Half-elf Notebook

Chapter 186 Prince

"Your Highness the Second Prince?!"

The Duke and the earls all looked a little unnatural. Under normal circumstances, they would never behave like this.

No noble would reject the opportunity to have a good relationship with the royal family.

Especially the princes - the Kingdom of Fulant does not follow the traditional system of succession, but a system of king election, where the king personally chooses his own heirs.

The order of inheritance is certainly an important part, but it is not all.

The achievements of the offspring, the abilities they demonstrate, and especially their ability to govern are also indispensable considerations.

That is why even a mediocre prince, even if his chances of ascending the throne are slim.

The dukes will also show due respect and courtesy.

Because the probability is not absolutely zero.

At the same time, this is also a respect for the royal family.

But it shouldn't come now.

To be honest, the Duke does not think that the talks between the two sides now will promote even the slightest friendly relations.

On the other hand, the king is now in a state of rage and grief over the loss of his daughter.

Duke Eric didn't know whether the king, his father, would vent his anger on him.

But there is no doubt that the second prince did not seem to realize the seriousness of the situation.

Insist on visiting.

This caused his reputation to decline in the Duke's heart...

A powerful opponent is certainly a headache, but an unintelligent partner is also not something to be happy about.

"Please come in, Prince Perry."

The Duke clasped his fingers together, placed them on his knees, and gave the order calmly.

Deciding to support and win over is one thing, but showing an attitude is another.

Soon, a neatly groomed man with slightly curly blond hair came in front of the nobles.

Except for Duke Eric, one of the five nobles under the throne, the earls and Feisong all stood up and saluted.

"Please take a seat. I haven't had time to prepare snacks and tea. I wonder why the prince is here?"

Duke Eric gestured for permission.

Before the secret conversation, he had sent all the maids and servants who followed him outside or to other rooms.

"this is nothing."

Perry Fullant sat nonchalantly on the sofa opposite the Duke:

"In fact, I would like to get your support once, Duke."

The second prince went straight to the point and stated the purpose of his visit.

"I hope you can support my marriage to Willy."

"Willie..."

The Duke muttered something under his breath.

He roughly recalled in his mind and found that this name did not seem to belong to any noble lady or princess from other countries of appropriate age that he knew.

The five earls, including Feisong, looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a moment of silence, the Duke seemed to have thought of something and asked tentatively:

"She... shouldn't be the daughter of a noble, right?"

"She is an ordinary, kind, and very considerate lady. Will you support her?"

Perry did not deny it, but instead asked Duke Eric for his answer.

In a sense, this assumption is tacitly accepted.

"We firmly support the royal family as long as it is the king's will."

The Duke, who had a definite answer in his mind, responded calmly.

The answer was fairly euphemistic, but the meaning was obvious.

There was no way a king would allow his children to marry a citizen of ordinary status, at least not as their first wife and in a formal capacity.

And the Eric family would not go against the king's wishes on such matters.

"So... you don't support it?"

Perry shifted his position, crossing his left leg over his right, apparently not surprised.

"In fact, I told father about the new faction's involvement in the assassination of the princess, and you are not going to change your mind?"

Perry leaned casually on the soft sofa, but his eyes were extremely sharp, as if he was a leopard or tiger sizing its prey from a distance.

"I... don't quite understand what you mean, Your Highness."

"But I believe the king will not like lies that sow discord between the king and his subjects. Your Highness, whether it is marrying an ordinary lady or such behavior, it will not help you win the election for the throne."

Duke Eric frowned in his heart, but he only showed the appropriate surprise and did not show any nervousness or panic.

In the eyes of others, this was just the behavior of a person who was framed.

The others had similar expressions, and some even showed a hint of anger.

"Can we please stop playing this game? I'm not threatening you with hearsay, Duke. No one can spy here."

Perry looked amused:

"As long as I tell my father and make him believe it, even you, Duke Eric, will not be able to refuse to accept the test of the "True Words" magic even without definite evidence."

"And I'm pretty sure you were involved in that."

The corners of Perry's mouth slowly cracked into a smile.

"This will do you no good, Your Highness Prince Perry."

After confirming that what the other party said was true, Duke Eric gave up pretending and actually frowned and said in a cold voice.

"Isn't it a good thing to seek justice for my sister and alert the royal family to prevent similar vicious incidents from happening again?"

Perry spread his hands:

"Choose one, Monsieur the Duke. Help me... or be sent to prison for the murder of a royal family member."

"My words as a duke alone cannot hinder the king's will in this matter, and neither can the entire new faction."

The Duke was silent for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head and said.

"It doesn't matter. I will use the charge of murdering Meera to convince the Duke of Norman."

"The fall of an important border fortress, allowing orcs to wreak havoc on the kingdom's territory, negligence in the governance of Cyrilor Province, pocketing the tax money used for construction, etc.... Now if we add the charge of plotting to assassinate the crown prince and intending to rebel against the royal family."

"This is enough to deprive a duke of his hereditary title... Duke Eric, you know this better than me, don't you?"

The prince explained, scanning the Duke and Feisong one by one with a pair of blue eyes that were completely different from his own and reflected a gleam of light like his father, the figure on the throne, until they fell on the Duke again.

He looked into the same pair of grey eyes as Feisong's.

However, at this moment, a calm and smiling voice reached everyone's ears:

"So, Your Highness Prince Perry...you are also part of the conspiracy to murder Princess Mera and Princess Noel?"

For a moment, everyone except the prince looked at the source of the voice in astonishment, looking at the person who spoke.