“Margrave Linboldt, what is this?”
“It’s a collection of signatures, Your Highness.”
Some time after the Foundation Day festival, Margrave Linboldt came to the palace and requested a meeting with Eric. Naturally, Eric couldn’t ignore him, so he agreed to meet. And Margrave marched up to him with a list of signatures from nobles.
“I assume your demand is the annulment of our engagement?”
“Correct, Your Highness.”
The implications were crystal clear. At last, the civil unrest from the radical reform had subsided. Prince Eric could no longer ignore the reality that many nobles opposed our marriage. Margrave Linboldt knew this about him.
“Understood.”
“Your Highness! Does this mean you agree to our demands?! Then let’s waste no time and annu—”
“No, I meant that I understood your intentions. I’m marrying Leia. My decision is final. I will not be swayed.”
Eric interrupted the margrave sharply, his voice resilient and willful. Linboldt’s eyes opened wide in shock—it seemed this was the opposite of what he was expecting to hear.
“However, the bravery and sincerity needed to sign this petition is noted. In return, I will earnestly try to persuade you.”
“What, are you going to personally convince every single person who signed this?”
“Precisely. I’m grateful you’re so quick on the uptake, Margrave.”
Eric declared that he would face the opposition head-on. It was very like him. He treated the Margrave’s petition with nothing but the utmost respect and sincerity. He was so sincere that Linboldt was having a difficult time thinking of how to respond.
“Margrave, my actions will be governed by a simple premise: I will never give up my marriage to Leia. Keep that in mind.”
“N-no, Your Highness! This is the wrong move to make as crown prince! And I won’t be swayed either. I cannot accept this.”
Margrave Linboldt met Eric’s stubbornness with a bullheadedness of his own. I recognized the strong gleam in his eyes. I had spent the past several months gazing at a pair of eyes that gleamed as intensely.
After their confrontation, Linboldt made a habit of coming to the palace to argue with Eric. He had a villa in the capital, and he had been petitioning for support from the nobles who lived nearby.
As expected, most of the nobles around the capital backed Eric’s decision. The majority of them had witnessed my accomplishments firsthand, therefore they spurred Linboldt’s entreaties—but that wasn’t enough to deter the tenacious margrave.
“Margrave, you don’t know when to give up, do you? Have my words gone in one ear and out the other?”
“With all due respect, Your Highness, if you allow your feelings to influence your decisions, your subjects will suffer. I don’t let my feelings have the slightest effect on my decisions.”
“Well, if you insist on being so objective, should you not conclude that Leia is indeed worthy? I imagine hearing so many favorable opinions from those who live in the capital would make you feel that way.”
“Of course, I understand that she is doing stellar work as a saint. But not stellar enough to eclipse the sins of her family.”
Even after being exposed to new perspectives in the capital, he still refused to walk back his position. While he conceded that my achievements as a saint were commendable, that wasn’t enough to change his mind.
And so he continued to vex us over the coming months, trying to stop the wedding while we were busy planning it.