TFLMLD 65

Chapter 65

Crown Prince Selection (2)

It was fortunate that I had chosen a long-sleeved dress. Otherwise, my tightly clenched fists would have been visible. I grabbed Macaron’s hand firmly to keep him from stepping forward. Reacting emotionally here would only make things worse. And that was exactly what Raelin wanted most.

This issue was bound to explode in public sooner or later anyway… it was better that she had provoked me first. For that, I could even be thankful. With a bright smile spreading across my face, I turned toward Raelin.

“I hadn’t planned to say this since the investigation is still underway, but since you brought it up first, I suppose I’ll say a word.”

“……”

“Why do you think Seira went all the way to Prince Rainer’s territory to die? She had no ties there whatsoever.”

Just one sentence—and the ripple it caused among the nobles was enormous.

“What do you mean by that? Are you implying Prince Rainer was colluding with Seira?”

Well, wasn’t that neat of them to sum it up so clearly for me. I could only be grateful. Raelin tried hard to appear composed, but she couldn’t hide the faint tremor at the corner of her eyes. I turned leisurely toward her, noting her clenched fists.

“I was only asking out of curiosity. Why are you getting so worked up?”

“……”

As Raelin tried to step forward, Rainer blocked her. Clearly, they hadn’t rehearsed their responses as a couple. The sight of them glaring at each other was almost laughable. The nobles’ murmurs refused to subside. Now was the moment.

“By the way, isn’t this man Kauling the butler of House Clares?”

Raelin, realizing my intentions were far from good, arched an eyebrow, her displeasure plain.

“Yes, but why do you suddenly ask that?”

“Because Seira didn’t just leave a will. She thoughtfully left behind a diary too.”

After Seira’s death, a thorough investigation had been carried out inside the mansion. During it, her diary was discovered. What must have unsettled them most was that traces of Seira remained inside House Crade itself. I decided to strike at that point. Though the information hadn’t been made public, both Rainer and Raelin instantly turned pale.

“So what if it was discovered?” Raelin’s voice quivered faintly as it clashed in the air.

“Well, the diary has already been handed over to the investigators. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

I smiled with calm confidence, and the sharper nobles quickly pieced things together just from the context. Macaron’s death. Seira’s suicide. The endless stream of news reports. Since it had already been revealed that the first—the news of Macaron’s death—was false, naturally the second and third stories triggered negative reactions in succession.

When they had arrived at the palace, most nobles had believed every word printed in the papers. Now, they began to doubt everything. Their gazes met, silently sharing thoughts. No noble was unaware that Rainer was the one with the greatest stake in Macaron’s death. Many who had previously been neutral now leaned favorably toward Macaron. Meanwhile, Rainer’s supporters hesitated, unable to commit. For vassals whose lives might be on the line depending on their lord’s choice, caution was natural.

While reputations shifted, Rainer’s face grew ashen. He understood perfectly well what such a pause could mean. At last, after the nobles’ whispers reached a peak, Rainer spoke with a trembling voice.

“Enough. This is not the time or place to discuss such things.”

His attempt to change the subject calmed the murmurs slightly, but the eyes of suspicion upon him did not disappear. Trying to suppress it, one of his supporting nobles spoke up first.

“Since Prince Macaron has no interest in the throne, wouldn’t it be best to proceed directly to the appointment ceremony?”

That was Marquess Kaelen Clares, Rainer’s maternal uncle and brother to Empress Ashlé. Having long acted as a dog for both Ashlé and Rainer, his words carried great weight among the nobles.

“How dare you presume Prince Macaron’s intentions!”

“Indeed, he already made his will clear at the banquet he hosted. How dare you spout such nonsense!”

“You’re only trying to change the subject because something unfavorable has come up about Prince Rainer!”

“Could the chamberlain’s death truly be related to Prince Rainer?”

“There’s no reason to flare up like this unless he’s guilty.”

Still, Kaelen’s rank and notorious influence were so overwhelming that no one dared say too much aloud. The hall wavered with uneasy murmurs until at last one of Macaron’s leading supporters, Marquess Ritver, delivered a sharp retort.

“For you to go so far out of your way to change the subject—doesn’t that raise reasonable suspicion that Prince Rainer truly is involved?”

Kaelen roared, his fists clenched tight.

“Outrageous!”

“Was it not you who was outrageous first, Marquess Kaelen? How dare you presume to declare Prince Macaron’s intentions for him?”

“Prince Macaron never cared for the position of crown prince. He has always hidden away in his territory. And as for marriage—”

His words shifted the nobles’ attention toward me. Macaron, who had been observing quietly, could no longer hold back. The red gleam in his eyes made Kaelen flinch and bite off his words. Still, the murmurs spread relentlessly.

It was the Emperor who silenced them.

“Enough.”

With a single raised hand, his authority quelled the hall into silence. Only then did Emperor Soletine continue.

“The reason I summoned the two princes and their wives today is to select the crown prince.”

Rather than rebuking Kaelen, the Emperor turned his gaze toward Macaron.

“Is your stance still unchanged?”

At his birthday banquet, Macaron had practically declared his intent, though never formally. His supporters now watched him nervously. If he denied it here, they would be revealed as clinging to a rotten rope. Their anxiety was only natural. Across the hall, Rainer’s supporters also swallowed nervously.

Macaron broke the heavy silence.

“My thoughts… have changed.”

The hall erupted in a storm of murmurs, joy and despair colliding. Rainer, face twisted with anger, shouted.

“Your Majesty, what did I tell you? That man casts aside loyalty the moment it clashes with his interests! And you still trust him?”

For someone who had sent monsters to kill Macaron, to say such a thing—what hypocrisy. And to repeatedly call him “that man” at an official gathering was beyond rude. Did Rainer not realize every such outburst only cut away at himself? Empress Ashlé’s face was visibly rigid, and the Emperor clicked his tongue. Yet Soletine chose not to reprimand Rainer. Instead, he asked Macaron:

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

The nobles, too, turned expectant gazes toward him.

“My elder brother bestowed upon me a gift far too grand, one that taught me a valuable lesson.”

“……”

Confusion filled the hall, but no one more than Rainer himself failed to miss the implication—this was about the monster, Pagan. His face blanched. Macaron, with a smirk tugging at his lips, went on.

“I finally realized: to protect my people, I must have power.”

“……”

With each word, Rainer’s complexion grew paler. The sharp-minded nobles quickly drew their conclusions. Macaron’s rumored death, Seira’s suicide… it all pointed to Rainer as the culprit. Everything now flowed in Macaron’s favor.

“Therefore, I intend to formally participate in this selection.”

“……!”

Though he had already set the conclusion from the start, everyone was still stunned. This was the first time Macaron had openly declared himself. Rainer’s supporters slowly turned gray-faced. Yet once again, Kaelen stepped up to defend him.

“While Prince Rainer has struggled day and night with affairs of the palace, Prince Macaron has hidden away. And now, suddenly, he claims he can rule the Empire?”

With Kaelen’s sharp glare, Rainer’s supporters rushed to list his achievements.

“Prince Rainer’s insight and leadership have brought us victory in ten wars! Even the recent battle at the Kerops Mountains—”

But then, from the back, another noble’s voice cut through.

“And how exactly are those Prince Rainer’s achievements?”

All eyes turned toward the speaker—Duchess Evelyn Reflere. Until now, she had been hidden among the crowd, but at last her presence was revealed.

“Weren’t those victories all thanks to Prince Macaron’s brilliant strategies? Has Prince Rainer ever once commanded from the front lines himself?”

Her provocation froze the hall. One of Rainer’s nobles glared at her menacingly.

“Duchess Evelyn, have you become so arrogant since inheriting your title?”

Unfazed, Evelyn continued without even blinking.

“Contributions to the Empire should be measured by merit, not by the number of times one shows up to a battlefield.”

For a mere head of house to speak so boldly, even against the Emperor himself, was unprecedented. But no one dared rebuke her. Not even the Emperor could treat House Reflere lightly, for it had long stood as a pillar of the Empire with unmatched wealth and military might. His silence only proved how great her house’s prestige was.

To have the support of House Reflere was like gaining an invincible army. I should have been grateful to Evelyn… but I wasn’t.

Her intervention might have been partly for Macaron’s sake, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was also meant to remind me of my place.

From start to finish, her gaze had been fixed on me, as if to say: You don’t belong at Macaron’s side.