Ambush

 
 ◆
 
 ”… for the aforementioned crimes, the Duke of Oswell is sentenced to death.”
 
 The moment the judge handed down the sentence, the Second Prince of the Heielland Kingdom, Alvin Sanaaq Heielland, was struck by violent palpitations.
 
 (-hahh, hahh, hahh-)
 
 His vision had become distorted.
 
 (What, is this?)
 
 He couldn’t understand what had happened a moment ago right in front of him.
 
 (Wha-what, what’s up with this situation?)
 
 When they had met last night, his uncle… the Duke of Oswell had told him this:
 
 [This trial is a farce orchestrated by the Senate Faction. There’s no evidence, there’s no sense, they’re only trying to discredit us righteous who possess [precious blood]. That’s why Your Highness Alvin didn’t need to worry about anything.]
 
 ———if that’s so, then why.
 
 That revolting fiancee candidate and her brother, they laid out one piece after another of disadvantageous evidence against his uncle.
 
 That, surely, must’ve been fabricated by the Senate Faction.
 
 But his uncle’s attorney was unable to expose that fabrication, and spouted gibberish before leaving.
 His uncle, who then declared himself his own defendant, couldn’t escape from the trap that was carefully prepared for him.
 
 The result.
 
 His uncle went insane and fell unconscious, and the verdict handed down was [guilty].
 
 The assembly hall was filled to the brim with relieved applause.
 
 There’s no way that’s true.
 There’s no way I’ll let this happen!
 
 His uncle, whose veins flowed with the same [precious blood] as his, fell for the trap of those upstarts^[1], and was sentenced to death…!
 
 ”Grrr…”
 
 Alvin get his teeth.
 
 
 
 ”With that, this court is adjourned!”
 
 The trial was over.
 
 Bang! the assembly hall’s door opened.
 At the same time, knights from the Second Knights Order stormed into the assembly hall.
 
 In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the Royalist Faction nobles who were Alvin’s supporters.
 
 (Wha, what, what’s happening?!)
 
 Alvin looked around him, not understanding the reason for what was happening.
 
 And then, his [brother mixed with filthy blood] began making a speech.
 
 And then,
 
 ”All hands, secure the suspects!!”
 
 By his brother’s order, those Royalist Faction nobles were arrested, and taken in.
 
 ”No-, no way——— Chi-, Chichi-ue…!!!?”
 
 He shouted to his father, who was by the judge’s seat.
 
 But that voice was drowned out by the hustle and bustle, and did not reach him.
 
 On the contrary, his father the King nodded at his brother with a stern face, and the two of them left the assembly hall together.
 
 Alvin was not so stupid as to not understand the significance of that fact.
 
 ”What… What nonsense…… This farce, you’re telling me His Majesty approved of it?!”
 
 Muttering dumbfoundedly, Alvin plopped down on his chair.
 
 
 
 Since the very beginning, something was strange.
 
 Why was his uncle… the Duke of Oswell, who was the active prime minister and second in power and authority to the royal family in the kingdom, sitting in the defendant’s seat?
 
 Why was the son of a new aristocrat family, one on their way to ruin, in the role of prosecutor?
 
 And then, why was that little sister of his standing in the witness box, explaining the pieces of evidence like she owned the place?
 
 His uncle was accused upon the pretext of [knowing beforehand the plans of the day of the assault].
 
 If that’s so, then what about the lot from that commoner Count House?
 If it’s that lot, then they knew the plans for the day in question too, didn’t they!
 
 In other words, they made it up!!
 
 Alvin looked at the [enemy], who was still in the visitor’s gallery.
 
 The fiancee candidate girl who was smiling and messing about, and that father and brother of hers.
 Their plot had gone off smoothly, and they seemed to appear like they were becoming impudent.
 
 ”——— 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, I’ll make you show your true colours!”
 
 He stood up from his seat.
 
 The verdict has been passed.
 However, he couldn’t accept the likes of this.
 
 ——— he needs to see if he can’t ask his father, the King, to stop this cruel treatment.
 
 Alvin left the assembly hall, and turned towards the main castle.
 
 
 
 He proceeded down the corridor at a quick pace.
 His aim, the office of his father, the King.
 
 And, coming from the opposite side, he saw a lone woman coming his way while out of breath.
 
 (That is… if I’m not mistaken, Mother^[2]‘s attendant.)
 
 When he suspectingly thought this, the other party noticed him, and
 
 ”Your Highness! Your Highness Alvin!!”
 
 she shouted as she ran up to him.
 
 ”What’s wrong?!”
 
 ”Her Highness the Queen, your Mother ———”
 
 ”What happened to Mother?!”
 
 He unconsciously had a bad premonition and shouted, and the attendant said a most unthinkable thing.
 
 ”——— a moment ago, His Majesty the King, accompanied by the knights, came into the room, called Her Highness the Queen an [accomplice to attempted assassination], and took her away to the western tower!!”
 
 ”Wha-, what did you say!!!???”
 
 Alvin’s face contorted, and he asked back with a tearful look.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 The suspects were taken away, and the short-tempered Congressmen followed after.
 
 The assembly hall’s doors were greatly congested.
 
 ”It’s going to take a while till the congestion calms down, huh.”
 
 When Otou-sama said so, Hubert-nii-sama shrugged his shoulders.
 
 ”Sure, and the porte cochere^[3] is probably going to be hectic.”
 
 Indeed, when people attend at the castle, the porte cochere becomes awfully congested with people and carriages.
 And when returning, it’s probably even more so.
 
 ”There’s no need to rush, so why don’t we wait and see for a while and then move.”
 
 ””Yeah.””
 
 When I spoke, my father and brother nodded at the same time.
 
 ——— ultimately, when we left the assembly hall, ten minutes had already passed.^[4]
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 From the assembly hall to the porte cochere, there was a bit of a distance.
 It’d probably take us about 7 minutes to walk.
 
 We were walking along the castle’s corridor.
 
 ”Thanks to Otou-sama and Hugh-nii-sama^[5], we were able to somehow get through today’s trial. Truly, thank you so much.”
 
 When I thanked the two of them,
 
 ”No, no. I just did things like, procuring materials for the magic power detector and process management and such. Lettie did much more than me.”
 
 ”Right. I also didn’t do much other than reporting to His Majesty and laying the groundwork with the Neutral Faction Families. Graham also worked hard, but Letty is definitely the one who accomplished the most today.:
 
 … is what they said, and came and patted my head.
 
 The warmth of those hands put me at ease.
 
 In this past month, I had been working with nervous tension, and now, I finally felt like that weight had been removed from my shoulders.
 
 Like that, when I let down my guard, was when it happened.
 
 ””!!””
 
 My brother and father, walking next to me, suddenly stopped walking.
 
 ”?”
 
 When I strained my eyes, I saw someone leaning against a pillar in the corridor a little further ahead.
 
 Though, as though they had become one with the shadows, I could not see their face.
 
 That character looked our way, straightened up, and stepped forward under the light of the magic lamp.
 
 The light illuminated that face.
 
 ”-!?”
 
 It was Alvin, the Second Prince, who, though he looked haggard, had an eerie glint in his eyes.
 

TL Notes:

[1]decided to change the term here. “Nobles that rose from commoners” was too long. ↩

[2]At first, I kept to what I previously said I’d do for “titles” like these and use Haha-ue, but that sounded so ridiculous, so I changed it to this ↩

[3]A porte cochere is a roofed entrance for vehicles to enter and exit from the street and onto the property. It can also be interpreted as an awning where passengers are dropped off. Unfortunately, this isn’t actually what the author said in the JP raws, but I couldn’t find the correct word in English. If anyone knows what that circular roundabout/path which cars drive along when dropping off passengers in front of hotels and such (and not the drop-off site itself, as that’s the porte cochere), please let me know. ↩

[4]…that’s rather impatient of them, no? I’d think it’d take much longer to move a bunch of carriages. ↩

[5]but what about Graham? Poor guy. ↩

 

It is worth mentioning, but I honestly don’t think Alvin is your typical “idiotic spoilt prince”. You can clearly see here that he can formulate his own thoughts and even see flaws in the flow of events. His intelligence is definitely up to standard, but unfortunately, that much isn’t enough for someone in his position…
You’ll understand better in the chapters to follow, but if you keep in mind that he is just an ordinary person, you’ll realise that some of his own misunderstandings are reasonable, and even his delusions are hard to hold against him.
 
Well, not like that makes him much of a better person, but it adds depth to the story.