kscans

Chapter 24 - What Happens When You Spit at the Heavens

"Wait! Duke, wait for me!"

He knew it was rude to ignore someone calling out to him. He knew, and yet Aristerios continued to stride through the royal palace with practiced steps, ignoring Liam, who was desperately chasing him from behind. He could hear his name being called over and over, but he paid it no mind.

"Duke Calmond!"

The desperate shouts were gradually getting closer. It seemed Liam had finally realized he couldn't catch up at a normal walk due to their difference in stride and had picked up his pace. But Aristerios had no intention of stopping.

He knew it was a childish thought, but his steps didn't falter. After all, the arrangements he needed to make were finally falling into place. He didn't have the luxury of dealing with the prince.

"I said stop! That's a royal command!"

A shout, as if it were a last resort, echoed through the corridor. They weren't the only two there; the palace was, of course, bustling with all sorts of employees. The crowd stirred, wondering at Aristerios's uncharacteristically abnormal behavior, but the murmuring quickly subsided. There wasn't a soul here who didn't know about the recent troubles between the ducal family and the royal family.

At the shout, Aristerios finally stopped and slowly turned around. Just as Liam rejoiced, thinking he could finally talk, his hope was crushed.

The Duke's gaze was utterly cold. The warmth that had once been directed at him was nowhere to be found.

"...A royal command, you say... It seems you've misunderstood something..."

His voice was just as frigid.

"I wonder if you truly understand the meaning of those words... My, my... how very distinguished you've become."

And then, a look of pure contempt. Liam regretted his words the moment they left his mouth, but it was too late. Besides, even when he had made mistakes before, the Aristerios of the past had never looked at him with such eyes. He used to look at me with such kindness, he almost said aloud, but Aristerios spoke first as if reading his mind.

"This is the result you and your princess consort chose. ...What, precisely, is your complaint?"

"Th-that's..."

"I am merely following the proper procedures, am I not? ...To request a refund for the Crown Princess budget that I had transferred here for my daughter's sake."

"B-but, as Crown Princess..."

"You chose a lady who is not my daughter. The royal family... this country... decided my daughter was unnecessary and cast her aside."

"...Ah, uh..."

Overwhelmed by Aristerios's calm, forceful presence, Liam couldn't form a single word.

"Everything turned out just as you wished. Do you have some further business with my family?"

He wanted to punch the version of himself from moments ago who had planned on complaining. And he desperately wanted to find and confront whoever started the rumor that the Duke didn't care about Lupia.

It was clear the Duke—no, the entire Calmond Ducal Family—cherished Lupia immensely. To an almost unbelievable degree.

"I must now discuss matters with His Majesty, so please state your business briefly."

At those words, Liam snapped back to reality. He had to say why he had gone out of his way to stop the Duke. He understood this in his head, but his mouth wouldn't obey. His voice wouldn't come out.

"...Ah, perhaps... this is about the increased Crown Princess budget my family had arranged for Lupia?"

"...Y-yes, that's it! Because of your unnecessary meddling, my wife and her family are in trouble!"

"Budgeting is the royal family's job, is it not? For what reason do you think I invested my own private funds for my daughter?"

"Eh?"

Liam's eyes went wide. For what reason? He'd never thought about it.

What was the reason? He tried to think. But he was sure it wasn't for some simple, short-sighted 'something'. Yet Liam, living in an environment where being given things was the norm, couldn't imagine it.

"You are aware of the reason for the engagement between yourself and my daughter, are you not?"

"As my... guardian..."

"Yes. 'Just right', is what your father said."

What did he mean by 'just right'? If he were to ask his father, the king, he would probably get a response like, 'What's wrong with choosing a guardian just in case?'

A young lady, chosen by the royal family, rejected by the royal family, and tossed about by the royal family. And by extension, the ducal family.

"Even for such a reason, our family could not refuse a request from the royal family. That is why I deliberately invested my private funds—so she would not be taken lightly."

"What?!"

"Well, she was treated lightly and deemed unnecessary anyway, wasn't she?"

"N-no, that's not true! I have never treated Lupia lightly!"

"Could you please refrain from calling a woman who is not your fiancée by her first name? Your Highness, you already have a wife, do you not?"

An even colder chill emanated from Aristerios.

Liam had already taken Falty as his wife. While the system of concubines wasn't forbidden, Lupia had been removed as his fiancée. She was an existence the royal family had deemed unnecessary. Even if Liam himself didn't think so, that's how everyone else saw it.

"Your Highness, I will have that budget returned, one way or another. I did not donate it to the royal family."

"Do you—do you have any idea what will happen if you continue to insult our royal family like this?!"

"Hahaha, you say the most amusing things."

Aristerios laughed, but it was a bizarre expression, a smile that only touched his lips, his eyes completely devoid of mirth.

"Of course I understand. And since I no longer need my title in this country, it matters little."

The moment he said it, the surrounding crowd erupted in murmurs. He didn't care if he was overheard or blamed. It was of no consequence to him.

Voices saying 'No way' and 'This is bad' could be heard here and there. It seemed they hadn't realized just how furious the ducal family was.

The ones with pale faces were the parents of young ladies who had never even been candidates for Crown Princess and had mocked Lupia when her engagement was broken, along with those who had been swept up in the romance of Liam and Falty. He could also see some who seemed to understand and were disappointed, thinking, Ah, so it's come to this after all.

"Wh-why?"

"Had you followed the proper procedures for this annulment... it would never have come to this."

Aristerios said with a smile, then continued.

"It was the country that abandoned us first. I pray you do not forget that."

His anger seemed to dissipate into thin air. Even if he wanted to be angry, he could offer no rebuttal, as this was a seed of their own sowing.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Aristerios said, turning and walking toward the King's Office. So this is why Father mentioned at breakfast that the Duke was scheduled to visit, Liam now understood.

He had been using the funds the Duke had prepared for Lupia for Falty's sake. A quick look at the budget would make it obvious what the royal family had provided and what had come from the Duke. It was true he'd had the overly naive thought that since Lupia would one day be Crown Princess, this much was acceptable.

During his academy days, meeting so many different people had broadened Liam's world. ...No, it had broadened it too much. And in the wrong direction. Falty, flapping her wings freely and laughing with abandon, had been dazzling, and it didn't take long for her to capture his heart. He had desperately wanted her to be with him forever.

And the result of acting on the incredibly childish idea that if she became Crown Princess, they could be together, was this.

To make matters worse, the sons of barons he had kept by his side as attendants had, with the best of intentions, practically stormed the ducal estate. Falty had called them 'poor things' after they were punished, but that was a terrible mistake. They had done something that never should have happened.

Later, his new aide had told him, 'Your Highness, and you, Your Highness the Princess Consort, we cannot have you acting like students forever. Listen well, you two are to be models for the people from now on. One day, Prince Liam will be King, and Lady Falty will be Queen.' Then, his aide had continued.

"Please understand that from this day forward, you cannot afford to utter such naive excuses as 'I didn't mean it.' It is the people who are swayed and made to suffer by the careless words and actions of royalty."

Lately, his father and mother had started saying the same things. Falty seemed to have finally understood, and he'd heard she was completing her Crown Princess education at a tremendous speed. She was a hard worker and intelligent, so he had expected this, but she had already made far too many blunders.

Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back. And actions cannot be undone. Regaining lost trust is no easy task; in fact, it's uncertain if it can be regained at all. The entire royal family, starting with Liam, had come to realize this firsthand in the time since the wedding, as their actions toward Lupia told the whole story.

First, a young lady's life could have been lost. Fortunately, this was avoided because Lupia underwent Memory Erasing Magic. The King had apparently complained about this, but he was first thoroughly beaten down by the Duke, and then given a severe dressing-down by the Queen.

Next, Liam himself had lost the backing of the Calmond Ducal Family. He had intended to complain about this when he stopped the Duke, but he realized he couldn't have said a thing—and more importantly, that he never had the right to in the first place. ...It was a realization that came far too late.

The fact that the royal family had handled this entire affair in the worst possible way was now causing considerable backlash from the high-ranking nobility. But more than that was what Aristerios, who had just walked toward the King's Office, had said: 'I no longer need my title in this country.' It could only mean one thing.

The Calmond Ducal Family itself was leaving the country. It would be one thing if it were just the main house, but if the branch families left as well, the core of the nation's defense would disappear. That had to be avoided, he thought. But all that filled his mind was the long list of the royal family's blunders.

And the words he had once exchanged with his former fiancée.

"Your Highness, if you cannot understand that words, once spoken, cannot be taken back, then please try spitting at the heavens."

"What are you talking about, Lupia? It would just fall back on me!"

"Yes, and words are the same. Good words will return to you as such, and ill words will return to you with even greater malice."

"That can't be true. You worry too much."

"...Please consider your position, Your Highness, and be more cautious with your words..."

Unable to stand in the middle of the corridor forever, Liam walked listlessly toward his own office. Through his blurring vision, he whispered in the smallest of voices.

"You were right... Lupia."