Regardless of whether you are the crown princes bride or not, you should not stand in the way of his governance. But you tried to take away his time by visiting the palace endlessly by using your status. Thats enough to disqualify you. Look at what you did on the first day of the banquet. Werent you put to shame in public while trying to covet what Lady Monique, our next empress, has?

Princess Moiras face turned red in embarrassment. Nevertheless, Lady Genoa continued, Besides, even though Lady Monique had nothing to do with it, you insulted her. Even after you won an apology from her, you have been extremely rude. How dare you leave when she was apologizing? It was you who should have apologized to her for your rudeness. With all these disqualifying factors, are you still interested in being his bride?

What the heck? Princess Moira raised her right hand high. I quickly intervened between the two and grabbed her hand when she was about to hit Lady Genoa. She was staring at me intensely in a fit of anger.

Cant you let it go?

Well, this is too much. I cant stand it anymore. Your behavior is more and more ridiculous!

I heard someones cold voice at that moment. The young man with blue hair appeared with an aide holding a bunch of papers behind him and stared at them coldly.

Your Majesty!

Im sorry. I should have anticipated this would happen to you. I think I was narrow-minded, the crown prince said to me softly, walking among them as they made way for him.

He pulled Princess Moiras aside politely and said, Princess Moira?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Im sorry, but I dont want a princess like you causing disturbances, so please go back to your kingdom!

Your Majesty!

She shouted out as if she was frustrated, but he looked at her coldly and said, Ive been watching you since the first day you arrived here. So, dont try to make poor excuses before me! Do you think Lady Monique, who is bound with the royal family, came here, wearing a tiara without any reason? This was given to her by the emperor even though she refused it strongly.

But Your Majesty Duke Jena tried to balk at him.

But the crown prince ignored him and said, As most of you are here, I think I can tell you about my decision. I wont choose any of the five princesses as my bride candidate.

Oh my god! How can you

Your Majesty!

You cant do this, crown Prince! Duke Jena shouted, gnashing his teeth. Everyone paid attention to the duke because of his loud voice, but I couldnt look at him. Not caring about them, he was looking at me intently. What the heck is he thinking? Why was he saying this kind of nonsense in the presence of all the princesses?

After looking at me mysteriously for a long time, he turned his head only when Duke Jenna called him for the third time.

You cannot do this, Your Majesty. Didnt you already decide to accept one as a bride? Why have you retracted your decision?

How stupid you are! I dont know how you can get by as a noble in this empire.

He cut his words off and raised his right hand. His aide, standing behind him, brought a bunch of papers and stood next to him. He picked up the paper on the top, and he opened it wide.

With everybody holding their breath, he slowly opened his mouth amid their intense attention,

Beary de Sapu, the eighth princess of the Sapu kingdom. She is 18. The kings beloved royal princess but the biggest troublemaker. Since childhood, she was indulged in luxury and pleasure. The money she spent for a month is usually equivalent to one months budget of the kingdom. There is widespread public opinion that they should not tolerate her anymore even though the kingdom of Sapu boasts great wealth. After hearing the news that our empires crown prince was looking for his bride candidate, the cabinet council decided to send her to the empire unanimously.

.

He threw the paper he was holding in front of Duke Jenna, who seemed to be speechless, and picked up the next document and said, Naima de Sono, the third princess of the Sono Kingdom. She is seventeen. As a prominent beauty as a kid, she was favored by King Sono. Even though she just came of age, she officially dated as many as five guys secretly, but many more unofficially. Rumor has it that she is not interested in learning, compared to her beauty.

One notorious anecdote has it that she burnt the national treasure of her kingdom, The Chronicles of the Sono Kingdom, simply because her dress got dirty from the book.

He threw the paper down the floor.

Then he said, picking up the next paper, Frincia de Lua, the second princess of the Lua kingdom. She is eighteen.

Oh, are you mentioning me, too? Your Majesty, please skip it. I want to give up my candidacy completely, she said with a smile. He nodded silently and picked up another paper.

Beatrice de Lisa, the fifth princess of the kingdom of Lisa. Sixteen

I want to give up, too. Your Majesty, please dont mention anything about me!

Got it. I wont mention you here, but Im going to bring it up someday, so you had better prepare for it, he said to her as she trembled with fear.

He picked up the last paper and said, Moira de Eet, the first princess of the kingdom of Eet. She is eighteen. She has nothing worth mentioning except that she expelled some of the noble ladies from social circles because they challenged the royal familys authority. She has an ambitious personality. While leaving for the empire, she declared that she would be the next empress of the empire. She also revealed her ambition for the crown princes bride while constantly making contact with the nobles including Duke Jenna. And

Coldly staring at Duke Jena, he roughly handed the duke a pile of documents about her.

After receiving and opening them, he opened her eyes sharply.

Now you realize why she isnt qualified, right?

How come

Hey, Duke Jena, youre overlooking the intelligence capabilities of the imperial family? I already started to investigate you when you first mentioned the issue of the crown princes bride candidate.

Nobody knew when he arrived, but the emperor was watching the crown prince and the duke in interest. Next to him were standing Duke Lars, Duke Verita, and my father.

The emperor said, smiling mischievously, I know you gave a considerable amount of wealth to the kingdom of Eet. I wonder what kind of deal you made with the kingdom

Your Majesty, that was

You know that there are provisions in the imperial law that prohibit the transfer of the empires wealth to other countries. If I apply that strict rule to you, which you applied to the tira a little while ago, this is clearly a violation of the imperial law. Its a felony equivalent to treason. Dont you agree?

Looking back at me once, Duke Jena kept silent.

Only

However, it depends on us humans how to interpret the law. So, I dont have to be so strict. Just like I gave the tiara to Lady Monique as I love her as my future daughter-in-law, I think you gave some of your wealth to the Eet kingdom to promote good friendship for the interests of the empire. Dont worry. I dont think you attempted to secretly support the kingdom of Eet in their attack on the Lua kingdom, our empires nascent ally, which allied with the Lisa kingdom. I also dont believe you promoted Princess Moira of the Eet kingdom as the crown princes bride candidate to gather information about the imperial family, and I dont think you wanted to use Princess Moira to influence our politics after she becomes the next empress. I cant imagine how you could do that. Right, Duke Jena?

Duke Jena tried to stay calm as if what the emperor said was not a big deal, but he was holding the hem of his robe tightly, with his face turned white.

Kaisil, Heidel, Laurel.

Your Majesty.

I think you know these names better than anybody else, so you cant do these things. I just want to believe that you were overzealous to promote friendship with the Eet kingdom. Dont you think so?

Yes, yes, youre right, Your Majesty.

Im glad you confirmed it. I was really worried if my guesswork was wrong.

The emperor smiled sarcastically at him.