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[The Position of a King]
“Buwahahaha! Fool! We got a fool here! A big fool who wants to use his overwhelming power for the sake of others! Lloyd, so you chose a guy who has the same thinking as you as your son-in-law! If I remember correctly, you gave me the same reply when I had asked you at the breakthrough unit formation ceremony during the Great Invasion, didn’t you!” (Rodrick)
Next to Crown Prince Rodrick, who is laughing in a well-projected voice, Lloyd holds his forehead with a troubled face.
“I was told by Cassandra-dono that you’re a candidate to be Lloyd’s son-in-law, see. I wondered what kind of man you are, but given that you seem to be a man who at least have a piece of capacity to succeed as his successor gives me a piece of mind. When I become king, I would have to have Lloyd assist me by my side, after all.” (Rodrick)
After sheathing his sword and stopping laughing, Crown Prince sits down on the sofa.
“Crown Prince Rodrick, Frick is not my——” (Lloyd)
“Lloyd, I, the matriarch, have approved of it, so you can’t complain. Don’t think this old hag will back down on her last wish.” (Cassandra)
“Mother-in-law!?” (Lloyd)
“Lloyd, Cassandra-dono has made the decision, so give it up. Besides if the sole daughter of the frontier count, who leads the strongest knight order in the kingdom, stays unmarried, it would lead to succession problem. I will be the matchmaker for the marriage of Frick and Noelia, so rest your mind.” (Rodrick)
Eh? Wait, I can’t follow the talk.
I’m planning to make things clear between me and Noelia, but I haven’t settled my matter with Alfine yet.
Besides, the person who will become the next king said that he’s going to be our marriage matchmaker, just what does that mean!?
Next to the confused me, Noelia’s looking about to fall over with her face bright red, and Al’s stiffening with a complex expression on her face.
“Crown Prince Rodrick, what do you mean about marriag——” (Frick)
“Ahh, sorry for my rudeness earlier. Now that my father has passed away, to take the throne and rule the kingdom of Hartford safely while eliminating the influence of Prime Minister Boris, the power of Frontier Count Lloyd, who has the strongest knight order in the kingdom, is indispensable for me. It would be very troubling and worrying matter if his successor turns out to be a good-for-nothing, thus I asked Cassandra-dono to prepare a place for this meeting.” (Rodrick)
“Could it be, you didn’t come here to listen to our defense, in the first place!?” (Noelia)
“Well, that’s right. Though, I didn’t hear anything about the corpse of Abyss Walker.” (Rodrick)
Crown Prince Rodrick glances in Cassandra’s direction, and then shrugs his shoulders.
“For twenty years since the Great Invasion, my father had always been afraid of Boris, who became the prime minister. He told me that he might be killed someday. And even making me isolated at the sticks in the west was his way to look out for me. For Prime Minister Boris, Lloyd, who ended the Great Invasion, and me, the successor to the throne, are eyesores after all. When my father had summoned me to the royal capital for the matter of Abyss Walker, I immediately surmised that Boris had set his plot in motion. Though, I didn’t know what it was.” (Rodrick)
“However, didn’t King Frederick favor Gile, Boris’s so——” (Al)
“Alfine-dono, a king holds an absolute power over the nobles, but at the same time he is also controlled by the nobles. When my father prioritized the reconstruction of the kingdom and accepted Boris, he already knew that he’d end up being controlled. He kindly treated Gile, Boris’s heir, just as a show of his trust in him. King is a really inconvenient position.” (Rodrick)
Crown Prince Rodrick, who threw himself on the sofa, speaks with a tired expression.
“Even in this case, in order for me to take the throne, I have to treat it as if Gile, the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order, went mad and killed the king, even if Prime Minister Boris’s plot going on behind the scenes. Of course, I will hand down some kind of punishment to Boris with him being Gile’s father, but if the punishment is too harsh, it may invite the estrangement of the nobles of the prime minister’s faction and lead the kingdom to fall into a civil war. I, who was isolated in the far west, has practically no supporter that can be said to be influential after all.” (Rodrick)
“Crown Prince Rodrick, are you going to win over the prime minister as well?” (Lloyd)
Hearing that Crown Prince Rodrick planning to win over Prime Minister Boris, Lloyd’s face becomes dark.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m planning to do. Since I’m going to be in the same position as my father, I should make the same choice as well. Regretful as it is, I don’t have the power to evict and expel Boris, you see. However, I don’t want to one-sidedly receive suffering, so I’m going to inaugurate Frontier Count Lloyd as the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order to harass him.” (Rodrick)
“W-what did you say!?” (Lloyd)
“Can’t be helped. The Royal Guard Knight Order should be strongest shield of the kingdom, and yet, it has become a mere shell of its past glory, so I figure it’d be quicker and easier to pass that duty to the current strongest knight order.” (Rodrick)
Lloyd becoming the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order!? Well, it’s true that unlike the Royal Guard Knight Order, the knight order of Youg Hannotes is filled with powerful men, however.
Isn’t that pretty rash!?
It’s only a rumor, but I heard that Lloyd is quite hated by the nobles in the royal capital.
When I take a glance at Crown Prince Rodrick’s face, our eyes meet.
“Besides, Boris is most likely the one who would be most troubled by it. Lloyd’s successor, too, is a decent man. Him being a commoner-born might be the flaw in the crystal, but even if that’s the case, Lloyd is also a former commoner, anyway. And if I commend him as the hero who has saved the royal capital from the danger of total destruction, those hard-headed nobles wouldn’t be able to find any faults in him. Isn’t that right, Cassandra-dono?” (Rodrick)
“I express my gratitude to Crown Prince Rodrick for his consideration. We, the Henestrosas, would like to offer our loyalty as Crown Prince Rodrick’s, I mean, as King Rodrick’s loyal retainer.” (Cassandra)
“Mother-in-law!? How could you decide such a thing on your own?” (Lloyd)
“Well then, as the matriarch, I would like to ask you, the present head of the family, do we have any other choice beside this in our current situation?” (Cassandra)
“Gunuu… we certainly don’t, however…” (Lloyd)
“That’s that. Don’t even think of leaving the royal capital for a while, Lloyd.” (Rodrick)
“I-I understand.” (Lloyd)
“Frick, too, you have to stay in the royal capital for a while. Now then, the talks end here. Things will get busier henceforth.” (Rodrick)
Having said that, Crown Prince Rodrick gets up from the sofa and goes out of the drawing room.