I! Cleaner!

This new Lion-Hearted Duke is really... very unaristocratic...

Seeing Lyon carrying the old butler who was foaming at the mouth in the distance and running towards the huge carriage in a hurry, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but twitching the corners of her mouth in an extremely speechless manner.

Although she didn't know what the other party said in the end, which actually made the old housekeeper faint with anger on the spot, she still vaguely heard the previous "either...or...".

The only thought in the middle-aged lady's mind at this moment is that the Lane family is really unlucky. With such a maverick new Duke, the Lane family has probably entered a countdown to its demise.

Hmm... If you think about it this way, Her Highness Veronica is actually pretty good.

Although she sometimes lacks dignity and can't help but do outrageous things in private, at least she can communicate normally most of the time, and she can listen to advice on important occasions. She won't torment the old man like Duke Lionheart. Just like a housekeeper, he is torturing himself with all his strength...

…

"Haha, this trip is really the right one!"

Unlike some middle-aged ladies who were miserable, after enjoying the farce up close, Princess Veronica hurriedly retracted her body, then closed the window of the carriage tightly, and let out a "turbulent" laugh.

After a while, when she had almost laughed enough, she raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, and while gently rubbing her flat belly through the dress, she complained:

"Ouch... My stomach hurts from laughing so much. This new Lion-Hearted Duke is really good at tormenting people... Well... But he's not a bad person."

Looking back through the transom window, I saw that the Lane family was actually paying compensation, and even helped right the overturned carriage one by one at the request of the new Duke. Princess Veronica A flash of admiration flashed through his eyes, and then he smiled and said to the middle-aged lady:

"Seriously, it would be great if he inherited not the title of Duke Lionheart, but some other title. If he were the Marquis of the Silver Gylinder or Light Shield families, he might still have a chance to be my prince. It's a pity. Already~"

? ? ?

After hearing the words of the princess, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but trembled suddenly, and then said with a somewhat stiff expression:

"Your Highness? You...are you kidding me?"

Seeing the frightened expression on the middle-aged lady's face, Princess Veronica couldn't help but smile, then shook her head and replied:

"No, I really think he is good. If I have such a person as my prince, the days to come will definitely be very interesting."

"..."

Interesting... I think it's fatal! If he really becomes your prince and infects you with his love of tormenting others, I will lose at least ten or eight years of my life!

"Your Highness Veronica!"

Looking into the princess's brilliant eyes, she found that she seemed to be really interested in the Lion-Hearted Duke. In order to prevent her fate from getting closer to a certain unlucky housekeeper, the middle-aged lady quickly reminded her:

"He is really not suitable for you! Even if the Lane family has become an empty shell, they are still the nominal leaders of the old nobles. All the old nobles who are related to the Lane family will not tolerate the Lane family getting closer to you!"

"Haha, don't worry, I understand this aspect."

Through the transom on the rear side of the two-wheeled carriage, after looking with regret at the carriage with the lion carved on it, and looking at the nervous middle-aged lady opposite, Princess Veronica smiled and joked:

"Look at how nervous you are... Those words just now were just casual remarks. I will not choose anyone to be my prince casually.

Well... when it comes to choosing a prince, my father is actually more inclined to marry me off than to let me choose a prince myself. Recently, he has proposed many candidates to me, such as the fourth prince of the Kingdom of Morna and the one from the Kingdom of Hesse. The Grand Duke, or the leader of the Labor Party in the Kingdom of Alesund.

So if nothing goes wrong, the final decision should be to choose one of these... Haha, to be honest, in terms of conditions alone, they may not be as good as the Lion-Hearted Duke. "

"..."

After hearing what the princess said, the middle-aged lady could not help but be slightly startled, and then fell into a deep silence.

If Your Highness Veronica were to be married off, she would have to leave her hometown and stay away from the kingdom. Not to mention, although the candidates proposed by Your Majesty are all famous nobles and extremely powerful, their average age is close to forty years old.

Moreover, the fourth prince of Molnar was once married, but his wife died in childbirth; the Grand Duke of Hesse fell off his horse and became lame when he was a child, and his personality seemed a bit extreme and sinister; the leader of the Labor Party of the Kingdom of Alesund was also said to be a very good person. Difficult people.

Although with Her Highness Veronica's skill, she would probably not suffer any loss even if she married her, and there would even be a great chance of turning her back and guiding the forces behind her to slowly move closer to the kingdom.

But this kind of political marriage, which has extremely different conditions between the two parties and is purely based on interests, is naturally insulated from happiness. Therefore, once she really gets married, Her Highness Veronica may not be very happy for the rest of her life...

…

"Huh? Why are you still worried about me while we are talking?"

Seeing the worry and reluctance on the middle-aged lady's face, the princess couldn't help but feel a slight warmth in her eyes, and then she smiled and comforted:

"Don't you know my abilities yet? Not to mention these neighboring kingdoms where you can easily take advantage of others. Even if I don't take anyone with me and marry across the sea, I can still live very comfortably. Don't worry!"

Yeah... you'll be fine wherever you go, but... will you be happy?

Looking at the princess who had a smile on her face, but her eyes looked calm and indifferent, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but grit her teeth, and then lowered her voice and asked:

"Your Highness, you must marry outside, can't you stay? Even...even if it's the Lion-Hearted Duke."

"It's not whether I want to get married or not, but it depends on what my father thinks. After all, this kind of thing is actually not something I can decide from the beginning."

After hearing the middle-aged lady's inquiry, the princess couldn't help but raise her eyebrows slightly, and then she said calmly:

“After the failure in the fight for the Ministry of Finance, although my father seemed to no longer be a director and handed over all the royal family’s personnel to me, he never gave up the idea of ​​completely controlling the kingdom.

If you want to control the kingdom, you only need legislation, personnel, military power, and financial power. Joshua's mother happens to be the sister of the finance minister. When he grows up in a few years, as long as he agrees to inherit the throne, the finance minister will It is very likely that he will fall to the royal family.

In addition, by that time, whether the reforms I preside over succeed or fail, they should completely anger the old nobles and the House of Commons. My father can easily calm everyone's anger by simply announcing that I will be disqualified from inheriting the throne and marry directly abroad.

By doing this, not only can I take over most of the power I snatched from the old nobles at the lowest cost, gain strong support from outside the kingdom, and pave the way for Joshua to succeed to the throne, but I can also make the finance minister turn to the throne. The royal family, in turn, took complete control of the Treasury.

Haha, just from a failed marriage, the eldest daughter can gain so many tangible and intangible benefits. Based on my understanding of my father, he will never let go of such a good opportunity. "

"How...how can this be possible?!"

After hearing the princess's inference, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but stood up suddenly and said with sullen eyes:

"You have done so much for the kingdom over the years! Even if His Majesty does not let you inherit the throne in the end, you should not treat you like this! Also! It would be fine if someone else inherits the throne. His Royal Highness Joshua is simply... Well …Anyway, this is too much!”

"This is not something that is too much to live by."

Princess Veronica shook her head and said with a smile:

"As the king's daughter, I have everything that ninety-nine percent of people in this country dream of before I was born, but as a price, I will also lose something.

Besides, you don’t actually need to feel sorry for me. I just lost the right to choose my own marriage. Joshua is really pitiful. Because of his father’s excessive doting on him, Joshua even lost his brain. Could he? Isn’t it worse than me? "

"It's been so long, why are you still saying such witty words!"

Looking at the princess in front of her who seemed to have accepted her fate and was even in the mood to joke with her, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but stamp her feet and said:

"Your Highness! Why are you not angry at all! Are you ready to admit it like this?"

"What else can I do if I don't admit it?"

When the princess heard this, her eyes flashed twice, and then she asked calmly:

"If I want to reject this future, should I immediately overthrow everything and try my best to make friends with the old aristocracy? Or should I try to get closer to the prime minister in the parliament and let the so-called 'economic bills' that arbitrarily squeeze ordinary people be passed?

Or offer a huge reward and hire someone to assassinate my brother? Or should we simply launch a coup, lead the military personnel into the palace, and hang my father to the gallows with his own hands? "

"..."

Looking at the princess who looked calm and almost indifferent, with deep fatigue in her eyes, the middle-aged lady who was speechless by the question felt her nose sore and her vision suddenly blurred.

I have taken care of the princess for so many years. When she was a child, she was obviously a very lively child. She would play wildly in the palace garden all day long, often getting covered in mud. Even if she was scolded, she would not be sad. She would always have a smile on her face. A smile as bright as the sun.

Although she still likes to laugh when she grows up, I don’t know when her smile secretly changed. She smiles gently, smiles helplessly, laughs at herself, laughs tiredly... It seems that she no longer laughs like she did when she was a child. Smiling from the bottom of my heart.

In his own memory, when was the last time she showed such a bright smile? three years ago? five years ago? Or longer?

"Oh! Look at you! Why are you so excited while talking?

What I just said is all speculation. Even if it happens, it will be a long time later, and there may be other changes in the past few years~"

After hearing her words, the princess's eyes turned slightly red, and the corners of her mouth began to turn downward uncontrollably, as if she wanted to rush over to hug her and cry. The princess couldn't help but smile, and then He joked:

"For example, if the Lion-Hearted Duke becomes obsessed with me after meeting me one day and insists on resisting the pressure of all the in-laws and using the entire Lane family as a betrothal gift to propose to me, then the situation will be completely reversed.

Faced with the opportunity to completely control the Ministry of Highways and the Ministry of Military Affairs, my father will probably arrange for Joshua to marry a female monkey, then kick him across the sea and weld the throne to my ass~"

"Pfft!"

Hearing the cold joke told by the princess, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but burst into laughter. Then, rarely paying attention to her manners, she stretched out her hand and pinched the princess's waist. Then she glared at her still red eyes and complained:

"How dare you say that! The Lionheart Duke is not even twenty this year, and you are already twenty..."

"Oh!"

Seeing that some of the kingdom's top secrets that cannot be disclosed were about to come out of the middle-aged lady's mouth, the princess who had always seemed quite calm finally panicked, rushed over to cover her mouth, and then threatened with gritted teeth:

"We agreed not to talk about this! If you dare to mention this again, I will take you and marry across the sea! When we cross the sea, I will tie you to a fishing rod to catch sharks!"

"Well... I won't mention it! Is it okay if I don't mention it? You... you move your chest away first... I'm almost suffocating..."

...

The two people in the carriage seemed to have reached some kind of consensus, avoiding the topic of future marriage and instead relaxing and playing.

The carriage with a lion carving at the back finally started moving again after stopping for more than 20 minutes, quickly passing through the road given up by the small merchants, carrying a reluctant duke to the Ryan Manor at the end of Redwood Avenue.

After the overly luxurious Lionheart carriage left, the two people in the carriage calculated the time of the succession ceremony and found that they seemed to be late for the opening, so they drove from the cargo road to the nobles' exclusive road.

With the coachman's continuous acceleration, the sightseeing carriage sped all the way, and the wheels were almost broken apart. It was only before the sun rose completely that it drove into the gate of Ryan Manor.

"Not bad! It's just the beginning here!"

After stepping on the footstool and getting off the carriage, she handed the invitation with a fake identity to a maid, and saw that the door of the main building of the manor had not been closed yet. The princess, who was eager to watch the excitement, quickly lifted her skirt and ran amid the repeated dissuasion of the middle-aged lady.

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

"You! Wait a minute!"

Looking at the princess in front of her running without manners, holding up her skirt and running "magnificently" even with the shawl covering her, the middle-aged lady couldn't help but stamp her feet repeatedly in frustration, wishing she could pull her back and give her a dozen more etiquette lessons.

But seeing Princess Veronica running further and further away, the middle-aged noblewoman was worried that her identity would be recognized. She could only sigh inwardly that she had a miserable life. Then she followed suit, holding up her skirt and running behind, reminding breathlessly as she ran:

"V...Vinnie! Behave! Pay attention to your manners... eh?"

Seeing the princess suddenly stop at the door and stand outside in a daze, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart, thinking that Her Highness Veronica's identity was exposed, and hurried over to help cover it up, but...

"Pah!"

In the hall of the main building, there was an extremely loud slap.

The middle-aged noblewoman who rushed to the princess' side was extremely horrified to find that a certain new duke who was supposed to be accepting the guests' congratulations actually picked up His Highness Joshua with one hand, spat on his swollen face, and then sneered:

"You want me to not be this duke? Okay! You'd better do what you say!"