Lei Zhen stood next to Kate who sat on the mini throne as he glanced at the round table.
He could see that most of the nobles seated were nervous and anxious, clearly wanting to leave the meeting already.
Being briefed slightly by Kate about what this meeting was about, Lei Zhen could subtly understand what their minds were going on.
'If I switch places with them, then I'd probably be thinking about what to say and what to do. Going against the royal family now would be suicidal since Francis had long controlled the army and assimilated his authority.' Lei Zhen calmly analyzed.
If it was during the civil war time, then these nobles might not be as anxious as now since Francis' authority and power are being challenged.
However, that war was long over and almost every citizen's life had returned to normal. Not to mention, Kate's popularity had soared to an all-time height with her recent achievement.
In addition to that, Lei Zhen, who was appointed by Kate had successfully captured the notorious criminal, the black mage.
With all these achievements, it could be said the Norton Royal Family had regained its glory and honor.
Sometime later, Francis began to announce the agenda.
"Everyone, I'm sure you have already been notified about the meeting today and the purge happening. Hence, I will not explain it again and ask you all one simple question. Where does your loyalty belong?"
The room was completely silent after Francis' words, almost as if they were in a library room with a strict librarian overseeing the place.
"Your father really knows how to control the atmosphere." Lei Zhen whispered to Kate.
It was already frightening for the nobles sitting there. Yet the moment he talked, he went straight to the point, not even giving these nobles a breather.
"My father doesn't like to beat around the bushes. He would go straight to the point and anyone who disagreed with him could tell him face to face." Kate chuckled softly.
"Heh, more like he's stuffing them to accept whatever he says. Though it's not a bad method, to be honest. At the very least, it's effective and those nobles would surrender the thoughts of going against the royalty."
"This is why I still respect my father even though some of his methods are really irritating and disgusting."
Lei Zhen smiled slightly behind the mask after hearing that.
It goes to show that Kate had already understood Francis' methods but her heart was still kind of refusing to accept them.
After all, the price of the previous civil war was the death of her two elder brothers and numerous soldiers.
The sacrifices made were simply too intense for her to accept that everything was orchestrated by her father who did it simply because of the goddess prophecy.
"I know you might find it difficult to accept this, but he didn't do it for himself." Lei Zhen calmly said.
"If it wasn't for himself, then who was it for? He weakened the entirety of Yors Castle because of a prophecy." Kate argued back but suppressed her tone to a minimum since she doesn't want others to hear her.
"He didn't weaken the entirety of Yors Castle for no apparent reason, Kate." Lei Zhen then went in front of her and slowly pointed at Francis.
"You might think he's doing everything for himself, but you're wrong about that. He's doing all of these to prepare you." He added.
"Prepare for me?" Kate raised an eyebrow in confusion.
It was clear that her brain wasn't able to process fast enough to comprehend his meaning.
"Yes, preparing for your ascension. By purging the corrupted nobles that would most likely disagree or revolt against your ascension, King Francis successfully revoked any potential harm toward you. At the same time, he's now imposing his influence among the nobles sitting here." Lei Zhen calmly explained.
Kate gasped in horror after being clarified by Lei Zhen. "W-Why does he need to do that anyway? I've never asked for any of it."
"Because he understood your personality more than anyone else in this world." Lei Zhen chuckled softly as he patted her head.
"Before meeting with me, you know very well of your behavior and action. Impulsive and always going headstrong at the obstacles without thinking properly."
"B-But I've changed over the past few months…"
"Indeed, you have changed but that isn't enough to deal with these nobles that are prone to scheming. Hence, King Francis is going all out to warn them not to try anything funny when he announces your ascension."
Kate bit her lips softly, and her gaze gradually shifted from Lei Zhen to her father, who was now talking to the nobles.
'So father did all of these for me…' She thought to herself, feeling extremely bitter.
If it wasn't for her impulsive and naive personality in the past, then her father wouldn't have had to resort to such extreme matters to prepare for her.
How could she still blame him for all the meticulous planning and work he had done behind her back?
"Thanks for telling me," Kate smiled slightly. "I might still be ignorant of this council meeting and would have thought it was just a follow-up notice of the ongoing purge."
"No worries, these are just the minds of schemers and those that love to plot behind the scenes. You failing to notice this is nice. It means you are still the magnanimous and impulsive princess that I know and love." Lei Zhen laughed.
However, his laughter soon stopped when he realized what he had just said.
He tried to reword his sentence, but it was too late when he noticed Kate blushing slightly and turning her head around to avoid his sight.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom 'Great, how am I supposed to explain this misunderstanding?' Lei Zhen wondered silently. He wanted to smack his faulty mouth for speaking so fast that it made her misunderstand his meaning.
Or it could be that Kate understood his meaning but pretended not to and wanted to think about the other meaning instead.
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