CH 129

Leaving the collapsing Duke Nassam and the stunned Second Queen Amelie behind, the situation progresses as planned. The perpetrator, Kaspar, as well as the scapegoat butler Andre who came forward as the mastermind, were both arrested and taken away.

Also, the soldiers who jumped out of this room will send messengers to various places, and their prior orders will be carried out one after another. By now, they are probably raiding and watching every location of interest before the evidence is destroyed or the perpetrators go on the run.

This case was originally supposed to be this way. I didn’t explain how to do it, but I already informed King Wilhelm that I would condemn House Nassam and Amelie for their sins and bring them to justice. And in order to prevent the destruction of evidence and the escape of those involved, troops were prepared to move to various locations ahead of time, and they were supposed to jump to action immediately when the last message was received.

Of course, I didn’t think that the Second Queen Amalie or Duke Johann von Nassam themselves could be arrested or charged. However, it would be unreasonable to say that the butler, Andre, had done it alone. As long as Andre confessed, both the Siegen Marquisate and the Nassam Duchy will be searched and the people involved will be arrested.

It’s not a full-fledged home raid. No, well, it’s a story about what’s the difference between a full-scale house raid and something like that… but I’m not going to investigate the back books to find out any other sins. All that is required is to seize documents related to this incident and arrest those involved.

Even that alone would be a considerable amount of damage, but it would still be better than the back books seeing the light of day. And because they know that if they catch those, the dust will come flying up as the country fractures, so the Crown doesn’t corner the criminals that badly.

I and Alexandra have some thoughts on the matter. There is also a feeling that we can not forgive such people when we think that they will live carefree from now on. I don’t have much of a bond with Nikolaus, but for Alexandra, he was her one and only father. If my father was killed by these guys, I don’t have the confidence that I’d be able to control my anger.

Despite that, I think Alexandra silently watching the situation is amazing. If it were me, I would definitely be protesting about Duke Nassam and Queen Amalie. Even though it was years ago, I would still be frustrated.

By the way, Higgs, the other criminal, is in the custody of House Carruthers in the royal capital, but now he will be handed over to the Kingdom Garrison. It’s the Kingdom of Ploiss that is running the investigation, not us. That’s why we can’t just leave the culprit in our custody.

Mulgy is supposed to be missing, but he’s probably already been erased. There should be an investigation into him as well, so if anything is found, we should be notified.

The nobles who thought they had come to chat with the King, but ended up witnessing an unprecedented incident, all had stiff faces.

I guess that’s a matter of course. They’ve even seen the truth behind the fraud and assassination plot, both ordered by the Second Queen and a Duke. Everyone here must have thought that both Amalie and Johann were completely guilty. However, due to the King’s kindness, they were clearly not accused of conspiracy to commit murder, but their crime was clearly exposed and they were punished, albeit a little. This is a big event that can be called a kind of political upheaval

While the soldiers and people who serve the royal family are busy cleaning up the waiting room, we can’t move on our own, so we’ll wait for a while. I was surprised at what Helmut told me then.

Apparently, that butler named Andre was a very important person in House Nassam. Because he didn’t have any other substitutes, Duke Nassam was forced to pin him as the culprit and get him killed. It seems that the damage to House Nassam is greater than I thought.

The fact that Andre is arrested means that a considerable number of Andre’s protégés will also be implicated, and House Nassam’s family servants will not be able to escape the devastation.

If he had the time and other people, he would have never offered up Andre’s head. In that sense, it was fortunate that House Nassam received unexpected damage… right? Rather, I feel like I created an unnecessary grudge.

Duke Nassam would have only gotten angry if someone had been arrested but it was a pawn slated for sacrifice. But if an important subordinate is arrested and there is no way he’s getting out of that situation, it seems that Duke Nassam’s resentment is considerable. I’m shocked and dumbfounded now, but will it end quietly like this? I don’t think so…

Well, nothing to do but accept it happened. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen, and I can only guess what Duke Nassam will do in the future. I don’t intend to be counterattacked without doing anything, but it’s meaningless if I’m the only one thinking about it. If it’s about my opponent, I need to see how the opponent moves.

The case wasn’t settled cleanly, but even so, the Nikolaus assassination case reached a turning point. Beside me is Alexandra. Let’s just take Alexandra back into custody like this.

Finally, the cleanup is over, and everyone returns to the venue of the evening party. We can’t just leave the organizers and the King absent from the party forever.

When I got close to the venue, for some reason I was taken upstairs with the King. The other nobles have returned to their original places. Why am I the only one being taken to the second floor where Amelie is in addition to Wilhelm and Dietrich?

Moreover, for some reason, I was standing side by side with the royal family and looked up to by the nobles. What? Why am I being exposed to the crowds like this? I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen.

“I have news for everyone who gathered here tonight!”

When Wilhelm raised his voice, the participants fell silent. The reason for this event has not yet been announced. And Amelie was going to blow up the social circles with Alexandra’s marriage, but it failed.

As a result, the pretext of today’s evening party has disappeared, but that doesn’t mean they can admit it was for nothing. If you’ve gone this far, you need to declare a purpose, whether it’s a lie or a makeshift excuse. The King is about to announce it now. I was nervous as I wondered what he was going to say as I focused my attention.

“First of all, I hereby declare that Third Prince Ludwig will be the Crown Prince!”

“”””Oh!”””””

………… Huh?

Prince Ludwig? Why? Isn’t Ludwig the Third Prince? What of the First Prince or Second Prince? Or rather, since Ludwig won’t succeed to the throne, wasn’t he chosen to be just the right person to be married to House Carruthers? It wouldn’t be good if someone who would be on the throne got engaged to someone like me…

Hey, hey, hey…! What does this mean? I understand that it is a marriage to make the royal family and House Carruthers related. However, no matter how much the family rank is the highest among the margraviates, the Margraviate of Carruthers is not particularly high when viewed among the nobles in the Kingdom of Ploiss. It would be politically unwise to marry such a House to the next King.

I knew there would be many objections to my engagement with Ludwig. But I thought it was still allowed because he was the third prince who wouldn’t succeed to the throne after all, and I’m a rural girl from the frontier. But it wasn’t so. Ludwig was originally the prime candidate for the position of Crown Prince. Is that Ludwig engaged to me, the daughter of a margraviate? No matter how you think about it, you can’t imagine that the surroundings will stay silent. I don’t want any more trouble!

“And I would like to formally announce Prince Ludwig’s fiancée,” Wilhelm said. “She will be Lady Flo—iiii…!”

““““Oh!…………oh?”””””

That idiot Wilhelm started saying unnecessary things, so I hurriedly grabbed his earlobe and pulled him away. Take him behind the curtain. Did I not know that the nobles are a little noisy from surprise? I don’t care about that.

What did this guy say just now? He definitely tried to say “Flora”, didn’t he? This is not my self-consciousness or misunderstanding or anything like that. Or, even if that were the case, it should absolutely be stopped. If my name were to appear in such a place by mistake, it would be irreversible.

I finally stopped Alexandra’s marriage announcement, but it would be meaningless if I had to go through the same ordeal.

“Par-don me? What were you trying to say just now?” I asked slowly.

“That hurts, you know…?” Wilhelm said. “Naturally, you are Ludwig’s fiancée. I was going to officially announce his engagement to you, Flora Charlotte von Carruthers.”

LIKE HELL YOU WILL….! It would be a disaster if you did that! Even though I’m still a fiancée, it’s not officially announced or made public. Even so, it would be a terrible thing to announce such a thing at the same time as Ludwig’s becoming Crown Prince at an event like this!

“Your Majesty…… if from now on, you declare my engagement to His Highness Ludwig without my consent, I will take it as a declaration of war against me. Are we clear?”

“We’re clear…” Wilhelm said. “We’re clear, please don’t look so terrifying.”

Do you think I want to be making this scary face…? I want to spend my days laughing, too… but I guess I’m in trouble because someone brings me one problem after another!

“But… do you hate marrying Ludwig that much?” Wilhelm said.

No good… Wilhelm is asking such a thing with a serious face. Was it too blatant?

To be honest, I hate it. I don’t want to marry a man But I don’t think anyone other than me will know. It doesn’t matter if you like or dislike Ludwig, whether you’re a royal family or a margraviate family. It’s just that I simply don’t like marrying a man.

If I could understand this feeling, would it be Claudia who would most likely understand it, too? I think Claudia has some kind of gender identity disorder. They seem similar, but there are fatal differences. In that case, Claudia’s sensibility and way of thinking would probably be similar to mine.

Well, even Claudia wouldn’t understand my feelings as a former man, and I wouldn’t understand the pain of having a gender identity disorder either. Our situations look alike but are fatally different. If we get a doctor to diagnose us, both I and Claudia might be diagnosed with gender identity disorder or something like that…

“It is not a question of whether I like Prince Ludwig or hate him,” I said. “He decided to marry me in such a hurry. I met him only during one day, no, half, even. Is marrying me really so beneficial to him?

Wilhelm nodded his head while he stroked his beard. I feel the nuance of a grandpa looking at his grandchildren with a smile. Wilhelm and I would be about a parent and child at most, and if we add the previous life, there shouldn’t be much difference between me and Wilhelm in total age… I wonder what this mental immaturity of mine is…

“I understand that you’re not only thinking about what’s best for Ludwig, not just what’s best for Ploiss,” Wilhelm said. “In other words, Ludwig should not decide to marry in haste and find a better partner before making a decision, I’ll tell him to do just that.”

Hmm? I didn’t mean to think that far, but I guess there are plenty of other people who are more suitable than me, so I guess it’s close in the sense that he should choose someone more suitable.

“I understand,” Wilhelm said. “Then, let’s not announce an engagement until both you, Flora, and Ludwig are satisfied.”

He nodded to himself as if he’d reached a revelation then went out of the curtain again. I silently followed him.

“Ah~…” Wilhelm sighed. “I’d like to announce that I will formally decide on Ludwig’s fiancée soon. We will announce it as soon have found someone who is suitable to be the Crown Prince’s wife.”

“”“Awww……”””

The venue’s voltage was clearly killed due to the King’s half-hearted announcement. But I don’t care, do I? Is it unbearable to announce an engagement without permission in a place like this, isn’t it?

I wondered why I was taken upstairs, but I guess they were going to announce it and see my face. Oh no, oh no. On the contrary, I was able to stop it thanks to being there. Thanking myself for my good luck, I returned to the venue.

After that, I enjoyed the evening party with Mikoto and Alexandra for a while. I don’t think Alexandra is in the mood to enjoy it, but no, that’s why the two of us tried to cheer her up.

It’s the first time I’ve ever had such a lively party. Since my social debut, I haven’t had many good memories in my social circles. But today was the hardest but also the most fun evening party of my life. It’s all thanks to Mikoto and Alexandra.

“Well then, shall we go home?” I asked.

“Yes,” Mikoto said.

“Okay,” Alexandra said.

As the evening party comes to an end, we decide to go home. So finally…

“Welcome back, Alexandra”

“-! Yes, Flora!”

After hearing my words, Alexandra’s eyes filled with tears, and when she answered cheerfully, she jumped into my chest again. Finally… I can finally feel Alexandra’s warmth in my hands. I’m glad we were able to get it back safely.

“Then let’s go pick up Lady Gabriella, shall we?”

“Yes!” Alexandra cried.

Alexandra came in a House Nassam carriage and planned to return in it, too. So I put her in my carriage and leave for Manor Nassam. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about safety because we’ve already got Kingdom Garrison soldiers who raided the place, but Alexandra will want to see her mother as soon as possible. We should make sure she’s safe.

It was a tightrope walk somehow due to some unexpected things, but we were able to get Alexandra and her mother back as planned, and we were smiling as we rode in the carriage.