CH 51

The Royal Palace in the castle of King Renalute. There was a knock at the door of chamber.

Elias, the king of Renalute, answered.

Then a soldier entered, bowed, and spoke.

Master Norris wishes to see Your Majesty. May he ?"

The soldier's words stopped Elias, who was working paperwork at his desk in his chambers, and his expression turned grim.

Norris is one of the most powerful and influential members of the Renalute nobility, and he knows about the secret agreement between Magnolia and Renalute.

He is also humiliated by the fact that his country has become a vassal state, and he is planning to become an equal to Magnolia somehow.

Unfortunately, Renalute is not a nation of one-size-fits-all.

Various factions will inevitably emerge.

The faction that Norris is leading is the most problematic faction in Renalute, but it is Norris' presence that keeps it steady.

Therefore, Elias has also accepted that a little bit of poison is inevitable.

Recently, however, Norris seems to be getting a little carried away.

Perhaps the presence of Elias's son, Lacis, is a major factor.

Lacis' mother is Queen Liesel, who is related to Norris by blood.

Incidentally, Princess Farah and Prince Lacis are half-brothers.

Because of the low birth rate of dark elves, the royal family is monogamous.

The queen is the first woman to bear a child.

Because of the low birth rate, even if the queen is chosen first, there will inevitably be cases in which a child will be carried by a female consort.

However, in order to keep the royal bloodline going, polygamy could not be avoided.

As a result, it was decided that the queen would be the first woman to bear a child.

Elias also followed this trend and was blessed with two children, Lacis and Fara, as a result of monogamy.

However, due to a secret agreement made during the Barsto Crisis, it was decided immediately after her birth that Fara would marry into Magnolia.

As a result, the only royal child left in the country is Lacis, who is related to Norris by blood.

The content of the secret agreement was, of course, information that only a few people knew.

Therefore, Norris began spreading rumors using the members of his faction from a certain time when Fara had become a little older.

"The princess is going to be married into Magnolia, isn't she?　Isn't that what she is being trained for?"

In fact, Fara's mother, Eltia, knew that her child would marry into Magnolia, and began educating her from an early stage.

It is not hard to imagine that this contributed to the credibility of the rumor from those who were unfamiliar with the secret agreement.

Lacis, who would remain in the country, would eventually become king.

Those who saw this scenario came to join Norris's faction.

Then there is the issue of Fara's marriage.

Magnolia has no advantage in making the princess of a vassal state a regular wife of the crown prince.

Fara is a hostage for the sake of strengthening relations from the perspective of Magnolia.

That is why a frontier count and his son came as a candidate for this marriage.

although it is said that he is a candidate, in fact, it is as if it has been decided.

When a letter arrived from Magnolia saying that a candidate would be visiting, Norris and the other members immediately bit on the letter's contents.

The letter read, "The candidate is a member of the royal family or an equivalent member of the nobility, but it is correct to say that the candidate should be a member of the nobility if there is a problem with the royal family. Isn't Magnolia taking our country and its Princesses lightly?"

Norris' faction responded to this.

Elias held his head in his hands.

In the first place, Renalute had become a vassal state under Magnolia.

At that point, Renalute could not say anything just because it was treated lightly.

It is true that Elias himself does not want to give the princess to Magnolia.

But Elias is a king.

In order to protect his own people, he had to make a choice as a king, not as a person.

It was a painful decision for that very reason.

Norris and his men, who should have known this, were not only saying they were doing it for the sake of their country, but also for the sake of their own pride, and the prince and the princess.

They are also trying to drag the son of the frontier count of Magnolia into this.

"I think it may be time to make a move," Elias muttered quietly to himself.

The soldier who had just entered the room looked at Elias again and spoke as if to confirm his words.

He looked at Elias again and said, "...... your majesty, how is Master Norris?"

'Ah, send him through ....... Norris is the only one. Let no one else in."

"Yes, Your Majesty'.

Elias let out a sigh and instructed the soldier to bring Norris into the chambers.

The soldier replied, bowed, and immediately left the chambers.

Then, Norris slowly entered the office.

Norris seemed to be in a bit of a sour mood, perhaps dissatisfied that he had to wait so long.

Your Majesty, I see that the Bardia family has entered the guest house today Have they already greeted you?"

They got a long carriage ride ahead of me, you know?　Besides, I myself am busy. We have our own preparations to make, and I've told them that beforehand, okay?"

Nodding "hmm" at Elias' words, Norris said in a disgruntled voice.

"I understand what you are saying, Your Majesty. But still, it would be polite to come and greet them. After all, I must say that the son of a frontier count is not a fitting partner for a princess."

Elias thinks to himself that he has a strong temper.

But maybe he could cut Norris a break.

Such a thought comes out of his stomach, but he suppresses it.

Elias muttered in his mind, "Be calm, "

Then he looked at Norris and said.

'Norris, I've heard your claims a lot in meetings. Did you really come here to say that?　To hold up the king's paperwork?"

Elias was calmly letting his anger leak out.

Norris, as expected, was not about to let him get any angrier, and he began to get to the point in a hurry.

"I'm sorry, too. The other day, we were talking about this matter at the meeting, but may I take the lead on this?"

"I was wondering if I could handle it. Norris, I told you I would leave it to you."

At the recent meeting, Elias made a certain slip of the tongue.

Norris consistently wanted the princess to be married to the Magnolia royal family.

Elias could not very well say such a thing now that the country had become a vassal state.

While he kept saying that it could not be possible, he said, "Unless there is a problem with the son of the frontier count.

Norris, who did not miss a sound of these words, began to say that he would confirm in a roundabout way that the son of the frontier count would be a good match for the princess.

Those in Norris's faction agreed with him.

When they had no choice but to give their permission, they finally did so after reminding the son of the frontier count that there would be no disrespect to him.

Norris listened to Elias's words and said with a look of satisfaction on his face.

'Thank you very much. I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's expectations. Now, if you'll excuse me."

When he had finished everything he wanted to confirm and say, he left the office.

"Nobody expects anything from you You're a fool. ......"

After Norris left the room, Elias looked at the door as he walked out.

He let out a loud sigh and went back to his paperwork.

◇ ◇.

After the conversation with Elias was over, Norris came out of his chambers with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Now I can give the hated Magnolia a good shake."

"I will surely make the Princess the wife of a member of the royal family."

"This would surely help Renalute make a great leap forward as a nation."

Norris did not doubt this.

Elias, the king, is of the opinion that it would be fine if it was the frontier count's son.

However, this is the only long-term way for Renalute, which has become a vassal state, to be on an equal footing with Magnolia.

A marriage between a princess and a prince.

The ranks of the frontier count and the royal family are truly different.

In addition to making the connection between the two countries stronger, if the princess gave birth to a child of royal blood, there is a possibility that a member of Renalute's bloodline would become the ruler of Magnolia.

The country that becomes a vassal state can rise to the top without any direct conflict.

"We must not miss such a wonderful opportunity."

"Absolutely "

Norris had no doubt that what he was doing was for the good of his country.

Then he remembered something.

"I had to remind Prince Lacis of this. "

Norris muttered to himself and left in search of Prince Lacis.