The Talentless Wicked Prince Wants To Survive ~ The Only Way For Me, Reincarnated As The Punching Bag Third Prince In A Romance Smartphone RPG, To Live Is To Not Break Off My Engagement With The Duke’s Yandere Daughter Who’s Stronger Than The Heroine~ - Chapter 92: I had no idea what the king was thinking

“…His Majesty King Salomon wishes to have an audience with you.”

“Ugh…”

Having a bad feeling about this, I couldn’t help but let out a groan.

I mean, come on, wanting to see me the very next day? He was definitely planning to drag me into some kind of trouble.

“What will you do?”

“Haa… fine, I’ll go. Princess Lisette, Sandra, please continue enjoying your tea.”

“Y-yes…”

“…”

Resigned, I reluctantly stood up. Leaving behind the two girls who looked at me with anxious expressions, I made my way toward the audience chamber where King Salomon awaited.

On the way there…

“Isn’t that…”

“Her Majesty Queen Paula.”

At the sight of Queen Paula emerging from the audience chamber, we instinctively hid ourselves.

So that’s how it was… This must have something to do with last night’s incident, and probably also with the fact that I’d quarreled with the queen when she’d tried to falsely accuse Lisette. How troublesome.

“Haa… looks like Queen Paula has left. I’ll go ahead and meet with His Majesty.”

“Please take care. I shall wait for you here.”

Monica saw me off with a graceful bow.

When I arrived before the audience chamber, one of the attendants waiting there guided me inside.

“Prince Harold, my apologies.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. So… what is this about?”

“Hmm…”

As expected, King Salomon’s business concerned Lisette and Queen Paula.

Apparently, Queen Paula had been quite displeased that I had taken Lisette’s side. She wanted to keep me away from her, but since I was a foreign goodwill envoy, even a queen’s authority couldn’t easily be imposed.

It seemed she had thus appealed to King Salomon to persuade me instead. Seriously, how tiresome.

“…I’m sorry, but regardless of my position as Dehaubarz’s goodwill envoy, I wish to remain friends with Princess Lisette.”

“I understand. I have no intention of separating the two of you. However…”

King Salomon pressed his temples and shook his head. From that gesture, I could tell there was more to this story.

“…To tell such a thing to a foreign envoy like yourself is nothing but exposing my own shame, but…”

With that preface, King Salomon began to speak.

He told me that Lisette was not, in fact, Queen Paula’s biological daughter, but the child of another woman. That her true mother had died shortly after giving birth due to an unknown illness, and that he had originally intended to take that woman as his second queen.

“…I know I have wronged Lisette. Out of consideration for Paula, I turned a blind eye while that girl suffered at her hands, and I did nothing.”

“…”

I silently watched King Salomon’s bitter expression as he confessed.

But honestly… my only real thought was that it wasn’t my problem.

Hearing that kind of story didn’t change Lisette’s situation. Her treatment wouldn’t improve, and Queen Paula would no doubt continue her relentless harassment.

Still, I had no idea that Lisette’s scenario in EnHaza had such a hidden backstory.

“So then, Your Majesty… what do you intend to do about it?”

“…I do not know.”

Haa… of course.

Given how considerate he was being toward Queen Paula, I could guess that his relationship with Lisette’s mother wasn’t one that could be made public.

Maybe she was of low birth, or maybe she was someone politically inconvenient for the royal family. Perhaps, she had some kind of personal conflict with Queen Paula in the past. Whatever the case may be…

King Salomon felt guilty toward Paula, and at the same time guilty toward Lisette. He was simply prioritizing whichever guilt suited his convenience, and choosing to let Lisette suffer for it.

In that case…

“Your Majesty, if that is the situation, then there is a simple solution.”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

At my words, King Salomon raised his head sharply. What a transparent, middle-aged man.

“It’s simple. Send Princess Lisette out of the Kingdom of Capetien.”

“What do you mean?”

“In my country, we have a long-established educational institution, the Royal Academy, where many nobles and royals from other nations come to study. I believe Your Majesty has heard of it.”

In other words, I decided to make sure Lisette’s path followed EnHaza’s scenario, sending her to the Royal Academy without fail.

That way, it could serve as a symbol of friendship between Dehaubarz and Capetien, and I could claim some credit for it as the goodwill envoy.

Besides, for Queen Paula, it would conveniently remove the eyesore that was Lisette. And for Lisette, it would mean escaping from these miserable people and finally shining as EnHaza’s heroine.

Huh. How many birds was I killing with this one stone?

“I see…”

“However, since enrollment in the Royal Academy begins at fifteen, perhaps, until then, as a way for her to become accustomed to Dehaubarz’s culture, it would be best if she accompanied us when we return to our country.”

“…”

“What do you think, Your Majesty?”

King Salomon stroked his beard in thought. Judging by his expression, he seemed rather inclined toward the idea.

“…Very well. I understand.”

“Then…”

“Yes. I shall entrust Lisette to you, Prince Harold. I leave her in your care.”

King Salomon bowed deeply to me, a mere fourteen-year-old boy, even if I was a goodwill envoy. Not as a great king, but as a father worried for his daughter.

And my only thought was…

Disgusting.

That was all.