Published: August 1, 2025
With the “enemy of all” gone, the chapel fell into a deep silence—only to be broken, of course, by the king himself.
Clapping his hands loudly above his head, he declared,
“All right, case closed!”
“Whew! I finally feel refreshed!”
The first to cheer was Princess Reimia. Seeing the princess bounce around in her dress immediately eased the tension in the room. The priest who had been trembling in a corner had somehow returned to his seat among the attendees and was now chatting with the maids of Granado Castle.
“Haha, I have accomplished it! Evil has been driven away! Tonight, it seems we shall drink good wine!”
“I don’t drink alcohol,” came the quiet reply.
“Once in a while, it’s fine! There’s no reason why the maids can’t drink just because the priest does!”
“There are many reasons why neither the priest nor the maids should drink. However, since Lady Marie and the others are not here… even if there were casualties, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Wait, what happens when you get drunk?”
“Yay, a banquet!”
“Um, may we knights also attend this?”
“Actually, the whole knights order knows what happened and has been anxious back at the fortress.”
“That’s fine! Toppo will do his best and cook lots of meals for everyone!”
“Oh, that’s generous of you!”
“Even the knights of the Dilz Kingdom… well, I don’t know.”
I buried my head in my hands. Good grief. This was supposed to be a major incident—full royal family appearance, the exile of the Crown Prince—but no one seemed to feel tense about it. Or rather, they acted like it was someone else’s problem. Just as I thought that, I felt my sleeve tugged gently several times. It was my father, the king.
“You all look so cheerful. May I join you?”
“Is there any reason you should be?”
I couldn’t help but retort, but really, there was no reason not to, was there?
Just then, quietly approaching was Wolfgang, the elderly butler in his formal attire.
“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but we cannot start the banquet just yet. There are still many matters requiring your attention.”
Ah, as expected of the lord of the castle’s butler and partner in managing the Granado trading company—he was reliable.
“So the banquet will be after that. We also have preparations to make for hospitality.”
“Oh, so there will be a banquet. …What work does Father have?”
The butler gave a warm smile in response to my question.
“Yes. First is a meeting with Princess Mylene. We have informed them that the wedding is postponed due to Lord Ruifeng’s health issues, but we must officially annul the engagement with Princess Claudette.”
“Ah… I see. So just withdrawing the princess didn’t convince Mylene after all. She’s not the kind of empress to back down easily—is she okay?”
“She is fine. Master has already taken measures.”
The butler and maid took turns speaking. They explained that negotiations between the Granado trading company and Flaria had been ongoing for some time. However, neither side was willing to concede favorable terms, leaving the talks hanging.
It was Cyrus who finally compromised, accepting the conditions and thus settling the negotiations.
“So that means the Granado trading company is taking a big loss for my sake…”
“No, no, they’re just making less profit. Still, it’s a huge gain. It was a national-budget-level deal from the start. Far more valuable than weapon sales.”
My mouth dropped open.
…Ah, that’s right. Mylene said just that. The payment for weapons was pocket money for Flaria; if the Third Prince came as a bonus, it was cheap—nothing more, nothing less. Lionel was never taken seriously by Flaria from the beginning.
“Next is paperwork. Granting the count title to Norman Smith, born a commoner, requires the king’s approval. After that, he will be adopted by Lady Anastasia, officially making her a count’s daughter.”
“Eh? Wait, didn’t we just tell Lionel that it had already happened?”
“That was a bluff.”