Chapter 86
Recently, the nobles of the Kingdom of Crocus had been in utter turmoil.
As if it were not shocking enough that the scandals surrounding the House of Duke Dietrich, long believed to be among the kingdom’s most loyal families, had been completely exposed, public executions had followed.
And that was not all. Not only had it been revealed that the Crown Prince’s courtesan, who had once fled, was carrying his child, but also that she was originally a dominant Omega and the very benefactor who had saved the Crown Prince’s life on that tragic day.
Most astonishing of all was that everything had unfolded within the span of only a few days.
Watching these events unfold, the nobles trembled with unease.
‘What will happen to that courtesan now?’
Surely, no matter that he is the Crown Prince, His Highness would never make an Omega who is merely the daughter of a baron his Crown Princess!
But their fears soon became reality.
Gathering the nobles before him, the Crown Prince made a shocking declaration.
“Good heavens! Your Highness, are you saying—?”
“Exactly what you have heard,” he replied. “I intend to take Lady Marie of House Alphrose as my Crown Princess. Provided that she accepts. Ah, though I imagine there is no need for me to explain my reasons in detail. You all already know them.”
“…Huh.”
It had not been long since the fall of House Dietrich, the most powerful among the three great ducal families that upheld the kingdom.
As such, there were not many nobles bold enough to openly oppose the Crown Prince’s wishes, if only because they valued their own lives.
Even if Crown Prince Russell had just made the unprecedented declaration that he intended to make his courtesan—no, the woman who could no longer be called a courtesan—his Crown Princess.
“B-But, Your Highness, she—!”
Even so, amidst the frozen atmosphere, there was still someone who spoke up.
It was Duke von Alice.
Despite his deathly pale complexion, he had not lost his usual rigid demeanor.
“She is merely the daughter of a baron. And she was once a courtesan, was she not? W-Would that not violate protocol? There is such a thing as the dignity of the royal family.”
“…”
In the dreadful silence that followed, the Crown Prince slowly raised an eyebrow.
His expression dripped with displeasure.
“Protocol? Dignity?”
“Yes, Your Highness. For someone who understands such matters better than anyone to say such things… we hardly know how we are supposed to respond.”
As the atmosphere surrounding the Crown Prince grew increasingly ominous, Duke von Alice looked as though he might faint at any moment. Nevertheless, he made it clear that he could not allow the matter to pass without objection.
“Royal marriages are not arranged so lightly, are they? Even if—even if—the young lady is carrying Your Highness’s child. It would be better to choose another course. To make the daughter of a baron the Crown Princess would be entirely without precedent—”
But the Crown Prince did not allow him to continue.
“Enough.”
Raising a hand to silence him, he spoke in an icy voice.
“How amusing. Even if everyone else objected, I had thought that at least Duke von Alice would support my decision. Was I mistaken?”
The words struck like a dagger.
Duke von Alice’s mouth, which had been moving so fervently moments before, froze shut.
“Your Highness, th-that is—”
“I believed I had shown your house more than enough leniency, but it seems my intentions were not properly conveyed.”
“…”
Duke von Alice’s face turned deathly pale, as though every trace of blood had drained from it.
After all, he knew perfectly well what the Crown Prince’s crooked smile was mocking.
‘Ryan, you wretched boy!’
It was common knowledge by now that his third son, Ryan von Alice—a free-spirited child whom he had raised with considerable indulgence—had fled together with the Crown Prince’s lover and had later been captured.
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