Chapter 421

“It seems you should understand what I’m trying to say by now…”

Leon sighed as he looked at the princess, who suddenly had a shocked expression and unconsciously clenched her fists.

“Just like you summarized yourself earlier, what you and your reform faction represent is a royal family that ‘wants to reclaim power,’ not one that ‘wants the kingdom to prosper and relieve the suffering of commoners.’

For the royal family, even the king, the ‘reforms’ you’re pushing aren’t the ultimate goal. They’re more like tools to reclaim power. In reality, your reform faction isn’t actually speaking for the royal family.”

“…”

Upon hearing Leon’s summary, Princess Veronica instinctively wanted to argue back, but after reflecting on the situation of the royal family, she couldn’t help but press her lips tightly together.

Indeed…what she wanted was never what the royal family truly desired.

In fact, many of the reforms she promoted required cutting into the royal family’s resources. Although her biggest “support” came from the royal family, she wasn’t their spokesperson at all.

“Also, among the four factions in the capital city, your reform faction is very different from the other three.”

Looking at the princess whose lips were pressed so tightly they turned pale, Leon felt a bit reluctant to remind her: “Whether it’s the noble faction or the parliamentary faction, they all speak for their own class and fight for the interests of the forces behind them. Only your reform faction is different.

Your greatest support comes from the royal family, but the things you want to promote and fight for conflict greatly with the royal family’s interests, even contradicting them completely. So your ‘base’ isn’t as stable as the other three factions.

The reason there haven’t been any problems until now is because your main goal has always been to take back the power seized by the old nobility, plus regulating commercial activities, avoiding parliament passing some ridiculous things.

This aligns with the royal family’s idea of reclaiming power. After all, your identity is that of a princess; the power you seize will end up in the royal family’s mouth, so they’ve continued to support you. But…”

“But it’ll be different moving forward, right?”

Leaning back weakly against the chair with a pale face, Princess Veronica said:

“Father…the royal family’s tolerance towards me only extends to unimportant matters. Once I try to fully implement reforms and start dividing the power within the royal family’s grasp, their support will immediately stop.

It’s really…I originally thought those measures would breathe life into the stagnant kingdom and make it stronger. Something beneficial to all members of the royal family, naturally they’d support me, but…I thought too simply…”

“It’s not necessarily so, since I’m just speculating.”

Seeing her somewhat disheartened appearance, Leon couldn’t help but comfort her:

“The measures you’ve promoted could enlarge the kingdom’s pie, and the royal family might still support you. These things might not happen.”

“Not might, they will definitely happen.”

Closing her beautiful eyes slightly and leaning back against the chair weakly, the princess bitterly smiled: “Before you showed up, although it was clear Joshua wasn’t competent, father…he still always wanted to marry me off, and all the targets he chose were from other kingdoms.

I previously thought he was preparing to send me far away once my reforms faced resistance, to resolve conflicts between the various factions within the kingdom and stabilize the chaotic situation. But now, it seems he probably thought much ‘earlier.'”

After pondering over the documents she brought home yesterday, Princess Veronica said with a complex look in her eyes: “If I didn’t guess wrong, father is probably waiting patiently right now.

He’s waiting for me to finish implementing the selection order, to reorganize the military department, suppress the influence of old nobles in the military; waiting for me to propose expanding citizen voting rights in the upcoming parliament, slowly reducing the power in the hands of major merchants and the prime minister.

Once I finish these two tasks, helping him solve the hindrance of the nobles and parliament, all he needs to do is find a distant enough kingdom, marry me, his impractical trouble-making daughter, and everything else won’t be a problem anymore.”

“…”

“Ho ho, no familial affection, only self-interest, this is truly the style of the royal family.”

At the time, I thought he wanted to put Joshua on the throne, so he didn’t want me to have too much power, giving Joshua a chance to struggle. But I didn’t expect that he never considered me, his daughter, at all—I’m just a tool to clear obstacles!”

“…”

“…”

Ah, this…looks like I caused trouble…

Seeing the white neck with faint blue veins and cheeks flushed an abnormal red, Leon opened his mouth wanting to comfort her but didn’t know what to say, awkwardly saying: “Um…do you want to eat something first?”

“Sorry, I think I can’t eat anything.”

The usually emotion-stable princess lost her composure this time, smiling bitterly with a pale face before standing up and staggering toward the door.

Realizing her emotions were off, almost showing signs of dark tendencies, Leon quickly reached out to support her and couldn’t help but ask:

“Where are you going?”

“I…”

Without missing a beat, the princess bitten her lips, took a deep breath, pushed Leon’s hand away, and said through gritted teeth: “I need to go back and finish what I need to do…”

What I need to do…what exactly do you mean by what you need to do?

Hearing her response, Leon’s heart couldn’t help but jolt.

Judging by your current mental state, the “things you need to do” wouldn’t be the one I mentioned earlier—gathering a team of soldiers, storming the palace, forcing your dad to give up the throne, and hanging anyone who opposes, right?!

Ah, this…I was just waiting for food and couldn’t resist chatting politics with you a little. How did it turn into a bloody coup?!

“This…don’t you want to reconsider?”

Looking at the princess whose eyes were filled with three parts anger, six parts reluctance, and one part hidden sorrow, Leon quickly grabbed her arm and started babbling nonsensically: “I’m not against you seeking justice for yourself, but shouldn’t you prepare more?

If you storm the palace now and fail due to insufficient preparation, what if your dad counterattacks and kills you? You should plan for a few more days at least!”

“You…what nonsense are you talking about!”

After hearing Leon’s words, despite being full of resentment, Princess Veronica still paused, then stomped her foot forcefully and glared at him irritably.

“No matter what, he’s still my father! He just wants to marry me off far away, not kill me! How could I possibly do such a thing!”

“Oh, I see…”

“…”

Watching Leon sigh deeply, release his grip on her arm, and sit back down, Princess Veronica’s lips involuntarily moved.

Why do I feel…if I hadn’t held myself back just now, you seemed a bit disappointed?

(End of Chapter)