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Chapter 6 - Regrets and Respective Feelings

While Falty, the new Crown Princess, was grumbling in her room, the Crown Prince, Liam, had been summoned by the King and Queen. He tilted his head, unsure of the reason for the summons, but assumed it was the beginning of his lessons on what he must do to ascend the throne. He proceeded to the King's Office as instructed. After checking his appearance, he knocked, and a voice from within called, "Enter."

"Excuse me," he said as he entered, only to find not just the King and Queen, but a row of ministers lined up as well.

"Father, what is... all this?"

"Liam, first, you will answer our questions."

The King's heavy tone was laced with anxiety and indignation.

"Questions, you say?"

"That is correct."

With a sigh so loud it was almost audible, the Minister of Finance was the first to speak.

"Then, I shall begin. Your Highness, I believe you are already aware that the Crown Princess's budget has been reduced..."

"W-Wait! What is this!"

Though he had just been told to answer questions, Liam cut off the Minister of Finance and shouted, drawing cold stares from everyone present. At the same time, someone muttered, "Ah, as I thought," and the other ministers' grim expressions became even grimmer, the temperature of their cold gazes dropping even further.

Liam, flustered, turned back to the Minister of Finance. "Why is the budget being reduced?!"

"It is a matter of course."

"But why?!"

"When Lady Lupia of the Calmond Ducal Family was the Crown Princess candidate, the ducal family provided a supplement to the budget. His Grace the Duke himself offered it, stating, 'If my daughter is to form a bond with the royal family, then she will require an appropriate level of support.' A considerable sum was prepared for the Crown Princess's budget. Now that Lady Lupia is no longer the candidate, what need does the ducal family have to do such a thing for the royal family?"

"Wh-...?"

"His Grace the Duke cherishes Lady Lupia so dearly that he supplemented her budget from his private funds... Ah... so Your Highness was unaware. Very well. I have a written record of how much was supplemented, so any surplus at this point will be returned immediately."

"Then what will happen to Falty's budget as Crown Princess?!"

"What will happen, you ask?"

"I mean, the amount that was cut!"

"If you wish for her to have the same as the duke's daughter, then the Crown Princess need only rely on her own family."

At the Minister of Finance's cold words, Liam's face turned a chaotic mix of pale and red.

"To place such a burden... on a count's family..."

"Your Highness, why do you speak of the Crown Princess's budget as if it is not simply being restored to normal? It is not as if we have allocated nothing at all. ...Surely you haven't been using the budget that was in place when Lady Lupia was the candidate to give gifts to the Crown Princess, have you?"

Gasp. Seeing the tension seize Liam's expression, everyone in the room thought in perfect unison, Ah, so he did do it.

The King and Queen could only hold their heads in their hands at the situation. Liam, who apparently hadn't expected things to turn out this way, frantically looked around at everyone and continued.

"As vassals! It was to show unchanging loyalty for the future...!"

"You are telling the ducal family to give you money, is that it?"

"Th-... N-no... I mean..."

"That is impossible."

Liam was desperately trying to say something, but the Queen slowly opened her mouth to speak.

"The first reason it's impossible: the Calmond Ducal Family has withdrawn its guardianship of you."

"...B-But why?!"

"Because Lady Lupia is no longer your fiancée. And the second reason: Lady Lupia has already left the main estate for her family's territory to recuperate."

"What...? But I ordered Lupia to handle Falty's Crown Princess education! She must fulfill her duties as a vassal, it would be a problem otherwise! Let us summon Lupia back immediately!"

"Yes... normally, that would be the case. But first, you have neither the right nor the privilege to refer to the duke's daughter by her given name."

"...!"

While they understood the Crown Prince was confused by the stark reality being laid out before him, the one who had created this situation was undoubtedly himself. And Falty, the current Crown Princess. The King and Queen who had condoned it, and the vassals who had agreed to it—from the ducal family's perspective, they were all objects of resentment.

Lupia was held in high regard not only by the main branch of the Calmond Ducal Family but by its branch families as well. This was as a future Crown Princess candidate, of course, but there was another reason: her evaluation as the next Duchess of Calmond. In accordance with the country's law that allowed either men or women to inherit the family title if they had the aptitude, there had been duchesses in the family's history. The same was true for other noble families. And Lupia was a prodigy, capable of handling both her Crown Princess education and her training as the next head of the ducal family concurrently. There was no way her evaluation would be low. The decision the royal family had made regarding such a young lady had angered the entire ducal house.

Letters of protest had been arriving from here and there, from both the main and branch families, all with the same content, as if they had conspired together, though they hadn't: 'We understand that the recent treatment of Lady Lupia is a sign that the royal family has deemed the ducal family unnecessary,' and 'We would ask that you not make a mockery of the Calmond clan.'

Liam, who was only now learning of this, grew pale.

"We were all foolish, of course. The ministers, the nobles... even the students at the academy."

"Th-That's it! If we take Lupia in as a concubine!"

"Are you... an idiot?"

It was a suggestion made as if he had come up with a brilliant idea, but the Queen shot it down. Who did he think would be pleased by that? Moreover, doing so would undoubtedly incur even greater wrath from the ducal family.

"If you did that, the ducal family might just leave our country. You did understand that when you made your suggestion, didn't you?"

"Ugh...!"

This is strange. He didn't think his son had ever been this thoughtless. What on earth had happened? Of course, the same could be said for themselves. Normally, changing the Crown Prince's fiancée would be a lengthy process involving numerous procedures. Yet, they had skipped many of those procedures and rushed the matter forward. And he had a feeling they had done so in a way that made it impossible to reverse. Even he couldn't understand why he had done such a thing.

"It's entirely possible that we had all collectively lost our minds... but there are no traces of strange magic, so the Crown Princess likely did not use any charm spells."

"Falty would do no such thing!"

"I see. Well, let's leave it at that. However, this you must remember."

When the Queen finished, the King continued.

"Whatever the circumstances, our country has thoroughly slighted the Calmond Ducal Family. This is an unshakable fact."

The ministers swallowed hard.

"The Calmond Ducal Family, and the numerous branch families connected to it, are an important house that bears the responsibility of our nation's defense. ...And we have slighted them. Furthermore, we have been incredibly rude to the duke's daughter, who had, until now, fulfilled her role as the Crown Princess candidate perfectly."

"Even if we try to apologize, the ducal family is refusing all contact. None of you are to act on your own."

After giving this firm instruction, the meeting was adjourned. Liam, for the first time, began to wonder if his decision had been a mistake. But his feelings of love for Falty, and his choice to make her the Crown Princess—he couldn't believe it was wrong. In fact, he didn't want to believe it was.