Chapter 393: Turned Away at the Gate
King’s Side
The king, who had gone to the Florence ducal house yesterday and been refused cooperation by Florence,
Set out today for another ducal house, aiming to secure victory over the three princesses by bringing every ducal house in the country, aside from the Florence house, under his control.
Florence yesterday had been an exception, still young and harboring romantic feelings for a man from a count’s family, so there might be a chance of failure again today.
That thought did not exist in the king’s mind at all, rather, based on his experience living as king until now, he could picture nothing but success.
“Your Majesty, we have been awaiting your arrival.”
Upon arriving at the ducal residence, he was immediately greeted.
This time, unlike with the Florence house, it was not a young lady or heir, but the head of the house himself.
A mere child unfamiliar with the noble world might be one thing, but it was impossible for the head of a ducal house to defy him.
Firmly convinced of that, the king nodded and spoke.
“Mm, thank you for the welcome. My apologies for arriving so suddenly today.”
“Not at all, it seems matters have become quite serious, there is no need for Your Majesty to apologize over something so minor.”
“I appreciate it. As I mentioned briefly in my letter, I have come today to request your cooperation.”
“Yes, I would have preferred to respond by letter before Your Majesty made the trip, but I only had the chance to read it around sunset, so it has come to this.”
“Hahaha, think nothing of it.”
From the other party’s response, cooperation from this ducal house was practically assured.
And once again realizing that, unless it was a special case like Florence, the authority and power of the king were indeed absolute, he spoke in high spirits.
“Then, show me inside so we may discuss the details.”
Normally, this would be the moment for the man to bow to the king, turn, and begin guiding him inside.
In fact, the king had already pictured that scene in his mind, but.
“…I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
“Wha…?”
Hearing words that made him question whether he had misheard or the other had misspoken, the king was bewildered.
“Wh-what did you just say?”
He asked again in case it was some mistake, but the answer did not change.
“I said, we cannot allow Your Majesty inside.”
“You cannot let me inside…? D-don’t be absurd! What is the meaning of this!?”
As the king finally raised his voice in anger, the man calmly replied.
“I have heard that Your Majesty is currently in conflict with the three princesses.”
“…! H-how do you know that!?”
The letter the king had sent only requested cooperation, it did not include such details.
“That is not important at present. What matters is which side, Your Majesty or the three princesses, would benefit my house more… and I have concluded that I will side with the three princesses.”
“Wha…! Y-you would choose them over me, the king!?”
“Your Majesty has often said that those who stand above others must possess proper lineage and ability. While I do not revere Your Majesty to that extent, I do share a similar view, and by that standard, I have concluded that the three princesses surpass you not only in lineage, but in ability as well, to a degree I cannot even begin to measure. That is all.”
The king’s values placed importance on lineage and ability.
Setting aside whether that was good or bad, the man before him had judged that, even by those standards, the king was inferior to the three princesses.
“If it would come to turning you away like this, it would have been better to reply by letter instead of making you come all this way.”
“You…! …You’ll regret this!”
Spitting those words out in anger, the king turned and began to walk away.
Thinking that this time too the other party had simply been unusual, and that next time would surely succeed…
“You look like you’re thinking ‘next time for sure,’ but I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore.”
Standing in front of the carriage the king had arrived in, Elizalina called out to him.