Book 4: Volume 6 Chapter 1, To The Northern City Again

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Floria sat in her office at the castle, examining a particular report. She muttered to herself, “Phew, they’re finally making a move. I was getting tired of waiting.”

 

“Hey, if you say something like that, it’ll be misunderstood.” Hearing Floria’s muttering, Alec replied with a wry smile.

 

Floria shrugged. “I know. I’m only saying that because we’re alone.”

 

Right now, only Floria and Alec occupied the office. That was why Floria spoke without any pretense of hesitation.

 

Incidentally, at this point, Alec had no idea what report Floria was reviewing. She handed it to him.

 

Alec studied the report for a while before looking up to meet Floria’s gaze.

 

“I see. I can certainly understand why you’d say that.”

 

“Right? Well, now we can move forward with the plan. Are you ready?”

 

“Of course.” Alec nodded vigorously, and Floria averted her eyes.

 

“Well, I’ll have to ask Father to work for a while longer.”

 

“Floria!”

 

“What else can I do? I have an important role to play: staying by Kousuke’s side.” Floria stated this so brazenly that Alec could only respond with a wry smile.

 

While Floria’s words stemmed purely from her personal wishes, it was certainly an important role. Of course, Alec knew that others fulfilled similar roles as well.

 

“Well, you have to keep up with him so you don’t get left behind by the others.”

 

“Father!” Floria’s sharp reaction came immediately. His words, though spoken as if in jest, had struck a nerve.

 

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Floria entered the room accompanied by Alec and Crown Prince Towa. Only a select few retainers and important figures had gathered here.

 

Floria took her seat, surveyed the assembled crowd, nodded, and began to speak.

 

“Now, we’ve gathered here for that topic alone. It appears that the North is finally showing signs of movement.”

 

At Floria’s opening words, more of those assembled looked contemplative than surprised. Everyone present had already expected this development.

 

Seeing their reaction, Floria nodded in satisfaction. However, her next words divided the assembly into two groups: surprised and understanding.

 

“Therefore, I would like to hand over all authority over this matter to Towa.”

 

No one could mistake the meaning of those words.

 

Floria had declared that she would use this incident as preparation for the succession.

 

If this became public knowledge, it would signal to both the Nobles and the public that Towa was the next King. It was already common knowledge that Towa would inherit the throne, but rumors and official notification were completely different matters.

 

Until now, Towa had been handling various administrative tasks as Floria’s successor, but this declaration carried a completely different weight from his previous work.

 

Not a single person raised an objection after hearing Floria’s declaration. After all, everyone gathered here had been acting with the expectation that this would happen from the beginning.

 

Confirming this with satisfaction, Floria nodded and continued. “That being the case, there’s no point in coming to me about this matter, so keep that in mind.”

 

Floria made this final warning clear. She was indicating that bypassing Towa to approach her could be interpreted as treason in some cases.

 

No one gathered here misunderstood her meaning. Some people even cleared their throats, clearly grasping the implications.

 

After confirming this, Floria turned her gaze toward Towa and gestured for him to continue.

 

Towa nodded in response, faced the group, and began speaking. “As the Queen has just explained, I will have complete authority over this matter. Everyone, please act with that in mind.”

 

“Yes!” As Towa spoke, everyone gathered bowed in unison.

 

The scene truly represented deference to the next king.

 

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Towa showed a wry smile as Mia entered the room. “Mia, don’t make that face.”

 

“Even if you say that, Onii-sama, I was having so much fun managing the Floor assigned to me.” She didn’t elaborate because everyone was watching, but her expression made her dissatisfaction abundantly clear.

 

“I’m sorry. But this time, I really need your help.”

 

Seeing Towa’s truly apologetic expression, Mia’s expression twitched. Of course, being called away was unfortunate, but when Towa faced serious trouble, being selfish felt wrong.

 

Realizing how serious Towa was, Mia’s expression became grave and she asked again. “If it can’t be helped, then that’s fine. But what happened?”

 

Normally, Towa would have tried to solve problems on his own without Mia’s assistance. The fact that he had called for her meant something significant had occurred.

 

It had all started when Floria received a report indicating signs of rebellion in the northern city.

 

The Nobles who had originally ruled the northern city had either been exiled or fled. However, some of those who had profited from their underlings were no longer receiving those benefits and were growing increasingly dissatisfied.

 

They harbored resentment against Razequa Amamiya, and trying to reason with people consumed by such feelings would not work.

 

What made matters worse was that these people often possessed substantial assets originally. Some had used those assets to cleverly maneuver and gain power.

 

The report stated that these individuals were gathering together in an attempt to regain their former influence.

 

As if that wasn’t enough, the report also mentioned that the majority of these people were not only earning their own income but also receiving backing from external sources.

 

It went without saying that this support was coming from elsewhere.

 

Towa intended to take advantage of this rare opportunity to eliminate all such forces in one decisive strike.

 

After listening to Towa’s explanation, Mia nodded in understanding. “So basically, I’m just going to be bait for them, right?”

 

Towa couldn’t help but smile wryly at Mia’s blunt manner of speaking. It wasn’t wrong, but her phrasing was far too direct.

 

It was acceptable since everyone present were close aides and trustworthy, but otherwise, they would be extremely confused by the difference between Mia and the rumors about her.

 

Of course, Mia was well aware of this and behaved accordingly.

 

“Well, that’s how it is. Against them, there’s no better bait than you.”

 

Mia possessed the potential to succeed Towa to the throne. To those unfamiliar with the details, she would undoubtedly appear to be perfect bait.

 

The idea that someone born into royalty might have no interest whatsoever in the throne was beyond the imagination of those being set up in this trap.

 

“I understand. From now on, I’ll make sure to act as bait.”

 

“Yes, I’ll leave it to you.”

 

Mia spoke jokingly, and Towa nodded with complete seriousness.