“Bertine! Why are you here?! Your Imperial Highness Ehrenfried, what is the meaning of this?!” Faustino roared.
Cecilio answered him. “You have finally graced us with your presence, King Faustino, Your Royal Majesty. You saw our Federation ships with your very eyes, yet you lob your questions first at the imperials. You’re even more of a dullard than I expected.”
“Y-You! How dare you show me such disrespect?!”
The king ran out of breath then. A moment later, Queen Adele and Prince Odalis burst into the room. That was when Cecilio stood up leisurely. As he approached the royal family, taking long strides, he began speaking in a low voice.
“You’re all here. Good. Faustino, the only one who has shown disrespect is you. Despite being on the losing side of the war, you had the temerity to not only bargain down the reparations you rightfully owed, but also offer one of your subject’s daughters in exchange. Never in my life have I heard of such a despicable country. There is an exceedingly heavy price to be paid for reneging on the treaty you yourself signed. Your payment deadline passed three years ago. Since you clearly have no intention of paying, I decided to come take this palace as compensation for the shortfall.”
Hearing this, the queen shrieked in a tone so shrill it could have cut through glass. “I won’t stand for such idiocy! All we have to do is pay! So it’s outrageous you would cause such a fuss over a mere thousand gold coins! Have you lost your mind?!” Adele’s eyes bulged in fury as she turned to a servant. “Bring the money!” she snapped angrily. “Hurry!”
“Stop,” Cecilio commanded curtly. “Move and it will be the last thing you do.”
Then he drew close to the queen. The servant had frozen completely, overwhelmed by the force of Cecilio’s voice.
“Hm. How strange. Doesn’t this country’s law have a specific clause for when a debt is left unpaid for more than a year after the due date? In that event, if the debtor does not go through the proper channels or provide reasonable justification for being in arrears, a substantial portion may be forfeited from the debtor’s lands or other assets, such as property. Or am I wrong?”
The queen tightened her lips because no rebuttal came to mind.
“Furthermore, the law also states that in such cases, a punitive interest of 20 percent per year can be imposed retroactively starting from the date the original debt was created. I calculated the interest for these years. Combined with the original principal amount, I believe the new total comes to 1,728 large gold coins, yes?”
“We’ll pay it all right now!” the queen shouted.
“Alas, I no longer have a need for your money. The Federation will take this palace as payment instead.”
“You do know that Bertine is the daughter of our chancellor? How dare you continue to demand reparations even though we gave you Bertine?”
Bertine stepped forward and repudiated the queen’s words in a clear tone. “His Excellency and I have nothing more than a professional relationship. He is my superior and I am his subordinate. I am entirely self-reliant because of my work in the Federation, and I came here today to testify as such.”
“But that’s not…” King Faustino trailed off.
“But that’s not how things were supposed to be?” Cecilio supplied. “Is that what you’re thinking? You funded the imperial army and now you have the gall to act like San Luenne played no part in any of this?”
“Now, now, Your Excellency. We need calmer heads to prevail, hm? So let’s forgive them for their reprehensible actions. These people are not royalty by any means. After all, what sort of barbarians tender their subject’s daughter in lieu of reparations? I couldn’t believe my ears when I found out.”
The queen heard Ehrenfried’s words, but her confused mind struggled to grasp the situation. “Your Imperial Highness, I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple. You have been too greedy, Queen Adele. Cecilio makes excellent points all around. If you had treated the Empire so shabbily, rest assured we would have retaliated without a qualm. And we certainly wouldn’t have waited three years to do it. But there’s no denying our two countries have a long relationship, which is the only reason the Empire has decided to intervene in this matter.”
Hope sprung on the faces of the Luennian royal family.
Then Claudio spoke for the first time. “I am Claudio, the Empire of Centaur’s second prince. His Imperial Majesty bid me to give this to you.”
Adele raced forward and grabbed the documents from Claudio’s hands. “No! Absolutely not!” She kept muttering in panic as she read through them. Faustino drew close to her so he too could scan them.
“You are hereby ordered…ordered to relinquish the throne to Claudio,” the king’s voice was faint as he read aloud those words.
His son, Prince Odalis, shouted, “This is a coup, isn’t it?! The Empire and the Federation joined forces to take over our country! How is that even possible?!”
A new voice echoed throughout the room. Chancellor Maxim.
“Prince Odalis, Her Majesty’s judgment was wrong. Before my daughter was forcefully sent to the Federation, His Excellency Cecilio had in fact told your mother and father that his country would rather have reparations than a bride. But I didn’t learn of this until much later because they hid this knowledge from me. If they had honored the terms of the treaty and paid what they owed, none of this would be happening.”
“Maxim, you bastard! Did you betray us?!” Odalis roared.
“You have no right to insult my father, Your Highness,” Bertine interjected.
“Damn you, Bertine! You and your bloody father conspired to betray this country, didn’t you?!”
Enraged, Odalis suddenly unsheathed his sword, lunging to cut down Bertine and the chancellor. But Cecilio moved faster than the Federation soldiers surrounding them. He used one of his own legs to kick out Odalis’s from underneath him, all without drawing his own sword. Once the prince was on the ground, Cecilio slammed his foot down hard on Odalis’s wrist, forcing the prince to drop his sword. Then he kicked it far away.
“Huh. Not only is your son an imbecile, but he also lacks skill with a blade,” Cecilio said coldly.
“How dare you say such a thing about Odalis!”
Federation soldiers held Odalis down while imperial ones surrounded the royal couple.
“Your Royal Highness, you have no notion of what your mother has done, do you?” Sadness, rather than anger, colored Bertine’s voice.
Ehrenfried raised his voice then. He had been watching the play unfold like a fascinated spectator. “I do believe it’s time to put an end to this farce. After all, I’m sure you all don’t intend to defy both the Empire and the Federation, eh? Excellent, we’re all in agreement. Then, as of this moment, the rule of San Luenne’s royal family is at an end. We’ll perform an official ceremony later, but I hereby declare Claudio Augustus Centaur the new king of this country.”
First, the imperial soldiers kneeled before him. Then Chancellor Maxim followed suit. Cecilio, Ehrenfried, Bertine, and the Federation soldiers pressed their palms over their hearts and bowed their heads deeply.
“Raise your heads,” Claudio said, his voice dignified. Then he addressed the three members of the former royal family. “The emperor has a message for you all. ‘I will give you land in the Empire, and you will use your own talents to manage it. You may bring any subjects willing to follow you.’”
“Begging your pardon, Your Majesty,” Chancellor Maxim interjected, “but my people and I have already interviewed most of the nobility regarding their feelings on this matter. We learned that not a single aristocrat wishes to emigrate to the Empire to serve the former king, Faustino, and former queen, Adele. If either of you have any doubts about our results, you are free to ask them yourselves.”
Silence stretched in the throne room. After a while, Faustino finally broke it.
“I see. Not a single one will follow us? I suppose that tells me everything I need to know. Maxim, thank you for everything you’ve done. I owe you a great deal. I’m at fault for not stopping Adele even though I was always aware of her actions. I’ve known for a long time now how our people see me. It seems I was the only one foolish enough to believe things might somehow change for the better.”
“No! I will not go to the Empire!” Adele screeched. “I won’t step foot in that wretched place!”
Cecilio addressed her, his expression exasperated. “If you value your lives, you will cling to the Empire’s mercy and gratefully at that. Because the emperor lacks even more patience than I do. This is your last chance. Accept your disgrace. Know when to quit.”
“Cease your infernal blathering, you-you—” Unable to release her grip on the throne, Adele floundered for words to hurl at Cecilio when Bertine cut in.
“His Excellency has devoted himself body and soul to his work for the sake of his country and his people. I have personally witnessed how hard he strives ever since my arrival in the Federation. He’s different from someone who used my father while keeping him shackled. So you will cease insulting him.”
Though Bertine’s voice was low, everyone heard her words clearly. But the former queen and crown prince continued glaring malevolently at her.
After that, it took only a few hours for government officials to communicate the news of the change in the royal family as well as the country’s new name to the citizenry. The people who had been terrified when they saw the Federation ships make landfall so early in the morning were now delighted to hear of the Empire’s second prince becoming their new king.
“This will make it easier to do business with imperials.”
“We couldn’t depend on the royal family at all.”
“And with the Federation as allies now, it means lasting peace for our country.”
The citizens of San Luenne felt not a hint of sadness over their parting with the royal family because until now, they had been getting by on their own wits. After all, as a nation of merchants, the people valued a talent for trade, so those who failed in business were deemed incompetent. And if one was incompetent, then one was not fit to rule. In that case, it would be better for everyone if a foreign prince took over the throne instead.