"He should be inside right now." The elder said while opening the orphanage door.

Entering the orphanage, s.h.i.+ro saw a handsome elf sitting around a table full of young people. Some looked as young as 5 while others as old as 18.

"We have guests." The elf called out and turned around. Seeing the elders, he quickly bowed in respect. The kids also did the same since they knew that they'll be someone important if the fourth prince bowed.

"Ah no need. We're just here to introduce you to someone." One of the elders quickly got him to stop bowing and had the other kids stop as well.

"This is s.h.i.+ro, someone that will be helping us for a while." The elders said while gesturing to s.h.i.+ro.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Lefyr Valenstaine." Lefyr smiled and bowed.

"Nice to meet you too." s.h.i.+ro curve her lips into a smile and bowed back.

"So how would you be helping us?" Lefyr asked while glancing back at the orphans.

"Oh, no she's not helping with this. Instead, she's helping us with the problem regarding your brothers." The elder quickly corrected him.

Hearing this, Lefyr's smile faltered as he shook his head.

"I've made my stand clear. I don't want to fight my brother's. Regardless of who gets the throne, I can still help the people."

"But-"

"It's ok. We can save that chat for later. No need to let the children hear about conflict now is there?" s.h.i.+ro cut in with a smile.

"Prince Lefyr, would you like some a.s.sistance with the orphanage?" She offered.

"Of course. You can drop the prince honorific since I don't exactly care about the role." Lefyr replied with a nod.

Helping out a little with orphanage, s.h.i.+ro also spent some time playing around with the children.

The elders furrowed their brows a little but decided to follow along since it wasn't really a loss for them anyways.

As time pa.s.sed, the sun eventually set and s.h.i.+ro helped make some dinner. While it wasn't the best food in the world, they were happy with her helping.

Looking at s.h.i.+ro, Lefyr gestured for the two of them to step out for a short talk.

"You know, no matter how you help us, I'm still not gonna go for the throne right?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I already guessed. But I suppose you know that I may or may not guilt trip you into doing it right?" s.h.i.+ro smiled back.

"Mn." Lefyr nodded since he wasn't an idiot. With her helping him out, she must have a goal in mind much like the other n.o.bles that had approached him in regards to the throne.

"Let's just say that no matter what you do, we're still going through with eliminating your brothers since they're too much of a bother to the country. If you don't take the throne, it's either this country becomes a matriarchy where one of your sisters leads as a queen or outside powers start to take hold of the country." s.h.i.+ro shrugged.

"What about having a government? The royal family can just be icons." Lefyr furrowed his brows.

"I'll be honest with you. I don't exactly have the best opinion about governments but that's not to say having a single leader is good as well. I just think that having a single good leader will make the situation a bit better. Having too many opinions would just lead to an internal struggle much like how your brothers are right now." s.h.i.+ro replied.

Staying silent, Lefyr understood what she meant too.

"While I would love to just solve everything with violence, the casualties would only increase. I doubt Lyrica would like that so we're doing things the hard way."

'Plus, she's also the daughter of my best friend so I suppose I'm inclined to help her out a little.' s.h.i.+ro added on in her mind.

"Lefyr, you should know by now that you're probably one of the best candidates right?" She asked.

"I do. But I don't think being a king suits me. I'll be forced into a constant state of worry and stress with how to run a country properly. Not to mention that if things go wrong, I'll need to fight wars too. With the way the system works, people are more inclined to use violence as a solution." He shook his head.

"Not gonna lie. I feel like that was targeting me." s.h.i.+ro chuckled.

"Maybe." Lefyr shrugged.

"Well you know my goal and you can think about it when you want. There's not much to say when the person doesn't want it so I think I'll take my leave now." s.h.i.+ro smiled and started to walk away.

Now that she knew about the fourth prince's att.i.tude first hand, she'll need to make some adjustments to her plans.

'Hmm… I'll have to run some simulations in regards to the after effects of this war.' She sighed inwardly.

This was one of those problems that she couldn't just dust her hands free of the situation.

'What do you say Nimue?' s.h.i.+ro asked. She was curious as to what she would suggest.

{I'm not too sure. I've never had experiences as a ruler so I wouldn't know either.} Nimue shrugged.

'I may or may not have made a lapse in my judgement. Either everything works out fine or this country might be f*cked. MIGHT.'

{. . . . I have . . . no words.} Nimue face palmed.

'Well I can try to shoot my way out of it haha.' s.h.i.+ro joked while telling the elders that she was going to head back to the castle.

'But on a serious note, I need to find someone to take Lefyr's place if he continues to be this way.'

{Why not have Cyril take his place?}

'Maybe… we'll wait for now. I mean, if all things fail, we can just have the elders run the country for  a bit longer and see how things go.'

Arriving back at the castle, she was slightly surprised to see that the party wasn't home just yet and decided to sleep first.

But just as she was about to enter her room, she felt a presence close in on her.

"Miss s.h.i.+ro. His highness the first prince would like to have a small chat with you over some dinner." A masked man said while bowing slightly.

"Oh? At 11pm?" s.h.i.+ro raised an eyebrow.

"You may come tomorrow if that's what you wish. Though I suggest tending to him as soon as possible." The man replied blandly.

"Hou hou? Is that a threat?" Her voice rang out behind him while an ice dagger was next to his throat.

"Think of it more as an invitation rather than a threat. One that would displease his highness should you reject."

"Now, you see, that's where you're doing this whole invitation thing wrong. If you haven't realised, it's your prince that wants to see me not me want to see him. He has two choices, should he want to see me that badly. Either come to my door or ask to see me nicely. Even a 5 year old can do that so I'm sure your prince is at least capable of doing that right? Or is he less capable than a 5 year old?" s.h.i.+ro grinned.

*PUCHI!

Hearing the prince get insulted, the messenger released his killing intent.

"Ap! Little boy, playing with killing intent is a job for the grown ups. Wait a few years then try again." s.h.i.+ro chuckled as her intent crushed his in an instant.

Cold sweat flowed down the messenger's back as he s.h.i.+vered in shock.

Never in his life had he been exposed to such an overwhelming amount of killing intent.

"Now go back to your prince." s.h.i.+ro said dismissively and pushed him aside.

Walking into her room and closing the door on his face, the messenger stood there for a moment before leaving.

"So she told you that I should either go see her or ask her nicely?" Neldor raised his eyebrows.

"That is what she said your highness." The messenger bowed deeply.

"Hmm… seems like she's quite feisty. No worries. This emperor will entertain her for now." Neldor chuckled and stood up.

"Show me to her room." He smiled and gestured for the messenger to lead the way.

Walking to s.h.i.+ro's room, he had the messenger knock on the door.

Opening the door, s.h.i.+ro raised her eyebrows when she saw the prince.

"Oh f*ck I didn't expect you to arrive in person. What can I do for you prince?" She asked with a smile.