The Sixth Prince and the Ninth Prince

"Then let Sixth Prince Conrad serve as host to the dignitaries from the Duchy of Albatross, and Ninth Prince Henrik serve as host to the dignitaries from the Duchy of Rondine. Seventh Prince Arnold will continue serving as host to the Sage Princess of Mizuho. Is that understood?"

Father announced this in the throne room.

The three princes, myself included, quietly bowed our heads.

Father's decisions were absolute. There was no room for objections.

The princes gathered here were all supporting players in the struggle for the throne.

True to their status as supporting players, the countries assigned to them were all small nations.

In other words, they were countries of a caliber even we could handle. Though in Mizuho's case, I had been chosen solely because of Orihime's wishes.

"Several countries declined our invitation, but almost all the major nations will be attending. Every one of them is important. Do not judge them by the size of their countries. Try acting arrogant, and I'll strip you of your status as princes."

Father narrowed his eyes as he warned us.

Ninth Prince Henrik was the one to answer him.

"Leave it to me, Your Majesty. I promise to conduct myself in a manner befitting a member of the Imperial Family."

"You're the one I'm worried about, though..."

Father muttered in exasperation.

Ninth Prince Henrik was a sixteen-year-old prince.

He was distinguished by his green hair of an awkward, in-between length. His mother was Fifth Consort Susan, and his elder sister was Second Princess Zandra.

Because he had kept his distance from both of them, he had been let off with only a brief period of house arrest.

Whether he took after his mother or his sister was hard to say.

He had a great deal of pride as a member of the Imperial Family and was harsh toward others. I could understand why Father thought he might act arrogantly.

He probably didn't understand what serving as a host meant. He likely thought it meant simply going out to receive them.

Even now, after being told that he was the source of concern, he wore an annoyed expression. He must have felt insulted.

The fact that he reacted to Father's words like that was practically an open declaration that he was a cause for concern.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, shouldn't you be worried about Arnold?"

With that, Henrik shifted his target to me.

I sighed at his behavior.

He had always singled me out and harbored an intense rivalry with Leo.

Apparently, he couldn't stand the idea of us, with our commoner blood, ranking above him. That was why he refused to treat us as his elder brothers.

Honestly, what a nuisance.

"Yes, yes. I'll be careful."

When I brushed him off, Henrik glared at me.

He probably didn't like that reaction, either.

But if I took him seriously, he'd glare at me anyway. Either way, the result was the same.

"Wow, young people sure are energetic. This old man can't keep up."

"What are you saying, you barely twenty-year-old brat...?"

"I'm already twenty-one, Father. Compared to teenagers, that makes me an old man."

Those old-man remarks came from Sixth Prince Conrad.

He was a prince distinguished by his short red hair and the carefree smile plastered across his face.

For all that, his mother was the Fourth Consort and his elder brother was Gordon. He should have been raised as a warrior, but as you could see, he was just as unmotivated as I was.

A carefree smile and a carefree manner of speaking. He must have been a complete mutation.

Or perhaps I should say that Father's blood ran particularly strong in him.

The difference between him and me was that he at least did the bare minimum to avoid getting scolded.

"So, can I leave now? Being sandwiched between young people is tiring."

"You and Arnold... Why are you both so halfhearted about everything?"

"I take after you, Father."

With that, Conrad turned on his heel without waiting for Father's permission.

Then, without turning around, he called out:

"Don't worry. I'll do my job as host properly."

"That's not what I'm worried about. Honestly... You two may leave as well."

Father dismissed Henrik and me.

As soon as I left the throne room, I tried to return to my room, but Henrik called out to stop me.

"Wait, Arnold."

"What is it, Henrik?"

"Don't address me so casually! Know your place, you washed-up prince!"

Henrik openly displayed his anger.

Know my place, huh? In this situation, Henrik was the one who should have shown respect to his elder. That was how things stood, anyway.

"Don't think you and I are equals. My sister's faction has been passed down to me intact. I'm entering the struggle for the throne now!"

"Is that so? Then good luck."

Just as before, I brushed him off and started walking.

It was true that Zandra's faction had been passed down to Henrik.

Even so, it was only about sixty percent of what it had been at its peak. Of the remaining forty percent, half had sided with Erich, while the other half had withdrawn from the struggle for the throne.

He could act as high-and-mighty as he liked, but that faction was far too weak to be called a fourth power.

Aiming for the imperial throne from this point onward was almost impossible. His chances were even slimmer with a borrowed faction.

"Wait! You're mocking me, aren't you? You're saying it's too late for me to aim for the throne!"

"I'm only saying this for your own good, so give it up."

After I advised him that way, Henrik began to laugh loudly.

His raucous laughter continued for some time.

I couldn't understand what he found so funny. So I decided to wait for him to speak.

"Aha ha ha!! This is priceless! Just because I'm joining the struggle for the throne, do you really think I'm aiming to become emperor?"

"You don't?"

"Hmph. I don't think I can win with this faction. I'll take the clever route. I'll lend a hand to every faction, then secure a firm position after the struggle for the throne ends!"

"...Do you really think that will work?"

"It will. I already have an ally."

With that, Henrik looked behind me.

I followed his gaze and turned around. Gied was standing there.

"Hello, Arnold."

"...The Holzwart ducal family?"

"That's right! I've gained the support of the House of Holzwart! Now you two don't stand a chance—not even one in ten thousand! I will never cooperate with either of you!"

"Too bad, Arnold. If you'd accepted my offer back then, none of this would have happened!"

Perhaps two people who are alike naturally hit it off.

At the same time, the two of them began laughing loudly.

They were both proud and the type to satisfy their self-esteem by looking down on others.

I wouldn't say that was necessarily a bad thing. Humans all possess that trait to one degree or another.

That said, these two took it too far.

"Then I'll see what you can do. I hope you can advance the struggle for the throne exactly as you intend."

With those words, I tried to pass by Gied.

But Gied grabbed me by the arm.

"Is there something else?"

"I'm offering you mercy, Arnold. Bow your head here and apologize in a pitiful, humiliating manner. If you do, I might ask Prince Henrik to support your faction and Leonart's."

"Ha ha, that's a good one. Apologize, Arnold!"

Their grating voices rang in my ears.

What a pair of fools.

Even if I apologized here, nothing would change.

Henrik hated us because of our birth. As long as that remained true, he would never cooperate with us—not even if Gied asked him to.

Knowing that, I quietly brushed Gied's hand away.

"Sorry, but I can't afford to show such a pathetic side of myself anymore. It would damage Leo's reputation."

"You're worried about Leonart's reputation now?! What a joke! You're already a stain on Leonart! He must be truly unfortunate to have a brother like you!"

The instant Gied said that,

A fierce killing intent filled the corridor.

I didn't need to look in that direction. There were only a handful of people capable of emitting killing intent this intense.

"Anything else you'd like to say, Gied?"

"E-Elna?!"

As Elna approached and menaced him, Gied's legs gave out and he stumbled backward.

Her gaze then shifted from Gied to Henrik.

Apparently even Henrik had nothing to say in the face of Elna's killing intent. He faltered and took a step backward.

"Elna. Don't scare him so badly."

"How rude. This isn't a threat."

As she said that, Elna placed her right hand on her sword.

Gied screamed, never having expected her to do that, but Henrik apparently took even that as a bluff.

"Hmph! Go ahead and try it! You know perfectly well what a grave crime it is to point a sword at a member of the Imperial Family!"

"Quite so, Prince Henrik. Then surely you also know that obstructing the path of a member of the Imperial Family is a grave crime?"

"Th-That's... I gave him permission, so it's fine!"

Henrik responded to Elna, who had pointed out Gied, with that kind of sophistry.

There was no point in arguing with him.

Thinking that, I took Elna by the hand and tried to leave.

But before I could, a voice rang out through the corridor.

"Then I give permission. Go ahead and cut him down, Elna."

"Good. We've got permission, too."

"Haaah..."

Elna began drawing her sword gleefully.

Exasperated, I restrained her hand and looked at the person who had given permission.

"Don't egg her on, Leo."

"If someone starts a fight, we fight back. That's your policy, isn't it, big brother?"

A large number of nobles followed Leo as he walked toward us.

They were all nobles who supported Leo. It appeared to be just after a meeting.

Their numbers spoke volumes about the size of Leo's faction now.

With all those supporters in tow, Leo looked straight at Henrik.

"Henrik. If you're going to stand in our way, I won't show you any mercy."

"Tch... How dare you act so high and mighty with your commoner blood! You lot aren't even a match for Brother Erich! If I cooperate with him, you have absolutely no chance of winning!"

"We've gone through battles we had no chance of winning many times before. We're not so weak that something like that would frighten us now. We joined this struggle knowing from the start that the road would be difficult. Only by overcoming that road can we become emperors everyone acknowledges. You'd better not get in our way unless you're fully prepared."

Leo warned Henrik with those words.

It was also a final ultimatum.

This was Henrik's last chance to back down.

However, Henrik twisted his face and chose to challenge Leo.

"I wouldn't join this struggle with halfhearted resolve, either! I'm prepared to die!"

"That's exactly what I mean by halfhearted resolve. We're fighting because we don't want to die, and we don't want anyone else to die! We've had enough needless bloodshed. Stand down, Henrik!"

"I won't back down! I refuse to recognize you! I refuse to recognize any of you!!"

With that, Henrik ran away.

Gied tried to escape without drawing attention, but Leo called out to stop him.

"Gied von Holzwart."

"Y-Yes?!"

"Tell your father this: I want him to stop disrupting the struggle for the throne any further."

"U-Understood!"

"And... you should change the way you treat my brother. Elna and I tend to reach for our swords whenever someone makes a fool of him."

"Eek...!"

Gied left with a look of terror twisting his face.

After watching him go, I turned toward Leo.

"You deliberately acted intimidating, didn't you?"

"Henrik already considers us enemies. Since he'll become our enemy anyway, I thought I'd frighten him a little first."

With that, Leo playfully stuck out his tongue.

Seeing the mischievous gesture, I sighed.

When the struggle for the throne had first begun, he hadn't been capable of that sort of trick. It was growth, I supposed, but I felt as though his methods were starting to resemble mine.

"You look conflicted."

"I feel like my innocent little brother has been corrupted."

"That's rich, coming from the person who corrupted him."

Elna's retort made me grimace.

Should I rejoice at my little brother's growth, or lament it?

With that thought in mind, I parted ways with Leo and his supporters.

"What are you doing here?"

"His Majesty summoned me. It's probably about my return to the Imperial Guard."

"I see. So it's finally happening."

"Yes. Personally, I wanted to remain free a little longer... But if they're willing to let me return, I'll gladly do so. I'll be able to help with more things as a member of the Imperial Guard, too."

With that, Elna smiled and headed into the throne room.

Father's decision to reinstate Elna as a member of the Imperial Guard showed how determined he was to face the ceremony fully prepared.

The ceremony was finally about to begin.

I hoped nothing would happen... but surely that was a dream that could never come true.

Thinking that, I returned to my room.