The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“Leonard. I will leave this in your hand.”

“Yes. I will act as Your Majesty’s eyes and ears. if there is any injustice being done in the south, I will bring it all to light.”

“Umu.”

Leo was given a purple mantle from Father.

It is proof of an imperial inspector.

As long as he has this mantle, no one can stand in Leo’s way.

“Do not compromise. Thoroughly investigate the matter until you are satisfied.”

“Yes.”

Leo puts on the mantle and leaves the throne room.

Others started to leave as well but I remain behind.

The reason is that Father seems like he wants me to.

“Are you worried?”

“There’s no need to. Leo is excellent after all.”

“But he can be inflexible at times too. You have been the one who made up for that. And this time you are not by his side.”

“You are thinking about seeing how far can Leo go by himself right? I can say that it won’t work that well though.”

“Hou? and why is that?”

“That guy is good at helping others. He’s a guy who can move people. That’s why even if I’m not there, someone else will be there for him.”

“I see. That’s fine. But what about you?”

I frown at my father’s words.

Like Leo, I also have my own task. The task is too lightweight to call a mission though.

“I wonder. I will do as much as I can but please don’t expect too much from me.”

“That is unacceptable. Your elder sister’s marriage is entirely in your hands after all. If she doesn’t get married, Zandra won’t be able to get married either.”

“That’s quite a serious responsibility, isn’t it. But please don’t get angry at me if I fail though. I am going up against her after all.”

“Yeah, I know that. But Arnold. I am already over fifty years old you know. There’s not much time left. That’s why I want to see my daughter become a bride.”

“I don’t remember hearing that you are sick though?”

“I don’t have any sickness but I am getting old. I can’t suppress things much longer. I will eventually be eliminated someday. Who will become the next emperor, that’s all I can think of.”

With a little distant eye, Father looks over the view of the castle town.

How long will I be able to enjoy this scenery? Maybe that’s what he is thinking right now.

His children are waging war among each other and their goal is the throne he is currently sitting on.

Naturally, the winner will overthrow Father. That being the case, this is no time for him to want to see his daughter become a bride.

“You are unusually timid today.”

“Today, the Second Consort and the Crown Prince came out in my dream. It was very nostalgic………I wonder how many people I have to miss like this.”

“If you don’t like it then you can just stop the succession war. Name a new crown prince and while you still have power send your children to the countryside, you can spare their lives that way.”

“That’s not possible. The worth of the winner and the worth of someone who has their victory handed to him are different. The throne is only for the victorious. That’s how you create a strong emperor.”

“Then please stop looking so timid like that. You have the power to stop all of this but you choose not to. Because of that, my brother has to get involved in this stupid conflict. There are a lot who think as you do but the reason that no one voice out against it is because you yourself approve of it. They convinced themselves that this is something necessary and abided by it. Your timidness right now is an insult to all those who participate in this succession war. If you back out after all this time, I will never forgive you……”

This kind of conflict wouldn’t happen if the emperor appoints a successor.

However, an emperor who won that conflict is stronger than someone who is appointed. I understand that reasoning. A winner will not allow his price to be taken away. But those who have victory handed to them have little awareness of that. That’s where the root of such awareness came from.

If one wants to create an emperor who would fight to protect the empire then the succession war is necessary. Because of that, this stupid conflict has been repeated for so many generations.

“……to think that I would get lectured by my own son. Even more so it’s Arnold too.”

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Alright. Since Franz is not here I ended up showing you such timidness. I am sorry. Forget about what I said.”

“Yes.”

“…..Arnold. Do you still remember what I showed you?”

“Please rest assured. I never forget it. I still remember the words you said to me at that time.”

“I see…….then I am relieved.”

Saying so, Father dismissed me.

Since the succession war has intensified, Father must have a lot of things to think about too.

If Leo were to become an emperor, Father would be safe but he would never appoint Leo as the crown prince because of that.

Even if he shows me his timid side, he is a person who would prioritize his responsibility as an emperor before himself.

“After all, we have to win huh.”

I muttered so and went to see Leo off.

“Well, take care of your body.”

“Yeah, Do your best too, Nii-san.”

“I will keep it moderately.”

Saying so, we said our goodbye.

We don’t need a long-winded conversation. It’s not like we are saying goodbye for life.

“Your Highness Arnold.”

“As stiff as always huh, Lynfia.”

“I don’t have a status that could use such a familiar term with Your Highness like everyone else after all.”

“I don’t care about status. Well, if you are fine with it then do whatever you like. You came all the way here after all, sorry that I took up your time.”

“No, it’s me who has to thank you for everything.”

“It’s my repayment for saving my life and protecting Finne while we were away. This is not nearly enough at all though.”

“I haven’t been that useful either. Even so, you have been very gracious to me. Honestly, I am feeling bad about it myself.”

Saying so, Lynfia looks down.

However, that was just her being modest.

She splendidly protected Finne for me. That’s like she helped us avert our biggest crisis so far.

Our debt can not be paid to her by just dispatching some adventurers to protect her village and investigate her case.

“Well, you might think so, Lynfia but we are really grateful toward you. That’s why we will definitely help your village.”

I give Lynfia a pouch that is slightly larger than my fist.

As it is quite heavy, Lynfia peeks inside.

There were gold coins in it.

Additionally, the inside of the pouch is much larger than it appears.

“Th, this is…….!?”

“It is a magic enchanted pouch. The inside is ten times wider than its appearance. And the gold coins inside are mine. I had no chance to spend any money but the country still allocated some to me you see. I thought I would use it to fund our succession war but for the time being, I have no need for it, you went out of your way to establish a connection with that company for us after all. I will entrust it to you.”

“N, No way! How will I be able to spend all this money!?”

“Even if I gave it to Leo, he wouldn’t be able to use it effectively. If it’s you then I’m sure you will be able to use it well. Leo is always straightforward. I want you to help him out. I think that will eventually lead to the salvation of your village. And you don’t have to be stingy when you want to use it. You don’t have to worry about returning it to me, use it to help reconstruct your village, alright?”

“Your Highness……”

“I’d like to go with you but I can’t afford to do that this time. I am sorry that I can’t see it through to the end but at least let me do this much for you.”

“…..Thank you very much. I will never forget this debt. I will definitely be useful to His Highness Leonard for you.”

Saying so, Lynfia lowered her head.

It’s only natural. Inside that pouch are ten years worth of gold coins for a prince.

Normally, It might not be such a good idea to hand it over so easily but I still have the money I earned as Silver. That money is being managed by Sebas but its amount is way more than a prince salary.

Even so, it doesn’t mean that it was an amount of money that could be easily thrown away either. However, with that money, they would be able to nudge the southern nobles to move. If it’s Lynfia then she will definitely be able to spend it in a way that Leo couldn’t be able to imagine.

“You are exaggerating. We are the ones that are in debt to you. Consider it as our thanks. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“…..It might be impudence of me to say this now but I’m glad that you were attacked at that time. Because of that, we were able to meet like this. The relief and joy I felt when you offered to help me at that time was something only I could understand. Now I know. The reason why Finne-sama trusted you to such an extent. After the village is safe, I will definitely return to join you. Please leave His Highness Leonard to me.”

“Fuh, that was really stiff. But since you are like that, I can leave him to you. Lynfia, take care of my brother for me.”

“Yes. Please leave him to me.”

Lynfia deeply bows and boards the carriage that Leo just got on.

There are imperial knights escorting Leo but Leo’s personal protection was entrusted to Lynfia. That also shows how much Leo trusts her as well.

“All right, I’m off!”

“Yeah. if it’s getting too difficult then just give up and come back alright.”

“Ahaha, Nii-san too, if it’s getting too difficult on your side you can give up as well you know. The southern nobles are more forgiving than our elder sister after all.”

“No doubt.”

While talking to Leo who popped his head out from the carriage, I looked at the carriage which was slowing moving away.

Well, there’s no need to worry about him anymore.

“Guess I will have to start doing my own things then.”

First, let’s try meeting the guy who proposed to my elder sister. After that I will have him write a letter to her, that will surely be able to move her heart.

Alright, it’s time to get busy.