Chapter 79

I was still dumbfounded when the verdict was over and I stepped out of the audience chamber after my father.

I might have been distracted by the fact that everything that had been bothering me since I found out as a child that Angela was the former king’s princess had come to nothing.

I should have asked Father from the beginning instead of worrying about it alone…….

I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest for the first time in a long time.

It was a shame that Angela, with whom I had spent more than a little time at the school, had been expelled from the country.

But considering that she had Cosette kidnapped and was trying to bring Remias down as well, no more feelings came to mind than that.

It’s too light a punishment for someone who was carried as a coup de grace.

As for Remy, considering the crime of being complicit in the kidnapping, even if she was ensnared, there is a part of her that deserved it.

However, if I think of it as a result of her having known me since childhood and being fond of me, I feel glad that she was not charged with a crime.

The mere fact that Remy who had spent her life uneventfully as a duke’s daughter, was stripped of her noble title must be punishment enough.

Even though Remias got the Viscountcy, it doesn’t mean that Remy is able to return to being a noble daughter.

Once the estate was seized by the kingdom, a portion of it would be given to Remias as a viscounty, but he wouldn’t be able to maintain the same life as before.

I was still sinking into my thoughts as I entered the living room of the royal family’s private space when I felt a glance and looked up to see my father staring at me.

I wondered if he greeted already. Before I knew it, the three of us were alone in the room.

”Father…?”

My father’s eyes met mine, and he suddenly relaxed his eyes sadly.

“Leonhardt,” he said, “Do you think I’m a ruthless king?”

“E?”

“Your Majesty the King…”

Mother gently stroked Father’s arm, painfully.

I tilted my head, not knowing what Father was talking about.

“Oh, I thought you knew…Miss Angela would definitely be His Majesty’s former princess first.”

“E…? But the ruling you just made…”

My father’s words startled me.

“I am the King of Altoria.”

As if to remind me, I understood what Father was trying to say.

But my body was trembling and I didn’t know it, and I couldn’t help but put so much force into my clenched hands that they turned white.

”No-, way, about the poisoning…”

My voice trembled pathetically as if pleading on what to do.

I couldn’t turn away, afraid that the person in front of me was that family-friendly father.

“I have done nothing. I would have thought that if I were on the throne, I would be of great use to you. But I suppose that’s no longer the case…”

He felt as if his father had laughed at him.

“It’s Leonhardt,”

“Ha…?”

”

”

I couldn’t help but raise my head and stare into his eyes, which had a look that seemed to pierce my soul.

He said, “Cleanliness alone does not make a king. You must learn to be a good judge of character.”

I couldn’t reply.

I felt my Mother’s warm hand on my cold fingertips.

”His Majesty the former King wasn’t of the caliber to be able to handle political affairs. If things had gone on like that, the country would have been left to the good of the nobles….although it’s only an excuse…”

Mother stared at me once, speechless.

“At least, ‘we’ love this country and its people. …. and of course you.”

My mother’s words hit me like a blow to the head.

It made me realize that I did not really understand what it meant to succeed on the throne.