CH 45

Leo became so frightened when he saw all of those cracks on the golden bracelet, that he let go of the prince’s right hand as fast as he could–

(Aaaaaaaaah!!! The bracelet is breaking!!!)

–However, right after he did that, a bright light suddenly erupted from the bracelet, momentarily blinding everyone in the room. ( Tl/n: Just like a flashbang.)

*Flash*

When everyone opened their eyes again, the bracelet, or rather, what remained of it, wasn’t on Albert’s arm anymore… it’s pieces were on the ground.

“No way… . ”

“The sealing bracelet is… broken…?”

“Even the founder of the Empire had trouble dealing with that thing, right…?”

“But… Albert overpowered it so easily… . ”

While the four adults stood there, impressed by what just happened, Leo couldn’t help but stare at that scene with a horrified look in his eyes, after all, the prince was smiling at him.

“Thank you for telling me what was on your heart, Leonora… . ”

(Hiiiiiiii!!!)

Contrary to everyone here, Leo knew what lied beneath that smile. Albert only smiled like that when he was plotting something, or when he was about to threaten someone. That’s why Leo was so scared of him. However, before he could take a step back to get away from Albert, he found himself sitting on the ground. Apparently, Leo was so scared of the prince, that his legs stopped working.

(Why!? Why did you guys decide to stop working now, of all times!?) – Thought Leo, as he started sweating cold just from imagining what would happen to him.

But, contrary to what he was expecting, Albert just crouched down in front of him with a concerned look on his face, then he placed a hand on his cheek, and asked–

“–Are you okay, Leonora…?”

The answer to that question was a big “No.” Leo wasn’t okay at all. Not only his legs had turned into jelly, but his arch enemy was also caressing his cheek. Things couldn’t get worse than they already were… or, at least, that’s what he thought.

As Leo lowered his face and waited for the worst to happen, Albert’s concerned expression suddenly turned into a happy one, before giving his beloved a tight hug.

(Gyaaaaah!!! Someone, help!!! The evil prince is going to strangle me!!!)

Albert didn’t know that Leo was scared of him. To the prince, Leonora was acting like that because she was embarrassed of the sudden physical contact, which was actually the reason why he decided to hug her. She was so cute, that Albert couldn’t contain himself. However, that only served to make Leo panic even more, after all, he didn’t know what the prince wanted to do with him.

(Aaaaaaaaah!!! What should I do!? At this rate, Albert will regain all of his strength back!!! And then, he’ll execute me!!!) – Thought Leo, as he tightly gripped the prince’s white tunic.

While Leo panicked because of the tough situation that he found himself into, Balthazar let out a loud *Cough!* to get Albert’s attention, before saying–

“–Oi, oi, I don’t think I told you to remove that bracelet yet, right son?”

“If I remember correctly, you only told me to ‘continue wearing it until I’ve decided what to do with you,’ isn’t that right, father? Besides, that bracelet was a bit too weak. It couldn’t even seal my magic power without breaking.” – Said Albert, as he stared at his father’s grayish blue eyes with a grin.

When Leo heard that, he started trembling like a newborn deer, after all, Albert had just declared that not even the sealing bracelet could stop him. That manageable situation had finally turned into a dreadful nightmare.

“Hee∼, is that so? Because I don’t remember saying that I had decided what I was going to do with you?” – Said Balthazar, as he returned his son’s grin with a grin of his own.

Compared to his son, Balthazar was way scarier. His sharp gaze could even make a royal knight tremble in fear. However, Albert was different. He didn’t falter. He just continued staring at his father’s grayish blue eyes without even flinching.

“You never had to decide anything, father, because I will become the next Emperor of the Weiz Empire.”

That was a bold declaration. So bold, in fact, that everyone even forgot to breathe… well, everyone except for Balthazar, whose grin only grew wider.

“Hoo∼, and who decided that?”

“ I was the one who decided that… and I won’t let anyone contest that decision.”

“Ha! Stop joking around, son. After changing the power structure of the whole country, now you plan on ruling it? You can’t take all that responsibility… . ”

This time, Balthazar tried to use phycological pressure to intimidate Albert… but that didn’t work on the prince, seeing that he still had that confident grin plastered on his face.

“Yes, I can… and I’ll carry this country on my back alone if I have to… . ”

The four adults were more than impressed with the prince after hearing that statement, however, Balthazar wasn’t over yet.

“Hahaha! You dream big, you know? Can you really back up that statement?”

“Did you forget, father? My dragon mark is a gold coin… which means that my rule will be blessed by prosperity if I play my cards right–”

At that moment, the prince’s confident grin suddenly turned into a ferocious one. His confident expression was akin to a knife pointed directly at his Balthazar’s throat. By doing that, Albert was implying that he already had won the argument.

“–The era of court ranks and magic power will soon be over, father. Now is the era of hard work and money. There won’t be anymore unreasonable things. Everyone is equal before money, so everyone will have the same opportunities, be it men or women. It’s their hard work that’ll tell if they really deserve their ranks, not which noble family they were born into. I’ll rebuild this country’s foundation from the ground up and make it a place where everyone can shine–”

What Albert really meant by all that, was that it was now his time to lead the people of the Weiz Empire to a brighter future… but Leo interpreted that as something completely different.

(N-no way… this crazy prince is now trying to usurp the throne!?)

Leo always knew that Albert was evil, and a bit crazy, but he never expected the prince to be “that” much crazy. This wasn’t just a healthy argument between father and son anymore… this was now a bloody war for the succession of the throne. And to make things worse, Leo was right in the middle of the two, so he couldn’t stop trembling.

On the other hand though, since Albert was sticking really close to his beloved, he quickly noticed when she started trembling, so he patted her on the back to calm her down… without even knowing that that just made Leo even more frightened.

To the young scrooge, what the prince meant by those pats on the back, was that he would be the next one, after he finished dealing with his stubborn father. However, without even noticing the pale look on Leo’s face, Albert continued from were he had left off.

“–I won’t let this country perish because of some old-fashioned nobles. Instead of suppressing the development of an even more powerful magic crest, I’ll fund it’s development. I will show you that I can create a better future for everyone living in this country… and I won’t rest until I achieve that.”

When Albert finished his speech, everyone in the Audience Chamber fell into silence. There was only the sound of the parade coming from outside of the windows. Apparently, not even the soundproof spell cast on the curtains could suppress the cheers of the citizens who had finally arrived at the premises of the Ivory Palace.

But, amidst of all that “silence,” there was Leo, silently staring at the prince’s face with small tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

In other circumstances, the young scrooge would’ve probably started cheering Albert by now, after all, his interests lined perfectly with the prince’s. However, because of what happened earlier, Leo didn’t hear any of that. He just kept wondering why his perfect plan had failed, or why the golden bracelet suddenly broke.

Well, the answer to those questions was actually quite simple. Leo himself was the reason why his plans had failed. His words awakened something inside the prince, which, in turn, brought forth a torrent of magic power originating from deep within him.

But Leo didn’t know that–no, he couldn’t care less about that right now. His rose-colored, commoner-life was slipping away from his grasps with each passing second, so he became desperate. Leo had to stop Albert’s coup before it was too late. So, he gathered up all of his courage, and said–

“–Is it really, okay for you, to say all, of that to, you father, Albert-sama…?”

“Huh…? And why it wouldn’t be…?”

As soon as he looked down at his beloved, the prince saw the small tears gathered at the corners of her beautiful eyes, so he lifted his hand to wipe them away for her. But before he could even begin, she answered his question in a way that shook him to his very core.

“Because… won’t you get, into a lot, of trouble if, you do that…? I don’t want, to see you, going through something, so awful… . ” ( Tl/n: This part can also mean, I don’t want something so scary to happen , but since the other meaning was better, I decided to go with it.)

“!!!!!!!!!”

Leonora was worried about him. She was so worried, in fact, that she even started crying, which is why Albert couldn’t let his father exile him. The prince wanted to protect her and be her strength, but to do that, he needed the throne first. That’s why Leonora was so worried. She knew that the path ahead of him was filled with nothing but hardship.

However, Albert didn’t think like that at all. With Leonora by his side, the prince felt like he could do literally anything.

But, that didn’t mean his beloved fiancee would stop worrying about him, so Albert tightened his left arm around her back, and then, with the sweetest smile that he could muster, he caressed her cheek with his other hand to show that everything was alright… however, Leo completely misunderstood the prince again.

(Aaaaaaaaah!!! Help, he’s smiling!!! This crazy prince was already planning on usurping the throne from the beginning!!! There’s no way to stop him!!!)

Leo couldn’t stop Albert–no, no one could stop him anymore. The fact that he had a huge smile plastered on his face just proved that he was beyond redemption. Moreover, he even made sure to tell everyone his evil plans, just like a villain in a fantasy novel, so Leo started panicking inside his head, since he didn’t know what to do to escape this place. However, to his demise, Albert wasn’t over yet. The prince still had some things to say to his beloved fiancee.

“Your words of concern touched me, Leonora. I’m the luckiest man in the world to have you as my fiancee. Also, thank you for the nickname. Fufu, I really liked it–”

“!!!!!!!!!”

(Aaaaaaaaah!!! Why did I do that!? I’m so stupid!!!)

Because of everything that happened earlier, Leo almost forgot that he agreed to marry Albert. And to make things even worse, he gave the prince a lovely nickname, which meant that he couldn’t take back what he said anymore, else he’d risk shaming the name of his “grandparent’s” household.

Everything that happened until now was probably just a part of Albert’s masterplan to entrap Leo, and he succeeded in doing that. Now, the young scrooge was officially stuck with the prince for the rest of his life, with no way of escaping from him.

“–To tell you the truth, I don’t really care about my position as Crown Prince, which is why I almost agreed to live the rest of my life with you as a farmer… but I can’t do that. I want to be able to protect you, Leonora. That’s why I need the crown. If I become the next Emperor, I won’t ever have to worry about losing you… we’ll be together forever.” ( Tl/n: That last part can also mean you’ll be forever mine and I’ll never let you go .)

Leo was aware that he would never be able to escape from the evil prince, but hearing that piece of information from his own mouth just made it even more frightening. So, in a desperate attempt of making things right again, Leo clung onto his last hope… the current Emperor–

“Y-Your Majesty…!” – Said Leo, as he turned towards Balthazar with a pleading look in his eyes.

(Please, do something!!! Your son is crazy!!! He wants to usurp the throne and lock me up in a room!!! You can even arrest him, just, please, help me!!!)

“It’s okay, Leonora, I understand. You don’t have to look at me like that. *Ahem* I hereby declare my son, Albert von Weizsäcker, as the only legitimate heir to the throne, who will eventually succeed me! There… was that good enough, Ojou-chan?” – Said Balthazar, as he stared back at Leo with a playful grin.

–However, instead of helping him, the Emperor said something that completely shattered–no, destroyed, his last hope.

“……… . ”

Leo couldn’t say anything after hearing those shocking words. He just stood there, wondering why Balthazar decided to forsake him. However, things weren’t over yet. The Emperor wasn’t the only one who had something to proclaim.

“The way you scolded Albert really impressed me, Leonora. You care about him as much as he cares about you, so I’ll recognize you as his fiancee.” – Said Alexia, as she stared at Leo with a kind smile.

“……… . ”

This time, instead of being shocked, Leo heard something shattering deep inside him. Well, that was probably the sound of his soul breaking, seeing that his emotions were the complete opposite of the prince, who was more than happy, and a bit surprised, to hear all that.

“Father… Mother… why are you two…?”

“Heh, why are you so surprised, son? This is just the beginning, you know…?” – Said Balthazar, as he glanced at Albert with that same playful grin, before walking off towards one of the “windows.”

Once he reached the “window,” the Emperor grabbed the two curtains in front of him, then he glanced over his shoulder, and said–

“–For as long as I can remember, the royal family has relied solely on our magic powers and the nobles to run this country… but you changed that, Albert. Your rule won’t be chained by those two things alone. Now you have this–”

As Balthazar pulled the two curtains open, he revealed a small balcony… and a sea of people who were eagerly waiting for the royal greeting.

Some people were cheering.

Others were screaming at the top of their lungs.

But they all had something in common… they were all praising Albert.

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!!!

—Long live Albert-sama!!!

“–These people may not have magic power running in their veins, but they support you, son. They are weak, some aren’t even literate, however, as the next Emperor, it’ll be your job to protect them from now on–” – Said Balthazar, with a smile, as he stared deeply into Albert’s azure eyes.

Albert was completely stunned. Even though he didn’t know any of them, seeing all of those people screaming his name made the prince really happy. For the first time in his life, Albert felt a sense of accomplishment like he had never felt before.

“–In some places, the water shortage had already begun… but one day, everything returned to how it was before. You can’t even imagine how many thank-you letters you received, Albert. There are even letters from other nobles, thanking you for helping their territories. And that’s why these people are all here today… they want to show you how grateful they truly are, son… . ”

After hearing everything that his father had to say, small tears started pouring out of the prince’s azure eyes. But they didn’t last long though. Albert quickly recomposed himself, then he looked at Balthazar with a smile, and said–

“–Thank you for the kind words father…*Sniff*…I really appreciated it… . ”

“You don’t have to thank me, son. It was the least I could do for you. Besides, all that hard work needed a fitting reward, don’t you think?”

“Fufu, yes… you’re right… . ”

As two stared at each-other for a while, the prince suddenly remembered that he wasn’t wearing that bracelet anymore, so he decided to ask something.

“Hmm, father…? Can I go wave at them for a bit…?” – Asked Albert, as he pointed at balcony.

As long as they had royal blood running in their veins, it didn’t really matter who conducted the royal greeting, so Balthazar stared at Albert with a smirk, and said–

“–Do you really need my permission to go greet your citizens…?”

The prince started walking towards the balcony as soon as heard that.

However, on his way there, Albert remembered something really important, so he turned around with a smile on his face, before extending his left hand towards his beloved fiancee.

“Would you mind coming with me, Leonora…?”

“Eh…?”

It took a while for Leo to finally understand what Albert had asked him, since he wasn’t paying attention. But, once that clicked in, he started panicking. Leo wasn’t a member of the royal family yet. There was no reason for him to go greet the citizens with Albert, so he took a step back and asked the prince why he had to go with him.

“Why…? Well, half of my achievements are yours, so I wanted them to see you as well… . ”

(I knew it! In order to prevent me from escaping, he wants to show my face to the citizens! But I won’t fall for your traps this time, you hear me!?)

“Y-you don’t, have to concern, yourself with me, Albert-sama…! I didn’t, do much, so you, can go, greet them, if you want…!”

Leo had already resigned himself to the fact that he would never be able to escape from Albert. But, if he ever had that chance again, he didn’t want his plans to be ruined because someone recognized his face. That’s why he rejected the prince with all his might.

However, Albert wouldn’t give up that easily.

“What are you talking about? None of this would’ve been possible if it weren’t for you, Leonora, so I’m sure the citizens will welcome you with open arms.”

“T-that’s, not true, at all! Ne–Bianca-sama, did everything, so she’s, the one who, should be praised, not me!”

Despite the constant rejections, Albert knew that Leonora was probably just shy, so he continued pressing on the matter with a smile on his face to show her that there was nothing to be afraid.

“Why don’t you want to go greet them with me…?”

“Then let me, ask you the, same question, why do you, want me to, go greet them, with you!? I don’t want, to go because, I know what, you’re planning!”

Albert was a bit surprised to hear that, so he let out a troubled smile, before saying–

“\\\–Was my plan really that obvious…? Well, since you already know the truth, there’s no point in hiding it… I want to hold you in my arms and show you to the people…\\\”

“!!!!!!!!!”

Leo became really pale when he heard that, after all, Albert wasn’t afraid of letting everyone know his plans anymore. The prince had truly become a bonafide villain, so his only option now was to turn to his “grandparents” for help–

“Klaus-sama…! Emilia-sama…!”

“Hmmm, I think you should go with him, Leonora. Being too humble isn’t good, you know? The people need to know your achievements.” – Said Klaus, as he stroked his beard.

“Ufufu, you don’t need to be shy, dearie. Go have a bit of fun with your fiance.” – Said Emilia, as she tried to hide her smile with her fan.

–But, much like Balthazar, they only destroyed his remaining hope.

(See!? That’s why I didn’t ask them for help! They don’t even care about what the prince is plotting behind the scenes! They only care about their granddaughter’s achievements!)

Albert managed to completely deceive Klaus and Emilia. His last line of defense was now on the enemy side. And to make things even worse, Leo didn’t have any ideas on how to get out of this situation.

“What are you doing, son? You can’t leave such a beautiful flower waiting!” – Said Balthazar, as he stared at Albert with a reproachful look on his face.

“Your father is right, Albert. Go on, escort her already.” – Said Alexia, as she stared at her son with that same reproachful look on her face.

With their words as the cue, the prince quickly approached Leo and grabbed his hand.

“Let’s go, Leonora…!”

“No…! I don’t, want them, to see me!”

“Huh…? Why don’t you want them to see you…?”

“Eh…? I-I… I just don’t, want to…! So, please, release me…!” – Said Leo, as he unconsciously grabbed his gold coin, along with a small section of his dress that was soaked in wine.

Leo found it a bit weird that Albert, of all people, was asking him why he didn’t want to be seen, but since those thoughts didn’t have anything to do with what was going on, he quickly dropped them to focus on what was more important.

On the other hand though, when Albert saw Leonora holding that dirty section of her dress, he finally realized what was going on.

“Oh… I see… so you didn’t want to go out there because of your dress, huh? Hmm… sorry for not noticing it sooner.”

“Huh…?”

Leo had also forgotten about the state of his own dress, so it took him a few seconds to understand what was going on… which was actually enough time for the prince to finish casting his spell.

“ Clean …!”

*Shine*

“Kyaaah…!”

Because a spell was suddenly cast on him, Leo quickly shielded his face with both of his arms by reflex. However, after waiting for a while, he noticed that nothing really happened to him, so he lowered them… only to see something really shocking.

“!!!!!!!!!”

Leo became really surprised when he saw the aftermath of Albert’s Clean spell, after all, the dress that he worked really hard to color… had become white again.

(Why…!? It took me five days to finish this dress! And I hadn’t even sold one to the Empress yet! What am I supposed to do with this thing now…!? I don’t even have enough time to color it again!)

The destruction of his creation shook Leo a lot, however, that wasn’t the worst part–

“She’s wearing a pure white dress!” ( Tl/n: In Japan, they tend to dress their dead in white kimonos for the funeral, so this part can also mean funeral clothing.)

–What Emilia said after seeing the state of his dress shook Leo even more.

(Eh…? F-funeral clothing…?)

Those words were so dreadful, that Leo became pale as soon as he heard them.

“I… I’m sorry for ruining your dress, Leonora, but… wow… you’re even more beautiful in that white dress… . ” – Said Albert, as he stared at his beloved with a surprised look on his face.

Once he got out of his trance, the prince then lifted Leonora, or rather, Leo, and started carrying him towards the balcony just like princess… but the person in question was too busy thinking about everything that happened, to notice any of that.

After thinking for a short while, Leo finally managed to place all the puzzle pieces together. The reason why Albert was wearing a white tunic * , and his dress had turned white again, was because the prince wanted to show Leo that there was no easy way out of this. He would never be able to escape from Albert… unless he died. ( *Tl/n: That part can also mean priest clothing , which is another funeral reference.)

Needless to say, but just thinking about that was enough to make Leo tremble in fear. However, as the noise of the crowd started getting a lot more intense, something caught his attention–

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!

—Long live Albert-sama!

–For some unknown reason, Leo was now standing on the balcony, where everyone could see his face, with the evil prince’s left arm wrapped around his waist, which was a bit creepy, while the people below cheered Albert for his achievements.

Honestly, Leo wanted to scream for help when he realized what was going on, but right at that moment, he remembered seeing this exact same scene on the painting that Bernard gave him a while ago. ( Tl/n: Ch-23.2)

(There’s a lot of people below us… and we’re standing on an elevated place… n-no way… that c-cursed painting really predicted the future!?)

The small painting that Leo received from Bernard had two names. The first one was The Midnight Vow… and the second one was The Gold Coin Emperor’s First Triumph. In a way, the elusive painter really predicted the future, after all, this was indeed Albert’s first triumph… well, his first triumph against Leo, that is.

(Aaaaaah!!! There was no point in even making an escape plan!!! I was already doomed when I received that cursed thing!!!)

Leo never expected Bernard’s prediction to be so accurate. Now, more than ever, he regretted not destroying that painting when he had the chance. Just giving it away was too lukewarm. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Leo wanted to go back in time just to turn that painting into charcoal, after all, that thing was the origin of all his problems.

However, even though Leo seemed to have hit rock bottom, things were about to get even worse.

While he was cursing Bernard’s prophetic painting in his head, Leo felt a lot of killing intent coming from somewhere in the middle of the crowd, so he turned to look at the person who was emanating such a wicked aura… only to see his own body, or rather, Leena, glaring at him with an expressionless look on her face.

(OHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Because of the surprised expression that Leo made when he glanced in her direction, Leena quickly noticed that he was finally looking at her, so she raised her hand and pointed at him, before sliding her thumb through her throat with the most disgusted look on her face that she could muster. Well, to tell the truth, her anger was reasonable, after all, the reason why Leo canceled their appointment, was because something “really important” came up. He never mentioned in his letter that he was going to a party in the castle, or that he was going to marry the crown prince of their country, so Leena became really angry when she coincidentally spotted him on the balcony.

(Aaaaaah!!! What should I do!? My normal life is over!!!)

After seeing what Leena did, Leo started panicking even more. There’s no way she would ever want to go back to her body under these circumstances. Leo was at the end of his wits. He honestly didn’t know what to do to get out of this situation. Every single one of his escape plans had failed so far, so he wanted to stop with his crazy ideas, before he somehow angered Albert–

(Ugh…! I never thought I would have to resort to that to escape…! But if this is what it takes to go back home, then I’ll do anything…!)

–However, things weren’t over yet… Leo still had an ace up his sleeve.

“Come on, Leonora, you have to wave at them as well. I can’t be the only one doing this.” – Said Albert, with a smile, as he turned to look at Leo.

But the person in question didn’t pay attention to anything he said.

(Golden Spirit of Coins! Great Spirit of Light! Lady of the Lake! Anyone…! I’ll do anything you guys want, so, please, help me…!) – Thought Leo, as he tightly closed his eyes, before joining his hands in front of his chest.

For the first time in his life, Leo decided to pray to the divines, after all, they were probably the only ones who could help him at this point… however, the people who were watching that scene couldn’t help but gasp in awe, since the little girl with black hair looked exactly like the Altruistic Saintess that everyone was talking about.

“Look…! It’s her…!”

“It’s the Altruistic Saintess…!”

“I heard she helped the prince solve the water shortage…!”

“And she’s even praying for us…!”

Once the people realized who was the girl standing on the balcony alongside the prince, everyone started cheering even louder.

—Long live the Altruistic Saintess!

—Long live Leonora-sama!

Seeing the two saviors of the Empire standing side by side on the balcony, made the people really happy. In fact, the people were so happy, that they started offering the petals of the flowers they planted during the winter festival, to the spirits, right then and there.

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!

—Long live the Altruistic Saintess!

Red, white, yellow, blue… many petals of different colors were soaring to the skies. However, the people weren’t only offering those petals to the spirits… those beautiful flower petals were being offered to the young prince and the girl standing by his side as well, as a sign of good will.

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!

—Long live the Altruistic Saintess!

“Fufu, it seems like you received a lot of petals before I could even give you one, huh?” – Said Albert, as he looked at Leonora with a happy smile.

During the Spirit Festival, giving a flower petal to the opposite sex meant that you were interested in that person. But Albert didn’t have the time to prepare one, so he hugged Leonora to show how much he cared about her.

Needless to say, but the crowd started cheering the two of them even louder after seeing that.

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!!!

—Long live the Altruistic Saintess!!!

The truly happy smile that Albert had on his face, as he hugged Leonora in front of everyone, was so priceless, that the people who were watching that scene couldn’t help but smile as well. No one even noticed Leo’s dead eyes, or the resigned look on his face–

—Long live the Gold Coin Emperor!!!

—Long live the Altruistic Saintess!!!

–The people just continued cheering on the couple until the sky turned orange.

“Next time, you should tell me your plans in advance, Balt. For a second there, I had the impression that you were really going to exile our son.” – Said Alexia, as she turned to look at Balthazar with a small pout.

Even though the crowd was making a lot of noise outside, because the curtains of the Audience Chamber were enchanted with soundproof magic, Alexia was able to talk normally without having to change her tone.

“Of all people, you thought I was going to exile our son…? Please, when did I ever do what those elitist bastards wanted?” – Said Balthazar, as he sipped on his tea.

“Of course I would think that, Balt. You were always the one telling him to do his best to not displease those old nobles.”

“I just said that because I didn’t want him getting into trouble. Being defiant like me meant he would make a lot of enemies, so until he ascended the throne, I wanted him to keep a low profile. Although, in my defense, I never thought he would create that Perfect Prince persona. That’s the reason why I gave him that little push. I wanted him to break free of those shackles before it was too late–”

‘The job of a crown prince is to be as likeable as possible.’ – That’s what Balthazar told his son a long time ago. However, to be a good Emperor, one needed an iron fist and the ability to say no whenever it was required… but Albert lacked the latter. Playing the part of the Perfect Prince left him too used to the idea that he had to please everyone all the time, which is why Balthazar let Joseph say all of those thing to his son. He wanted to show Albert that he didn’t need to concern himself with that kind of people, since they would always complain for the dumbest of reasons, even if a decree was beneficial to the whole Empire.

Thankfully though, Balthazar’s bet paid off.

Albert finally understood what he had to do after Leonora scolded him. And the cheers of the crowd only served to cement the young prince’s conviction even further.

“–But, well, I never thought this many people would gather at the palace to thank our son. Albert really outdid himself this time, huh…?” – Said Balthazar, with a proud look on his face, as he took another sip of his tea.

To tell the truth, the reason why a lot of people had gathered at the premises of the palace today, was because of Chris. She knew that Leonora had a huge self-esteem problem, so she decided to spread a lot of rumors about the little girl’s achievements to help her with that, which, in turn, helped spread many rumors about Albert’s achievements as well. But the Emperor obviously didn’t know that, so he just continued sipping on his tea with that proud parent look plastered all over his face.

“Haah∼, time sure flies, huh? Our son is already seventeen… he’s almost an adult.” (Balthazar)

“Haah∼, indeed. He was just a child not long ago… but now he has such a cute fiancee.” (Alexia)

The Empress was also really proud of her son, after all, he managed to find someone who really loved him , not just his position.

Leonora was beautiful, elegant, intelligent and to top it all off, she was also modest, which was a rare quality to find amongst the nobility. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Alexia wanted the little girl to join the royal family at all costs… but, at the time, the Empress thought her husband was going to exile their son, so she was afraid that Leonora would reject her offer.

However, that wasn’t the case. Leonora not only professed her love for Albert in front of everyone, but she also scolded him when he was being stubborn, which impressed Alexia a lot. The Empress was more than willing to give her the position of Crown Princess after hearing all that.

“Fufu, honestly, I was trembling from excitement when she scolded Albert. We sure hit the jackpot with her. I don’t think there’s anyone better for our son, Balt.”

“I agree. You need to have a lot of guts to say all of that in front of us. She has what it takes to be a good Empress in the future.”

To be a good Empress, one needed to be a good adviser and show a lot of compassion to others, all of which were qualities that Leonora had in abundance, so the two royals didn’t have anything to complain about their soon to be daughter-in-law… however, there was someone who wasn’t really all that happy about this arrangement–

“Sorry to break your little bubble, Your Majesties, but I don’t think I can accept this engagement between the two.”

–And that person was Emilia.

“Eh…!? Why…!? I-I thought their marriage was already settled…!?” – Asked Alexia, in a shocked tone, as she turned to look at the Marchioness.

For any noble family, marrying into nobility was a huge deal and a great honor, not to mention that Albert and Leonora were already in love with each-other, so Alexia couldn’t really understand what made Emilia so dissatisfied.

“Why? You dare ask me why, Your Majesty? Because I think the answer to tha is quite obvious. I just can’t trust you two, after you guys tested my granddaughter’s integrity in such a nasty way. She even started crying. You two should feel ashamed of what you did.” – Said Emilia, with a frown, as she glared at the two.

“”!?!?!?””

Emilia von Harkenberg was a model for many noble women because she was always polite with everyone, even with the worst of people, so seeing her drop all of that just to reprimand them, made Balthazar and Alexia panic a lot, after all, the Marchioness wasn’t an opponent that they could deal with alone. She was literally the last boss in terms of political power, and they managed to anger her, which was frightening, to say the least. So the two quickly bowed their heads and apologized as best as they could.

“”We’re sorry Lady Harkenberg, please, forgive us! We’ll never do that again!””

However, even with the two rulers literally begging for her forgiveness, Emilia didn’t concede. She just casually hid her mouth behind her fan and stared at them with a worried look in her eyes.

“Leonora is my precious granddaughter, you know? There’s no way I can forgive you two with such a simple apology. Your son even showed her face to the people. How can I rest easy after that? Now everyone knows how cute she is. A∼ah, what should I do, I wonder? I’m afraid something really bad will happen to her when I’m not looking. Hmmm, I’ll probably have to upgrade the security around her, don’t you two think so?”

Anyone, no matter how dumb or intelligent, could understand what Emilia was trying to imply with that statement. In short, since Albert did something that placed Leonora’s life in danger, she wanted some help to protect her granddaughter, which Alexia was more than willing to provide, after all, she wanted Leonora to join the royal family at all costs.

“I think so as well, Lady Harkenberg. Bianca told me everything about Leonora’s past, so I promise you I’ll do my best to protect her as her future mother-in-law.”

“Oh my, is that so? I feel honored to hear that from someone as great as you, Your Majesty, but… how exactly are you going to do that?”

“How? Oh, please, Lady Harkenberg, she’s my soon to be daughter-in-law, so it’s obvious that I’ll assign the entire Royal Guard to protect her at all times. You won’t have to worry about anything with them by her side, I assure you.”

To maintain the entire Royal Guard of the Empire for a month, a small country would need to use at least a year’s worth of their military budget… and Alexia was willing to lend that to a single person.

Needless to say, but Klaus was really surprised to hear that. He wasn’t expecting the Empress to go that far. However, to Emilia, that was just the beginning of the “real” negotiation.

“Oh my! The entire Royal Guard? That’s indeed a lot of people, Your Majesty. But I still think that’s not quite enough to protect her…? Well, I’m probably just being a bit too overprotective, like usual, however, I need to make sure she only gets the best of the best.”

“No, no, you’re not being overprotective at all, Lady Harkenberg. I can understand your worries, so how about I give her an entire division * of the best knights we have?” ( *Tl/n: 10-15.000 people.)

This time, both Klaus and Balthazar choked on their teas. Not even a well off country could employ an entire division of the best knights of the Empire for a month. That amount of people was clearly too much for single girl… but neither of the two husbands felt like they could interrupt their wives negotiation to say that, so they just kept quiet.

“An entire division, huh? That’s really tempting… but we won’t be able to deploy them at a moment’s notice, right?”

“Hmm… then how about a unit * of the best assassins we have? They can be deployed really fast, so I think you’ll like them.” ( *Tl/n: 10-40 people.)

“Hoho∼? An entire unit worth of assassins, huh? That’s indeed a lot more tempting–”

Alexia stemmed from a family of Dukes that controlled almost every single spy and assassin of the country, so she could easily get her hands on some of them for Emilia… however, that wasn’t enough to satisfy the Marchioness.

“–But I have another idea–”

Emilia only wanted the best of the best for her precious granddaughter, so she wouldn’t put an end this negotiation until she got exactly what she wanted. Although, to Klaus, that had stopped being a true negotiation a long time ago. This was more of an extortion than anything else.

(If she really wanted to break their engagement, she would’ve done so already. Emilia isn’t the type of person to waver like this. She must have a really good reason to act like that.)

A while ago, Klaus found a small diary in their bedroom… and inside the diary, there was a fifty page list of what Emilia wanted to do before Leonora finally married someone. That’s why Klaus knew his wife wouldn’t break their granddaughter’s engagement so easily, after all, one of the things on her to-do list was to find a good bug repellent for Leonora. In other words, she wanted to use Albert to keep other guys away from their granddaughter.

(Haah∼, thank god I’m her husband. She becomes really scary when she wants something.) – Thought Klaus, as he looked at his wife’s face with a relieved look on his face.

Klaus wasn’t just a seasoned warrior, he was also considered to be one of the best generals of the Empire… but not even he could win against Emilia when she was like that.

“–There is someone even stronger working for the crown, right? I want him protecting my granddaughter… . ”

With a just her fan an a smile, the Marchioness of the Harkenberg household managed to wrap the Emperor and the Empress of the Weiz Empire around her fingers.