C4 Part5

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Changes from previous translation:

Estel - Estelle

Egudiel - Egdiel

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After the death of the sixth King of Heilland, King Charles II, the two Princes divided the whole Kingdom

over the rights to the throne.

The first Prince was Prince Julius, the son of the late fifth King, King John, who was also Charles II's

older brother. The second Prince was Prince William, the legitimate heir of Charles II.

The nobles of the Kingdom were divided in the strife of the two Princes, who both were unrivaled in any

aspect from their military prowess, intelligence, dignity, to their lineage. The fifteen years war between

those two cousins was later named "The Double-headed War" to indicate the chaos from that time,

since it wouldn't be odd whichever side stood as a King.

Eventually, it was Prince William who took over Heilland's throne as he subdued Egdiel Stronghold,

the center of military operation. However, Prince Julius didn't accept his defeat just like that.

Prince Julius descended to the land which was once left behind by the Founding King, Estelle. With his

formidable wits and army, he stood above the lords of the land. Thus, with the name of Julius the

Conqueror, he built the Empire of Ealdar.

Accordingly, the Two-headed War indicated a certain extent of alignment. But thereafter, war was

broken over and over again between the two nations over the legitimacy of Heilland.

"But as time went by, the two Royal Families began to compromise. And finally, in the reign of Henry

VII, the two nations formed a friendship through marriage. Okay… you understand it very well, Cia."

King James blinked his almond-colored eyes as he lifted his face from Alicia's report, which was

written in order to keep her own brain sorted. They were in the middle of eating supper, but the King

was the one who suggested seeing the result of Alicia's study, as he heard somewhere that she had

put an effort on it.

"You must be receiving special lessons from a really excellent tutor."

"Well, Clovis offered to help me. I should also give my thanks to him."

King James couldn't contain his smile and started to laugh heartily. Smiling as a response, Alicia took

a sip of her soup.

Information that Alicia had gathered about Ealdar Empire of course were related to her previous life.

There were two important points about Ealdar regarding the Night of Revolution.

'A war once again broke out between Ealdar Empire and Heilland. During the war, King James lost

his life and Heilland was defeated in the war'

'In the midst of the reconciliation of the war, marriage was formed between Alicia and Prince Fritz.

As a result, Fritz was crowned as the King of Heilland following King James.'

Taking into account those informations and the history of disputes between the two nations, she came

to a conclusion that war would soon break out during King James' reign, over "The successor to the

Founding King".

"Father, would there be another war with Ealdar?"

Alicia brought it up as casually as possible, anf King James who was about to take a sip of his soup

stopped on his track. After putting down his silverware and wiping off his mouth with a napkin, King

James turned his almond-colored eyes towards Alicia.

"I can't say that it's totally impossible."

"Even though Grandmother is in Heilland?"

The King nodded meekly to Alicia who promptly threw out another question.

"Just like Cia says, Ealdar is my mother's motherland. My Father's dearest wish is to be in a friendly

relationship with the other side. As for me, I have no intention to spill anymore blood over a nation

with the same origin as us. However Cia, friendship can only be formed if both parties wished for it."

"Is there any possibility of Ealdar breaking the ties?"

”Your soup is getting cold,” King James reminded Alicia to finish her dish. Alicia quickly emptied her

soup though she was still curious, and a server immediately took away the dishes. While waiting

for the next dish, King James opened his mouth again.

"Do you know Elizabeth, Empress of Ealdar? I suppose you haven't met her yet."

"I often hear her name. She is a brilliant lady, isn't she?"

"Yes, she has both intelligence and dignity. Also, she is a fierce woman befitting to rule a huge nation."

Empress Elizabeth.

No one who lived in this era didn't know her name.

She was King James's cousin by blood, but in reality, she wasn't the one to succeed the throne if one

looked at her origin. Because, the one who gave birth to Elizabeth wasn't the Crown Princess.

There were numerous underhanded rumors about why Elizabeth, the daughter of a mistress,

succeeded the throne as the Empress. According to one theory, she poisoned the Crown Princess'

child and confined the Princess to cover up her crime. But up until now, no one ever tried to reveal

the truth under her overwhelming power.

"Right now, Beth is enthusiastic about restructuring the domestic order, so she won't deliberately

start a war. But once she turns her interest here, she'll ruthlessly come to seize Heilland. When that

time comes, I must protect this Kingdom as a King."

"If I marry the Prince of Ealdar, could we dissuade the war?"

Alicia didn't realize, but Annie who stood near the doorway, slightly widened her eyes. The maid who

was looking at her Master's side profile with worry, pursed her lips as she grimaced from waiting on

an answer.

King James reached out his plump hand and patted Alicia's head.

"Father?"

"Cia has already aware of her role as a Princess before I realized it."

A server put the next dish before them. Once King James put the white fish 1poêlé into his mouth,

he broke into a smile. Watching that, Alicia forgot about her worries as she was reminded of her empty

stomach. Thus, Alicia stuffed her mouth with the tender meat.

"To tell you the truth, Beth has been asking to arrange a meeting between Prince Fritz and Cia"

"That's…!"

"Yeah, eight or nine out of ten, she is clearly planning for an engagement. Of course, I politely refused

each time, with a refined red wine that Beth loves as a gift."

King James put out two of his plump fingers towards Alicia who had her mouth open.

"There are two main reasons. The moment we accept Prince Fritz as Cia's husband, he will be the

next king of Heilland. At the same time, he is also the legitimate heir to Ealdar's throne. No matter

how good the relationship between the two nations might be, the nobles and commoners will revolt."

Though he said that, Elizabeth didn't seem to have any intention to hand over the throne to anyone

else for the next few decades. But, King James only shrugged it off.

"The other reason is … right, if Cia keeps doing her best like this, I will tell you one day."

"What do I need to do? Studying?"

"Of course you need to study. But that's not all. Keep thinking hard, stick to what you think is right,

and try to challenge yourself. When you show me that you are capable of it, I will give you the answer."

Leaving those riddle-like words, the King shifted his interest to the dish in front of him. King James

who joyfully smiled from how tasty today's fish was, didn't seem to have any intention to continue

the talk.

Reluctantly, Alicia puffed her cheeks and shoved the poêlé into her mouth.

1French cooking technique, butter roasting

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