Chapter 108

Whether or not Grisha was Waldemar Alharn's legitimate son wasn't the real issue.

Well — actually, it did matter. Even in a world where class lines were blurring and most titles were closer to honorary, the seat at the top was still the seat at the top.

But, well...

Grisha's hair color was proof he came from the Alharn royal line. And even if he'd had black hair instead of blond, no one who saw his face could deny he was Waldemar Alharn's son.

Illegitimate, then? What did that matter?

The Adlers hadn't been royalty either. If Grisha carried Waldemar's portrait around, anyone who still felt nostalgia for the Alharn dynasty would rally to him — that much was certain.

This was a game to decide the next king. The winner secured legitimacy.

"Hm."

Claudia gave a quiet smile.

Harold had raised the matter with Claudia only because everyone else was asserting Grisha's legitimacy so firmly. Even Grisha himself.

The hidden son of a dead king was, undeniably, a formidable card to hold. But whether it rose to the level of talk about "tainted legitimacy," he wasn't sure.

"His Late Majesty Waldemar lost his brother before he took the throne."

"I know."

"An assassination attempt aimed at him."

The west had been purged as a result. Not many years later, when Waldemar Alharn himself died under suspicious circumstances, the surviving nobles of the west were the first ones named as suspects.

Whether they'd actually been behind it or not, Ryan Adler, the moment he took the throne, killed every last person whose movements had looked even slightly suspicious. It was the one time that man had shown any decisiveness during his reign.

"After that, His Majesty became... a little..."

Claudia hesitated, unable to continue easily.

"A little?"

"A little... paranoid."

"'A little' doesn't cover it."

"The king at the time was in very poor health too. It was said to be lingering effects of injuries from the war, but those had actually come from an assassination attempt."

"Not from the war?"

"An assassination attempt during the war."

It hadn't quite registered until now, but of everyone alive today, Claudia was the closest to the Alharn royal family. She probably knew the royal family's private history far better than Ryan Adler did.

Claudia continued, her face bitter.

"Losing his own brother to an assassin who'd been aiming for him... he was sure he wouldn't live long either."

He hadn't been wrong, in the end. Even if Waldemar had died in a simple accident.

"The wedding was set for the year I came of age."

"None of us thought both the king and the prince would be dead before then."

The Marquis Reichnek's face soured as the memory came back to him. It had all happened before Harold was born, but even so, it wasn't hard to imagine what a mess it must have been.

Harold's brows drew together as he looked at Claudia.

"The wedding..."

"Do you know how marriage procedures work, young man?"

"Father. Harold isn't married yet."

"That's exactly why I'm saying it — he's old enough. I hear these days plenty of couples don't even bother with a ceremony."

The Marquis Reichnek looked him over disapprovingly. He hadn't done anything wrong, and yet Harold found his shoulders hunching all the same.

Claudia rapped her father lightly on the arm and shook her head.

"A royal event obviously calls for a wedding. But we were down to a single royal by then. On the day of his coronation, we signed the marriage registration together."

"...Ah."

Harold nodded slowly.

"Grisha knows too, of course?"

"Of course. And most people don't realize, but anyone can request a copy of any past king's marriage registration at the central bank's main branch."

"..."

"Have a look next time you're in the capital. Waldemar was so nervous signing that he had to redo it three times. I liked the first one, actually, but he said a document that would be on public record couldn't be filled with such crooked handwriting..."

"Claudia."

For all the years that had passed, the note in Claudia's voice as she spoke of her old fiancé was still tender. Harold didn't interrupt, but the Marquis Reichnek did.

Claudia paid her father's interruption no mind.

"And, remember I said Waldemar had become paranoid?"

"Yes, yes..."

"A man in that state wasn't about to do something that could produce an heir without every possible precaution in place."

"Claudia!"

"Father."

Claudia turned a mock-stern look on the Marquis Reichnek.

"I have two children of my own. One of them's grown. It's better not to talk around things with Harold."

"Er..."

Harold started to protest that his head worked well enough to catch her meaning, then caught Claudia's look and shut his mouth.

He'd been reckless in his younger days, sure — but still being treated that way felt unfair.

"Grisha would've explained all this to you once you got to the capital anyway. So, Harold. Don't doubt Grisha's legitimacy."

"...I'm not doubting it."

That really was unfair. Harold spoke quickly.

He had wanted to confirm it, that part was true, but not for that reason.

"I need to know to respond properly."

"If you don't know, just stand quietly behind Grisha."

The Marquis Reichnek was right — that was Harold's job, essentially. But there were plenty of other people who could handle that.

And if he'd meant to just stand behind Grisha, he wouldn't have gone about pulling the northern base in either.

Founding Day was where Grisha would start moving in earnest.

"Whatever Grisha is, I want him made king clean. I don't want anyone picking fights over things that aren't even real issues."

"Oh, my."

"I can handle myself with my body, but I'm not much good with my head. What if someone takes a dig at Grisha's bloodline and I don't catch it? I need to think through the situations in advance..."

Only after he'd said it did Harold realize how it sounded.

"I mean — not that there's actually anything wrong on your side, ma'am. I just meant it so I can decide how to conduct myself."

"Do you need to keep it just to using your head?"

"Claudia!"

"Quiet, Father."

Claudia hushed the Marquis Reichnek and took Harold's hand firmly in hers.

"As long as you don't get caught."

"Claudia!"

"That's not too much to ask, is it?"

"Of course not."

Claudia covered her mouth and laughed delightedly. The Marquis Reichnek watched his daughter and pressed a hand to his forehead. There was no need to look far for who Adelheid took after.

Watching his daughter and Harold grinning conspiratorially together, the Marquis Reichnek sighed and decided the only way to spare himself this sight was to change the subject. Before his beloved daughter and his grandson's friend could actually plan a murder, the Marquis Reichnek cleared his throat and steered them elsewhere.

"A week left before you leave, then?"

"Eight days, sir."

"Hm."

The Marquis Reichnek nodded.

"The first prince has been placed under house arrest, so he won't be at the Founding Day events at all. You know that?"

"Yes."

At the mention of Founding Day, Harold's expression shifted.

The original plan — to take over Founding Day preparations from Carlisle — had fallen through with the incidents in the capital. Carlisle had been thoroughly reprimanded by the king, and Second Prince Gerald had been given charge of the events instead.

Harold understood the option of taking control of the events away from the second prince had also been discussed. But drawing attention to the second prince, who was harmless enough when not being dragged around by his brother, would only invite scrutiny for no reason.

And Ryan, spooked by the assassination attempt on Grisha, wouldn't hear of it.

The day Grisha had visited the palace, the king, instead of his usual indecisive self, had spoken firmly.

Just until they catch the culprit. Please, I'm begging you, Grisha.

What was Harold supposed to make of a man who, frightened by an assassination attempt on his own nephew, begged him to stay somewhere safe, only to put his own son on the very pedestal that would draw the most attention?

Had he wanted to seize this chance to hand his son some power? If so, naming him crown prince from the start would have been the easier road.

Not a good king. Not a good father, either.

"The second prince doesn't have anyone you'd really call an inner circle, so he himself won't stir up trouble."

The Marquis Reichnek said it with a sour face. Harold could guess where this was going.

"But..."

"But the household guard slipped free of any blame."

"Tch."

The Marquis Reichnek clicked his tongue sharply. Claudia smiled wryly at her father's reaction.

"The household guard didn't do anything wrong, Father. They only followed the first prince's orders."

"Something to be proud of, is it? They called in the royal guard when a thief broke in! Summerflower Palace is the household guard's responsibility!"

The Marquis Reichnek roared, worked up.

"What's the point of a household guard that can't catch a single thief?"

"Father..."

"If we needed an excuse to punish them, we could have shut the household guard up in Summerflower Palace under the pretense of protection! Who knows what those insolent bastards are scheming? They'll pick fights with my grandson or use the second prince as a puppet to throw their weight around, mark my words."

Watching him fume, veins standing out on his neck as he punched the air, Harold gathered there was some history with the household guard.

He nodded.

"That's exactly why I'm going up to the capital. They won't try any nonsense in front of me."

"..."

The Marquis Reichnek's furious eyes turned on Harold.

Was this the spirit of a war hero? Robust as he still was, the fierce glint in the eyes of a man past seventy was almost feral.

Then the tension went out of the Marquis Reichnek's shoulders.

"Right. Looking at how things stand in the capital, they won't try anything else — but I'm counting on you all the same."

Claudia glanced at her father's color, then turned to Harold.

"There's one more thing you should know, Harold."

"Yes?"

"The second prince's fiancée. Grisha doesn't know her well."

A first prince with no fiancée, and a second prince with a fiancée who existed only on paper.

Either way, the king's intent was clear enough: neither of them would be properly married off. It was the plainest possible way of saying he wouldn't be continuing the royal line.

"I heard she was living abroad."

Harold's brow furrowed as he asked. He'd at least seen the second prince a few times, but the fiancée he only knew by report.

Probably not many domestic nobles had actually met the second prince's fiancée. Even so, Claudia spoke of her fondly.

"With the second prince taking over the Founding Day events, his fiancée obviously can't be absent. She's been called back on short notice."

"...Is she someone I need to watch?"

"I haven't seen much of her either... She's a relative of Gloria's, from a family knighted for its service in the war."

"That much I know."

"When the engagement was announced there was a great deal of talk about it..."

Aside from the fact that the first prince had been passed over, the engagement had been declared without the fiancée present. Harold wondered whether the second prince had ever even properly met her.

"Gloria was going to ask me to look after her, but..."

Claudia spoke uncomfortably.

"With Grisha in the picture, wouldn't it look strange for me to be minding the second prince's fiancée? So I've decided not to attend the Founding Day events this time."

"I see."

"I don't know who Gloria asked instead. Grisha may have found out, but the girl hasn't arrived in the country yet."

"Do I need to be on my guard?"

"I'm not sure."

Claudia shook her head slowly.

"But there's no harm in being careful."