Chapter 193: The Time To Decide Is Now! »

Chapter 193: The Time to Decide Is Now! »

The prince was completely at a loss due to Shadow's misguided snapping. Shadow's soul scream-like confession seemed to have moved the prince's heart.

"...Prince Elias? Our King Arkhide was enthroned as acting king, but he has been carrying out his official duties splendidly. Lady Indra, are you unhappy about anything...in regards to his rule?"

Since Shadow sought my opinion, I answered him, "No, nothing! Except for you being his aide!"

"You heard her! Assuming we change the aide at once, you can say she has no issues with the king! ――Lady Indra, what will you do in case he becomes king instead?"

"I'll destroy the palace alongside its king," I replied to Shadow's question within a split-second.

"...Doesn't that mean that I will be destroyed alongside them?" Damsel Scarlet calmly retorted, causing me to falter.

"Y-Yeah? ――But, in case the prince marries Damsel Scarlet and gets properly trained by her, I would be willing to spare him. I don't wish to take a hostile stance against Damsel Scarlet as someone coming from the same place as her. Still, my biggest priority is Sword, so if this country becomes an obstacle to Sword's life, I'll immediately destroy it and install Sword as king."

"Hey, wait a sec. I really don't wanna be king or 'nythin' like that, 'kay?" Sword cut in and rejected my idea while looking super reluctant.

"Ugh...okay, then I'll ask the capital dungeon's core to act as king at such a time. That seems to work with the demon king country. In short, a country where Sword can live without any hassle takes priority. But, I do have the leeway to also consider other people. The people in our mansion, and Damsel Scarlet, for example. I'll at least arrange things so that it's easy for them to live on as well. However..." I looked at the prince and sighed, "...Damsel Scarlet. I feel like that pampered crybaby prince will be too much for you to handle, you know? It'd be better to send Shadow as a messenger to explain the circumstances to your father, and have the engagement with the prince revoked."

Damsel Scarlet smiled at my words, "Everyone has times when their brain stops working temporarily, right? I am a tolerant person. Even if he lost his mind because of Lady Primrose for a short period of time, I believe that I will be able to bring him back on track and get him to think about the Kingdom first and foremost."

She said something cool there, but...

"Yeah, okay, everyone's free to believe what they want. But, the time to decide is now. ...Shadow, have the prince make his decision. If he doesn't feel like separating from Primrose, look for another prince who's unlikely to marry Primrose, and yield the rank of crown prince to that person. At the same time, disinherit Prince Elias."

"I understand."

"Shadow!? You think you have the authority to decide something like that as a mere aide!?" The prince roared at Shadow.

I told the prince with a smile, "Isn't that great for you? Even if you won't become king, nothing will stand in the way of your marriage with Primrose, right? Rather, the obstacles for a marriage with her, who's incapable of adhering to etiquette, will become less when you're a commoner. ――However, let me warn you: The financial situation of the Earl Springcoat family is dire and they don't seem to be in any situation to welcome some penniless commoner. Their house is burdened with debts, and her father has been trying to woo rich mademoiselles for their dowry, but since he neglected his former wife, wasted her dowry, and fooled around like a horny stallion, causing his previous wife to eventually die in insanity, he'll likely find it hard to find a benevolent woman who would be willing to marry an old man with such a track record."

I wonder what would happen, if he actually finds such a woman? If he does, she must be quite the masochist, to say the least.

"Moreover, he also made his daughter entice rich boys with the goal of marrying into wealth, and you guys are the outcome of that little plot, Prince Elias, Mr. Underling...and also, the spare personnel to finance her. It seems like she secured herself a villainy guard who would do anything for her, and several pretty boys for show and as spare coffers. Apparently Sword was yet another of those extra coffers to finance her life at the academy, but that got her almost killed," I looked at the prince and shrugged my shoulders, "――Well, That's how it is. Feel free to try becoming a broke commoner and see if Primrose is still going to follow you. If what I said just now isn't true, Primrose probably won't hate you becoming a commoner. So, if you believe that I'm lying, feel free to give it a try. Put your love to the test to see whether Primrose, who blames others for tripping over her own feet as she was educated to be a bully and brought up as pampered lass who always lived in luxury by birth, is going to follow you even after you become a commoner and endure poverty for you."

The prince silently cast his eyes down upon my words, trembling.

*

"......Prince, I shall always follow you anywhere you go."

The one saying that wasn't Primrose, but the prince's underling.

But, look boy, you're going to be disinherited as well, if the prince gets disinherited, you know?

*

Seemingly having made up his mind, the prince lifted his face, and looked at Primrose.

Primrose stepped back in fear. Doing that now and then was a minus ten points. The prince probably thought so as well, but he superbly ignored it with his skill of pretending to not have seen all that's inconvenient to him, and planted himself in front of Primrose.

"......Rose, are you going to follow me through thick and thin?"

My dear little sister showed a meek expression upon his question, "...Prince Elias, I...since I've become an obstacle for you, I'll swallow my sadness and pull back here. The position of queen was beyond my station as one who has risen from commoner status. Please bury the sweet memories we shared together in your heart and marry Lady Scarlet. But, if I could have you remember me just a tiny bit, every once in a while..."

She gave her farewell speech with teary eyes while flaunting how torn she was by the difference in status between them.

Yep, that's what you'd expect of my sister.

She wrapped it up beautifully. Yet, blue veins popped on Sword's forehead as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

I made a sound argument in order to calm him, "Now, now, lies and tears are essential when it comes to separations between men and women."

"...Lady Indra, is that not a bit too much of an old man thinking?"

I earned myself a retort by Damsel Scarlet, and not Sword? Still, having heard all that, Sword let go of his hilt and started to laugh.

"So you think so as well, eh? Meaning I wasn't the only one, huh?"

Don't agree with her!