Chapter 39
1867 Words
Chapter 39
“Think about all the trouble you’ve caused for the royal palace because of how preoccupied you were with Rachel. After breaking off your engagement, did you think about anything else other than forcing Rachel to declare she gives up?”
The King’s gaze locked with Elliott’s only grew more severe.
“You lack the ability to understand national politics and are unable to understand what should take priority. The reports from each department are clear. Did you ever wonder how much work your mess created for the royal palace? It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the courtiers have lost all trust in the nobility because of this.”
The King turned through the pages of the report he was holding.
“There was one night where you kept the whole castle up with all the noise you were making, and with the counterattack you received, the whole affair left a huge mess that the cleaning staff had to pick up. In addition, there were numerous injuries and extensive damage to equipment during that incident with Miss Evans, and the forced mobilization of the knights without permission caused major issues with the shift schedule afterwards. And far beyond just the Ferguson Duke house, you’ve received many fierce protests because of your actions from even the houses that oppose the Duke’s house.........how in the world did you turn every noble family faction into your enemy when you haven’t passed even a single policy yet?”
It’s because he tried to stop a strip show.
“I honestly didn’t think you were this incompetent.........I wanted Rachel to make up for the things you lack, but rather than asking for her help, you got picky and decided to get rid of her. If you were around the rank of an earl, perhaps if would be fine for you to marry a woman you like. However, a King isn’t allowed that kind of leeway.”
“F, Father.........”
Elliott looked away.
“Well, about Mother.........”
“Don’t interrupt me!”
“No, I was just doubting you a little. Didn’t Father and Mother”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“I’ll send that right back to you!”
After forcibly pushing aside Elliott’s doubts, the King rose up from his throne.
“I remain uneasy about either of my sons inheriting the throne. To that point, Miss Rachel who fails as a human being yet has excellent stats cannot be removed for the sake of the next era’s reign.”
“Who fails as a human being?”
“And so!”
“Excuse me? Are you ignoring me?”
“If Elliott refuses to marry Miss Rachel, then my second son, Prince Raymond shall become the crown prince.”
“Oiiiii, Oiiiiiii”
“That is, Father!”
“If the parent and child could please not ignore me~”
“It has already been decided!”
“That ruby on the crown is very lovely~, maybe I’ll try stripping it off and bringing it with me~”
“That’s a no-go!”
After pacifying Rachel, the King clapped his hands.
“Raymond! Enter!”
Everyone’s gaze turned towards the door as the King’s voice rang out. And in response to his father’s call, the second prince..........didn’t come in.
“?”
A guard knight standing nearby fidgeted uncomfortably with everyone’s attention suddenly focused on him, so he left out into the hallway to take a look around.
“Um, His Highness isn’t here..........”
“But I summoned him! Where could Raymond have gone..........enough already, these brothers..........”
“Father, I’m right next to you.”
“Uwaa! You surprised me!”
If you looked closely, you could see a boy several years younger than Elliott standing near the throne.
“W, When did you come in here!”
“I’ve been here since the beginning.”
Everyone thought back on it...........
“Ah, I have a feeling.........”
“Speaking of which, I’ve been here since the beginning...........”
“It seems like nobody noticed when he came in though...........”
In his grand debut, the second prince was worried because he didn’t have much of a presence.
“But I was already in the hall when you came in...........”
Nevermind, this wasn’t his grand debut after all.
As if he were just a smaller version of Elliott, Raymond was also a young, beautiful blonde-haired boy.
Rachel started wondering if the next volume of His Highness is Aiming for Me should go the shota route.
“To think someone like this was hiding inside the royal family..........”
Raymond looked over dejected at the impressed Rachel.
“I wasn’t hiding. I’ve been standing next to my brother during almost every special event.......Big Sister Rachel, you really don’t remember my face...........”
“Sorry, but rather than your face, I didn’t even remember you existed.”
“I think it’s amazing you can say such a careless remark to somebody else so boldly Big Sister.”
The King cleared his throat to try and regain a portion of his dignity before asking his stealthy second son a question.
“Raymond. Will you take Rachel as your wife and succeed the throne?”
The fourteen year old boy gave an immediate reply.
“Yes, absolutely!”
The boy’s eyes were sparkling as he puffed out his chest.
“I never thought my turn would come around because Brother was here..........but if things are going to be like this, I will happily become the crown prince!”
Elliott was stunned by his younger brother.
“Raymond, so you were aiming for the throne! ...........even though I thought your only merit was having a thin shadow...........”
“Brother, having a thin shadow isn’t a merit.”
Raymond put his hand to his chest.
“And honestly I don’t care about the throne..........but if it means I can marry my beloved Big Sister Rachel, I will happily endure this position I don’t want.”
prison life v
“So the incidental conditions are more important!?”
The King released a loud tsukkomi at his shocking second son,
“You, you want to marry a woman like that!? You’re going to see hell!”
but Elliott’s shout drowned out his words.
As his brother’s words continued to echo in the hall, Raymond smiled as if in a dream.
“Since my shadow is so thin, my personal maid would oftentimes forget to pour me tea during teatime or completely disregard me whenever I called out to her.........and the lovely Big Sister’s continued coldness always made me tremble! Big Sister Rachel is beautiful, has big breasts, is really cool, has big breasts..........isn’t she already the greatest! I’ve always wondered how great it would be to be ignored by someone like her. And then she says she completely forgot I had even existed.........aah, what a wonderful person!”
“Pull yourself together Raymond! That coolness your talking about is just her not caring about anyone other than herself! Don’t mix up a careless made with the devil Rachel! Don’t think that just because it’s safe to sip plum wine you can guzzle down steins of whiskey!”
“Brother, please don’t wory!”
Raymond slapped his thin chest full off self-confidence.
“Even though I’m like this, my tutor still says I’m, ‘The kind of guy who can learn something after hearing it ten times’.”
“Little Brother, I’m really worried about you!”
The King leaned over towards the Queen who was sitting next to him.
“Hey, what now..........the future is looking bleak no matter which son we have take over.”
“It’s because of that very fact,”
The Queen used a folding fan to hid her lips
“isn’t that why we insisted on Rachel being queen?”
The King clapped his hands together to gain everyone’s attention again.
“Well then my friends. The engagement between Elliott and Miss Rachel has officially been broken, and Miss Rachel’s new fiancee shall be my second son Raymond. And at the same time we shall recognize Raymond as the new crown prince........Elliott meanwhile shall keep his position as a member of the royal family, and I grant him the peerage of Earl, becoming the new Earl of Reefren.
“That is.........!?”
Elliott groaned.
The title the King had handed down to him was a traditional title passed along the royal family for generations........the territory holds great historical importance yet is small and poor, and if not managed correctly, its financial power would lose out to even a baron from a richer region. Honestly it was little more than a title.......usually something added on to an Archduke’s duties unless it’s given to a retiring member of the royal family as a way to take some burden off the pension.
“Father! Like that, it’s almost as if you’re hiding me away from the world!”
“No, not almost, that’s exactly what we’re doing you fool! We’re not going to leave someone who’s lost and holds a grudge against the current administration the power to revolt. You’ve brought about your disinheritance through your own blunders, and even if it is just a title, you should feel grateful you’re still being treated as a member of the royal family.”
“But!?”
“Unless”
Before Elliott could protest, the King brought something forward that made the young prince cringe.
“Perhaps you wish to curry favor with Miss Rachel and get your engagement with her reinstated? Even though you continuously tried harassing her after you were the one who broke off the engagement to begin with, and even tried assassinating her last night by your very own hand? I think the scales have already swung wildly out of your favor. Although even if that were not the case, I’m sure you already understand it’s quite difficult for Miss Rachel to have a positive opinion on someone?”
“Damn!?”
Abandoning Margaret and trying to win Rachel back, it was something impossible for Elliott on a psychological level.........
“After that Elliott. You seem to have forgotten........”
Since Elliott wasn’t responding, the King opened up his dark past.
“When you were young, there was a trivial argument during a garden party, and the person who responded by throwing stones and a beehive at you was Miss Rachel. The Queen was charmed by that severe retaliation for such a relatively small offense which was why we forced through your two’s engagement by saying it was compensation for your injuries.”
“..........then perhaps, that time when cousin Earl Grosvenor was ruthlessly beat over and over again with a club............”
“That was Miss Rachel”
“.............then really, the person who was laughing as they threw stones at me and tried drowning me in a pond...........”
“That’s just Your Highness’s persecution complex. I, wasn’t really laughing at that time. I just wanted to quickly finish up a boring job so I could head back and eat some dessert.”
“Killing me is a boring job!?”
- Writer
