The Young Lady Whose Engagement Was Annulled Decided to Observe What Would Become of the Kingdom thereafter - Chapter 14

Before the morning light could stream in, I was awakened by someone pounding furiously on my door. The loud, urgent knocking was a far cry from the usual, graceful start to my day.

“Your Highness, please wake up!”

“What is it? This early in the morning… What on earth…”

It was Victor, my butler. Normally, I would have grumbled “just a little longer…” and gone back to sleep, but there was a tension in his voice that immediately snapped me awake. My head still felt heavy—probably from drinking too much at last night’s banquet.

As I got out of bed, Victor entered the room. His face was pale, and his hands trembled slightly. The usual calmness in his demeanor was gone.

“The palace is… in quite an uproar. I believe you should prepare yourself at once.”

“An uproar? Prepare? What are you talking about?”

Even as I asked, Victor kept his eyes down and didn’t answer. Instead, he rushed to prepare my clothes. From outside the window, I could hear an unusual commotion—horses’ hooves, clinking armor, and the murmur of many voices. It was certainly noisy. What on earth was going on?

While I stood there dazed in my nightclothes, the door flew open again—this time forcefully. Several men entered the room. They were nobles I’d recently seen at various banquets. Their faces showed a strange excitement.

“Good morning, Your Majesty.”

The leading noble suddenly addressed me with those words. I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Your Majesty…?”

“Congratulations.”

They suddenly began congratulating me. I couldn’t make sense of anything. My mind was still foggy as I stared at them blankly.

“Starting today, the Kingdom of Granzwei will be ruled by you.”

My mind reeled—I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. There had been no sign of any of this before I went to sleep last night.

“What are you saying? What happened to my father?”

At my question, the nobles briefly exchanged glances.

“Former King Garland…”

The eldest noble spoke carefully, choosing his words.

“We attempted to capture him, but he escaped. Had we caught him, we could have ensured a flawless succession. We apologize.”

“What? Capture? Escaped? Why would you…”

I was about to demand an explanation, but the nobles cut me off, each speaking in turn. Their voices overlapped, swirling around me. My mind struggled to keep up.

“We had no choice but to act—for the survival of the kingdom. King Garland was about to push through some very dangerous policies.”

“He was preparing a secret treaty granting excessive power to the Vermillion family, effectively turning the northern territory into an independent state.”

One noble explained passionately, his eyes intense.

“That’s an act of rebellion—tantamount to dividing the Kingdom of Granzwei!”

Another noble added, his voice tinged with anger.

“I-Is that true…?”

I found myself asking. If that were true, it was indeed a serious matter.

“We united to stop him.”

“King Garland fled before we could confront him.”

“We pursued him, but he managed to escape.”

That all of this had happened without my knowledge was shocking. Still… wasn’t this too extreme? I staggered over to the window in disbelief. Outside, soldiers bustled around, and I could see knights bearing banners.

“This… isn’t this a coup?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

They immediately denied it. The nobles smiled confidently.

“This is a lawful act to protect the kingdom. With King Garland fleeing, the throne was left vacant. According to the line of succession, you are now king.”

Shouldn’t we bring Father back? But then again… if what they were saying was true, then Father had been acting to divide the kingdom. That couldn’t be allowed.

This wasn’t something I had wanted. I never imagined driving my father out. But now, the facts were right in front of me. Outside my room, more nobles and officials had gathered. I could hear their excited voices in the hallway. The entire palace likely already knew.

If that’s the case, then I had no choice but to make up my mind. If I tried to bring Father back, I might be punished instead. They might think I had led the nobles and orchestrated this incident myself. I didn’t want that.

It’s too late now.

I had to accept the throne. That was the right decision under the circumstances. I was always going to become king—it just happened a little sooner than expected.

I took a deep breath and made my decision. I would ride this momentum and become king.

“Understood. As for my father… let’s leave that be. From now on, we must focus on governing the kingdom.”

At my words, the nobles’ faces lit up with satisfaction.

“A splendid decision, Your Majesty! You have truly shown the qualities of a king.”

Another noble said as he knelt before me. The others followed suit. The sight of everyone in the room kneeling before me filled me with an odd sense of elation. So, I really am becoming king…

“Let us begin preparations for the coronation at once!”

“We must announce the dawn of a new era to the people!”

One after another, they made their suggestions. I simply nodded, and things began to move forward. It was all so sudden, but just like that, I was to become king.

I thought of Amaryllis. She would surely be shocked. To wake up and find that her fiancé had gone from prince to king. But she would be happy. After all, she would become queen.