CH 24

Royal Family Inner Palace

Louis the 17th’s mistress, the consort, Antoinette, is ordering her chambermaid around.

「Maria, I want you to deliver this box of candy to Saiget’s residence.」

She held out the chocolates which were inside a beautiful box.

「Uwaa, isn’t it beautiful, just like a jewelry box. It also looks tasty~」

The pretty young girl who’s only around 12 years old, instinctively gulped and swallowed her saliva.

Seeing this, Antoinette smiled wryly.

「You mustn’t, since these are a present for Abel.」

For the sake of getting along with her son who she was living apart from, she had specially handmade them all.

「Su~re.」

Receiving them, the chambermaid Maria had traveled to the nearby family’s estate.

「I have a delivery for Abel-sama~. It’s from Antoinette-sama~」

As per usual, Maria was given free passage into Saiget’s estate.

And the one who had greeted her was a young man with splendidly long and shining blond hair. For some reason, his eyes were covered by his bangs.

「Maria, thank you.」

Unwrapping the box he received, inside were mouth-watering chocolates and a letter.

To my son, Abel:

I want you to know I am terribly sorry for always inconveniencing you,

but I ask for you to be patient just a little while longer.

The Shylock Family, and some other obstinate nobles are opposing me, though I am sure I will become the official queen soon enough.

Once that happens, it will clear the way for you to come out of there,

and take your rightful place under the sun.

Until that day arrives, please, live strongly.

From the letter, deep affection can be felt from his mother Antoinette.

(Mother… I will try my best. Undoubtedly, I believe that there will come a day when I will finally be able to live with you. No I, have already been recognized as the successor to Antoinette. Once I become accepted by the king, I will annihilate those people.)

Abel, who had been carrying the box, started having dangerous delusions. The truth about him is that he was born as an illegitimate child to Antoinette and did not have any idea whom his father was. For his mother’s sake, he was secretly raised in the home of her parents, the Saiget’s family home.

In the Saiget family, Abel had been living his life as if he was a shadow, but he also had a high amount of pride, and for someone with a mind like his, he could not tolerate his current societal standing.

(Someday, I will become a hero and save the world. If I were to do that…)

Because he filled his hand with strength, with a crunching sound, the candy box was suddenly crushed.

「Abel-sama! That is a waste, you know!

「Ah! So-sorry Maria.」

「Mo~ … Since Abel-sama is a powerful person, please be careful, okay?」

Maria laughed brightly as she said so. She is the intermediary for him and his mother, and also his childhood friend. For him, with the exception of his mother, she was the only other person he could trust.

「Now, let’s drink some tea.」

While the tea was being diligently prepared, Abel took a seat.

「Right, ah~n」

「Ah~n」

It seemed Maria was devoted to Abel like a lover.

Several days later, a party was held to mark Eagle’s inauguration as the Prime Minister.

Because the king will also be in attendance, most of the country’s key figures came as well.

Here and there were gatherings of each faction, all lively conversing.

「Kufufu, thanks to Cabinet Minister Soleil-sama, it was possible to make large profits at the festival.」

「Next year we’ll find another pretext and hold another magnificent festival. That’s right, something like “The 300th Anniversary of the 3rd King’s birth.”」

On the right hand side of the party was the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Soleil, and the wealthy merchants happily conversing.

「Antoinette-sama, shall we go to the casino later on?」

「Those clothes are beautiful. Who was it tailored by?」

Then at the center of the hall, were gorgeously dressed ladies elegantly talking. The tall woman at the center is the King’s mistress Antoinette.

Their conversation is mostly about gambling and fashion, and also gossip about things such as adultery.

「The Great Knight Rudolf-sama said that he decided that, because of the high-interest rate taken from the loans by the merchants; it was possible to refinance it to one with no interest and save the country.」

On the left hand side of the party were muscular strong men who wore military knight uniforms congratulating themselves.

Thinking that they had found a clever way to get the country to shoulder their debts, they were feeling completely relieved.

They were people celebrating the spring of this world, but the situation changed shortly after.

That’s because standing on the platform, was the newly appointed Prime Minister, Eagle Shylock.