The ministers turned around and were astonished to see Richard.
"All ...... of you. The next king is Cesar ......."
Richard said nothing more and fell to his knees as if he had run out of strength.
Edgar quickly steadies him.
But Richard managed to hold on.
"......Take care of ...... this country!"
Cesar and all the assembled ministers bowed their heads. Except for Alain, the king's brother, the Duke of Orange, and Scaife.
With these words, Richard left the meeting room, and this time he collapsed as the door closed behind him.
"Your Majesty ......"
A lady attendant rushed to him and helped him up.
"......Thank you for your hard work."
"......U,m......"
Elsa again casts a healing spell on Richard. Edgar also returned to the healing room with Richard in his arms again.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There was a great commotion in the conference room.
King Richard had declared Cesar to be the next king.
"Now we know for sure which one of us is telling a lie, Uncle.
This time it was his brother Alan who lost color.
"You can find out more at ......."
"I'm sure you stole the key seal, too. Please give it back."
Cesar takes a half step forward. Victory was at hand.
"......Erza, you did well."
In the audience, Reinhardt looks relieved.
Prince Arthur, however, still has a scowl on his face.
"...... No one noticed? This can't go on like this."
"What? What do you mean?"
Prince Arthur said in an urgent voice.
"<
Jin heard this and immediately instructed Reiko.
"Reiko, protect the Dauphin!"
"...... Yes, Father."
Reiko does not normally want to leave Jin's side, but she has no choice but to listen to his order. After a moment's hesitation, Reiko jumps out at 20 percent output, trying to finish as quickly as possible.
Reiko moved to the Dauphin's side as if she had moved instantaneously. She then sensed the <> that was fired by the scaife behind her.
Just in time.
"Your father said so. I won't let you do it."
Reiko interrupts herself and prevents the Wind Cutter. ...... No, she swings her arm out and with a mighty effort blows the <> out of existence.
Skeeve is astonished.
Reiko quickly steps in and hits him with a Paralyze!
"Gee!"
Scaleb lets out a short scream and faints. It lasted about two seconds.
The Dauphin Cesar and his brother Alain do not seem to understand what has happened.
But Prince Oranje does not.
When he saw that the surprise attack on the scave had failed, he ran away as fast as he could.
For a brief moment, Reiko thought about following and capturing him, but she gave priority to Jin's order to protect the Dauphin.
She deploys a magic barrier and wraps the Dauphin in it. A few tens of seconds later, the Kingsguard finally arrived.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty, are you all right?
"Yes, I am. ...... capture the Scaife."
Yes...
"Thank you, Rako Nidor Ehime."
Then he turned to Alan, the king's brother.
"Uncle, I'm going to ask you to hand over the key seal."
Surrounded by the Kingsguard, Alain Demainu was helpless and handed the key to Cesar.
Cesar held up the key seal in his hand.
"I am now officially the king!
He declared proudly. The assembled ministers applauded in unison.
After this, a rather simplified coronation ceremony was held, and the Dauphin Cesar became the official King of Celuloa, <>.
Thus, the turmoil of the new King of Celuloa was temporarily ended.
After the situation had calmed down a bit, the delegates returned to the guest house.
There, Erza, the behind-the-scenes player, was showered with praise.
"Oh, thank you very much!
Erza's face was flushed and she looked embarrassed.
Jin, sitting next to her, also looks happy.
And then, when the surrounding was a little quiet, Jin took this opportunity to open his mouth.
He knew that if he missed this opportunity, he would lose it.
"Well, gentlemen, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know. Myself and Elsa are here at ..................."
However, the important words did not come out easily.
The group, having a rough idea of what was going on, fell silent and turned their attention to Jin.
The attention made Jin even more nervous.
"I ...... I ......"
Then Jin meditated and boldly uttered the last word.
"I'm ...... engaged!"
A moment later, applause echoed.
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
"At last!"
"It's great to be young!"
and other warm words.
Both Jin and Elsa blushed and bowed their heads in silence.
After that, the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Jin received congratulations again from his acquaintances the Marquis Theodoric, the Marquis Florenziano, the Duke of Breu and Prince Arthur, while Elsa was congratulated by the Emperor and Reinhardt.
"...... is just the beginning."
The topic of conversation turned to the future of the Kingdom of Selroa.
"It was an emergency situation, so everyone was moving on without saying too much about the details.
<, evacuating people to the ship, and so on. The same goes for helping Erza to heal. These are not things that should be done for free.
"I'm sure the Kingdom of Selroa has enough reserves, except for food.
If reparations were paid to each country, it could tip the country over the edge. That's how big the scandal of this ceremony was.
"It's an international problem, isn't it?"
The words of the Empress expressed the thoughts of everyone present.
"We can't go home yet. ......
There was much to be done, including the cleanup and the signing of a treaty with the new king.
"I also wonder what happened to Prince Oranje," said Reinhardt.
said Reinhardt. Among the representatives present here, only the representative of the Kingdom of Franz, that is, Prince Oranje, is missing.
"I'm a little concerned about that.
Prince Arthur said with a difficult look on his face. He had already proven his guesswork during the day.
"Perhaps we should be more careful tonight..."
The Empress's murmur snapped me out of my funk.
"......."
"I think it's time to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow.
The new king, Cesar, has sent his guards, but they are somewhat unreliable.
They all retire to their rooms. Jin, Erza, the emperor, and Fritz are left behind.
"Jin!"
With the representatives of the other countries gone, the empress returned to her usual tone and took Jin's hand.
"Make Erza happy, will you?"
"Yes, I will."
"...... Jin, I'm honestly glad that you chose my country's child, but don't let that hold you back. But don't let that hold you back.
Your Majesty?
"You, ......<, need to keep a broader perspective. I don't need you to favor the Shoro Empire.
He concludes, "The enrichment of the world will eventually lead to the development of the Shoro Empire, and indeed of all the nations of the world.
"Jin-dono, take good care of my sister. I can trust you with her. ...... Erza, make her happy."
"...... brother."
And the Empress and Fritz went back to their room.
"...... we should go back too."
"...... yeah."
Jin hugged Elsa's shoulder and they walked down the hallway side by side. Reiko and Edgar follow quietly, trying not to make a sound.
At last, peace has returned to the Kingdom of Selroa.
The moon and bright stars were shining side by side in the night sky.