The King's Funeral
The King's Funeral
News of the King's death spread far and wide.
Shops closed their doors, flags were lowered to half-mast, and bells tolled to mourn the King's passing.
Messengers galloped out from the capital in every direction, and upon hearing the news, lords and nobles set out for the capital.
From the very first day, countless people came to the royal palace to mourn the King's death.
They ranged from the two princes to the elderly of the slums.
The nobles entered the central hall to mourn the King's death, while the commoners and the poor offered prayers outside the castle walls and at the temples.
The second day was no different.
Shops remained closed, and flowers left in mourning for the King piled up beneath the castle walls.
And then came the third day.
The two princes were nowhere to be seen in the central hall.
On the fourth day, the number of mourners dropped drastically.
Though many commoners still stood outside the royal palace offering prayers, the nobles of the two princes' factions no longer appeared in the hall.
The fifth day.
Now, apart from the nobles arriving from outside the capital, very few nobles visited the central hall.
The sixth day.
Even the royal relatives who had kept vigil withdrew, and the central hall grew quiet.
As the days passed, the Queen and the Princess were increasingly the only ones left to keep watch over the coffin.
Except when I was sleeping or eating, I stayed by the Princess's side constantly.
Since I was her escort knight, it was only natural.
As time passed, the Queen and the Princess, who had been grieving the King's death, also began to prepare for the future.
It was late in the evening, and only a maid and the knights guarding the door remained.
The Queen called for me as I stood in the corner of the hall. The Princess had stepped away for a moment.
When I approached and bowed my head, the Queen stared intently at me.
"When we first met, you still looked so young... but you've grown so much in the year and a half since then."
I was nearly seventeen. Though a little baby fat still lingered on my face, even I thought I looked mature enough to be called an adult now.
Without answering, I waited for the Queen to continue.
"Thank you for protecting and helping the Princess all this time. You've been a far greater help than I anticipated."
When she said that, I bowed my head once more.
It was excessive praise coming from the Queen of a nation.
I had to respond carefully to this kind of praise.
"It was my duty, and I merely kept my promise."
At my reply, the Queen's expression clouded slightly.
The promise I had initially made to the Queen was to protect the Princess until her graduation.
I had only intended to protect her within the Academy, but as we went about our lives, I ended up traveling to various places with her.
It was nothing to regret, nor did I have any intention of regretting it, but a promise was a promise.
There was now less than a year and a half left until the Princess's graduation.
That meant the promise had only a year and a half left, too... No, given the current situation, it seemed unlikely that the Princess would be able to attend the Academy properly from then on.
It was also uncertain whether the Academy would even continue to operate in the future.
Did that mean the promise would soon be over?
"Would it be too much to ask you to continue serving as her escort knight in the future?"
"Yes."
Even though I was standing before the Queen, I had to make this clear.
At my firm response, the Queen let out a sigh.
My reply was unbecoming of a noble, but the Queen couldn't bring herself to get angry.
Instead, the Queen bowed her head.
"Then, please help the Princess for just the next year and a half—the period that would have remained until her graduation."
I couldn't refuse this request outright.
Because, although it had changed slightly, it wasn't much different from the initial request.
But I couldn't simply accept it blindly, either.
Because the year and a half the Queen was talking about was entirely different from a year and a half spent as an Academy student.
On top of that, there were things I needed to do and things I wanted to do.
The things I had planned to do after graduating from the Academy.
To make sure those plans weren't disrupted, one thing was absolutely necessary.
And that was...
"I will grant you a title. A territory and a peerage solely for Young Lord Alex, completely independent of the Duke's estate."
...I needed a title of my own.
At words that perfectly mirrored my thoughts, I stared at the Queen without realizing it.
I must have looked a little foolish.
Seeing my reaction, the Queen chuckled softly.
"I asked Aisha: What does the Young Lord need most? What does the Young Lord desire?"
I was dumbfounded.
How on earth had she figured it out? I had only just thought of it myself not long ago.
"Aisha told me that to cast off the shackles of being an illegitimate son and break free from your family, you would need a house of your own, Young Lord."
A noble who possessed both territory and a title was an entirely different kind of noble.
Within that territory, one was like a king, capable of waging territorial wars against other domains to seize land and passing down the title and land to one's children.
One could establish a knights' order and maintain military forces.
Above all else, no one would ever be able to mock me as an 'illegitimate son' again.
"As soon as the funeral is over, I will draw up a contract under the names of the Princess and me. Once it's signed, no one will be able to overturn this promise."
To think she would go so far as to offer a contract. It seemed it would be difficult to refuse the Queen's offer.
If I showed my full capabilities, the two princes might offer to grant me a title as well.
It was already the kind of promise the princes tossed around to gather people, and...
But the princes never signed contracts with anyone.
Because once they bound themselves to a contract, they couldn't offer the same reward to someone else.
Since both of them had to gather as many people as possible, they had to make reckless promises, and no matter who won, more than half of those promises would likely go unfulfilled.
Just like the stories in history, some would be boiled alive like hunting dogs whose chase had ended, while others would cling to the new king for only a pittance of a reward.
The Queen—no, the Princess—trusted me that much, and it also meant she relied on me to that extent.
At any rate, now that things had come to this, it seemed I would have to enter into a new contract.
After I nodded, the Princess, who had stepped outside the hall, came back in.
It seemed she hadn't left because she had business to attend to, but rather to give me space so she wouldn't interfere with my decision.
As time passed, the central hall of the royal palace grew quieter still.
Secret meetings and rendezvous among the nobles grew more frequent, and the two princes hatched countless schemes; in inverse proportion, fewer and fewer people came to visit the deceased King.
Time passed, and on the tenth day after the King's death, a noble from a distant land arrived in the capital. It was the Duke of Gracia and his heir, Young Lord Simon.
The Duke stood beside the coffin where the King lay for a long time before speaking with the Queen.
Perhaps they had erected a soundproof barrier, because their conversation could not be heard.
Instead, I found myself talking with Brother Simon, who had accompanied the Duke.
"Fascinating. I never imagined you'd be standing in a place like this."
Though I was here because of the Princess, I never thought I'd end up standing guard over the King's remains.
It was unexpected for me as well.
"Adria worried about you a lot, too. Lady Amanda and your maid also asked me to convey their regards."
Simon spoke to me more casually than before.
Whether it was because he was married or because his inheritance of the ducal title was certain, I couldn't tell.
While it wasn't bad that he was easier to deal with than before, hearing him say 'Lady Amanda' was unpleasant.
To call my mother by her name simply because she wasn't a noble.
That might have been natural for Simon, but it wasn't for me.
Once again, I couldn't help thinking of the Queen's proposal.
If I wanted to ensure my mother was never looked down upon, I absolutely needed a title.
When I didn't respond, the conversation soon came to an end.
Fortunately, the Duke had also finished his conversation and was coming this way.
"I heard you made a promise to help the Queen and the Princess."
"It's not a matter of helping; it's a contract. One that ends in a year and a half."
I corrected the Duke's words.
I felt Simon, standing beside him, startle at my response.
"Right, a contract. In any case, since you made a promise, you must keep it. Then do you also know why I've come? I heard the Queen didn't tell you. Surely you don't think I came merely to mourn the King."
Is this another test?
I felt there was no longer any need for me to undergo such tests.
"You must have come to attend the Council after the funeral is over."
The Duke nodded with a satisfied expression.
But I wasn't satisfied yet.
"And at that gathering, you'll nominate the Princess as the new ruler. You must have joined forces with the Queen for that very purpose."
Brother Simon gasped in surprise at my words. It seemed he hadn't known.
The Duke stared at me in silence.
His face remained as expressionless as before, but this time, it seemed neither unsettling nor intimidating.
It was just an ordinary face.
The Duke, who had been staring at me, opened his mouth.
"I thought you were only focused on your schoolwork and escort duties, but you seem to know quite a few things."
"I have a good source of information."
I glanced subtly at the maid standing behind the Queen.
A believer in the Celine Cult and an informant, she had been my source, keeping me updated on news from outside all this time.
After the Duke of Gracia arrived and the nobles from distant lands had all gathered, only the final step of the King's funeral remained.
The entombment. It was the act of placing the coffin in the royal mausoleum behind the palace.
On that day, the procession heading toward the royal mausoleum was incredibly grand.
The priests' solemn rites and the procession of countless nobles were so magnificent and beautiful that the ceremony would easily rank among the grandest royal funerals of any king.
Yet for all its outward grandeur, the King's entombment was profoundly lonely.
Because neither the nobles nor his family were thinking about the deceased King.
Everyone was so preoccupied with the Council that would take place in a few days that they paid no mind to the dead King.
Thus, the grand yet lonely entombment came to an end.
And two days later, the nobles gathered once more at the royal palace.
The Council to decide who would be the next king began.
Hundreds of nobles gathered in the central hall, where the King's remains had rested just days earlier.
The very nobles who had come here not long ago to mourn the King's death were now taking their seats, their faces filled with greed.
In the highest seats among the assembled nobles sat the royals and high-ranking aristocrats.
The Second Prince sat beside the center, while Princess Aisha and the Duke of Gracia sat on the opposite side.
I, too, was present at this grand gathering.
As an illegitimate son without a title, I wouldn't dare dream of taking one of those seats, of course.
Thanks to my position as the Princess's escort knight, though, I was able to stand at the back of the hall alongside the knights guarding the Council.
"What a complete shitshow."
A grumbling voice came from beside me.
It was the Knight Commander.
"I take it things aren't going well for you?"
At my question, the Knight Commander let his frustrations spill out.
"It's not just a mess. I thought things would settle down once I returned, you know? But instead of settling down, it feels like I've made things even worse. The order is about to split in half—no, into three factions."
The Knight Commander scratched his head vigorously.
Fearing dandruff might fall on me, I subtly stepped aside.
"Neutrality my ass. If you don't pick a side, you just end up as prey. Dammit, if there's really no other way, I might have to side with the Princess."
The Knight Commander had said it as if it were a joke, but I answered with complete seriousness.
"Do not forget those words. Ever."
The moment my words ended,
Bang!
The doors of the hall burst wide open as though someone had smashed them.
And then, the Crown Prince walked in.
At last, the person who was meant to occupy the empty seat at the center of the hall, in front of where the Knight's Sword hung, had arrived.
Now, all the actors were gathered in one place.
The First Prince and the Second Prince, the Princess and the Duke of Gracia.
And even me, Alex.
Now it was time for the curtain to rise.