The Council (1)
The Council (1)
The Crown Prince swept through the doors and into the hall, wearing his usual annoyed expression.
He strolled across the hall and took his seat—the Crown Prince's place at the very back, in the center.
"I seriously don't understand why we even need a meeting like this. When the previous king dies, it's only natural for the Crown Prince to become the new king. Can't we just hold the coronation?"
Though he muttered as if to himself, everyone in the hall heard him clearly, perhaps because he had infused his voice with mana.
Everyone's expression soured. Even if he was the Crown Prince, no one could like someone so outrageously arrogant.
Only the Second Prince watched the Crown Prince with an amused expression.
The Crown Prince waved a hand at the royal scribe presiding over the meeting.
"It's a mere formality, but let's get started."
The elderly official rose, bowed to the Crown Prince, and began reading the agenda.
Finally, the Council was underway.
The restless atmosphere settled at once.
Only the presider's voice echoed through the now-quiet hall.
"Then, we shall begin the Carlos Kingdom Council to appoint the new king. First, a memorial for the late king..."
But the presider couldn't even finish his first sentence. The Crown Prince dampened the proceedings right from the start.
"Skip the tedious parts. We've already mourned for two weeks. That's enough. Just get through what's necessary."
"Ah... Then, does anyone object...?"
As he spoke, the old official looked around at the royalty and high-ranking nobles, but no one raised an objection.
"...Since there are no objections, we will proceed directly to the main agenda."
With a gloomy expression, he turned the page.
"Then, we will proceed with the main agenda: the appointment of the Crown Prince, Prince Sergi de Carlos, as the new king. First, the Crown Prince himself will deliver his address."
The Crown Prince rose with a bored expression.
He surveyed the hundreds of nobles gathered in the hall.
At last, his gaze settled on his younger brother, the Second Prince.
"To be honest, no matter what I say here, those who have already made up their minds will start a civil war, bent on tearing this country apart."
The Crown Prince spoke as he looked at the Second Prince, who smiled back at him.
"But if you care about this country, let's make this easy."
The Crown Prince looked away from the Second Prince and swept a hand through the air, miming the act of cutting down the nobles.
"I have no particular objection to sweeping away the opposing nobles and installing new ones in the territories they leave vacant."
The Crown Prince grinned at the nobles.
"We can clear out the stagnant water that's accumulated over time and infuse the country with fresh blood. The beginning of a new country under a new king—how wonderful does that sound?"
The nobles flinched at the bloodthirsty note in the Crown Prince's words.
The smiling Crown Prince shook his head and sighed.
"But everyone knows all too well what state the Kingdom would be left in if we did that. Once the civil war ended, we wouldn't be able to do anything for a long time, because we'd be too busy cleaning up the mess."
As if to conclude his performance, the Crown Prince turned and pointed to the Knight's Sword hanging on the wall.
"Since we all love this kingdom, let's settle this right here, under the gaze of the Knight's Sword."
Without realizing it, everyone turned to look at the Knight's Sword.
The founding king had declared the establishment of this kingdom while driving that very sword into the ground.
Hundreds of years had passed, but reverence for the sword remained in everyone's hearts.
"Impressive."
I couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.
The Knight Commander nodded as well.
"Even though he's the worst Crown Prince in history, that's exactly why he's managed to hold on to his position and gather people around him."
The Crown Prince certainly had charisma.
Whatever his personality or how problematic his behavior might be, this speech struck a chord with everyone.
The many nobles applauding made that clear.
But delivering such a speech didn't mean he could simply become king.
With a troubled expression, the presider stood and announced the next step.
Now, this was where it truly began.
"Normally, the next step would be for the royalty and high-ranking nobles in the line of succession to confirm their choice by a show of hands and proclaim the new king, but..."
It had been done that way ever since the founding king, and there had never been a problem.
But this time, things could not proceed as usual.
That was because of an obsolete regulation established by the founding king.
It stated that if two or more successors possessed Mana Resonance, they must be given a final right to speak before the King was crowned.
The rule had been intended to console a sibling who possessed the same ability but could not become king. Now, though, it was being used for an entirely different purpose.
It meant that another successor with the ability could effectively veto the new king.
Having veto power didn't mean he could bypass the Crown Prince and become king himself.
But to the nobles of this world, justification was paramount.
"Then, before the show of hands, we will first hear from the Second Prince, Duardo de Carlos."
The Second Prince stood and bowed to the nobles.
After finishing his greeting, he looked at the Crown Prince and spoke.
"As your younger brother, it is only natural for me to congratulate Brother on becoming the new king."
His opening words ran counter to everyone's expectations, but no one believed the Prince would end his speech there.
As everyone expected, the Prince continued.
"Unfortunately, various rumors are causing quite a stir in the Kingdom. It would be best for Brother to ascend the throne only after putting those rumors to rest."
Many nobles nodded at the Second Prince's words.
Not all of them belonged to the Second Prince's faction. Some were neutral nobles, and others were even members of the First Prince's faction.
That was how widely the rumors about the Crown Prince had spread throughout the Kingdom.
Rumble.
The Crown Prince chuckled dryly at the Second Prince's words.
His suppressed laughter echoed through the hall.
The Second Prince continued without faltering.
"More than anything, the various rumors surrounding the late first queen are the problem. The absurd rumor that, under the pretext of illness, she left the capital, surrounded herself with other men, and even gave birth to a child."
The temperature in the hall seemed to plummet.
In the dead silence, only the First Prince's suppressed laughter could be heard.
"Because these rumors haven't been cleared up, even Brother has come under suspicion. They even dare to claim that Brother isn't of royal blood."
He spoke as if defending the First Prince, but no one actually believed him.
The Crown Prince was no exception.
Now even the laughter had stopped.
The Crown Prince glared silently at his younger brother.
The Knight Commander sighed.
"Sigh. At this rate, neither side can back down. Is civil war inevitable after all?"
The Second Prince had just burned the last bridge to reconciliation.
Questioning the royal bloodline was a grave enough insult to justify challenging someone to a duel on the spot.
In the end, the First Prince couldn't contain himself and roared.
Though interruptions were strictly forbidden, the presider didn't dare stop him.
"Are you saying that even though you know I possess 'Mana Resonance'!"
For someone so enraged, it was a surprisingly logical point. The Second Prince, though, casually brushed off the First Prince's fury.
"Exactly. That's why I called it a rumor."
The Second Prince turned to look at the nobles.
"Believing we had to correct these rumors before they spread any further, I conducted an investigation of my own."
At the mention of an investigation, the First Prince snorted.
He seemed that confident.
But the smirk vanished from his face at the Second Prince's next words.
"Admittedly, because it happened so long ago, no one knew the full details. But I did find out where it took place, and to uncover the truth, I declared a territorial war on that domain."
I was shocked, too.
He actually found out? By tracking it down?
While I was still reeling, the First Prince flew into a rage.
"What did you say?"
"It couldn't be helped. Viscount Morena kept hiding everything. We'll just have to verify it by force through a territorial war."
Perhaps thinking he had seized the upper hand, the Second Prince continued with a smirk.
"Yesterday, a territorial war was declared on the Morena Territory. The Viscount, lord of the neighboring Murasen Territory, went to great lengths to make this happen."
Come to think of it, Viscount Murasen was nowhere to be seen. Several nobles who followed the Second Prince were missing, too.
Could it be that it had already begun?
"How dare you!"
"There's no reason for Brother to be so angry. I heard you've been associating with Viscount Morena lately, but surely you aren't that close, are you?"
The First Prince's speech had been surprising, but the Second Prince's scheme was no joke, either.
He had turned the tables by declaring a territorial war because he couldn't fully uncover the First Prince's weakness...
It was a strategy an ordinary person would never have dreamed up.
"I request that the Council be suspended until the territorial war is concluded. I say this out of a sincere desire for Brother to ascend the throne in a completely flawless and clean state."
With those final words, the Second Prince sat back down.
The Second Prince hadn't called the First Prince the "Crown Prince" once, even to the very end. In essence, he refused to recognize even the First Prince's original status.
The First Prince gnashed his teeth and glared at the Second Prince as several nobles slipped out of the hall.
They were nobles from the First Prince's faction. Seeing how hastily they left, it seemed the First Prince had been completely blindsided.
Perhaps because I was a third party, the clash between the two princes was incredibly entertaining.
It was far more thrilling than any shareholders' meeting I'd witnessed in my past life.
And the highlight was still to come.
"If that is the case... First, we shall decide whether to approve or reject the Second Prince's proposal to postpone the Council..."
"Wait a moment. I have a question before we proceed to the show of hands."
The presider stammered as he tried to proceed under the unexpected circumstances, but once again, someone interrupted him.
This time, it was neither of the two princes.
If it had been an ordinary noble, he would of course have ignored them and continued, but the person who raised a hand was no ordinary noble.
The Duke of Gracia had raised his hand.
At last, the main act had begun.
"If we postpone the Council and it turns out the Crown Prince is indeed flawed, does that mean Prince Duardo will become the next king?"
The Duke raised the very question everyone else was too afraid to ask.
Both the First Prince and the Second Prince narrowed their eyes and stared at the Duke.
He was a duke who had long acted in the royal family's interests.
Because of that, everyone had assumed that, despite his neutrality, the Duke was on the Crown Prince's side—the First Prince's...
Since such a question came from none other than the Duke, it could not be taken lightly.
"Well... Since the two princes are the only ones who possess 'Mana Resonance,' according to custom..."
The presider broke into a cold sweat as he managed to answer the Duke.
It was a standard, safe answer, but the Duke didn't seem pleased with it.
He responded with another question.
His counterquestion was chilling, even on brief reflection.
"Since the succession of the eldest son has been broken, doesn't that mean someone other than the Second Prince could also succeed to the throne?"
The expressions of the high-ranking nobles and the royalty shifted.
If interpreted even slightly differently, those words were enough to shake the very foundations of the Kingdom.
"Ha! To think the throne of Carlos has fallen so low. Is even the Duke of Gracia eyeing the crown now!"
The First Prince seemed to have taken it that way, too.
The Duke of Gracia waved a hand.
"Of course not. I'm merely reminding everyone that there is one more legitimate successor."
The Duke raised his hand and pointed at Princess Aisha.
"Ha... What could a brat who doesn't even have Mana Resonance possibly..."
While the First Prince scoffed and the Second Prince shook his head, the Princess rose from her seat.
Her face was taut with tension.
Her hands had gone pale.
It was clear just how nervous she was.
Yet she didn't sit back down.
The Princess lifted her head and looked at me.
Then she drew the sword she wore at her waist.
Everyone was bewildered, but the next instant, their expressions turned to sheer shock.
The sword and her body had begun to glow brilliantly.
Flash!
The light blooming from her Mana Resonance filled the entire hall.