Chapter 159

Leon watched as the old butler, foaming at the mouth, was carried away in the distance, before hastily running towards the massive carriage. The corners of the middle-aged noblewoman’s mouth twitched involuntarily with extreme speechlessness.

Though she didn’t know what the other party had said last that directly caused the old butler to faint from anger on the spot, she still vaguely heard the “either… or…” earlier.

The only thought in the mind of the middle-aged noblewoman at this moment was that the Lane family was truly doomed. After getting such an unconventional new duke, the Lane family was probably already counting down to its demise.

Hmm… thinking about it this way, Princess Veronica is actually pretty good too.

Even though she sometimes lacks dignity and can’t help doing outrageous things privately, at least most of the time she can communicate normally, and during important occasions, she can listen to advice, unlike the Lionheart Duke who torments the old butler to death…

…

“Haha, this trip was really worth it!”

Unlike the somewhat sympathetic middle-aged noblewoman, after closely appreciating this farce, Princess Veronica hurriedly pulled her body back, then forcefully closed the carriage window, bursting into a fit of “roaring” laughter.

After quite a while, when she had laughed enough, she raised her hand to wipe the tear flowers from the corner of her eyes, while rubbing her flat little belly under her dress and complaining:

“Ouch… laughing made my stomach hurt, this newly appointed Lionheart Duke sure knows how to torment people… Hmm… but he’s not a bad person.”

Looking through the air vent, seeing that the Lane family was actually paying compensation, and even helping to right the overturned carriages at the request of the new duke, Princess Veronica couldn’t help but flash a look of appreciation, then smiled and said to the middle-aged noblewoman:

“To be honest, if he hadn’t inherited the title of Lionheart Duke, but some other title, that would have been great. If he were the Marquis of Silver Chalice or Light Shield family, he might have become my prince consort, alas~”

???”

Hearing the princess’s words, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but shiver violently, then stiffly replied: “Your Highness? You… you’re not joking with me, are you?”

Seeing the shocked expression on the middle-aged noblewoman’s face, Princess Veronica couldn’t help but smile, then shook her head and answered: “Nope, I really think he’s pretty good. Let’s not talk about anything else, if someone like him were my prince consort, life would definitely be very interesting in the future.”

“…”

Interesting… I think it would be fatal! If he really became your prince consort and passed his love for tormenting people onto you, I’d probably lose a decade or two of my life!” Your Highness Veronica!”

Looking at the princess’s sparkling eyes, realizing she seemed genuinely interested in the Lionheart Duke, to avoid her fate aligning with that unfortunate butler’s, the middle-aged noblewoman quickly reminded her:

“He’s really unsuitable for you! Even if the Lane family becomes hollow, they are still the nominal leader of the old nobility. All old nobles with marital ties to the Lane family wouldn’t tolerate them getting close to you!”

“Ho ho, rest assured, I understand these matters.”

Glancing through the rear air vent of the two-wheeled carriage, looking regretfully at the carriage carved with a lion, and seeing the tense face of the opposite middle-aged noblewoman, Princess Veronica joked with a smile: “Look at how nervous you are… those words earlier were just offhand comments. I wouldn’t casually choose someone as my prince consort.

Hmm… talking about choosing a prince consort, compared to letting me choose my own prince consort, father actually prefers marrying me off. Recently, he mentioned several candidates to me, such as the fourth prince of Morneau Kingdom, the grand duke of Hess Kingdom, or the leader of the labor party in Alleson Kingdom.

So if nothing goes wrong, it will likely be one of these few people… Ho ho, honestly speaking, in terms of conditions alone, they may not be better than that Lionheart Duke.”

“…”

Hearing the princess’s words, the middle-aged noblewoman’s expression couldn’t help but slightly change, then fell into deep silence.

If Princess Veronica is married off, leaving her homeland and kingdom aside, all these candidates proposed by His Majesty, although famous and powerful aristocrats, are around forty years old on average.

Moreover, the Morneau fourth prince was once married, but his wife died in childbirth; the grand duke of Hess fell off a horse when he was young and limped, seemingly having a rather radical and sinister personality; the leader of the labor party in Alleson Kingdom is also reportedly difficult to get along with.

Although with Princess Veronica’s skills, even if she marries over, she probably won’t suffer much, and there’s a big chance she could take the lead, guiding the forces behind her spouse to slowly lean towards the kingdom.

But this kind of political marriage maintained purely by interest, naturally has no connection with happiness. So once she really marries over, Princess Veronica’s later life probably won’t be happy…

…

“Hmm? How come you’re worried about me while we’re talking?”

Seeing the full concern and reluctance on the middle-aged noblewoman’s face, the princess couldn’t help but feel warm at the bottom of her heart, then smiled and comforted her:

“Don’t you know my abilities? Be it these neighboring kingdoms where I can conveniently borrow strength, or even if I marry alone across the sea, I will still live very freely, don’t worry!”

That’s right… No matter where you go, you will live well, but… Will you be happy?

Looking at the princess whose face was smiling but whose eyes appeared calm and indifferent, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but bite her teeth, then lowered her voice and asked:

“Your Highness, must you marry abroad and cannot stay? Even… even that Lionheart Duke would be fine.”

“It’s not whether I want to marry abroad, but what father thinks. After all, this kind of thing has never been something I can decide from the beginning.”

Hearing the middle-aged noblewoman’s question, the princess’ eyebrows couldn’t help but slightly raise, then calmly replied:

“After losing the Ministry of Finance, although father seems to no longer handle affairs and handed all the royal personnel to me, he has never given up the idea of fully controlling the kingdom.

And to control the kingdom, there are mainly legislation, personnel, military power, and financial power. Joshua’s mother happens to be the sister of the Minister of Finance. When he grows up a bit more, as long as he agrees to inherit the throne, there’s a high possibility the Minister of Finance will lean towards the royal family.

Also, by that time, whether the reforms I host succeed or fail, they will thoroughly provoke the anger of the old nobility and the lower house. Father just needs to announce the cancellation of my eligibility to inherit the throne and send me abroad in marriage, which can easily quell everyone’s anger.

By doing so, not only can he take over most of the power I’ve snatched from the old nobility at the lowest cost, obtain strong support outside the kingdom, pave the way for Joshua’s succession, but also make the Minister of Finance lean towards the royal family, thereby fully controlling the Ministry of Finance.

Ho ho, just one failed marriage of the eldest daughter can gain so many tangible and intangible benefits. Based on my understanding of father, he absolutely won’t miss such a good opportunity.”

After hearing the princess’s deduction, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but stand up abruptly, full of anger: “You’ve done so much for the kingdom these years! His Majesty shouldn’t treat you like this even if he doesn’t let you inherit the throne in the end! And! If someone else inherits the throne, it would be fine, but Prince Joshua… umm… anyway, this is too excessive!”

“This isn’t an issue of being excessive or not.”

Princess Veronica shook her head and smiled: “As the daughter of the king, since I wasn’t born, I directly possessed almost everything nine out of ten people in this country yearn for, but as a price, I will also lose some things.

Besides, you actually don’t need to feel sorry for me. I just lost the choice in my marriage. Joshua is truly pitiful. Due to father’s excessive indulgence, Joshua has even lost his mind. Isn’t he more miserable than me?”

“At such a time, how can you still say such witty remarks!”

Seeing the princess who seemed to have accepted her fate and even had the mood to joke with her, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but stamp her feet: “Your Highness! Why aren’t you angry at all! Are you going to accept this?”

“What else can I do if I don’t accept?”

Upon hearing this, the princess’ eyes flickered twice, then asked calmly: “If I want to refuse such a future, should I overthrow everything immediately and fully associate with the old nobility? Or should I try to approach the prime minister in parliament and let those so-called ‘economic bills’ that arbitrarily exploit ordinary people pass?

Or should I offer a large reward and hire someone to assassinate my younger brother? Or start a coup, leading the military department’s people to storm the palace and personally hang my father on the gallows?”

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“…”

Seeing the princess who looked calm to the point of indifference, with deep fatigue revealed in her eyes, the middle-aged noblewoman, unable to answer, felt her nose tingling, and her vision suddenly blurred.

I’ve taken care of the princess for so many years. She was such a lively child when she was small, always playing wildly in the garden of the palace, often covered in mud, and even if scolded, she wouldn’t be sad, always wearing a smile as radiant as the sun.

After growing up, she still likes to smile, but I don’t know when it started, her smiles gradually changed flavor. She smiles gently, helplessly, self-mockingly, and tiredly… It seems she hasn’t smiled sincerely like when she was a child anymore.

In my memory, when was the last time she showed such a radiant smile? Three years ago? Five years ago? Or even longer?

“Hey! Look at you! How come you got so emotional while we’re talking?

What I just said were guesses. Even if it happens, it will be a long time from now. And there might be other opportunities in these few years~”

Seeing the middle-aged noblewoman whose eyes were slightly red after hearing her words, her mouth starting to droop uncontrollably, seemingly ready to hug her and burst into tears, the princess couldn’t help but smile and joked: “For instance, if that Lionheart Duke sees me one day and gets infatuated, stubbornly defying the pressure from all related families, proposes to me with the entire Lane family as dowry, then the situation would completely reverse.

Facing the chance to fully control the Road Administration Department and the Military Department, father would probably arrange for Joshua to marry a female monkey, then kick him to the other side of the sea, and weld the throne firmly on my butt~”

“Pfft!”

Hearing the princess’ cold jokes, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but laugh through her tears, then rarely paid attention to her demeanor, directly pinched the princess’ waist hard, then complained with her still reddened eyes:

“You dare to say! That Lionheart Duke hasn’t even reached twenty this year, yet you’re already twenty…

“Hey!”

Seeing certain top secrets of the kingdom about to slip out of the middle-aged noblewoman’s mouth, the princess, who had been rather calm until then, finally panicked, hurriedly pounced to cover her mouth, then threatened through gritted teeth:

“We agreed not to talk about this! If you mention it again, I’ll take you with me across the sea! Tie you to a fishing rod to catch sharks while crossing the sea!”

“Mm… I won’t mention it! I won’t mention it, alright? You… move your chest a bit… You’re pressing so hard I can’t breathe…”

…

The two people in the carriage seemed to have reached some kind of consensus, avoiding talking about the topic of future marriage, and instead relaxed and played around.

The carriage engraved with a lion stopped for more than twenty minutes, finally moved again, quickly passing through the road vacated by small merchants, carrying a reluctant duke, heading towards the end of Red Pine Avenue to Leon Manor.

After the overly luxurious Lionheart carriage left, the two people in the two-wheeled carriage calculated the time of the inheritance ceremony, realizing they might not make it in time for the opening, so they drove from the cargo road to the noble exclusive expressway.

With the driver continuously accelerating, this sightseeing two-wheeled carriage sped along, the wheels almost falling apart, finally entering the gates of Leon Manor just before the sun fully rose.

“Not bad! Not bad! This side has just started!”

Stepping on the footstool and getting off the carriage, handing the invitation with fake identity to a maid, and seeing the main building’s door still open, the princess eager to see the commotion immediately lifted her skirt and ran despite the repeated dissuasion of the middle-aged noblewoman.

“I’m going first! Hurry up!”

“You! Wait for me!”

Seeing the princess running ahead without any decorum, lifting her skirt and running with “undulating waves” despite the covering of the shawl, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but stamp her feet angrily, wishing to pull her back and give her several etiquette lessons.

But seeing Princess Veronica running farther and farther away, worried that her identity might be recognized, the middle-aged noblewoman sighed inwardly about her misfortune, then followed suit, holding her skirt and running after her, reminding breathlessly while running: “Ver… Verne! Demeanor! Pay attention to your demeanor… Hmm?”

Seeing the princess who suddenly stopped running and stood dazedly at the entrance, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but be alarmed, thinking that Princess Veronica’s identity might have been exposed, rushing forward quickly to help cover up, however…

“Slap!”

A loud slap resounded from the main hall.

The middle-aged noblewoman, who had rushed to the princess’s side, was horrified to find that the newly appointed duke, who should be receiving congratulations from guests, had single-handedly lifted Prince Joshua, spat on his already swollen face, and then sneered coldly: “Don’t let me be this duke? Fine! You better keep your promise!”

(End of Chapter)