Chapter 562: Exactly as expected

This new Duke of Lionheart is really... not very aristocratic...

Watching Leon, who was carrying the foaming old steward and rushing toward that massive carriage in the distance, the middle-aged noblewoman's lips twitched in extreme speechlessness.

Although she didn't know what the other party had said at the end to make the old steward faint on the spot, she had vaguely heard the "Either... or..." from before.

At this moment, the only thought in the middle-aged noblewoman's mind was that the Bobby Laien family was truly unlucky; after landing such an unconventional new Duke, the Bobby Laien family was likely already in the countdown to their doom.

Hmm... thinking about it this way, Princess Veronika is actually quite decent.

Although she is sometimes not dignified enough and can't help but do outrageous things in private, at least she can communicate normally most of the time, and she listens to advice on important occasions. She wouldn't be like the Duke of Lionheart, who tortured that old steward and was willing to torture himself to death...

"Haha, this trip was truly worth it!"

Unlike the middle-aged noblewoman, who felt a sense of "the rabbit dying and the fox grieving," Princess Veronika hurriedly pulled her body back after enjoying this farce at close range, then forcefully closed the carriage window, letting out a burst of "surging" laughter.

After a good while, when she had laughed enough, she raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. While gently rubbing her flat lower abdomen through her formal dress, she complained with an "ouch":

"Ouch... my stomach hurts from laughing. This new Duke of Lionheart really knows how to torment people... Hmm... but he's not a bad person."

Looking back through the air vent, seeing that the Bobby Laien family people were actually paying compensation and, under the new Duke's demand, were helping to set the overturned carriages upright one by one, a flash of appreciation couldn't help but cross Princess Veronika's eyes. She then smiled and said to the middle-aged noblewoman:

"Seriously, if he hadn't inherited the title of Duke of Lionheart, but some other title, how good that would be. If he were a Marquis of the Silver Lantern Flower or the Light Shield family, there might be a chance for him to be my Prince Consort. What a pity~"

???

After hearing the Princess's words, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but shudder violently, then said with a somewhat stiff expression:

"Your Highness? You... you aren't joking with me, are you?"

Looking at the middle-aged noblewoman's terrified expression, Princess Veronika couldn't help but laugh, then shook her head and replied:

"Not at all. I really think he's decent. Not to mention anything else, if someone like that were my Prince Consort, life in the future would definitely be very interesting."

"..."

Interesting... I think it would be life-threatening! If he really became your Prince Consort and passed that habit of tormenting people on to you, I would at least live ten or eight years less!

"Princess Veronika!"

Examining the Princess's sparkling eyes and discovering that she seemed truly interested in that Duke of Lionheart, in order to avoid her own fate leaning toward that unlucky steward, the middle-aged noblewoman hurriedly spoke up to remind her:

"He really isn't suitable for you! Even if the Bobby Laien family has become an empty shell, they are the nominal leaders of the old nobility. All the old nobles who have marriage ties with the Bobby Laien family will not tolerate the Bobby Laien family leaning toward you!"

"Hehe, don't worry, I understand things in this regard."

Looking at the carriage carved with a lion through the air vent on the back of the two-wheeled carriage with a hint of regret, and then looking at the nervous middle-aged noblewoman opposite her, Princess Veronika smiled and teased:

"Look at how nervous you are... Those words just now were just said casually. I won't just pick someone to be my Prince Consort so easily.

Hmm... speaking of picking a Prince Consort, rather than letting me pick one myself, Father is actually more inclined to marry me off. Recently, he has mentioned quite a few candidates to me, such as the Fourth Prince of the Morna Kingdom, that Grand Duke of the Hessen Kingdom, or perhaps the leader of the Labor Party of the Oleson Kingdom.

So if there are no mistakes, it should be one of these few... Hehe, to be honest, in terms of conditions alone, they might not actually be as good as that Duke of Lionheart."

"..."

After hearing the Princess's words, the middle-aged noblewoman's expression couldn't help but freeze slightly, and she then fell into deep silence.

If Princess Veronika were married off, not to mention leaving her homeland and being far from the kingdom, the candidates proposed by His Majesty, although all famous great nobles with exceptionally strong power, were all nearly forty years old on average.

Moreover, that Fourth Prince of Morna had been married before, but his wife died in childbirth; the Grand Duke of Hessen fell off a horse when he was young and became lame, and his personality seems somewhat extreme and sinister; that Labor Party leader of the Oleson Kingdom is said to be a very difficult person to get along with.

Although with Princess Veronika's methods, even if she married over, she would likely not suffer losses, and would even have a great chance to take the initiative and guide the forces behind the other party to lean toward the kingdom slowly.

But this kind of political marriage where the conditions of both sides are vastly different and purely maintained by interests is naturally insulated from happiness. So once she really marries over, Princess Veronika's second half of life will likely not be very happy...

"Hmm? How come you're worrying for me as we talk?"

Looking at the middle-aged noblewoman's face full of worry and reluctance, the Princess's eyes couldn't help but warm slightly, and she then smiled and spoke to comfort her:

"Don't you know my ability? Let alone these neighboring kingdoms where it's convenient to borrow power at any time, even if I didn't bring anyone and married far away to the other side of the ocean, I could still live very comfortably. Don't worry!"

Yes... you can live well wherever you go, but... will you be happy?

Looking at the Princess, whose face carried a smile but whose eyes appeared calm and indifferent, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but grit her teeth, then lowered her voice and asked:

"Your Highness, must you marry abroad? Can't you stay? Even... even if it's that Duke of Lionheart."

"It's not about whether I want to marry abroad, but about what Father thinks. After all, this kind of thing, from the very beginning, wasn't something I could decide."

After hearing the middle-aged noblewoman's question, the Princess's eyebrows couldn't help but lift slightly, and she then said with a peaceful expression:

"After the failure to seize the Ministry of Finance, although Father seems to no longer manage affairs and has handed over the royal family's manpower to me, he has never given up the idea of completely controlling the kingdom.

And to control the kingdom, it's nothing more than legislation, personnel, military power, and financial power. Joshua's mother happens to be the sister of the Minister of Finance. In a few years, when he grows up, as long as he promises to let him inherit the throne, the Minister of Finance will likely lean toward the royal family.

In addition, by that time, no matter whether the reforms I preside over succeed or fail, they should completely anger the old nobility and the Lower House. As long as Father announces the cancellation of my qualification to inherit the throne and marries me abroad directly, he can easily appease everyone's anger.

Doing this, not only can he take over most of the power I snatched from the old nobility at the lowest cost, obtain strong support from outside the kingdom, and pave the way for Joshua's succession, but he can also make the Minister of Finance lean toward the royal family, thereby completely controlling the Ministry of Finance.

Hehe, just a failed marriage of his eldest daughter can obtain so many tangible and intangible benefits. With my understanding of Father, he will absolutely not let go of such a good opportunity." "This... how can it be like this?!"

After hearing the Princess's deduction, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but stand up abruptly, her eyes full of indignation as she said:

"You have done so much for the kingdom over these years! Even if His Majesty doesn't let you inherit the throne in the end, he shouldn't treat you like this! And! If someone else inherited the throne, that would be one thing, but Prince Joshua, he simply... ugh... in short, this is too much!"

"This isn't a matter of whether it's too much or not."

Princess Veronika shook her head and said with a smile:

"As the King's daughter, before I was even born, I directly possessed everything that 99.9% of the people in this country dream of, but as a price, I would also lose some things.

Besides, you don't actually need to feel sad for me. I only lost the right to choose my own marriage. Joshua is the one who is truly pitiful. Because of Father's excessive doting on him, Joshua has even lost his brains. Isn't he more miserable than me?"

"At a time like this, how can you still say such witty remarks!"

Looking at the Princess before her who seemed to have accepted her fate and even had the mood to joke with her, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but stomp her feet and say:

"Your Highness! How can you not be angry at all! Could it be that you are just going to accept it like this?"

"If I don't accept it, what else can I do?"

Hearing this, the Princess's eyes flickered twice, and she then asked back with a calm expression:

"If I want to refuse this kind of future, should I immediately overthrow everything and go all out to make friends with the old nobility? Or should I try to lean toward the Prime Minister in the Parliament and let those so-called 'economic bills' that wantonly exploit ordinary people be passed?

Or perhaps offer a huge reward and directly hire someone to assassinate my younger brother? Or simply launch a coup, take the military people, kill my way into the Wang Gong, and hang my father on the gallows with my own hands?"

"..."

Looking at the Princess, whose expression was calm to the point of indifference and whose eyes revealed deep exhaustion, the middle-aged noblewoman, who was asked until she was speechless, only felt a sourness in her nose, and the vision before her suddenly blurred.

She had taken care of the Princess for so many years. When she was a child, she was clearly a very lively child, running around in the Wang Gong garden all day, often covered in mud, and even if she was scolded, she wouldn't be sad, and her face always wore a smile as bright as the sun.

After growing up, although she still liked to smile, she didn't know when it started, but her smile secretly changed its taste. Gentle smiles, helpless smiles, self-deprecating smiles, exhausted smiles... it seemed there were no more smiles from the heart like when she was a child.

In her memory, when was the last time she showed such a bright smile? Three years ago? Five years ago? Or even longer?

"Oh my! Look at you! How come you're getting emotional as we talk?

What I just said were all guesses. Even if it happens, it will be a long time from now, and there might be other turning points in these few years~"

Looking at the middle-aged noblewoman whose eyes were slightly red after hearing her words and whose lips were also starting to uncontrollably turn downward, as if she wanted to pounce over and hug her and cry loudly, the Princess couldn't help but smile, then teased:

"For example, that Duke of Lionheart, if he were fascinated by me one day after seeing me, and insisted on bearing the pressure of all the marriage families, using the entire Bobby Laien family as a dowry to propose to me, then the situation would be completely reversed.

In the face of the opportunity to completely control the Ministry of Road Administration and the military, Father would likely arrange for Joshua to marry a female monkey, then kick him to the other side of the ocean, and directly weld the throne to my butt~"

"Pfft!"

Hearing the cold joke told by the Princess, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but break into laughter through her tears, then rarely paid no attention to her etiquette, directly reached out and pinched the Princess's waist hard, then glared with her still-red eyes and complained:

"You have the nerve to say that! That Duke of Lionheart isn't even twenty this year, and you are already twenty..."

"Oh my!"

Seeing that some of the kingdom's top secrets that were not allowed to be revealed were about to blurt out from the middle-aged noblewoman's mouth, the Princess, who had always appeared quite calm, finally panicked. She hurriedly pounced over to cover her mouth, then threatened through gritted teeth:

"It's agreed that you're not allowed to mention this! If you dare to mention this again, I will take you with me and marry to the other side of the ocean! When crossing the sea, I'll tie you to a fishing rod and fish for sharks!"

"Ugh... I won't mention it! I won't mention it, is that okay? You... you move your chest away a bit... you're pressing me so I can't breathe..."

The two in the carriage seemed to have reached some kind of consensus, avoiding the topic of future marriage, and instead relaxed and played around.

And the carriage carved with a lion in the rear, after stopping for more than twenty minutes, finally started moving again, quickly passing through the road cleared by small merchants, carrying a certain unwilling Duke, and driving toward the Bobby Laien Manor at the end of the Red Cedar Avenue.

After that luxuriously excessive Lionheart carriage left, the two in the two-wheeled carriage calculated the time for the title succession ceremony and found that they seemed to be unable to make it to the opening, so they drove from the cargo lane to the special road for nobles.

Under the constant speed-up of the coachman, this sightseeing two-wheeled carriage galloped all the way, the wheels almost shaking apart, and only then, before the sun had completely risen, did they barely drive into the gate of the Bobby Laien Manor.

"It's okay, it's okay! It's just starting here!"

Stepping off the carriage on the footstool and handing the invitation with a fake identity to a maid, looking at the gate of the manor's main building that hadn't been closed yet, the Princess, who was anxious to watch the fun, hurriedly lifted her skirt and ran amidst the middle-aged noblewoman's repeated dissuasion.

"I'll go over first! You run faster too!"

"You! You wait!"

Looking at the Princess who was running fast while lifting her skirt without any etiquette in front, and even with the cover of a shawl, still running "magnificently," the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but stomp her feet in anger, wishing she could pull her back and give her another dozen etiquette lessons.

But seeing Princess Veronika running further and further away, and worrying that her identity would be recognized, the middle-aged noblewoman had no choice but to sigh secretly about her own bitter fate, then followed suit by lifting her skirt and running behind, reminding her while out of breath:

"Ve... Vinnie! Etiquette! Pay attention to etiquette... hmm?"

Looking at the Princess who stopped suddenly after running to the door and stood blankly outside the door, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart, thinking that Princess Veronika's identity had been exposed, and hurriedly ran over, wanting to help cover it up, however...

"Slap!"

In the hall of the main building, an incomparably loud slap sound came out.

The middle-aged noblewoman who rushed to the Princess's side discovered with incomparable horror that the new Duke, who should have been accepting congratulations from guests, was actually lifting Prince Joshua up with one hand, spitting hard on his swollen face, and then sneered:

"Make me unable to be this Duke? Sure! You'd better say it and do it!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 563 =====