The king and queen finally returned to the royal palace after their prolonged trip. Their carriage, flanked by the Royal Guard, proceeded through the grounds as the bureaucrats and soldiers who’d watched over the palace in their absence welcomed them.
“Ha ha ha! This is quite the welcome!” the king exclaimed, smiling at the cheering courtiers. Although it was customary for them to greet their ruler like this, they did so with such passion that it made the king feel as if he were genuinely popular.
The queen smiled too. “We were away for quite a long time, after all. They must have realized how much you influence them.”
“Yet a week from now, I’m sure they’ll be saying how suffocating it is to have me around.”
“Oh, sire. You mustn’t doubt your retainers’ loyalty like that.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Looking outside the windows of their slow-moving carriage, they saw high-ranking civil and military officials rushing to greet the sovereign. The courtiers lining the road also looked deeply pleased by their return. Too pleased, in fact.
“My queen... Do you sense something is amiss?”
“I was starting to get that feeling, yes...”
The greeters were waving with far too much enthusiasm. This wasn’t the welcome he’d expected for just returning from a trip. It looked more like a parade celebrating his triumphant return from war. Actually, it was akin to the welcome he would receive if he had rushed to their aid when the castle was under siege and all hope of holding out was lost.
“Could it be because of Elliott?” the king asked.
“Let’s return to our room and get settled in before we check,” the queen suggested.
They both felt somewhat uncomfortable as their procession continued past the frenzied welcome.
When a chamberlain informed Elliott of his parents’ return, Elliott winced.
“Father and mother are back, are they? Fine! It’s come to the point where I’ll have to persuade them of Rachel’s villainy!”
He was showing a measure of resolve unthinkable in a man who’d decided just last night that the villainess in question annoyed him enough that he wanted to assassinate her.
“I realize this comes at short notice,” said the chamberlain, “but one hour from now, there is to be a trial in the audience room regarding your broken engagement.”
“I see. I’ll head there at once.”
“Very good, sir. Do you want me to push?”
“Yes, please!”
The chamberlain pushed Elliott out of the office in his wheelchair.
When Sofia informed Rachel of the royal couple’s and her parents’ return, Rachel closed her book, stretched, and yawned.
“I see. They could have taken their time and relaxed a little longer,” Rachel casually remarked, though her face seemed to say, “What a bother.”
“I think it would be unwise for you to miss the trial.”
“You have a point. Very well, then.”
Rachel changed from her indoor clothes into something more suitable for a stroll.
“Are you not too casually dressed to appear before the king?” Sofia asked.
Rachel snorted in amusement. “Having been in prison all this time, it would be strange if I showed up in formal clothes. So long as I dress well enough to meet people, that ought to be good enough.”
“And how do you really feel?”
“If I got dressed up, I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep until they called for me.”
With that, Rachel crawled back under the covers.
Those who were involved when Elliott broke his engagement three months ago were gathered in the audience room. It was a smaller space used for things like courtesy calls and unofficial talks, as opposed to the larger audience hall, which was reserved for more important gatherings. In addition to the royal couple, Rachel, Elliott, and Margaret were also present. Then there were the prime minister and the grand duke, as well as the commander of the knights and the key cabinet ministers. The Duke and Duchess Ferguson were also in attendance. That was all.
“This is it?” Elliott murmured. He was surprised and a little disappointed by the low turnout.
Margaret was silent as she lay on the floor, gagged and rolled up in a mat.
From one look at the king’s face and at the people gathered, Rachel more or less figured out what was going on.
“Yes, Elliott. It’s not as though we’re holding a public trial,” said the king, nodding calmly from his throne. “Now then,” he continued as he looked at all those assembled. “I am told that things have been hectic ever since Elliott broke off his engagement, so I’d like to end that here and now.”
The key retainers murmured their approval. The grand duke looked particularly relieved.
“Well then, father, allow me to explain the reason I deemed it necessary to terminate my engagement!”
This was the moment Elliott had been waiting for, and he came out with guns blazing. Or rather, he tried to, but the king fired before Elliott could even unholster his weapon.
“No, it doesn’t matter.”
“Huh? Say what?”
The king rested his elbow on the arm of his throne and cupped his cheek in the palm of his hand as he repeated, “I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter.”
“But... Huh? How can you say it doesn’t matter? Are we not gathered here to debate exactly that?”
“There’s nothing to debate. I’ve long since heard all the details.” The corners of the king’s mouth rose as he glanced at his son. “Did you think I was simply idling my days away at the hot springs?”
That was exactly what he’d done.
“Even as I was giving my stomach time to recover, soaking in the healing waters, we were gathering and analyzing information.”
His subordinates had done that.
The king sat up straight, adjusting the position of his legs. “The reason I’ve gathered all of you here is to inform you of the decision I’ve made regarding my heir.”
Elliott was stunned into silence, but then he hurriedly objected.
“W-Wait, father! How can you not care about the reason I, a prince, broke off my engagement?!”
“Perhaps I should say that I’ve stopped caring in the three months since.”
The king fixed his gaze on Elliott.
“To tell you the truth, I had already discovered all I needed to know about your infantile games two weeks after it happened. It was a simple matter to speak to all the other parties involved and verify what really happened. Miss Rachel never bullied anyone. Without that justification, your breaking off the engagement and everything you’ve done since is all groundless.”
“No! You’re wrong! You have to be!” Elliott insisted.
“Just listen! Once we had confirmed all that, the Fergusons came to meet us at the hot springs. We began discussing how we could settle this without causing a stir, but...things got too out of hand for that.”
The king looked over to his chamberlains, and they wheeled in a wagonload of paperwork.
“Elliott. The mountain on your left is the reports I received from the government office, cabinet ministers, and relevant departments. The one on the right is the reports summarizing what the agents I dispatched were able to gather. And in the center, twice the size of the other two combined, are the status reports that Miss Rachel’s own agents sent to her father. They are so excellently produced that the duke was able to keep abreast of the situation in the capital as if he were here himself.”
The king glared harshly at Elliott.
“So, where are your reports?”
Elliott had no response.