That smile, that intonation, that phrasing...it was all most certainly the firstborn prince. However, the prime minister forced himself not to show his suspicions. The firstborn prince would never apologize so readily. What was more, he never would have come all the way to the prime minister to ask him to deal with the paperwork regarding entry to the harbor.
Prince Maximilian knew all about the structure of the kingdom’s government. If he needed to do paperwork regarding the harbor, he would have gone to the harbor’s administration bureau instead.
It must be true...
“Understood. I’ll begin preparations right away.” By all appearances, this person was Prince Maximilian, but he certainly wasn’t the real Prince Maximilian. The prime minister agreed to undertake the work so as not to arouse any suspicions.
“Much appreciated.”
Once Maximilian left the office, the prime minister could finally drop his poker face.
“Queen Victoria was right after all...”
The prime minister recalled how the queen had called for him in utmost secrecy while everyone else would have been asleep.
“Maximilian’s under the control of something.” She hadn’t said that he might have been. She was very firm in saying that he was. All those gathered—the prime minister, the head of the knights, and the cabinet ministers couldn’t believe their ears.
“What do you mean?”
“You think Prince Maximilian’s been brainwashed?”
“If he’d been brainwashed, we would have noticed, wouldn’t we? His expressions were perfectly natural, and I didn’t sense anything unusual about his smile either.”
Those who were brainwashed using drugs or hypnosis would always have something off about their face. Brainwashing had often been used in power struggles among the nobles, so the telltale signs of it were very well-known. Those who were brainwashed were less expressive, and their emotions in general were limited. They would also become very sensitive to unexpected or trivial words, which would cause them to grow suddenly excited or violent. Yet Maximilian hadn’t shown any of these symptoms since he’d returned.
“Maximilian was studying in the Western Empire. It’s the country with the most mages.”
“Then do you think...he’s been charmed?” The prime minister furrowed his brow. He’d never heard of any mage capable of using charm magic since the Great Mage Connie Moo. He wondered if maybe it was because their abilities were getting weaker. While the Western Empire was certainly trying to hide it, the prime minister had a hunch that they were cutting back on their magic usage. It was especially noticeable in the way they used magic to harvest cotton. Compared to only ten years ago, the price had gotten higher and the quality had gotten lower as the years went on. The quality of cotton this year had been especially awful.
“I think there’s a great chance he has been.”
“But Your Majesty, I just can’t imagine that someone’s controlling Prince Maximilian. We can’t just go off of a mother’s intuition.” The captain of the knights, who had been silent until then, finally spoke up, wondering if maybe the queen was just imagining things. Normally, going against the royal family was punishable by death, but the captain had been training Maximilian in his sword skills since he was very young. He knew the young man quite well, and he had confidence in his ability to see a person’s true character. After all, he wouldn’t have been able to bring together so many knights as captain if he didn’t have such a skill. If he hadn’t noticed anything himself, then it was hard to take the queen’s word wholesale.
“The likelihood that a mage has cast some sort of charm spell on the prince is exceedingly low,” the prime minister added.
However, the queen would not relent. “We have intel that the Western Empire is gathering mages from all around the world. I believe all of you have heard the rumors that they’ve gathered several dozen already. The more mages they have, the more progress they might make in magic research.”
“But why would the Western Empire go so far?” The prime minister, captain of the knights, and the cabinet ministers simply didn’t think the queen’s conjecture was realistic. There was nothing in the kingdom that the Western Empire would want so badly that they’d brainwash Prince Maximilian for it. No matter how she pressed it, it would be difficult to convince them.
“Your Majesty, we should just keep an eye on him for a little—”
Before the prime minister could tell her to give it some time, the queen interrupted with the finishing blow. “Maximilian was speaking face-to-face with Rose and did not even once look at her bosom.”
“What?!”
The air in the room changed in an instant. They were shocked that such a thing was even possible.
“Rose told me herself, so I know it’s the truth.”
“What... What?!”
With that reveal, everyone present stood in silent shock. Because that meant...every time they stole a glance at her breasts, she knew? The men’s eyes darted to and fro in a panic.
“You’re sorely mistaken if you think we don’t notice that sort of thing.”
“Aaah...”
The queen’s accusatory glare and the way she laid down the law with an exasperated sigh was all so shocking that they sunk back into their chairs, the gravitas sapped right out of them.
They really had thought she’d never noticed. They’d tried their best to only occasionally, subtly glance at them, but sometimes their gaze would just be drawn to those shining twin suns without their input. They couldn’t help it.
“If what you say is true...then something really is wrong with Prince Maximilian.” said one of the cabinet ministers. There wasn’t a man alive who could resist a peek at Rose’s breasts.
“It certainly is strange of him,” the captain of the knights agreed. Only someone under the influence of a charm spell could resist such temptation.
“We should figure out a plan to deal with this. I’ll look over the letters and documents we’ve received from the Western Empire again,” the prime minister said with a groan.
After being presented with such definitive proof, they had no choice but to deal with it. None of them wanted to even imagine having to make enemies of the Western Empire, but that was their reality. It was through Maximilian not looking at Rose’s breasts that the kingdom realized the seriousness of the situation they were in—far sooner than the Western Empire had anticipated.