Chapter 7: The Second Prince’s Return
HALF a month had passed since we solved the dilemma Leohardt forced upon us. Prince Malius and Lady Lecia had already formally announced their engagement. Given her status as a baron’s daughter and her striking resemblance to the Star Maiden—in appearance and ability—she was widely welcomed by the public. The overwhelming popularity of Star Maiden’s sequel in Orion played a part in that.
Duke la Montlivere’s family offered to adopt Lady Lecia as their daughter should there have been any resistance, but Orion’s king and queen openly approved of their union. Prince Malius had chosen her himself, so the circumstances of her birth were summarily ignored.
The nobles who had advocated for Leohardt to take the throne were placated as well; Prince Malius and Lady Lecia explained their plans for the kingdom’s future in great detail, and the nobles were accordingly sated. I was concerned that Leohardt had tipped the scales by showing them the kind of man he truly was, but it was ultimately none of my business. The important thing was that the whispers of malcontent had been silenced.
There were rumors that one of Prince Malius’ political opponents attempted to summon a fellwyrm against him, that his overwhelming introversion was the result of said dragon’s curse, and that Lady Lecia used her saintly powers to break the curse and vanquish the dragon. This time, the word on the street wasn’t far from the mark.
Nonetheless, with the blessing of an actual saint on their side, the people of Orion felt optimistic about their future. Depending on how their future leaders governed, their hopes could well be realized.
That was all well and good, of course.
“What I want to know is what you’re doing here.”
I glared at Leohardt, who was back in my palace. I came down for dinner, only to find that the second prince had returned when I was positive we’d parted ways in Orion.
He smiled innocently and shrugged. “What, did you forget I’ll be studying here for a year? I can’t imagine the Academy would take kindly to Lecia and me dropping out at once.”
“Oh, come off it. You can’t stand to see Lady Lecia and Prince Malius acting all lovely-dovey, can you?”
He averted his eyes, the life rapidly draining from his face. “Don’t put it like that, Vincent.”
Mother nodded in agreement. “Precisely. Can’t you show him a little more sympathy? He thanklessly saved his entire country from disaster, you know.”
Technically, I thanklessly saved a country that wasn’t even mine from disaster.
Unfortunately, Leohardt’s gift had him soundly in my parents’ good graces. It was a painting of Elizabeth commanding Lars in his giant hallowyrm form. Elizabeth was basking in Lar’s otherworldly light, glowing like an archangel or even a goddess. I hated to admit it, but it was a masterpiece. Not only that, it placated my parents’ desire to see my fiancée in the heroic light they’d missed during the chaos in Orion. The matter of whether he was even permitted to commission a painting of a foreign prince’s fiancée fighting off one of his country’s minister’s attempts to murder her was a bit of a grey area in and of itself, but my parents knew they couldn’t have come along for the grand finale. It was the closest they could come to the real experience.
To be fair, if I’d missed Elizabeth in all her glory like that, I’d be pouting for at least a decade.
“I must admit, Lady Elizabeth is quite wonderful,” Leohardt said, the light returning to his eyes. “She’s almost as radiant as my dear brother, almost as kind and gentle as him, almost as impartial and fair as him, almost as pure-hearted…”
“Can’t you admire her by any other means?” I snapped at him.
He sighed as he swirled his grape juice around in his glass. “At least you get to marry her.”
Even Father nodded sagely. “One cannot ask for too much, my son.”
“Don’t take her for granted now,” Mother added. “You should be humbler and more self-reflective.”
Don’t tell me you two want to marry Elizabeth as well, now?
Now that I thought about it, it did sound like Leohardt wanted to marry Elizabeth. The thought that I may lose my place in the world struck me. If nothing else, all three of them were too demanding of me. A familiar nightmare rose to my mind—the one in which Father declared my marriage to Elizabeth moot. For a split second, I was terrified they might let Leohardt marry her instead.
They would never…would they?
I broke out in a cold sweat.
Leohardt, on the other hand, gave Father a sugar-sweet grin. “I wouldn’t mind putting myself up for adoption, you know. Why don’t you let Lady Elizabeth marry—”
Father shot him a frigid glare. “If you dare try for Lady Elizabeth’s hand in earnest, We will have you exiled on the spot.”
Judging from the intensity of Father’s words, I was afraid he might strangle Leohardt on the spot instead of exiling him. He even gave Leohardt’s devilish smile a run for its money.
“That’s awfully harsh,” Leohardt replied calmly, but from where I sat, I could tell he was shaken.
I’m a little relieved. Of course, they’d favor their son over a foreigner.
“After all,” Father continued, “Lady Elizabeth cannot give birth to Our grandchildren if she weds you.”
Oh. Right. Of course.
Mother nodded in agreement.
It would be easy enough to accept that they wanted grandchildren to continue the Weissworth bloodline, but I had a feeling there was more to it.
What am I, then? What point is there to my being born?
I shoved aside my thoughts. There was no point in mulling over such nonsense.
Leohardt smiled as though everything was as it should be before continuing to eat. Perhaps due to the lingering effects of Father’s glare, he hardly said another word. He knew he wouldn’t make it as Father’s son—there were times I was impressed I’d made it to seventeen as it was.
I’ve still got much to improve on, though.