“Get it together, Raymond!” Elliott cried. “She’s not cool. She’s just not interested in people! And don’t lump a devil like Rachel in with your brusque maid, okay?! Don’t think that just because you’re able to handle a little plum wine that you can chug a mug of distilled liquor so strong you could set it on fire!”
“Have no fear, brother!” Raymond thrust out his not-so-muscular chest with confidence. “My tutors always said I’m a boy whom ‘you teach the first thing, and he’s convinced he knows the tenth’!”
“That’s what worries me!”
The king leaned over and whispered in the queen’s ear, “Hey, I know it’s a little late at this point, but I’m not seeing much hope for the future regardless of who we name as crown prince.”
“Yes, it’s much too late,” the queen replied, hiding her mouth with her fan. “But that’s what we have Rachel for, right?”
The king clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention.
“Now then, with Miss Rachel’s engagement to Elliott broken, she will now be engaged to my second son, Raymond. I am also officially recognizing Raymond as crown prince. Elliott will become a subject of the state and be given a new title, that of the Count of Leaflane!”
“No!” Elliott groaned.
The title the king mentioned was one traditionally given to nobility, but while the domain held historical significance, it was not especially prosperous. It might have even had less financial power than some wealthy baronies. In all honesty, it wasn’t meant to be given out on its own. It was more often an extra title given to a grand duke or an award given to a member of the royal family in place of a pension.
“Father! You make it sound like I’m withdrawing from public life!” Elliott complained.
“I’m not making it sound like you are. That’s exactly what’s happening, you imbecile! I can’t leave someone who has a grudge against the next administration with the power to instigate a rebellion. You caused enough of a scene to get yourself disinherited, so be grateful I’m leaving you with an honorary title at all.”
“But!”
“Then, tell me,” the king said, leaning in as Elliott objected. “Do you have it in you to curry favor with Miss Rachel and convince her to marry you? You broke off your engagement, repeatedly harassed her, and even tried to assassinate her last night, I’m told. That’s all the negatives you already have against you. It would take a gargantuan effort for you to win her approval at this point. You understand that, right?”
“Guh?!”
It was already unthinkable for Elliott to cast aside Margaret and go crawling back to Rachel.
“And one more thing, Elliott, since you seem to be forgetting...”
As Elliott stood there, speechless, the king unsealed a dark chapter of their history.
“When you were young, you got into a fight about something trivial and someone clobbered you into submission with rocks. That was Miss Rachel. The queen fell in love when she saw the excessive retaliation Rachel managed to pull off despite only defending herself, you see. She went to the duke and had him take responsibility for your injuries by forcing him to get the two of you engaged.”
Elliott muttered, “Could it be that the one who bludgeoned my cousin, the Count of Globnar, with a club was...?”
“That was also Miss Rachel.”
“Then, the one who threw rocks at me with a smile as I was drowning in the pond was...”
“Now that’s just your victim complex, Your Highness,” Rachel protested. “I wasn’t smiling at all. I wanted to finish up that boring task and go eat dessert.”
“Killing me was a boring task to you?!” Elliott cried.
“My, how rude. I’m not the sort of person who derives pleasure from murder. I wanted to snuff you out quickly and head off to the buffet, but you just wouldn’t drown, and I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done to you if I’d missed out on the cherry cheesecake as a result.”
“Your priorities are all messed up!”
“I’d rather not hear that from you after you failed to keep your own priorities straight at work, Your Highness.”
Interrupting their bickering, the king asked, “So, what will it be, Elliott? Are you going to retire quietly? Or take another chance with Miss Rachel?”
“I, um... I...”
The memories of what had befallen him long ago and of his struggles over the past three months flitted through Elliott’s mind. He rose from his wheelchair, only to fall on his face in anguish.
“I humbly accept your offer to become the Count of Leaflane...”
He was a broken man.
“Now then, that takes care of Elliott...”
The king turned his eyes toward Margaret. The baron’s daughter was squirming around on the floor like a caterpillar. They’d tied her up like this after she’d gone straight to the royal couple’s carriage in order to make the case for Elliott’s actions. Even after that, she’d kept on shouting, so they’d had to gag her too.
At the king’s signal, a chamberlain behind Margaret removed the gag from her mouth.
“Bweh?! Hey, Your Majesty, isn’t this a little much?! I know you’re the king and all, but...”
“If you won’t silence yourself,” the king warned her, “we’ll put a horse’s bit in your mouth.”
“I’ll be quiet.”
Once Margaret, who’d been flailing about a moment ago, settled down, the king started questioning her.
“Now then, Miss Poisson. Can you tell me what things are important for a prince?”
Margaret tilted her head to the side as she thought.
“Umm... His face?”
“Anything else?” the king asked.
“Err... Money?”
“Anything else?”
“There’s more?! Uh, uhm... If he has a horse, it should be white.”
The king looked back to the others.
“As you can see, because this girl was raised as a commoner, she lacks the proper education for a noble.”
“It sounded like there were bigger problems to me,” the prime minister mumbled.
Ignoring the prime minister, the king pointed at Margaret. “As the cause of this uproar, I cannot simply let you go free. That is why we have decided to place you in the service of an influential noble indefinitely so that you can learn proper decorum.”
“Whuh?! That’s all?”
Margaret was shocked. After seeing what had happened to Elliott, she’d been worried about what the king would do to someone who was practically a commoner like her. Hardy as a weed though she was, she could see she was in serious trouble.
“Yes. I’ve already talked to Duke Ferguson about it. He’ll assign you to his daughter for the time being.”
The audience mulled over the king’s words.
When Margaret realized what it meant, she hollered, “Wait, that’s Rachel! You used a bunch of pretty words, but you’re really just giving me to Rachel as her plaything, aren’t you?!”
“What are you talking about?” the king asked. “It seems she has every intent to teach you manners too.”
“The way you just said that, it sounds like it’s just an extra thing?! Her main goal is to use me as her toy, isn’t it?!”
The king sighed. “Yes, you’re right. Perhaps it’s best to come out and say these things clearly.”
“What?”
“Well, after what Elliott’s done, just slapping him down isn’t going to be enough to satisfy Miss Rachel, you see? Which is why we have decided to offer you up to her as a human sacrifice.”
“Saying it clearly doesn’t make everything better! I’m a minor, okay? If you’re gonna reeducate me, or offer me as a human sacrifice, you need parental permission! Mom would never let this happen to me!”
Hearing that, the king gave the signal.