20

The popularity vote for the floats at the royal family’s autumn festival was one of the climaxes of the autumn festival.

High-ranking nobles from across the country, who held the right to vote for the floats, entered the royal palace by carriage, one after another.

On the outer wall encircling the palace, flags bearing the family crests of the houses that had come to court were raised beneath the great red rose banner, the symbol of the current royal family.

The sight of the flags surrounding the palace fluttering in the wind like this made it clear at a glance just how many houses stood under the royal family’s umbrella, and it was an overwhelming spectacle.

After this vote, the autumn ball hosted by the royal family would begin.

In the venue opened in the great hall of the royal palace, beautifully dressed men and women, young and old, rejoiced at the arrival of autumn and celebrated the return of the social season.

Beautiful noblewomen in splendid dresses filled the venue, and the hall looked just like a flower garden where butterflies had been released.

For commoners and nobles alike, the autumn festival was the arrival of the season of love.

Bards and novelists liked to create art based on this day.

The sound of trumpets rang out loudly, and the royal family entered the venue.

Thunderous applause rose from the hall.

The King took his throne together with the First Queen and the First Prince, who was the crown prince.

Next, on a step one level lower, were the Second Prince and Eugenia, the Third Princess. On a step another level lower were Eugenia’s mother, the Second Queen, and the Third Queen.

The First Princess and Second Princess had already married into foreign countries, the Second Prince was still six years old, and the Second Prince was set to marry into a foreign country.

Under the King’s watch, the voting for the floats began.

From among the many participants in the venue, the high-ranking nobles climbed onto the platform and voted using magical power.

“There is no need to hesitate so much. You should vote for the one you liked most.”

The King, in extremely good spirits, called out to the nobles who were wavering over their votes.

This year’s floats were all magnificently made.

The one especially being talked about was Ezra’s float.

It was highly praised even by foreign guests, who said that it allowed them to go to a world modeled after a beautiful world of spirits they had never seen before.

“To think we could see such splendid illusion magic. Your Majesty’s reign is secure indeed.”

“Hahaha. I fear it may have been an eyesore, but in this country, we do have people skilled enough in magic to refine even elixirs, you see.”

“Goodness, I am truly envious. If only our country had elixirs as well, we would not have had to let the Temple behave as it pleased.”

The King, who was in a good mood after having his floats praised and also being able to boast about elixirs, casually called out to Eugenia from the platform.

“Eugenia. Now that you have awakened, make yourself useful to the royal family as much as you can. Your fiancé, Noel, is still shut up in the greenhouse, they say. Drag him out quickly and conclude the marriage. Understood?”

Without even turning around, Eugenia said to her father.

“That is true. I had also been thinking that I would like to be useful. For example, dragging rotten vegetables out of the royal family and removing a shameless, incompetent king would be very useful for the royal family’s name, would it not?”

“…What?”

At Eugenia’s statement, the King doubted his own ears.

This was the princess he had underestimated, thinking that her mother’s backing was weak and that she was not particularly sharp.

He had heard that after awakening from the poison, she had become a changed person and had begun pouring herself actively into socializing and diplomacy, but still.

“Do you understand what you just said?”

The hot-tempered First Prince rose to his feet and was about to protest to his younger sister at that very instant.

Eugenia suddenly stood up, formed a magic circle at her hand, and launched signal magic into the sky.

Starting with the great red rose banner fluttering atop the palace, all the royal family’s red flags fluttering over the palace changed all at once, flap, flap, flap, through magical power into yellow marigold flags.

“Eugenia!! What on earth is this?”

After quietly watching that moment, Eugenia activated the large-scale magic she had been forming inside her body.

The magic Eugenia activated became a great golden light that scattered radiance in all four directions of the palace, and with the magical power of the marigolds placed on the roofs of the floats scattered through the Royal Capital’s fifty-two districts as its fulcrums, the magical power of the marigolds on each float reacted by connecting like threads, becoming a great magic circle that swallowed the entire Royal Capital.

“Excuse me, dear brother.”

After saying only that, Eugenia released all the magical power that had accumulated within her body during her three years of sleep toward the magic circle all at once.

Boom!!!!!!

The roar of an explosion echoed throughout the Royal Capital.

And the royal family’s barrier spread throughout the Royal Capital was placed under Eugenia’s magical control in an instant.

—One who bears the barrier of the Royal Capital—

That was the condition for being the king of this country.

At that moment, Eugenia possessed the condition for becoming the king of this country.

Eugenia’s magical power had overcome and overwritten the magical power of her father, the current King, who had been circulating the barrier over the Royal Capital until now.

At that time, with a loud bang, the door to the side waiting room of the great hall, which should have been empty, opened.

“Hiiiii!!!!”

“H-help me!”

There, a magician attached to the royal family was bound with magical rope on top of the corpse of a large spider magical beast.

It was that spider, the one that had put Eugenia and Noel to sleep.

“I thought cleaning might be necessary.”

From behind the spider, Naranda slowly showed his face.

Naranda was from a bloodline connected to the royal family, though distantly.

Inside this palace, where numerous anti-magic mechanisms had been laid out, only members of the royal family were able to activate magic.

The magic Naranda activated was not subject to this palace’s anti-magic restrictions.

Naranda smiled brightly and opened a large teleportation magic circle at his feet.

From within the teleportation magic circle, countless knights in white armor, raising angry shouts, appeared one after another like a waterfall and occupied the royal palace hall.

On the knights’ chests was the crest of a white lily. This knight order, known as the White Lily Knights, was a knight order belonging to the Goddess Temple of the neighboring country.

The Goddess Temple of the neighboring country was the homeland of the Second Queen’s mother.

“Men!”

The knights swiftly moved behind the First Queen and First Prince, seized both of them from behind, and shackled them.

“Wh-what is this!! Do you think such violence against this country’s queen and crown prince will be permitted??”

The First Queen’s loud shout echoed through the palace.

The knight order formed a circle around Eugenia and her mother, Her Highness the Second Queen, and the knight commander knelt before Eugenia.

“Your Highness, we have arrived.”

“You came well. Thank you.”

“Hiiiii! What on earth is happening!! Someone! Someone seize these lawless villains! At once!”

Seeing the knight commander and Eugenia exchange elegant greetings, the King, who did not understand what was happening before his eyes, sprayed foam from the corners of his mouth as he screamed at anyone and everyone.

Eugenia climbed onto the platform where her father, the King, was in the utmost confusion, his eyes darting wildly, and slowly smiled as she declared.

“Father. It is as you see. I am giving lawful and proper judgment to the culprit who had me and Noel attacked. After all, the national code says that this country’s laws apply even to royalty.”

No one came to help.

The King realized it. Many of the domestic nobles and foreign guests in this venue were wearing marigold flowers on their chests. Even at a glance, more than half of them were.

If this had been the purpose of Eugenia’s energetic domestic and foreign socializing and diplomacy since she woke.

A report had only recently come in saying that Eugenia had been conscious the entire long time she had been asleep.

(She plotted this?)

“Father. If there is a request from an allied nation of this country, Parliament may convene an emergency session. That was the law, was it not?”

The King looked around the venue.

The ambassador from the neighboring country, who had only just arrived at his post, was looking off in a completely different direction. He likely wanted to avoid involvement as much as possible.

A marigold flower was pinned to his breast pocket.

“Please surrender the throne. And give that crown to me.”

If the majority of Parliament said “aye,” royal authority would change hands.

And all of the great nobles with voting rights in Parliament had rushed here for this float vote. The King realized that marigold flowers adorned the breast pockets of the familiar great noble members of Parliament.

This foolish King had thought that marigolds were merely flowers used in this year’s fashionable designs.

He let out a great sigh.

“Eugenia. In this short period since you awakened, you seized control of the country. Magnificent.”