The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 150: Compromise

Brunhild.what are you doing here?

Father who had his decision challenged asked the intruding Empress in an angry tone.

Truthfully speaking, these two do not get along.

Originally, their education policies for the Crown Prince were against each other and their relationship took a decisive blow when he passed away three years ago.

The Crown Prince died on the battlefield. But why did he enter one in the first place?

The answer is that my father, the Emperor ordered him to. As the Crown Prince, Father wanted him to work suitably so that no one could find fault with him.

On the other hand, the Empress wanted her precious son, the Crown Prince, by her side. She was always the one that brought up the question of what would we do in the off chance that something happens to him. She even directly appealed to Father before the Crown Princes departure.

Then her fear was realized. The Crown Prince died and the Empire lost its ideal successor.

Since then, the relationship between the two has gone cold. The Empress thinks that the Crown Prince died because Father ordered him to go and Father grew distant from her because she never tried to hide that.

Despite that, there was no problem occurring because of their cold relationship. She doesnt lose her privilege even if she lost her child, and the Empress lost her vitality after the death of the Crown Prince and she desired to live peacefully inside the inner palace. That was a great development for Father. This is because he needs the Empress to maintain the order inside the inner palace.

However, that Empress was pulled into this mess by Therese.

This development is the most troublesome scenario. With the two who hold the highest authority in this place colliding with each other, I have no way to stop them.

I came here to stop the blood from flowing.

Saying so, the Empress stepped forward.

Seeing that, Father frowned angrily at her.

This is no stage for a woman. Back down now!

I can not do that.

You may have been pulled into this by Therese but these guys disrespected the imperial family far too much. If they are not punished, the honor of the imperial family will be damaged.

I am aware of that but I did not come here simply due to Thereses request. I am stopping you this time because if we let the blood of our subjects flow now it will damage the national interest.

I know that it will. But they still needed to be punished.

The person who has the closest contact with the other royal families is me. I have been exchanging letters with them so that they will visit the ceremony. Your Majesty also planned various things together with the [Adventurer Guild] for this event as well. Dont you think that by punishing them, everything we have done so far will be for naught?

Adventurer guild?

I have no such information. I did not actively look for the information from the guild but an SS-rank adventurer is someone that such information will arrive at their ears without the need to look it up. Well, I am curious. Guess I will look into it once this matter is done huh.

Whats more important now is the matter unfolding in front of me. I do understand the Empresss point in this.

Erics job as the Minister of Foreign Affairs is basically to negotiate with other major countries. Of course, Erics subordinates are also moving around to keep diplomatic relationships with other countries as well but the Empress and the consorts are the ones exchanging letters with the royal family of each country.

Not just the letters. They also send gifts and exchange information with them. The consorts at the inner palace also have a lot of work to do.

Thats the reason she cant overlook the punishment that will destroy their effort. I understand that. But the question now is what will she propose us to do?

There is no way that we can just acquit them.

Then what do you want me to do? You surely are not proposing that I should forgive them right?

Of course, punishment is necessary. But we shouldnt allow blood to flow for this. The timing is simply too bad. Why dont we imprison them and punish them once the ceremony is over?

There is a pardon after the ceremony. If I acquit others of their crime, I will have to acquit them too! This is the only moment that they can be punished.

If thats the case then it is better for Your Majesty to stay your punishment. If Your Majesty executed many of our powerful nobles, the number of guests for the ceremony will be dramatically decreased. The honor of the imperial family is certainly important but our national interest is important as well. Please do not forget. Your Majesty once ignored my plea, do you see how much our nation has lost because of that.

Can you stop bringing up the Crown Prince!

Father yelled at the Empress and turned toward Franz.

Franz also has a troubled expression himself.

The Empress is right. Her argument is sound when you compare the honor of the imperial family to the national interest. However, if he let them off this time, there will be more people like them showing up. And that will surely damage the national interest as well.

Either way, there is no benefit for the Empire.

Father removes his eyes from the Empress and angrily glares at Laurenz.

Laurenz is frightened by the glares. Well, of course, he would be glaring at you. You rampaged without thinking about what your influence could cause and now the situation has already escalated to the point that your head alone wont be able to settle the matter.

You should have withdrawn when I revealed myself as Leo. this is already out of my hands.

As I was thinking so, I heard more footsteps from the outside.

I didnt want to rely on such a measure if possible but since the Empress already showed up, I have no other choice.

It seems that the helper Finne called has arrived.

Ara? I thought that it was Al but why is Leo here?

With a smile like she just pulled off a prank, my mother, Mitsuba enters the throne room. Judging from the smile she has while she said that, she must have known that I am Al. as expected of my mother.

I asked Finne to be at my mothers side and told her that if the Empress makes a move, she has to ask my mother to move as well.

I cant see Finne here but this is probably my mothers consideration.

Finne is in no way responsible for this mess but she is prone to blame herself after all.

I was pretending to be Nii-san, Mother.

Youve always been good at switching places but stop doing that in front of His Majesty already. Its rude.

Yes, my deepest apology.

Please accept my apology on Leos behalf, Your Majesty.

Mitsuba..why are you here too?

Father was confused when he saw her and Franz had an expression like he is having a stomachache.

He already has a conflict between the Emperor and the Empress on his hands, he probably has a great deal of anxiety now since my mother joined in as well.

This is no longer a conflict between a prince and the nobles after all.

I heard that Her Majesty went to the throne room so I came to observe but it seems your opinions are in conflict right.

In such a scene of chaos, my mother states so as if she doesnt worry about anything at all.

Mitsuba-sanyou should back down from this

Your Majesty. I do not want to cause trouble. I simply want to lend a hand in finding a compromise.

You are Leonards mother. Will you not try to settle the matter in a way that is favorable for him?

Your doubt is completely understandable. However, doesnt that hold true for Your Majesty as well?

With my mothers reply, the Empress quiet down.

As the Empress, she cant go against Father forever. After all, if Father is killed, the Empress will not be safe either.

The words of the Emperor are absolute. If my father feels like it, he can ignore everything and execute everyone here. That is the kind of existence an emperor is, he simply doesnt like doing things that way. If something were to make my father snap or someone can convince him, this matter will be over.

Seeing the Empress that has gone silent, Mother turns her eyes to Father.

Father also decided to not interrupt her and nodded.

Now let us find a middle ground. That being said, I only have one suggestion. [Pretend this never happened].

Everyone puzzlingly looks at her.

However, only I narrowed my eyes at her proposal.

It was the same solution I was thinking of.

Leo, will you explain it for me? I think you should be able to explain this better than I do.

Yes, I understand.

What do you mean? You also know about this, Leonard?

Yes, Your Majesty. My mother and I have the same idea. The biggest problem here is that Marquis Laurenz von Weitling is the head of a prestigious noble house and also the leader of the white seagull alliance.

I know that. What I want to know is how should we proceed from now on.

My father is quite irritated, this is probably because of the presence of the Empress.

I guess I have to quickly end this.

Yes, that being said, we should forget that his duel challenge ever happened.

I see. That is a good idea.

Franz immediately noticed my intention and nodded.

However, since blood had already rushed to his head, Father still has a suspicious expression on his face.

I have to explain this carefully to him.

Marquis von Weitling did not challenge me to a duel, He accepted the settlement and after that, he found out that I am actually Leonard so he sought to cancel the agreement and challenged me to a duel. Lets make that an official story.

You are saying that we should twist the truth huh? Is this because of his rudeness toward the imperial family and me?

Yes. we are within the throne room so if none of us speaks, what actually happened here will not leak to the outside.

Thats goodbut that doesnt solve the matter of the honor of the imperial family though?

Father irritatedly looks at me.

He probably thinks that there is no other way to preserve our family honor but executing Laurenz huh.

Blood rushed to his head because the Empress brought up the Crown Prince.

This is already like a fight between a couple.

That will be solved by the punishment after the duel. It is rude to challenge a member of the imperial family to a duel in the first place. Therefore, there will be a condition attached to this duel. If Marquis Laurenz von Weitling loseshe along with the major nobles in the white seagull alliance will have to drink the [Emperor Poison Wine]. That way, it will be known to the people what it means to disrespect the imperial family.

Everyone inside the throne room froze at the wine I mentioned.

The Emperor Poison Wine is a poisonous liquor held by the Empires imperial family. It is the strongest and the worst poison in the Empire.

Simply with one sip, you will experience various symptoms for seven days and seven nights. It has the effect of various poisons mixed together, the drinkers condition will change each day that passed and strangely enough, during that time, the drinker will not die. They will continue to suffer, wandering between the boundaries of life and death.

Then after continuing to experience the pain of death over and over, the drinker will face certain death.

It is a poison used only to punish felons and has never been used since my Father took the throne.

..do you think that guests from other countries will visit us if they know that we feed our nobles such a poison?

Your Majesty will not be the one who makes them drink it. This will be the condition that Laurenz von Weitling proposed to make me accept the duel. With that, we should be able to protect the honor of the imperial family. He took on the risk of drinking deadly poison in order to avoid his punishment and challenged me to a duel. The challenger will bear all the responsibility even if he dies.

Hearing my words, the young nobles of the white seagull alliance turned even bluer. What I meant by major nobles are all the young nobles inside this room.

If Laurenz loses, they will all have to drink the Emperor Poison Wine.

Wont all the death row criminals do the same thing if we made such a precedent?

Please do not worry about that, Your Majesty. All we have to do is to make a law that prohibits it after this is over. This will be a one time case.

.I see.

What do you think? I think that this way, the honor of the imperial family and the reputation of the Empire will not be damaged .

Hearing that, the Empress glances at Therese.

Therese gave her a nod as if she had given up.

They probably understand that I gave them the one single chance to reverse this situation. Even if that meant her brother will have to face certain death after he is defeated.

..I understand that it is a good plan but what do you gain in all this? Leonard.

Father looks straight at me.

Thats right, there is no merit for me here.

There is no benefit for me to accept this duel. I am in the position of the victim at the moment and these guys will die even if I dont do anything. There is no point in me lending my hand to reverse the situation for them.

However, that is exactly why this is worth doing.

I.am aiming to become an emperor. It is the truth that this incident has plunged the Empire into chaos. I have the duty to take responsibility for it.

Hou? Then what would you do if you lose? Are you saying that your victory is already set in stone?

If I lose Your Majesty can do whatever you want with me. You can expel me from the imperial family or even take my head. After all, there is no place for me on the throne if I were to lose here.

That was quite a statement. I selfishly borrowed Leos name and now I am betting Leos everything away. However, I do think that if its Leo he will surely say that. Even if he doesnt say it, I will be troubled if he cant become someone that can say that.

Hearing my words, Father smiles.

It was a smile that he showed when he took a liking to someone.

With this, Leos evaluation has gone up.

Well said! Your will is truly splendid! That is how those who aim for the throne should be! I was worried that you would stay naive..but it seems you have grown up through this succession war huh.

I am still immature.

Humble as always. I understand. Lets go with your proposal. After the agreement was signed, it was revealed that you are actually Leonard, and Laurenz challenged you to a duel on behalf of the white seagull alliance. That is the story you want right? I shall make it so.

The Emperors words are absolute.

Father has invoked his power to do that. He probably thinks that it is fine even if he does that.

Everyone in the throne room kneels and gives their voice of approval at once.

However, the voice of Laurenz I heard from my side was shaking.

The situation has already turned into one in which he only has two choices. Getting executed without doing anything or having a duel with me.

If he protests the decision, it will become a death sentence for him. As expected, he seems to understand that and stay quiet while quivering in fear.

By the time Therese dragged the Empress into this, there was already no escape for him.

Now then, Marquis Weitling. Sign the agreement.

Duke Kleinert urges.

Laurenz tries to sign the agreement with his quivering hand but he drops the pen.

I picked it up and firmly handed it to him.

Now, please.

Ah

Prompted by me, Laurenz tries to sign his name again.

The agreement only had one correction. Perhaps it was Jurgen or Duke Kleinert who rewrote it during the turmoil.

A line saying that the guilty party will be removed from the position of the family head was crossed out and replaced with a condition that says, the guilty party will be expelled from their family.

In other words, the major nobles of the alliance including Laurenz will become commoners when he signs this agreement. Their house will not bear any of the blame for this. It is the so-called duel as an individual that Laurenz desired.

Well, that kind of thing can be done with a single word from the Emperor but this is a nice assist on their part.

Still shivering, Laurenz doesnt notice that.

Then after Laurenz finally signed the agreement, I immediately put in my signature.

With this, the signing part is over. And now Laurenz has effectively become a commoner. Then, I slowly picked up the fallen glove.

I, Leonard Lakes Adler, accepted your challenge.

Thus, as Leo, I will be having a duel with Laurenz.

Hearing my acceptance, Laurenzs shoulders quiver.

What his face is bearing is simply fear. He might have made his resolve and prepared to bet his life but he probably wasnt prepared to drink the Empires strongest poison.

There is no will behind his eyes.

To some extent, a person who can read an outcome of the duel can see it just by seeing Laurenz.

Victory does not come to those who are scared of death.

Well, I feel sorry for you but since it has already come to this, there are no other choices. I wanted to avoid meaningless death as much as I can but it was them that rendered all my effort to waste.

I shall have you become a stepping stone for Leo now, Laurenz.