Chapter 17
âThatâs the whole story.â
Right after returning to Torinia Castle from the hunting tournament, I reported to my father everything that had happened there.
âIâm just glad youâre safeâŚâ
My father let out a relieved sigh.
The official stance of the royal family was that the hunting tournament had concluded without incident.
Of course, the count who shot arrows at both me and Prince Karvenil was temporarily detained, and we were questioned directly by the king.
However, the tournament itself proceeded as planned, and during the closing ceremony the following day, the king declared, âOnce again, the event ended without any casualties. A happy ending for all.â
âWell, an attempted assassination is certainly a troubling affair.â
âThe king judged it to be an accident.â
The king had deemed the matter non-criminal.
The minor count was made to offer an apology with a âSorry about that,â and we were expected to respond with an âItâs fine,â and accept it.
The only penalty imposed on the count was a five-year ban from attending the hunting tournament.
You might think thatâs too lenient, but in the first place, the king doesnât have the authority to judge a noble.
After all, the king is merely one noble among many.
At most, he can act as a mediator between nobles in their disputes.
So even if Prince Karvenil or I had died from that arrow, the punishment would likely have just changed from âfive yearsâ to âpermanently.â
And we wouldnât have been able to complain about it.
The tournament host is obligated to ensure that bandits donât attack during the hunt, but they are not responsible for ensuring that the tournament itself is safeâbecause, frankly, thatâs impossible.
Because hunting always comes with risks.
It should go without saying that there's a possibility of death. If someone dies because they were too careless to realize that, itâs their own fault. If you donât like it, donât participate in the hunt. Just shut yourself up in your territory for the rest of your life.
Thatâs the end of the discussion.
At most, the king might say, âIâve prepared the setting, so please resolve it among yourselves,â and thatâs all he can sayâand all he will say.
The minor count in question would refuse to discuss it. He wouldnât show up to court. Heâd likely hole up in his territory until he died.
The victimsâ families would just have to accept it in silence.
âŚThat is, assuming the minor count makes it back to his territory alive.
If everyone knows that letting him live means justice will never be served, then the solution is simpleâdonât let him live.
Thatâs how nobles in this world think.
In reality, someone like Marshal Count Lazarbel or Count Arobera would likely rally the nobles in their faction, shouting something like, âPrincess Roselia was murdered by a coward! This is war!! Letâs go, everyone!!â and lead a mob to launch a retaliatory assault.
Thor-kun and Prince Bartona would probably join in that lynching too, and the king would turn a blind eye.
A nobleâs lynching is carried out through magic.
Explosive magic, the kind used in warfare, would be fired off in volleysâthere probably wouldnât even be a corpse left.
Of course, then his family would be the ones left to suffer in silenceâŚ
Incidentally, being banned from the hunting tournament for five years is an enormous disgrace for a noble.
Itâs like being told outright: âYou suck, donât come back until youâve trained for five years.â
Itâs a deeply humiliating sentence.
If you tried asking for compensation, people would just say, âWaitâare you saying itâs okay to shoot Princess Roselia with an arrow as long as you pay money?â And that would be the end of it. There's really no harsher punishment than what was given.
So officially, the case is closed.
Since the involved parties have reconciled, thereâs nothing more to be done.
âŚWell, I couldâve made a fuss if I really wanted to.
But Prince Karvenilâwho shouldâve been a fellow victimâstarted comforting the count, saying, âWell, probably just an accident. These things happen sometimes,â which robbed me of the chance to protest.
If I lost my temper at that point, people would just think I was petty.
âBut wasnât that count friendly with Prince Bartona? Couldnât it be that Prince Bartona, who desires the throne, tried to assassinate Prince Karvenil?â
My father grinned slyly as he said this to me.
After all, if Prince Karvenil had died, the one who wouldâve gained the most was Prince Bartona.
And the culpritâthe minor countâwas closely associated with Prince Bartona.
âŚSuspicious, donât you think?
Or so the theory goes.
âIn that case, how do you explain the fact that I was also shot?â
âPerhaps it was a stray arrow?â
âSo itâs an incident if it concerns Prince Karvenil, but just an accident when it comes to me? Thatâs a pretty convenient theory.â
That theory, by the way, has a fatal flaw.
âA brass arrow wouldnât be able to kill a noble in the first place, would it? Youâd need a gold one.â
Brass can hold magical energy, yesâbut not nearly as well as gold.
And in the size of an arrowhead, the amount of magic it can contain isnât sufficient to kill a noble.
If you wanted to kill a noble, youâd need a golden arrow.
And those are strictly prohibited in the hunting tournament.
To prevent accidents, of course.
If the minor count had used a gold arrow, the case wouldâve been a shade of gray so dark it was practically blackâbut he had used a brass arrow.
It was, by all accounts, a white-case scenario.
âAccidental misfires happen every year somewhere or other. It just so happened that this time, the targets were Prince Karvenil and me.â
Hunting tournaments aren't exclusive to this occasionâthey're held all over the western continent.
And accidents occur almost every year.
This time, it only became news because the people involved were high-profile. Normally, no one would even bother reporting it.
Itâs just like a car accident.
Given all this, it should be judged as an accident, not an incident.
âKukuku⌠Yes, youâre right. Iâd say Roselia has it exactly right.â
My father laughed as he spoke.
If I could reason this much, then of course he could too.
He was just teasing me.
âBut there will still be people who donât see it that way.â
âDo you think so?â
âThere are always those who scream âconspiracyâ no matter the case.â
âŚThatâs true. In my previous lifeâs world, there were plenty of conspiracy theorists too.
Those types start with the conclusion that there must be a malicious culprit behind everything, so itâs pointless to try to argue with them.
âAnd in the world of high society, the truth doesnât matter.â
In other words, there will be those who insist it was an incidentâeven while knowing full well that it wasnât.
Surely there are people out there who want to stir discord within the royal family and will use this as fuel.
Spreading rumors costs nothing.
And once the gossip is out, fools will embellish it with their own imaginations and shout it from the rooftops.
Youâd be hard-pressed to find a simpler diplomatic maneuver.
âThe royal family will likely struggle to put out the flames for a while. What a nuisance.â
Even if we were to bring up a marriage alliance with the royal family now, theyâd probably just say, âCould we discuss that later?â
I suppose that means my marriage prospects will be shelved for a while.
âŚTo be honest, part of me is a little relieved.
âIn any case, Iâm glad nothing serious happened. Iâll write a letter of thanks to Lord Thor as well. Speaking of Lord ThorâŚâ
ââŚYes.â
Ah, I knew this topic would come up.
âI hear you took his hand at the evening party. Oh, donât make that face. Iâm not scolding you. Refusing mightâve made a worse impression. Words spoken at night donât carry much weight anyway.â
It seemed that, to my father, it wasnât a particularly serious matter.
I exhaled in relief.
Truth be told, it had been bothering me.
âConvincing him is my job. Roselia, just act as you always haveâno need to worry.â
âUnderstood.â
It appears my father has no intention of marrying me off to Thor-kun.
A dynastic union between House Larknoll and House Budoudarl would only provoke backlash from the surrounding lords, so itâs a perfectly reasonable stance.
âChanging the subject⌠You know that in April, the Founding Festival will be held in our country, yes?â
I nodded at my fatherâs lead-in.
As the name suggests, the Founding Festival is a celebration of the kingdomâs establishment. Itâs held once every four years.
Itâs a grand event attended not just by the kingdomâs nobles but by aristocrats and diplomats from neighboring countries as wellâa major festival and social gathering.
Why once every four years?
Why is it held in the Duchy of Budoudarl?
There are two reasons.
One is to reduce the burden on participating nobles.
Infrastructure in this world is underdeveloped, and just traveling somewhere is a massive ordeal.
If the festival were held annually, attendance would decline. So instead, they hold it every four years and say, âWeâd really appreciate it if everyone could make the effort to come.â
The other reason is its scale.
Nobles from all over the country and even from foreign lands attend, so a shoddy banquet would be out of the question.
But the royal family doesnât have the financial or organizational resources to host such a lavish eventâeven if only once every four years.
Thatâs why the tradition is for the royal family and the Three Great Houses who aided in the founding of the kingdom to take turns hosting it.
From the royal family's perspective, it reduces the financial burden.
From the perspective of the Three Great Houses, it allows them to show they stand on equal footing with the royal family.
It's a win-win custom.
Though the Founding Festival itself takes place once every four years, a separate annual banquet celebrating the kingdom's founding is held in the royal capital each year.
The banquet where I danced with Thor-kun was one of those.
That said, compared to the actual Founding Festival, its scale is considerably smaller.
Normally, only nobles affiliated with the royal family attend.
I only went last time because, as part of the peace talks, the Duke of Larknoll needed to meet face-to-face.
I donât usually bother attending.
âIn conjunction with the festival, Blanche will make her social debut.â
âOhh.â
For nobles, a social debut is a momentous event.
It marks the transition from a private citizen to a public figure.
It also means they are officially entering the stage of diplomatic marriage politics.
She will be granted retainers from our father, and even if only in a small way, she'll begin managing her own court.
Blanche is adorable, and more importantly, she's a princess of the Duchy of Budoudarlâso marriage proposals will likely flood in from all directions.
âThatâs wonderful news. Then Blanche will be the star of the show this time.â
âNo. You will also be one of the stars, Roselia.â
ââŚMe as well?â
Which means⌠theyâre planning to make some sort of major announcement about me.
Perhaps an official engagement to Prince Bartona?
âŚNo, we just talked about how the marriage negotiations were stalling. That can't be it.
In that case, thereâs only one likely answer.
âI will name Roselia as co-ruler of the Duchy of Budoudarl.â
At those words, my heart gave a startled leap.
Becoming a co-ruler would mean I would share equal authority with my father.
Any royal decree I issued would become law in Budoudarl.
Iâd be able to preside over trials without needing his approval or delegated authority.
I could even mobilize the military and declare war.
Of course, if Father and I issued conflicting orders, his would take precedence.
âThatâs⌠an honor, but also dauntingâŚâ
Honestly, it felt like too heavy a burden.
I do my best, and I think Iâve been managing things reasonably well, but I canât imagine being capable of doing everything my father can.
That anxiety must have shown on my face.
My father gave a wry smile.
âDonât worry. Nothing will change significantly in practice. Itâs largely a formality.â
âI see⌠In that case, I humbly accept.â
âGood.â
When I bowed deeply, my father responded with an exaggerated nod.
Still, being appointed co-ruler at age twelveâŚ
Well, Iâll be thirteen by the time of the Founding Festival, but stillâthatâs early by any measure.
ââŚYouâre not, by any chance, seriously ill or something, are you, Father?â
âRest assured. I have no intention of handing over this seat for at least twenty more years.â
Apparently, it wasnât due to any health concerns.
Then why now?
When I asked, my father raised three fingers.
âFirstâbecause youâve become dependable, Roselia. You may be young, but your ability is more than sufficient. Those with exceptional talent must be given appropriate positions. And the earlier one gains experience, the better.â
He folded down one finger.
âSecondâto silence the bothersome men of the cadet branches. By publicly declaring that Roselia is the legitimate heir, both internally and externally, we solidify her position. The sooner this is made clear, the better.â
Itâs not that women canât inherit territory.
But such succession is often viewed with skepticism.
If I were not to inherit, the rights would pass to one of the males from the cadet branches.
There are quite a few men who secretly harbor hope, thinking, âMaybe I have a shot at this?â
Theyâd never say it out loud, but some of them probably believe theyâre more qualified than I am.
This declaration will crush those hopes and ambitions.
âAnd third⌠this one is not to be spoken of to anyone.â
âYes.â
After confirming my answer, Father folded down one of his fingers.
âI may need to be away from the duchy for an extended period. In that case, simply being the heir wonât carry enough authority.â
âI see.â
So thatâs the main reason.
If heâs talking about an extended absence, and says being âthe next headâ wouldnât be enough, that probably means he wonât be able to return for quite some time.
In which case, the answer is obvious.
âYouâre not going to ask the reason?â
âI merely find it regrettable that a seat at the Round Table will be left vacant.â
ââŚTruly, you are an astute child.â
Apparently, my guess was right.
The kingdom was founded when three great nobles came together to support Yugape El Parteria as king.
These three great houses are what we now call the Three Pillars.
The House of Budoudarl.
The House of Corkmoor.
And the thirdâHouse Cartaria.
They are the largest noble house in the kingdomâs southwest.
They didnât show up to the recent hunting tournament either.
Naturally soâbecause theyâre currently in opposition to the royal family.
âWill the Founding Festival be the final deadline?â
âMost likely. Itâs one thing to skip a royal-hosted social gathering. But if they fail to show even at our celebration, then itâs fair to say theyâve broken with the kingdom.â
Father wore an expression of distaste.
Well, of course. War with the Duke of Cartaria wouldnât benefit us in any way.
The only one whoâd gain from it is the royal family.
âBut in any case, unless the west is stabilized, the royal family wonât be able to focus on the east.â
We want to form a marriage alliance with the royal family in order to counter the empire along our eastern borderâand its ruling imperial household.
In short, when the enemy comes from the east, weâll need the royal family to send reinforcements.
If they say, âWeâre too busy with a western war to help,â weâre in serious trouble.
Ideally, the royal family and House Cartaria would just say, âSorry about earlier.â âItâs fine,â and reconcileâŚ
âBut given our position, we can only align ourselves with the royal family.â
The conflict between the royal family and House Cartaria centers on an inheritance dispute.
Specifically, itâs a matter of succession.
Thatâs because Prince Karvenilâs late mother was born into the House of Cartaria.
Originally, the house had a male heir.
But he died suddenly in a plague, leaving the position of next head vacant.
In response, the previous Duke of Cartaria appointed his daughterâalready married into the royal familyâas his successor.
The houseâs vassals also gave their approval and recognized her as the next ruler.
It should have ended there⌠but after the old Dukeâs death, the vassals took it upon themselves to install a male cousin from a cadet branch as the new Duke.
To Prince Karvenilâs mother, this was no less than having her fatherâs entire estate seized by a distant male relative.
Her husband, King Oreanis, and the royal familyâs honor were publicly disgraced.
The situation nearly escalated into warâuntil she died suddenly.
As a result, the issue of succession was left unresolved.
But now, her sonâPrince Karvenilâis asserting his claim to the title.
Given all this, we have no choice but to support the royal familyâor rather, Prince Karvenil.
Because supporting the current Duke of Cartaria would be tantamount to accepting the idea that a male from the paternal line has priority over a direct-line female descendant.
In other words, if a cadet branch member of House Barks were to say, âThen shouldnât I inherit the Duchy of Budoudarl instead of Princess Roselia?ââno one would be able to refute him.
Thatâs why Prince Karvenil is so openly and insistently asserting his claim to the ducal title.
As the next in line to the throne, his influence is not something even the current king can ignore.
Of course, that doesnât mean weâre obligated to go along with Prince Karvenilâs personal ambitions.
Not unless I marry Prince Bartona and form a marriage alliance with him.
In short, Prince Karvenil is forcing us to choose between two options.
Either I marry Prince Karvenil, and in exchange he gives up the title of Duke of CartariaâŚ
Or we help him secure that title, and in return, he gives up on marrying me.
At the very least, unless Prince Karvenil secures control over either the Duchy of Cartaria or the Duchy of Budoudarl, he wonât be willing to cooperate in a war against the Empire.
He prioritizes strengthening the royal family over uniting the kingdom.
Heâs âRoyal Family First.â
âA compromise might be that the prince receives the ducal title, but the current duke retains actual control⌠is that a possible middle ground?â
âHmm⌠the Duke of Cartaria might accept that, but the prince wonât.â
I continued discussing the matter with Father, but we couldnât come up with a good solution.
Weâre nobles from the kingdomâs southeast, and we donât have deep knowledge of the southwestâs political situation. More importantly, weâre not even direct parties to the conflict.
Thereâs no point in twisting our minds over this.
âSpeaking of visitors, it seems the Grand Duke of Plumela is also planning to attend. âŚAnd we havenât even sent out the invitations yet. Always one step ahead, that man.â
âMy! Grandfather is coming?â
The Grand Duke of Plumela is my maternal grandfather.
He controls territory to the east of the Duchy of Budoudarl and is one of the Empireâs great nobles.
The Grand Duchy of Plumela is one of the most advanced regions on the Western Continent, rich in mineral resources.
And my grandfather himself is a battle-hardened noble who survived the chaos of war.
One of the strongest nobles on the Western Continent.
Incidentally, all of my grandfatherâs children and grandchildren have died from war or illnessâexcept for me.
I am his only direct-line grandchild.
Which means Iâm the one who will inherit his lands.
Thatâs one of the reasons Iâm so popular.
âHe plans to bring his vassals along, too.â
âIt sounds like itâs going to be lively.â
At my comment, Father gave a wry smile.
âŚHe probably doesnât really want Grandfather to come.
Even though theyâre allies, Father and Grandfather donât always share interests.
âFor the Founding Festival⌠should we invite the Imperial Family as usual?â
âOf course. We canât very well not invite them, and if we do, theyâll surely come.â
âLetâs hope it doesnât turn into trouble.â
My grandfather once fought for the imperial throne against the previous emperor.
And he lost many family members and friends in that war.
He still bears a grudge against the current emperorâpurely because heâs the son of the former one. Hate the monk, hate the robes, as the saying goes.
One of the reasons the House of Budoudarl has a strained relationship with the Imperial Family is because of that history between my grandfather and the emperor.
âIf they do send someone, itâll probably be the Crown Prince, right?â
âMost likely. âŚAt the very least, make sure to dance one number with him.â
âI understand.â
The Crown Prince is one of my potential suitors.
Although⌠given how firmly Grandfather opposes it, heâs probably near the bottom of the list.
âAt this yearâs Founding Festival, youâll have to be even more careful than before. If we can avoid war with the Imperial Family⌠that would be ideal.â
âAgreed.â
I do intend to inherit the territory.
But I have no desire to inherit their hatred as well.
If things can be handled peacefully, that would be best.
Surely, they donât really want to wage war against us either.
After allâŚ
âWe are imperial lords who possess the right to enthrone.â
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