“The imperial law does not explicitly state the conditions for ascending to the throne. Determining the next emperor is an exclusive right decided thoroughly by the royal family’s will.”
ZAP!
“That’s easy to guess. Velbur is the same.”
BOOM!
The Empire is ‘for now’ a constitutional monarchy. It may be more of a puppet show with the emperor as the marionette, but at least legally the roles of the parliament and the royal family are separated.
WHOOSH!
The rights over the governance of the country belong to the parliament, while the obligation to maintain the national legitimacy rests with the royal family.
BAM!
Thus, deciding on the next emperor is also the royal family’s unique right. Of course, that doesn’t mean the emperor can just decide on a whim. There are indeed specific rules within the royal family.
CLANG!
The problem is that currently, the only ones who can be considered part of the imperial family are Alice and myself.
DUN DUN DUN!
All the other close relatives who could express opinions about the next emperor have either been directly eliminated by the emperor or have fallen out due to power struggles. Even Alice’s mother has been dead for quite some time.
BOOM!
The emperor himself is currently stuck in Velbur as a suspect and most of the children have been arrested as accomplices.
RUMBLE!
Claire, whose blood mingles with the emperor, is asserting that she is not a Fanggriffon but rather the daughter of Grace.
NONSENSE!
…In summary, the current situation means that ‘all royal family members who have the right to decide the future of the imperial family are right here.’
GASP!
It’s neither an exaggeration nor a joke.
WOOOSH!
Though I’m a bit late to the party, I’ve come to realize the gravity of the situation, and I chose my words very carefully. Given the current circumstances, anything Alice or I say will be taken as the royal family’s intent, whether official or unofficial.
GONG!
“Following past precedents, generally, the first child of the royal family who inherits the imperial bloodline has typically become the next emperor. There are cases of selecting based on individual merit, but unless there are specific personal or capacity issues, the firstborn son tends to inherit the throne. If there’s no firstborn son, then the firstborn daughter follows suit. And…”
WHAM!
I glanced at Alice next to me as I continued.
THWACK!
“And I already have a capable elder relative, so treating me as the next emperor seems a bit premature.”
CRASH!
“…That’s true.”
PHEW!
Luckily, my words seem to have landed well.
YAY!
Such things do happen in reality from time to time. Even if someone is deemed insufficient or somewhat unpopular in the eyes of the people, if there is no reason to dispute their legitimacy, that unpopular figure can still rise to the throne.
RING!
If the king were truly an active ruler in a monarchic state, it could be accepted that placing a more competent individual in the king’s position is desirable, but generally in a constitutional monarchy, ‘legitimacy’ is often all that remains for the king.
PING!
In cases like this, if someone wants to change the ruling monarch, it often involves the former king sitting on the throne, even briefly, before handing over to the next ruler.
WHOOSH!
Of course, Alice and I had no intention of doing something like that.
FAIRY TALE END!
“Then, what does the First Princess think?”
POP!
The King of Velbur threw a glance at Alice.
SWISH!
Alice, who had been deep in thought, finally lifted her head to respond.
TA-DA!
“Nothing has been decided yet. Everything has happened too suddenly, and I think we’ll be able to figure out what to do with the vacant emperor’s position only after sorting everything out one by one.”
BOOM!
That was a very standard response.
HMM!
“Rather, I believe it is more appropriate to first discuss the treatment of my father.”
GASP!
Silence.
Looking at Alice, who spoke calmly without any expression, the King of Velbur slowly nodded.
THOUGHTFUL!
“Indeed, the throne of another country is a matter for that nation to handle. I apologize for jumping to conclusions.”
WINK!
“No need. I believe it is something that could be misunderstood from another’s perspective.”
POOF!
“Then, as you said, shall we proceed to tackle the urgent matters one by one?”
LET’S GO!
But even as he said that, the King of Velbur shot a meaningful glance my way.
DUN DUN DUN!
Did he end up misunderstanding the situation?
HMMMM…
Well, to be fair, it was an understandable situation for anyone to misinterpret. After all, there was someone caught in a country with such myths.
POOF!
That ‘someone caught in such circumstances’ isn’t doing too well, either.
SIGH…
*
HA…*
When Alice returned to the room, she plopped down on the bed as if completely exhausted.
THUNK!
Although it hasn’t been long since we left Lutetia when counted by days, the long time we endured in our memories made it feel like it’s been ages since I last saw this state of Alice.
WOW!
Was it because it was a fantasy world created by a goddess? The events that took place in that world felt like a long time, yet also a hazy dreamlike experience, making me feel as if what happened ‘yesterday’ was merely ’10 years ago.’ It was likely not just me; everyone who held those memories in that world must feel the same way.
SHIMMER!
“There are so many things to think about.”
ZAP!
“Mostly because of you.”
POW!
As I sat in the prepared guest chair in Alice’s room, she shot a glare at me.
GLARE!
“…”
CRICK!
And with Alice’s words, I turned into a ‘silent bee.’
BUZZ!
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
TRUE!
“I mean, what was I supposed to do? To claim I’m the only one fit to be the next emperor and then reenact a scene from a myth… what were you thinking?”
SHOCK!
While it sounded like a complaint, oddly, it didn’t seem like there was genuine resentment in her tone.
HUH?
Just a year ago, Alice had been incredibly annoyed at me.
OHHH!
“Are you not interested in the emperor’s position?”
POW!
“Is that really what’s important right now?”
SWIRL!
Then what is important?
THINK!
Oh, right, the emperor’s situation. And also being ready to answer all those awkward questions we’d have to face after returning to the Empire. At least in Velbur, since it was a different country, there wasn’t much we had to resolve ourselves, but the Empire was another story.
SHUDDER!
But looking at me, Alice scoffed.
HMPH!
“…Isn’t that what matters?”
PUFF!
No, it’s not important that the emperor’s seat is vacant?
HUH?
I mean, who knows if the nobles in the Empire think it’s actually vacant or not? There might be those who wish to reclaim authority and attempt to elevate someone back on that throne.
RUMBLE!
And it’s possible someone might try to manipulate things if Alice and I were to sit there.
CLASH!
“No, more importantly,”
ZING!
Alice cut off my question.
SLICE!
“Let’s talk about your abilities.”
WHOOSH!
“My abilities have disappeared now.”
WISP!
“I know.”
POOF!
Alice nodded. Then, with a frown that suggested discomfort, she continued.
WOBBLE!
“What, did you think I was going to ask if you wanted to help me with those abilities?”
GASP!
Hmmm… Well, Alice isn’t really that kind of person.
SMIRK!
“That’s not it; I wanted to talk about your abilities and the memories I’ve returned to.”
HA!
Alice, now sitting upright from her sprawled position on the bed, still comfortably propped herself up with her hands while looking at me.
BRIGHT!
“Remember that time when you did better than me in tests when we were young?”
SPARKLE!
Ah, talking about those days, huh?
WHIRL!
It was indeed quite a cheat; I could have secured way more time to study compared to anyone else.
WOWZA!
“Thinking about it, couldn’t you have just taken the test and then turned back time? Why didn’t you do that? You did it every time during the tests.”
RING!
Alice asked, genuinely perplexed.
CURIOUS!
“…”
HMMMM.
Well, to put it frankly, I didn’t want to be that cowardly. Of course, there were other reasons too. I was worried that if I kept relying on shortcuts, I’d make irreversible mistakes due to holes in my ethical code regarding actions in this world.
POOF!
So I thought I’d learn properly and understand thoroughly since I had the time anyway. And I felt that to build this character, I needed proper depth, not just shallow acting, and indeed, I’ve reaped the benefits from that deeper understanding many times.
DING!
Most importantly, I didn’t want to resort to such tricks while seeing Alice study so hard.
YUP!
I understand. If viewed from the eyes of someone without such a capability, it does seem unfair.
YIKES!
“Seeing the diligent Crown Princess makes me not want to resort to those tricks.”
OOP!
But I decided to just be honest about it.
TRUTH!
After all, it’s all come to light now anyway. What can I really hide further?
PANIC!
The reason I was able to outperform Alice until now was that I had infinite opportunities.
WOOOSH!
However, without that now, she’s undoubtedly the superior one.
VERDICT!
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