Chapter 112 – Part 2 Nobility – Elizabeth (2)

“I don’t need to inherit my older brother.”

The first meeting place after the engagement was decided.
Prince Lucius, sitting obliquely in his chair, spat out that at his first word.
In the garden of the royal palace in full bloom, before exchanging greetings.

His resemblance to His Highness Julius clearly shows that they are of the same bloodline. But the mood I felt from him was quite the opposite.

“Majesty.”

The attendant standing behind Prince Lucius gave him a panicked warning, but the prince only snorted.

Is it your brother’s legacy?
He had never thought of his situation in that way until now.
It was because she had only memories of being honored as the daughter of the duchy and the fiancé of the crown prince. Prince Lucius’ attitude even felt fresh to me.

But even if you don’t like me, there’s no reason to be hostile. Without the support of the knight or family, His Highness Lucius’ position would be precarious. He did not know whether he would be able to retain his position as Crown Prince until His Majesty the King exalted him.

“Thank you for inviting me today, Your Highness Lucius. It is an honor to be chosen as Your Highness’ fiancée.”

After a short thought, I decided to do something that didn’t exist.
It’s not a good thing to have a gap between the new crown prince and the duke.

“Huh. Who would choose a woman with no blood or tears like you. She must have asked the prime minister or the duke to become my fiancée anyway. Since the older brother is dead, it doesn’t matter if the younger brother is the one? Is that how you want to be crown princess?

Even I was a little embarrassed by the rude remarks that I couldn’t even hear. How else am I supposed to fix this?

“Majesty.”

The attendant standing behind Prince Lucius warned in a more audible voice than before. The prince does not ignore this time and replies to the servant.

“But Neff, you know? What the nobles are talking about behind the scenes. The stone daughter who didn’t even pretend to be sad at her older brother’s funeral, became her younger sister’s fiancé within a month after the funeral. Thanks to that, I couldn’t refuse it. It’s a mess to the face.”

The tea was very sweet. Is it the taste of Prince Lucius?
Looking at the front, the prince had a very elated face. Are you in a good mood because you hurled rude words at me?
On the contrary, the servant behind him was sweating profusely and was terrified. Poorly. I have a lot of trouble meeting the lacking owner.

“It seems that you don’t understand the meaning of this engagement at all.”

I put down the teacup and opened my mouth.

“The meaning of engagement?”
“This engagement was proposed by Her Highness the Queen and approved by Her Majesty the King. Please note that such remarks may be seen as rebellious to His Majesty.”
“Abama? That’s you…”
“I don’t know who said what, but if you’re a noble, it’s better to choose someone you’re more familiar with. If you’re swept away by the words of those who are shallow, even your Highness will look shallow. Oh, you’re not a noble, but a royalty. You are.”

Prince Lucius, who had a triumphant face a moment ago, immediately frowned and glared at me.

“Disrespectful! Do you dare to teach me, the Crown Prince?”
“Yes. I’m trying to teach you. And Your Highness is not yet the crown prince. Be careful with such remarks as impersonating the crown prince.”

Prince Lucius’ adoption status is virtually certain, but the ceremony is yet to take place. If you put it in your mouth carelessly, it’s like revealing your own weakness.
As for me, I only gave him helpful advice, but for some reason, the prince dyed his face red and glared at him. I handed over the documents I had brought to the prince.

“This is a letter of appointment received directly from His Majesty.”
“…A letter of appointment? What appointment?”

Of course, I did not accept this engagement without any conditions. Before meeting Prince Lucius, I had already had an audience with Her Highness the Queen and Her Majesty the King and had many conversations.
The two of them are most concerned about the education of Prince Lucius as crown prince. Having to start from 1 is a problem, but it was also a big problem that the person himself was not motivated at all.

The sooner you learn, the better. Conversely, it also means that the later it is, the worse it is. In that sense, Prince Lucius’ education came too late.
Prince Lucius is already 15 years old. He is very different from His Highness Julius, who had been raised as the crown prince since birth. It will be difficult to fill the gap with a fair amount of effort.

However, he himself is not diligently engaged in the education of the Crown Prince. Prince Lucius’s education as crown prince seems to have already begun right after His Highness Julius passed away, but even though he mobilized all the outstanding faculty, the crown prince’s education is not progressing at all.

In addition, the professor who badly criticized the prince personally retaliated against the family and forced them to quit. Although there are only two people at the top who can control Prince Lucius like this, Her Majesty left the entire task to me after Her Highness’ Queen stayed out of the house due to the depression she suffered after Her Highness’s death.

“I, Elizabeth Knight, am the fiancée of Her Highness Lucius, and at the same time appointed as Her Highness’ personal professor. She states that she holds no responsibility for anything that happens in the course of educational guidance, and that she accepts non-scarring corporal punishment if necessary. Became.”
“… It can’t be… Are you afraid to admit this!!”

The prince glared intently at the document I handed him, and then he suddenly screamed and tore it into pieces and scattered them.
It’s ridiculous. Will this single-celled human become the crown prince?

“It is grave disrespect to destroy official documents bearing the signatures of His Majesty the King and His Highness the Queen. Even royalty are subject to punishment.”
“Ugh…!”
“OMG…”

Only then did the prince realize that he had done something dangerous, and he looked around in panic. The attendant behind him was also taken aback and hurriedly picked up the torn pieces of paper.
I calmly admired the pitiful appearance of the two and spoke slowly.

“However, the appointment letter I showed you is a copy that I copied, and the original signed by His Majesty is kept separately. I’m glad you didn’t get scolded, Your Highness.”
“You…!”

Prince Lucius, who was embarrassed, changed his mood again and started to get angry. I wonder if I’m not tired of living when I can’t control my emotions like this.

“No matter how much you deny it and tear the paper, nothing will change as long as the edict has already been issued. Even if you somehow expel me, the next time a person who is harder to deal with than me will only take my place.”

Prince Lucius still had a dissatisfied expression on his face. But that doesn’t mean he’s stupid enough to forcibly reject His Majesty’s orders, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“From what I’ve heard, it seems that His Highness is not diligently receiving the Crown Prince’s education. Is there a reason?”

Find the cause first. Maybe there’s a noble purpose I haven’t even thought of.
At my question, the prince snorted loudly and began to speak.

“Until now, I’ve been living like my older brother’s shadow. All attention and evaluation have been given only to my older brother. I’ve just been left in a corner of the palace. But as soon as my older brother dies, I flip my palms!”

The prince raised his voice as he slammed the table with his fist, as if he had accumulated a lot.

“I didn’t want to be like a crown prince! I just wanted to live a quiet life! Now, I don’t need a crown prince education!”

I have revised my evaluation of Prince Lucius.
From just a fool to an incorrigible fool.

“You really are ignorant. Your Highness.”
“What?!”

Stupid. It’s so stupid that it makes me laugh.

“Your Highness, have you ever made money by working on your own?”

To my question, the prince hesitated, unable to answer even though he frowned.
This stupid prince wouldn’t even know the meaning of my question in the first place.

“Of course you wouldn’t. The royal family gets plenty of pocket money in the name of maintaining dignity, and they’re all given a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, and even maids and attendants.”
“That’s right, since I’m royalty, of course…”

I continued to speak while glaring at the prince.

“I bet you’ve never thought about why we’re giving this right to His Highness, who has no abilities or achievements. Just give as you give, even if you complain about not being enough, it’s given so naturally that you don’t even know who to thank. But, Nothing in the world is just given for no reason. Nobles and royalty are given duties just as much as they are given rights that commoners do not.”
“I told you earlier that I was neglected! What rights did I have!”

The prince knocks on the table again. This time the teacup on the prince’s side fell onto the grass.

“Now, to buy a cup of tea that Her Highness poured out, a commoner has to work for three days. The clothes that a commoner is wearing cannot be bought even if he works for a year, the food he puts in his mouth, and the professors in charge of Your Highness’s education are first-rate. The same goes for the servants standing behind Her Highness. You said you didn’t enjoy anything while enjoying such luxury?”
“…So what to do with me?”
“Of course, as a crown prince, you can get a proper education, accumulate knowledge and wisdom, and become the next king and choose wisely. If you really don’t like it, you can give up all the rights of the royal family and become a commoner. I will.”
“…”

The prince stares at me with a reddened face. The attendant behind him was looking at the distant mountain as if he had given up.
I quietly lifted my teacup and sipped the remaining tea.
It’s too sweet. It doesn’t fit my mouth.

After a moment of silence, the prince abruptly rose from his seat. Then, without saying goodbye, he turned around and left the garden.

“My lady. You’re rejecting the engagement even now…”

When the two of us were alone, her maid, Rachel, who had been quietly waiting behind me, spoke to her. Unlike the prince’s servants, she is an excellent maid who does not interfere in her master’s conversations.

“This is also the duty of a nobleman.”

Yes. Nobility duty.
It is not only the prince who has lived in luxury.

Since I was born as a duke’s daughter, I must fulfill my duty.
Even if that means marrying a man you don’t want.

*

The first meeting after the engagement with Prince Lucius was the worst, but the crown prince ceremony went without a hitch. Prince Lucius was installed as crown prince normally, and I stood next to him as his fiancée.
And I had an unusual career of participating in the crown prince ceremony twice, at the age of 5 and at the age of 15, as a fiancé.

His Highness Lucius’ attitude towards receiving the Crown Prince’s education was at least slightly better. I don’t know if he felt something about my words or if he just hated working as a commoner.
I also participated in the education of the Crown Prince at first, but since His Highness immediately entered the Royal School, we met less often.
Originally, I was the age to enter the school together, but since I entered school 3 years earlier to match His Highness Julius’s previous entrance, I am already a graduate. By the way, the Royal School is a three-year program, but His Highness Julius and I completed all courses in two years and graduated.

When there was nothing else to do, Her Highness the Queen handed over the task to me as if she had waited.
Her Highness, who had suffered from depression since Her Highness Julius’ death, now completely lost her energy and locked herself in her room. Thanks to her, the work that the queen had to do was not progressing, and I took over the task in the name of the next queen.
I’m not married to His Highness the Crown Prince, and officially, I’m still just a fiancée. She was in an ambiguous position to act as queen, but since Her Majesty recognized her as well, she accepted it calmly.

However, the bigger problem is that His Majesty the King has also started passing on tasks to me. Originally, it was her crown prince, Her Highness Lucius’ share.
With the plausible cause of ‘Learn the king’s duties so that he can make up for the lack of the next king, Lucius.’

His Highness Lucius’ education as crown prince was still in its infancy, and it was unclear whether he was even doing it properly after entering the school. If His Majesty passed away right away and His Highness Lucius became king, this country would fall into chaos.
Therefore, it was not without reason that I, a candidate for queen who lacked, learned the duties of the king.

Having taken over the duties of Her Highness the Queen and Her Majesty the King, I had to spend days without eyes open.

The arduous daily routine that was repeated every day reminded me of when I was very young and was receiving education for the Crown Princess.
If there is a difference from then, there is no one to support me.

It’s so hard to have no one to lean on…

“Majesty…”

If His Highness Julius were still alive. How many times have you made such meaningless assumptions?
No matter how strong you pretend to be, suffering is painful. As time passed, I became more and more exhausted.

Then one day, I face the day that changes my destiny.