had to see her as someone not so easy to mess with. Even though she had a loyal friend who tried to defend her, she still managed to not only fend off that kind of direct social attack, but also retaliated at the same time without making herself look bad.
Anyone else might have been already humiliated. Once the wine had been spilled on them, and the Black Tiger's heir apologized, who here would be able to hold on to their face? Their only choice would be to retreat in disgrace while plotting for revenge on another day.
Even as her outward expression remained elegant, Emilia was actually so excited that she couldn't help but scream out gleefully in her mind.
'Holy shit! Cynthia... you weren't kidding when you said this was an easy-difficulty world! It's as if that guy is worried I won't do well enough, and gives me such wonderful opportunities left and right!'
Cynthia chuckled. "I… don't think that's what he meant to do, but good job still, ehehehe…"
'I know that much. Imagine being on that guy's side, though. If I had such a pig teammate, I would probably go crazy! All his moves have been such great 'assists', and he just rushes to give me 'free wins' one after another, ahahaha…'
Cynthia wanted to say Emilia shouldn't take the hero too lightly, but thinking about it again… Not to mention her villainess was too meticulous to do something like that, at this point the hero really wasn't bright enough to be taken seriously.
Perhaps he would grow up a few years down the line, but her villainess should probably have him firmly under her heel by then.
"Emily! You're not hurt, are you?"
Dixie couldn't believe that she had been careless enough to allow Emilia to still get in harm's way. Although it was her own move, it still exposed a flaw in her defense.
Being alone, she could only deal with one threat at a time, and if that guy had someone assisting him from the side, he would have managed to get to Emilia anyway.
Although Emilia was far from being a defenseless doll, Dixie thought that her ability to defend herself should be a last resort for emergencies, and not something to factor in while planning how to protect her.
'Those dunderhead friends of mine better have a good fucking excuse for not being here today, or I'm gonna fucking flay them alive...'
Of course, since Emilia hadn't been injured at all, she tried her best to reassure her knight.
"I'm fine, Dixie. Don't worry."
She would even have gone forward to help out the poor waiter who had been kicked aside by Amos to score 'additional points', but since another staff member had already rushed ahead with a first aid kit, that would just make her look stupid now.
Her knight ignored her placating words, and was still fussing over her as she knelt down and started wiping off the wine that had spilled on her leg with a wet cloth handed to her by a waiter.
Of course, only Dixie knew her true thoughts at this point. 'Ahhh! What a waste! I wish I could lick it off of her… Oh no, don't tell me that bastard sipped it before?! How could I let it taint her body! I must wipe it clean!'
Emilia's smile faded a little as Dixie's wiping got rough. 'I-Is she trying to rub my skin off?!'