“Enter.”
“Pardon me, Father.”
A grave atmosphere surrounded us as I sat across from him. An intelligent-looking man, his eyes glinted sharply as befitted the sitting prime minister. He always gave off a stern aura, but in the moment, that effect seemed to double. It was nearly impossible to remain opposite him.
“My apologies for making you take time out of your busy day,” I said.
“Oh? You understand the gravity of your actions, then?”
“No.”
A vein twitched in my father’s temple, or so it seemed to me. Frightening, to say the least.
“I do not believe I have caused trouble for my father the prime minister or my father the duke,” I declared. “The one I believe I ought to apologize to is my father as my father.”
“And why is that?”
“First of all, the most anyone could say I did against the girl was make a handful of snide comments toward her. More importantly, the girl and the prince were the ones who disrespected House Armelia by one-sidedly breaking off our engagement. As I have extricated myself from the situation, they can’t do much more to besmirch our name. Furthermore, at the academy, I left my former peers with the impression that there were extenuating circumstances, so we should not expect any waves from that crowd. No matter how Prince Edward whines, the most anyone could in their rights deliver to our door would be a warning.”
“I’ve already been informed of the events at the academy.”
“Of course. Also, as to apologizing to my father the duke…weren’t you initially against my engagement to Prince Edward?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because with the prominence of our bloodline, my marriage to the second prince could have destroyed the balance of power in the royal family. I needn’t remind you that you are the duke and prime minister, while Mother is the only daughter of a prominent general. Marrying the first prince would be one thing, but if I were to marry the second, the country might one day see a civil war.”
Here, for the first time, my father made an expression: a sadistic sneer, so comical you could almost hear the background sound effects. I’m sure that wasn’t his intention, which made it all the more frightening. “Assuming that’s all as you say, why do you think I approved your engagement to Prince Edward?”
I ran through a multitude of possibilities and settled on the answer that seemed to fit best. “Because either result was good for you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If I were engaged to the first prince, then my brother would serve him and solidify his foundation. If I were engaged to the second prince, then my brother would join the first prince’s camp. In that case, I would be in a position to observe the second prince’s movements while hoping to take the reins, were he to prove troublesome for the kingdom. The former option would require no work and be extremely simple, strategically speaking, so I suppose you did prefer that one.”
The trouble was, in YAMP’s story, the first prince was hardly in the spotlight. In fact, the game was written as if it assumed the second prince would succeed the throne. Reality was not so simple, however. The first prince was the child of the king’s wife, who had passed away, while the second prince was his illegitimate child by his current and only concubine. One might think that meant the first prince was still next in line for the throne, but things seldom go as one expects.
The king’s concubine was the daughter of a marquis currently amassing power, while the former queen had been the daughter of an earl. Thus, in terms of hierarchy, the concubine outranked her. However, the king had fallen passionately in love with her and ignored a multitude of objections in order to marry the late queen. This was the reason for the current strange balance of power. Noble society, built upon this strange balance, was clearly at a tipping point.
None of this balancing act, which was my reality, had made it into the game. The writers had instead opted to simply say the first prince was studying at a foreign academy, and that was it. I’d not thought much about it, but reality was far harsher. Also, since my father served the country, not the royal family, he maintained a neutral position in regard to their squabbles. His support of the first prince was a decision based on a law stating that the first prince inherited the right of succession. However, if the first prince turned out to be a fool, my father would abandon him for the country without a second thought. After all, a foolish king would throw Tasmeria into chaos.
“That said, my brother is utterly devoted to the second prince,” I continued. “In which case, you would have inevitably done your best to break up my engagement with him. So aren’t you happy, Father?”
Even after this incident, my father would have found a way to force our engagement, had he wanted it. Our ducal house certainly had the power to do so. If my engagement was well and truly broken, it only remained so because my father wished it.
“Bwa ha ha ha ha!” My father laughed elatedly, though he sounded rather like a villain to me. If a third party saw him, they would surely shrink back. “You’re right. I did hope you two would break it off. To that end, I repeatedly told your brother to distance himself from the second prince, but that numbskull completely forgot himself. He’s a tawdry sycophant now, alas. Are you truly all right with this, though, Iris? I was so sure you had feelings for the second prince.”
“Love is a fever. Once it cools, that’s it. I’m glad this happened early on.” What I endured would have caused even a love of a hundred years to frost over.
“Hm. But, Iris, to the masses, this appears to be your failure. Thus, I must have you take responsibility.”
“I see…” So I wouldn’t be able to avoid being stripped of my status and exiled to a nunnery, would I? Tanya would likely try to accompany me; I’d have to do my best to convince her to stay with the house.
“You will return to our domain and be placed under house arrest. It is far from the capital, though, so I’m afraid I’ll have no way of knowing whether you obey my orders.”
“Huh?”
Was he saying I could do whatever I wanted? Wait, so no nunnery?
“It would also be a waste to have you simply sit around all day, so I’ll be appointing you the acting lady of the land. Don’t disappoint me with your governance.”
Acting lady? In other words, he wanted me to govern our domain in his place? What would one even call this? A windfall? Pearls before swine? No, neither’s right!
I was so confused that nonsensical phrases kept popping into my head. But first, I asked the question weighing most heavily on my mind. “Isn’t this role reserved for the eldest son?”
“I could bestow it on him, but he wouldn’t go. He seems quite stricken by that ‘illness’ you spoke of.”
True. It was my brother’s infatuation with Yuri that had led him to become so close with the second prince, the man he had been instructed to hold at arm’s length. No doubt he would spend any future extended holidays here in the capital, seeking more flirtations. Concerningly, since Yuri was with the second prince now, that should have been all the more reason for him to distance himself from them. Perhaps my brother hoped to elevate himself by ensuring his beloved’s happiness with the prince. What nonsense.
“I understand,” I said at length. “I will make our domain into one that will not be shaken, no matter what happens in the capital.”
My father nodded, satisfied, and dismissed me from the room.