As time passed, more and more people visited my palace. Among them were minor provincial lords and some of the kingdom's few remaining great lords. Thanks to them, my life became terribly hectic.

I wanted to throw every last visitor out, but I couldn't bring myself to be so heartless. Half of them were fathers who had entrusted their children to me, and the other half were comrades who had shared life and death with me in the war.

Fortunately, the nobles knew my temperament well enough to leave after a brief greeting. Otherwise, I would have reached my limit and bolted from the palace.

"Should I actually sneak away?"

I began seriously considering it.

I ought to escape. Take refuge in the North for a while and return once everything was over. To my mind, it was a fairly good solution. I even put the plan into action.

Late at night, I quietly left my bedchamber. Just as I was about to climb over the wall, a familiar voice rang out belatedly from inside my palace.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has disappeared!"

"He can't have gone far yet!"

It was Karl.

"Sound the signal!"

At that instant, a horn sounded as though we were on a battlefield.

BWOOOOOO!

Lights flared to life all around me.

"All knights! To your positions!"

"Inform the gate commander! Close every gate!"

The bellowing of Royal Knights and palace guards assaulted my ears.

"Find His Highness!"

Among them was the commanding voice of the Commander of the Royal Knights. It was practically a battlefield.

"We've found His Highness!"

While I stood there dumbfounded, the Royal Knights spotted me and shouted. And so my first escape ended in failure.

I refused to give up and tried again. And failed again.

My second attempt was foiled by a magical security device I hadn't anticipated at all. My third was blocked by the Silver Lions, including the Commander of the Royal Knights. I never even got to make a fourth attempt, because the Royal Knights watched me without so much as sleeping.

A double, triple cordon, with every one of the kingdom's Silver Lions mobilized to maintain it. It was absurd. I could no longer tell whether I was in the royal palace or deep inside enemy territory.

But the truly outrageous part was something else.

"How could you do this to me?"

I spoke, trembling with betrayal.

Before me stood Arwen and that bastard Eli. The Silver Lions I had raised myself. The traitors who had stopped my second attempt.

"I am sorry."

"His Majesty gave the order personally. What power do we have to refuse?"

Arwen was the one who hung her head and offered nothing but an apology. Eli was the one shamelessly running his mouth.

I looked at them and sighed. Blaming them now wouldn't change anything. As they said, the king himself had issued the royal command. Besides, my plans had failed time and again entirely through my own fault.

The sin of trusting the inflexible Karl too much. (First failure)

The sin of inviting the White Night Tower's mages into the palace. (Second failure)

The sin of raising Arwen and Eli into Masters. (Third failure)

"I've brought this all on myself."

This must be what people meant by tying your own hands.

That day, I promised my knights that I would make no further escape attempts. Of course, if I truly resolved to leave the palace, I could do it. But not even I could slip through a cordon that included the Silver Lions without causing a commotion.

At any other time, I wouldn't have cared about a commotion, but foreign envoys were visiting the palace now. Letting them see me brawling with my own knights like a madman would only diminish the kingdom's standing. Though it was rather ridiculous for me to start worrying about the kingdom's standing after all the disturbances I had already caused.

In any case, I gave up on escaping, and peace returned to the palace. Time slipped helplessly by. At last, the banquet was only a day away.

"His Majesty requests your presence, Your Highness."

That was when the king finally summoned me. After refusing to see me no matter how often I asked.

I headed straight to his bedchamber.

"Have you eaten? If not, join me."

The king shamelessly acted as though nothing had happened.

I wanted to demand an explanation immediately, but decided to sit down first. I happened to be hungry. My protests could wait until afterward. The king and I quietly concentrated on our meal.

"Thank you, Ian."

The king spoke when I had nearly emptied the plates before me.

"I'm sorry I went ahead without asking what you wanted."

I raised my head to find him regarding me with unprecedented gentleness.

"But I could no longer leave the position of crown princess vacant."

He went on to explain that his brush with death had brought home the importance of an heir. As both a father and a sovereign, he had had no choice.

"So I can only hope that, just this once, you will understand how I feel."

Once, this man would have lectured me about a crown prince's duties without giving a thought to my wishes. Now he was earnestly appealing to me. I was left utterly speechless. I couldn't even voice the protests I had prepared.

The king continued trying to persuade me for a long while. He wasn't asking for much, he said. He only wanted me to find a wife, and thereby secure the royal house's future. None of it was easy for me to accept as I was now.

"I know what you are thinking. Knowing your temperament, you will continue roaming from battlefield to battlefield. If something should suddenly happen to you, you could not take responsibility for the person left behind. That is why you hesitate to marry, isn't it?"

His reasoning was somewhat off, but it did touch on my reluctance to form a bond I couldn't take responsibility for.

"If it burdens you so much, consider it a political agreement. Your partner will think of it the same way."

The king tried one line of persuasion after another for a long time. When I still gave no answer, he proposed a compromise.

"At least sit there and watch."

Knowing that this was as far as he could possibly yield, I couldn't refuse that offer as well.

"I will only watch. If none of the women appeals to me..."

"I will not force you."

With our conversation over, I rose at once. If I stayed any longer, I might find myself saddled with more trouble. I all but fled his bedchamber and headed back to my palace, then suddenly stopped and looked back.

"I feel like I've been had."

Somehow, I felt as though I had played right into the king's hands.

"Ah, whatever."

He'd said all I had to do was sit there, so I could simply sit there and come back. That thought eased my misgivings a little.

Marquis Bielefeld visited the king's quarters.

"Your Majesty. Grand Marshal Bielefeld has arrived."

When the Royal Knight announced him, the king came out in person to open the door.

"Your Majesty."

Even as the marquis bowed with a show of humility, he did not forget to study the king's expression. The king looked exceedingly pleased. Of course he was; otherwise, why would the sovereign of a nation come to open the door himself?

"It seems your conversation went well."

"I've secured his attendance at the banquet, at least. That is half the battle won."

As expected, things had gone well.

"I did as you advised, and that headstrong boy could do nothing but squirm. He couldn't even argue."

The king smiled at the seat the crown prince had occupied until a short while ago.

"His Highness has always been strong against the strong and gentle toward the weak. Not that I mean to call Your Majesty weak, of course."

"I understand what you mean, Marquis. I have just experienced it firsthand."

The king never stopped smiling.

"They say the drifting wind wears down a mountain of solid rock. That is precisely what happened here."

He truly seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits.

"That boy, too, is like a rocky mountain. Yet as his father, I failed to understand his nature and only tried to crush him into submission. How could he not resist and resent me?"

The marquis nodded in agreement.

"When he is such an obedient child."

But even the marquis could not possibly agree with what the king said next. Obedient? Who, exactly?

"Ahem."

He hid his thoughts behind a cough.

"His Highness is not only as steadfast as a rocky mountain, but also as free-spirited as the wind. Please remain vigilant to the very end."

He thus advised the king not to lower his guard, since there was no telling what the crown prince might do.

"I shall remember that."

The king readily accepted his counsel, apparently having grasped his eldest son's temperament at last.

"I hope our preparations will prove effective."

"I only fear my preparations may fall short and disappoint Your Majesty."

"We have done all we can. But when has the human heart ever followed a plan?"

Then, with a look of firm resolve, the king added,

"If once is not enough, we shall try twice, three times, ten times. We have no shortage of excuses to hold banquets."

"Nor do we lack funds, thanks to the reparations from the Empire."

Recalling the storehouses replenished with those reparations, the marquis wore a look of utter contentment. The king looked equally satisfied.

"Have a drink."

The king personally filled a glass and offered it to the marquis.

"Let us hope this toast is not a premature celebration."

He raised his glass high.

"To Ian."

"To His Highness the Crown Prince."

Their glasses clinked, and the king and marquis exchanged meaningful looks. In the very heart of the kingdom, a conspiracy known to everyone but the crown prince was taking shape.

The night passed, and at last the day of the banquet arrived.

* * *

"Ugh."

I grimaced. Perhaps it was the bad dreams, but my head remained stubbornly foggy even after I woke.

I was circulating my mana to shake off the sluggishness when someone knocked.

"Come in."

The door swung open at my words, and a procession of maids and attendants appeared beyond it.

"Your Highness. We are here to help you prepare."

There was still plenty of time before the banquet began that evening. Before, I had let the maids have their way out of ignorance, getting ready first thing in the morning and then waiting for the banquet without even being able to lie down properly. Not this time.

"Not now. Later."

The maids replied at once, without the least sign of dismay.

"Then we shall return around noon."

They had dealt with me enough by now to anticipate that response.

I spent the entire morning lazing about. Even those who had been constantly coming and going from my palace did not visit today. Everyone seemed busy now that the day of the banquet had arrived.

That suited me perfectly. Being forced to attend a banquet I had no interest in was bad enough. The last thing I wanted was a commotion first thing in the morning.

But that peace lasted only until noon. The maids returned precisely at the promised hour.

"Ah, what a nuisance."

"If we delay any longer, we will not be ready in time."

When I stalled and refused to cooperate, the maids gave me pitiful looks. Those looks spoke volumes. If anything went wrong with the banquet preparations, they would be severely scolded. They already looked dejected, as though disaster had struck. Unable to turn a blind eye to them, I let them lead me to a seat.

"We shall begin, then. Please hold still for a moment."

And so my ordeal began.

The maids began kneading my body all over. Every last inch.

"Ah, why there too? It'll be covered once I'm dressed! Nobody will even see it!"

"We must prepare for every eventuality."

I had no idea what eventuality they meant. I only thought their expressions looked strangely mischievous as they said it. I could hardly believe these were the same women who had gazed at me so pitifully.

Regardless, the maids concentrated on their work. They had spent years serving the Royal Family, and though they weren't quite Adelia's equal, their hands were deft indeed. I surrendered myself to their ministrations for a long while.

"All finished, Your Highness."

They only released me after I was perfectly dressed in the formal attire the tailor had prepared.

But the preparations being over did not mean my suffering had ended. Whenever I shifted to ease my stiffness, the maids rushed over and made a fuss about straightening my clothes. It was so bothersome that I chose not to move at all. I closed my eyes and began to meditate.

By the time I finished meditating, the banquet was nearly upon us.

"Your Highness. Allow me to escort you to the banquet hall."

Karl appeared in armor polished more brightly than ever and knelt before me.

"Let's go."

I immediately left my bedchamber. The Royal Knights waiting outside surrounded me.

CLANK, CLANK.

Listening to the unusually crisp clatter of armor as we walked, I felt as though I were heading to a battlefield. Though I wore splendid white finery rather than steel.

After a long walk, I reached the banquet hall.

"Will you enter now, Your Highness?"

I nodded. The chamberlain cleared his throat, then proclaimed in a voice that seemed loud enough to shake the entire palace.

"The legitimate issue of His Most August Majesty King Lionel Leonberk, rightful ruler of the Leonberk Kingdom! Eldest son of the Royal House of Leonberk! Savior of the North! Lion of the North! The kingdom's mightiest knight! His Highness Crown Prince Adrian Leonberk enters!"

At last, the doors swung wide, and I stepped through.