Chapter 199 - MERIT CEREMONY (2) (1/2)

“How is it? Is it fine with you?”

At Princess Daphne’s room.

When Prince Dion asked her with a voice mixed with tension, Princess Daphne lightly moved her right hand.

After she slowly turned her wrist and folded her fingers one by one, she clenched and opened her fist several times before she held her pen.

The pen felt cold and smooth.

“It feels a bit different but… I think it’s fine.”

Prince Dion breathed in relief at the words of Princess Daphne. No, he didn’t just stop at that as he sank to his knees. Because his legs gave out.

“Haa… that’s a relief.”

“Were you that worried?”

“Should I not worry?”

Princess Daphne giggled at Prince Dion’s question and put down her pen. She originally wanted to try turning the pen, but she didn’t even try it because she was almost certain what Dion would look like if she failed.

‘No, perhaps I’ll be able to do it in the future…’

Her right hand didn’t have much strength. It seemed like she would have no problems with it in her daily life, but it was questionable if she would be able to hold the sword like before.

“Sister?”

“Uh, yes. I’m okay.”

Prince Dion’s face became serious again, and his expression stiffened without him realizing it.

Therefore, Princess Daphne awkwardly smiled and changed the topic.

“How is Darianne?”

“Darianne?”

“Yes, was she scared?”

“Yes, she was very scared. But she wasn’t injured, so there should be no problem.”

“Mentally?”

“Well… she actually didn’t see the corpses.”

Princess Daphne bit her lips at Prince Dion’s words.

Because she recalled the time when she saw the bodies of the other royal family members.

She had seen the bloody corpses of her father’s siblings and concubines, and also her half-siblings.

When she closed her eyes, she could still vividly remember that horrible sight. So instead of closing her eyes, Princess Daphne took a slow and deep breath.

Princess Daphne’s dignified appearance and charisma led her to be regarded as the Lion Princess or the Iron Princess because she was the symbol of a bold and strong woman, but in reality, she wasn’t an iron lady who did not shed blood or tears.

She had an outgoing and bold personality.

But at the same time, she was also rich in emotions since she was very affectionate and would cry often.

‘Rather… the iron one is Dion.’

As his sister, she found Dion a bit problematic.

Because except for Daphne herself, he was surprisingly cold-hearted to others.

He was that indifferent that even when he talked about Princess Darianne, he didn’t seem to care much about her, so what more of the others.

“How is father… I mean, His Majesty?”

“It’s not good. Mother said that… he needed a lot of time.”

At Prince Dion’s words, Princess Daphne unknowingly closed her eyes.

Their father, Henry II, was already shaken by the betrayal and death of the Lord Protector whom he believed and depended on more than anyone else, so he was completely crushed when he saw the wretched state of the royal family’s corpses.

“Father is…”

“Yes, he is pure. That’s why mother loves father.”

He was not competent, but neither was he completely incompetent.

He was aware of his role as a king, and he always made an effort to fulfill his duties as a king.

Therefore, when Henry II saw the corpses of the royal family members, he had no choice but to admit it.

No matter what reason the Lord Protector had, even if it was a really unavoidable reason, the Lord Protector was a traitor.

He was an enemy of the Sälen royal family, someone they could never forgive.

Henry II erased the Lord Protector from his heart. It left his heart empty, but he still did it.

“Has he recovered?”

“Perhaps. But you know our father’s personality. Once he recovers to a certain extent, he’ll have to worry about two options, right?”

She understood what Dion was talking about.

As Dion had said, she knew Henry II well.

‘Will he abdicate or not?’

Someone had to take responsibility for this.

It was not an issue that would end just because the concerned person died.

So he had to take full responsibility and abdicate from the throne.

Since the crown princess had become an adult, he could hand the throne over to her and hope that she would be a better monarch.

It was an option that Prince Dion wanted, and was also the best option for Henry II.

But Henry II was not an irresponsible man.

The Lord Protector was dead, but they still had a lot of problems.

The activities of Count Chase and the Royal Guard Knights minimized the damage, but that did not mean that no one was killed or injured.

The deaths of the royal family members.

The deaths of the nobles.

Add to that was the disaster in the royal capital.

The biggest problem was the fact that the Lord Protector was the leader of the royalists.

Naturally, all the people under the command of the Lord Protector who were involved in this ‘rebellion’ were also royalists, so their elimination meant a weakening of the entire royalist faction.

The royal family of the Sälen Kingdom had always been strong. And those in the aristocrats faction were obviously not hostile against the royalty just because they were on that side.

Even Duke Balloa who belonged to the hawks was more like a dove wearing the mask of a hawk when one compared it to other countries.

But even if that was the situation, it will still end up complicated if the royalists suddenly lose their power.

The balance of power would be destroyed, and the royal family would greatly suffer.

It was a difficult political situation.

The Sälen Kingdom would be greatly shaken, and the empire would take advantage of that and reveal their power again, and the other countries were also likely to show a different attitude.

Would the king then leave his daughter, who had just become an adult, to this hard and difficult position?

Considering Henry II’s personality, it was absolutely impossible.

‘Of course, mother will help me a lot either way.’

If her father abdicates, she will help Princess Daphne, and if he doesn’t abdicate, she will become more involved in politics now.

“My head hurts.”

Prince Dion smiled bitterly at Princess Daphne’s honest words.

“In any case, I’ll help you with the best of my ability.”

“Yes, I feel a bit energized now.”

Dion was different from the Lord Protector.

Because he was an ally who would never betray her, someone whom she could really trust anytime and anywhere.

“Anyway… let’s talk something a bit more positive. After all, we avoided the worst, right? The Lord Protector was killed, and his plot to destroy the barrier was stopped. Even the demon followers who attacked the royal capital were also unable to do anything about it in the end.”

“You’re right.”

The worst situation had indeed been avoided.

And Princess Daphne knew.

That it was because of ‘them’ that they were able to somehow avoid the worst situation.

“It was true.”

The two people of destiny.

The heroes who saved Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, and also the fate of the Sälen Kingdom in its moment of crisis.

“If it weren’t for those two…”

“All of us would definitely have been killed by the Lord Protector. The barrier would have been destroyed… and the demon followers would have done some terrible things.”

There were so many troops who had attacked the royal capital.

If the barrier had been destroyed, they would have probably added more troops.

“Would they have opened a Hell Gate?”

“Probably.”

Like what they did in the Paragon Kingdom.

Just imagining it was terrible.

A Hell Gate opening in the royal capital of the Sälen Kingdom.

“We owe them so much. It’s something we are really grateful for. So we have to make them even more on our side.”

Princess Daphne had a bitter smile at Prince Dion’s words.

Because she felt bitter at the reality that they were treating their benefactors like this.

“First of all, both of us have decided to give them the count title, right?”

“Yes, because even if their contribution is big, they are not even adults yet, and the two have just become barons. It will be difficult to give them a title that is more than that.”

It was only after the Lord Protector had saved the country for the second time did he get a promotion in his noble title.

The two had originally come from the prestigious 12 northern families, so it was obvious that the existing nobles would protest greatly if they were bestowed a marquis or duke title.

“Instead, we can give them something else.”

“That’s what I’m going to do. We can’t get them on our side if we save on our spending.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that… Ha, fine. Just give them a lot. That’s fine with me.”

Prince Dion smiled a bit at Princess Daphne’s words and took out a piece of paper that had been in his arms.

“What’s that?”

“The bribes I prepared for the two people of destiny. I want you to review it too.”

Prince Dion handed the paper to Princess Daphne, and she laughed at the first line.

“It really is a bribe.”

“Because we have to give our best if we’re giving something, right?”

Princess Daphne laughed again at Prince Dion’s words.

Because she felt that Dion was sincerely grateful to the two people of destiny, even though he seemed to be making excuses.

‘Although rather than his own life… it seems he’s more grateful that they saved my life.’

I feel like the person who’ll be his wife in the future will resent me.

Princess Daphne smiled and read the list of bribes prepared by Prince Dion.

***

“A fief? For me and Jude?”

“Yes, a fief.”

Cordelia was literally stunned at Edward’s words.

She had awakened the memories of her previous life, but she had also lived as Cordelia Chase for 17 years.

Thus, as a noble of the Sälen Kingdom, Cordelia knew how much a fief would mean to a noble.

“Wooow…”

A fief.

Becoming a countess is like a dream, and now, we’re even getting a fief.

What kind of place is it?

It will not be very big though, right?

A few small villages.

Maybe even a small city?

Maybe even a mountain?

Whatever it is, it will definitely be good.

I will still like it.

‘If it’s a village, we’ll just be building houses and adding structures of this and that…’

If it’s a city, we have to develop commerce, and if it’s a mountain, we’ll have to dig mines in order to gain a source of income.

‘Hehehe, it’s like a game.’

Like the classic games of Sim City, or the Tycoon series.

‘I worked hard in Animal Crossing.’

Her imagination grew more and more distant from the actual management of a fief, but Cordelia did not mind it.

Because Jude would be the one to worry about the real thing anyway.

‘The right person for the right job, the right person for the right job.’

Cordelia laughed ‘hehehe’ again and drew a cute and colorful village in her head, while Edward, Maja, and Dahlia all had the same expression when they saw Cordelia.

‘How cute.’

I want to pinch her cheeks, stroke her head, and kiss her.

Dahlia flinched when she thought that while Edward was snickering before he loudly coughed to break Cordelia’s delusion.

“Anyway, it’s almost a determined fact that a fief will be added to your count title. It’s still a bit of a question on what kind of territory you will get though.”

“Eh? It hasn’t been decided yet?”

“Yes, the situation is a bit complicated.”

There were many reasons why a fief was very important to a noble, and scarcity was one of them.

Land was obviously a limited resource.

The Sälen Kingdom was 300 years old, and most of the land there already had owners.

Naturally, there were still quite some land that belonged to the royal family, but it was not possible to give the management to some of them since it was the source of the royalty’s power.