The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

I left the clean up to Sebas and transferred back to the castle.

At the hectic castle where the ceremony is being held, people are looking at me with shock as I walked past them but I keep on without paying them any attention.

My destination is at the top floor. The throne room.

As I go up the stairs, I pass by many senior nobles and ministers.

Everybody panicked every time they saw me. They are all wondering what I am doing here but not one of them shows any sign of following me. They probably have an idea of where I am trying to go but it seems that they have no intention to get between an SS-rank adventurer and the Emperor.

Then, I reached the throne room.

After showing my adventurer card to the Imperial Knights on guarding duty, I open the door.

Looking inside, it seems that there are already several guests in there.

“Silver huh. Have you also come to celebrate my anniversary?”

Instead of Father, it was William and Gordon who came to greet him that shouted at me.

“Silver! There should be a limit on how rude you can be!”

“Certainly, this is discourteous.”

Following Gordon’s shout was Eric.

Next to him is the dignitary from Sokal empire. He should be one of their ministers if I remember correctly. He is certainly a person worthy of being a negotiation partner for Eric who both has the blood of the imperial family and holding the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

However, contrary to Gordon, Eric seems to be watching me with the intention to find out my aim. His composure is one step higher than Gordon who readily shows his anger.

I ignored both princes including their guests.

“I need to talk with you. Please clear the room.”

“Hou? You have something to tell me that you don’t want my princes to hear?”

“That’s right. Unfortunately, I do not trust your sons.”

“I see……..withdrawn, both of you. Prince William, Minister Martin. I am sorry that I have to interrupt your greeting. Can I have you visit me at another time?”

“Father! Are you giving priority to the like of this adventurer than our foreign dignitaries!?”

Gordon explodes in anger but Father’s reaction to his outburst was calm.

“That’s what I am saying. Back down already.”

“Kuh……”

Gordon had no choice but to shut up.

On the opposite, Eric and the dignitaries don’t give their verbal reply and leave after a polite bow. They are certainly more mature than Gordon. Well, that’s to be expected.

With the four’s withdrawal, the only people left in the throne room are me, Father, and Franz besides him.

“Do you want Franz to withdraw as well?”

“Unnecessary. I want the Prime Minister to take a look at this.”

Saying so, I handed the documents I recovered from the base of Grimoire to Franz.

“This is……?”

“I was asked by the Dull Prince to take control of the base of a crime organization. It was unpleasant to have a criminal organization operating from under the Imperial Capital so I accepted the request but it seems that this matter will be more troublesome than I expected.”

“I see. So it was Grimoire Arnold was talking about huh……it must have been hard huh.”

“Indeed. If he wanted to investigate them then he should have added more manpower. That prince has been bringing trouble after trouble to me lately.”

Hearing that, Father made a bitter smile.

He then received the documents from Franz and read through them. In doing so, his expression gradually grows sharper.

“A magic experiment using the Saint huh…….”

“That was their plan.”

That’s right. What was left inside their base were documents on [How to utilize the Saint].

They poured their brains into a study when they still couldn’t acquire the specimen yet.

That was too unnatural.

“The security around the Saint is strict. Nevertheless, the plan they have was not how to kidnap her but how to use her once she is in their hands. I am sure that you understand the meaning of this.”

It doesn’t matter how strong her security is.

The fact that they have such a plan means that they have the means to get to her. The Saint who is being strictly guarded by the Imperial Knights.

Leticia herself is the user of one of the four sacred treasures. There is no way for them to capture her through brute force.

They didn’t have any sign of preparation in regard to that. If you want to abduct the Saint, it will certainly be a huge undertaking. There should be a trace of that somewhere but so far I haven’t seen any.

In other words, the one who will be kidnapping the Saint is not Grimoire.

“Grimoire is a group of researchers who seek to uncover the secret of magic. I understand that their aim is the Saint. If it is true that there is no other plan at their base as you said then they must have a collaborator, that person will be responsible for the abduction. As we still couldn’t identify that collaborator yet, you are saying that this situation is dangerous right, Silver?”

“That’s a good answer. You should send the Saint back to the Kingdom immediately.”

“Aren’t you quite motivated this time? This is a political issue you know?”

“A human life is at stake.”

“I see…….then I will tell you my decision. We will not send the Saint back to the Kingdom. She will be enjoying the rest of the ceremony and the festival before she heads back as planned.”

“…….If you wait for something to happen first it will be too late you know!?”

Father nodded at my words.

There’s no way that he didn’t understand the risk. He should know full well what will happen if the Saint got kidnapped inside our country.

An assassination would be far better. If Grimoire got to her, she would only be treated as an experimental subject and the Empire will be the one who suffers the result of that experiment.

We would have to deal with Grimoire from the inside and the Kingdom from the outside. It would be the worst scenario.

“One question. Are you sure that other documents weren’t destroyed before your arrival?”

“I couldn’t find any trace of that. And what would change if that is the case? The fact that Grimoire is aiming for the Saint still exists. We still don’t know how they would do it. Sending her back to the Kingdom because of the danger to her life, what is wrong with that?”

“But you already destroyed their base, no? Isn’t it fair to say that the danger has dramatically decreased already?”

“………Do you want the Saint to die? Do you wish for a war with the Kingdom?”

“Silver. His Majesty’s hands are tied in this matter.”

Franz opened his mouth.

His expression looked grim.

“What do you mean?”

“…..the Kingdom currently wishes for a war with the Empire. This ceremony also has the purpose of appealing to the other countries that we are still staying strong since they believed that we have weakened by the loss of the Crown Prince and the various incidents that happened. So, if we send her back, the Kingdom will be convinced that the Empire is weakened.”

“Then the Kingdom will attack. The United Kingdom and the Dominion will move. That is why we can’t show any weaknesses.”

“That is putting a cart before a horse. The same would happen if the Saint was abducted inside the Empire.”

“However……the Kingdom will be severely weakened. They have both Pro-Empire and Anti-Empire factions in their country. The Saint belongs to the former, if she was kidnapped, the Pro-Empire faction will turn into the opposite. On the contrary, as long as they are not united, there are plenty of opportunities we can exploit.”

“You are saying that if we are going to war anyway then it would be better to fight the Kingdom that already lost the Saint……? If you move now, there is a life that you can save you know!?”

“Once she returns to the Kingdom, her life will not be long. The mainstream opinion of the Kingdom is Anti-Empire. She will be assassinated eventually. She herself told her supporters that she wishes for peace with the Empire, that’s why they will not run wild in anger after her death. With that in place, the Kingdom will never be united.”

If they are not united, we can divide them up as much as we want.

That was what my father was saying.

Understanding that, I bite my lips. I understand what he is saying but if I accept that then Leo will be deeply scarred. That alone is unacceptable.

“Silver. We are in a different position. If we save her life just because we can, she will eventually be killed or used in a war. The worst outcome for the Empire is the latter. The Kingdom is everything for her. If push comes to shove, she will always choose the Kingdom. And when she does, she will oppose the Empire. What followed would be the loss of our soldiers’ lives. I am the Emperor. What I must give my priority is the Empire.”

“…..you are saying that it is better for her to die when it benefits the Empire? Is that your answer?”

“That’s right. Of course, we will protect her. Her security is perfect. I have already asked the Celestial Princess to set up a barrier around her room. If she doesn’t open the door herself, no one can break-in. Even for you, that barrier shouldn’t be something that you could break in a short time.”

“The Celestial Princess’s barrier is certainly strong. I admit that. But any protection has its drawbacks.”

“We are doing our best. If something were to happen to her in the end then that’s that. I will work with Franz to solve it when the time comes.”

To that realistic plan, I couldn’t say anything back.

Both as an adventurer and as a prince, I have nothing left to say.

I wanted to help her for Leo’s sake. As a prince, I have already accepted her death but as Silver, I still could not.

Saving lives that can be saved. That is Silver’s creed.

However, this matter is a national problem. If so, then the Emperor’s decision is absolute.

“Is that so…….I understand what you are thinking.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“No……I can understand your position.”

“I see. I’m grateful. If……she belongs to the Empire, it would be a different matter.”

That’s right. As a prince, that is the conclusion I reached. For those who belong to the Empire, it is impossible to help someone from the Kingdom.

In the end, that is where she belongs.

As an adventurer, I can no longer save her. No matter how great Silver is, I can’t ignore a national decision. After all, this is already politics.

In other words……I can only put my hope on Leo.

I gave up and turned back but I was stopped and asked Father one last question.

“Your Majesty. As long as they are aiming for the Saint, it is impossible for them to do this from the outside. There will definitely be a collaborator from inside the castle. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Franz will take care of the investigation.”

“…..be careful of the Princes.”

“You are saying that any of my sons would betray the Empire? Impossible. If they get the throne, the throne will belong to them. What is the point in hurting your own belonging?”

“There are some who think that if they can’t have it, no one can.”

“My sons are not that stupid.”

Confidence can be seen hidden in my father’s expression.

He is fully convinced that his own flesh and blood will never betray the Empire. Of course, normally that would be the case. However, this succession war is different.

Franz should feel it as well.

Besides Father, Franz is having a thoughtful expression on his face.

It is not so bad for the master to be unconvinced. If his trust was broken then it is fine as long as his subordinate follows up for him.

My father has an excellent subordinate at his side.

Thinking that my worry is unnecessary, I left the throne room behind.

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