"You wanted to see me, father?"

"Mhm... cough, cough... we are here to discuss your appointment as crown prince."

"... I don't think many are going to be happy about that," Rowan replied when he saw the many disgruntled n.o.bles in the great hall. There was also Albert who was glaring daggers at him.

"Hmph, I doubt you care about whether these half-wits are unhappy or not. Remember that you can marry that woman after you've become crown prince and succeed me," Nemus replied.

He had just called many of his retainers half-wits, yet a simple glare from him caused everyone to shut up. No one in the hall thought that the second prince's debauchery could land them in their current situation where the puppet they had put into place, the first prince, was going to be replaced by another.

"Y-Your Majesty, how could we simply change the next heir only on a whim and by a command from another kingdom's king? That'd be sh—"

"Silence! Did I allow any of you ingrates to speak?!" Nemus roared. "Because of you fools, my kingdom has nearly been sent into ruin! While I was bedridden, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds didn't stop my foolish son from attacking an ally! What else are you all good for?! Incompetents! All of you!"

"..."

"If Kaiser wanted to, he could have leveled our city AND our Kingdom! What his son said about our punishment was true! The consequences of our actions against Silvaria have only earned us a slap on the wrist! They were able to repel Merkruz so do you honestly believe that they couldn't win against us who have already lost to Merkruz?!"

"But, Your Majesty, we've been winning battle after bat—"

"All because of Rowan's betrothed! Are you all so incompetent that you cannot even understand that much?!" Nemus once again flared out in anger. "Without her, where would we be? At the mercy of those Merkruz b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! And if not for Kaiser's magnanimity we would be in an even dire state! That son of his has the power to destroy our kingdom and leave nothing behind!"

They were all reminded of Cecil nonchalant attack which nearly killed Albert and a few others present. They all felt lucky that their kingdom's court mage had successfully deflected the attack, however, the outcome had instead destroyed a large portion of the kingdom's castle.

They were indeed afraid of Cecil and his power, but they were unconvinced at the thought of him leveling the entire kingdom. He was but one man so many of the n.o.bles present found it unbelievable.

Rowan looked at the still unconvinced n.o.bles and shook his head. He was very much reluctant to even rule over these idiots. They didn't serve the kingdom, but rather their own self-interests. It was like the kingdom's dark history was repeating itself all over again.

Even though he was reluctant, Rowan understood that not all the n.o.bles present in the hall were greedy, self-serving b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. There were some lands in the kingdom that were prosperous because the n.o.bles managing these lands had put the welfare of their citizens as a priority above all else.

Most of these n.o.bles were also ones that would actively approach Rowan rather than Albert. Only these n.o.bles were relieved to hear that Rowan would be the one taking up the mantle of the crown prince.

The war had impacted their lands to some degree because they had to send their able-bodied men out to fight, leaving only the women, children, and the elderly behind to tend to the fields, work in the mines, and whatnot. They had experienced a large decrease in manpower so their produce had taken a hit. Less produce equals less money for the people and without enough money... well anyone could imagine what would be the result of that.

So, knowing that there were good n.o.bles out there, Rowan didn't want to abandon them. Fatima also wouldn't let him run away from his responsibilities so he reluctantly spoke up, "Father, say no more, I'll do it."

"...Good."

Albert remained silent and only clenched his teeth and fists in anger. He had no say in all of this and he could only silent observe as his t.i.tle and position were stripped away from him.

Rowan was congratulated by many n.o.bles, but he was disinclined to interact with the ones who were unscrupulous. He had already done his research and investigated the ones who were worth befriending and the ones who weren't.

There was a time in the past when Fatima had lectured him about picking his connections wisely. She also taught him how to choose which people to befriend by gathering information on their background, activities, and records.

If they had a clean record, they were worth befriending. If they were even a little sketchy, then it was best not to have anything to do with them, just remain neutral while monitoring their activities. Finally, there was the blacklist, the list of n.o.bles that he should stay far away from.

This blacklist that he and Fatima had compiled over the past years of investigating was now going to prove useful for him. Rowan resolved to himself that once he stepped up to the throne as King, he'd do all he can to put these n.o.bles behind bars.

He'd rather remove the cancer at its roots and make sure no other fools like them sprouted in the kingdom. As for why Fatima played a hand in helping Rowan look for connections was mostly because of her selfishness.

She wanted Rowan to form more connections with others so that his information network would expand. This way Rowan would prove to be more efficient and helpful in her search for her missing brother.

All of that effort was rendered useless after Cecil himself had wandered back to them not long ago. However, the connections that Rowan and Fatima had built would now be helpful to them in a different way.

Once things were put in order, everyone in the hall, except for Rowan, was dismissed by the king.

"Cough, cough... Rowan, I know that you are unsatisfied by many things in the kingdom...it was also father's fault that things have turned for the worst...I've overlooked those greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds for far too long and now look at the state our kingdom is in... It pains me that I have to pa.s.s this burden to you..."

"It matters not... there are bound to be some fools in our generation who take our kindness as a weakness to exploit. Father and grandfather have been too lenient when dealing with them. I'm not going to become a cruel tyrant like the Lord of Merkruz, but know that I will remove those cancerous fools from our Kingdom once I become king."

"..."

"It will cause unrest within our lands for a time, but it's much better than letting those sc.u.m roam free and further damaging the kingdom. Right now, Regulus is like a sick human. To treat the sickness, we naturally have to exterminate the cause.���

"...you can do whatever you want once you've inherited my mantle as King."

"Yes, father..."

"Cough, cough... I should go now...my old bones aren't doing my sickness any better..."

"Father, if I may," Rowan said as he stopped his father from leaving.

"Yes?"

"Maybe I can request for some help from someone who I recently received acknowledgment from. He is very skilled in the art of curing sickness and disease so he might be able to treat father's ailment."

"If you want to bring him...then that's alright. May I know who he is?"

"It's Silvaria's Crown Prince, Cecil Silvaria."

"That boy?" Nemus questioned with a frown.

"Yes, I was able to receive his acknowledgment and befriend him. He's a good person and he cares very much about his family. You must understand father, his wife was nearly violated by Armano, and his actions are only what's expected from any husband who cares about his wife."

"..."

"If the person who was almost violated was Fatima, then all I can say, father, is that you would have lost a son today. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to contain my rage if I knew Armano did that to my beloved."

Nemus sighed and said, "If he is willing to help, then I'd be grateful. I should also thank him for sparing Armano's life."

��...I'll ask him if he is willing."

"Go..."

Rowan bowed and exited from the hall. Nemus was feeling very much conflicted, but what his son said had merit. Any man worth his salt would be as infuriated as Cecil had been. Nemus could only blame the stupidity of his son in this matter.

He also had himself to blame. He had been far too negligent in raising his children and this led to the outcome of his children doing whatever it was that they wanted without needing to face the consequences of their actions.

Nemus was grateful that at least one of his children had grown up to be a decent fellow. He didn't remember all too much about how his third son was like when he was younger, but Nemus knew that Fatima had most likely played a large part in the reason why Rowan had turned out the way he did.

Speaking about children, Nemus finally remembered about his only daughter. "...Where did that rascal go?"

******

The rascal that Nemus was referring to was currently bugging the crown prince of Silvaria at the moment.

"Hey~ you're that rumored husband right, right~?"

"..."

"The least you could do is answering me! Serilla and Lucia have been clinging onto you since a while ago and I'm envious!"

"..."

"Your face is telling me why I would be envious! Let me tell you, I want your wives!"

Cecil snapped when he heard this and he immediately pulled out his gunblade, deftly loaded a bullet, flipped Karen onto the ground, and pointed his blade at her throat. The gun barrel was coincidentally leveled with her face.

"What'd you say?"

"I-I want your wives?"

"Say that again, and I'll blast your face away," Cecil coldly said.

"Darling, Karen is only fooling around. She did confess to the both of us a long time ago and when she heard we were married, she directly gave up," Serilla explained.

"...I don't see this as giving up..."

"O-Of course I haven't given up, especially now that there's a chance!"

"A chance?" Cecil glowered at the girl and poked her neck with his sword. "What chance? With me here, do you think you'll even have a chance? I'll end you right now and—"

"You're exactly my chance!" Karen shouted.

"Huh?"

"If I marry you, that would mean I'd be marrying your wives as well! You're cute so I can love you as well, but most importantly, I'd be having your wives as a plus! Isn't this a win-win situation?! You'd get another s.e.xy wife and we'd be able to have fourso—BAWAAAAAHHH"

Cecil didn't let Karen finish her sentence before he punted her far away.

"W-What kind of perverted idiot is she?! Sis, is she really your friend?! You can't possibly have such a weird friend, right?!" Cecil questioned his sister.

"Ehhh... well...technically she's my friend..."

"NO!! No way in h.e.l.l does my sister have such a weird friend! Can you believe her?! She wants my wives, but she's a girl! Isn't that weird?! Also, she��d marry me just so that she could have them! What makes her so different than that b.a.s.t.a.r.d who tried to **** Seri?!"

"C-Calm down, Cecil," Fatima said towards her confused and frantic little brother.

"H-How can I calm down? This just doesn't make any sense! How could my sister have friends like this? I can't even kill her because you said she's your friend!"

Fatima immediately pounded Cecil's head when she heard the latter part of his words.

"Don't be stupid! I don't know what you've been through, but going around killing people is a little too much! She hasn't even done anything wrong yet!"

"...better to nip the problem at the bud," Cecil mumbled in reply.

"I'll nip you in the bud!"

"...tch..."

"Don't 'tch' me! If you're upset about not being able to kill Armano, then you should have quickly gotten the job done without going through the needless act of torturing him!"

Cecil only shrugged and suddenly said, "Is it done, Quinn?"

Quinn immediately appeared next to Cecil in the next moment. His sudden appearance shocked Fatima. The butler bowed lightly in respect and said, "It is done, Master."

Cecil nodded in satisfaction at Quinn's words.

"Good, it's better not to kill that fool in front of a live audience, but his wounds were a little too grievous, right? He might have bled out..."

"He has indeed bled out, Master..."

Fatima was staring incredulously at Cecil and Quinn. Cecil turned to his sister and said, "Nip the problem at the bud, right sis?"

"Y-You..."

"Don't tell father... he'd be disappointed."

"I-If you knew that...then why?"

Cecil looked back at his sister with a depreciating smile and said, "Sis...you have to understand. My hands aren't so clean y' know. The people who have died as the result of me swinging my sword...are far too numerous for you to count. I don't even know any of their names. All I knew was that they were my enemies and they tried to harm me and the ones I love. I'm no saint so it's not like I'll spare their lives, besides, you should have heard Armano's last words...even when he was so close to death, there was no remorse, no regret. He only said that he'd come at me again and return the humiliation 10 folds...do you think I should let him live now that I know he'll be threatening my life or the lives of my loved ones?"

"..."

"Besides... Seri is pregnant. I don't want any harm to befall her just because I gave mercy to one of my enemies. I'm not so naive as to believe that he'll come back and treat me as a friend."

"Oh... Wait—what'd you say earlier?"

Lucia who was on the side gasped in shock when she heard Cecil's words, she immediately turned to Serilla, hugged her, and exclaimed, "Congrats sis!"

"Ehehe, thank you, Lulu~"

Fatima widened her eyes in shock and yelled, "You're pregnant Seri?!"

They were currently in front of the inn and were waiting for Rowan to come back before they departed so everyone heard Fatima's shout.

Kaiser immediately stomped his way over and roared, "IS THAT TRUE?!"

Serilla bashfully smiled and whispered, "Yup, I'm not sure how humans find out, but I can feel the little life currently resting in my womb..."

"O-Oh!!! Th-this is cause for a celebration! Everyone! We're heading back now!!!"

At his declaration, the entourage immediately finished up their preparations and immediately departed.