"We won again! Prince Eldie, you are a born warrior!"
Everyone chanted as Eldie returned to the kingdom after ending the war her great-grandfather couldn't end.
Not only did she take back the lands which belonged to her ancestor, she returned home with the king of Blue Coast Kingdom, reduced to nothing but a slave.
"Father, please give me the order and I would do whatever you want with this slave," one of her knees on the ground with her sword pointed to the ground, she spoke.
Her father smiled faintly before assisting her up, her armor hugging firmly against her small body frame, making her the most handsome man in the kingdom as they claimed.
"I know you were a blessing to me from the gods. Who would have believed a twenty-year-old boy brought me my mortal enemy?" He laughed excitedly, the other ministers in the hall joining him.
Even though it was five years ago those same men mocked and called her petite and feminine boy, it felt like yesterday.
After years of several trainings, starving, sleepless nights, she could finally say it was worth it.
For her late mother, her elder sisters, she would make sure to live as Crown Prince Eldie Romanus of Heart kingdom and also ascend her father's throne.
"Your majesty, what is holding us back from crowning his highness, Prince Eldie? He is competent and strong," one of the ministers spoke up, others nodding in agreement.
"But Eldie isn't the son of—"
Before the minister for foreign affairs could complete his statement, the king interrupted him. "I haven't crowned Maarit as my queen yet. I am still mourning the late queen."
Immediately after the king spoke, the ministers began to come at minister of foreign affairs.
"Is it because your daughter is the king's mistress, that is why you're trying to rush her coronation?"
"Are you in such a haste to be the king's in-law?"
"You still think the Wis family has the royal family in their grasp?"
Other ministers who were always looked down on by the minister of foreign affairs voiced out.
"Ministers, there is no need to exchange words with each other. We are all here to join hands together and make our kingdom the best... Or can't you see how Dels Kingdom is progressing?" King Romanus said, tuning down the sentiment in the hall.
'Oh, Dels Kingdom with the ugliest king in the universe?' Eldie muttered to herself after trying to remember the kingdom her father was using as a reference.
They have the best security, food, dress, and also all merchants who went there for business always succeeded. They were known to be the best and most powerful kingdom across the country with one weakness; a king with the ugliest face which no one had ever seen before.
The meeting ended sooner than expected. All the ministers left for their respective homes aside from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister Wis, who left to visit his daughter at her chamber.
Arriving at the chamber, he got down from the carriage before entering. "Where is milady?"
"She—"
"Father, I missed you so much," Maarit's voice echoed, interrupting the maid who was about to answer Minister Wis's question. "Everyone, excuse us!" She instructed.
After watching the maids and security leave her chamber, she began. "Father, why aren't you doing anything about my coronation? The king is intentionally delaying the coronation to provide an excuse not to crown Augustine as the crown prince."
"In as much as I am alive, the weak boy who was always controlled by his mother would never be the Heart kingdom crown prince," Minister Wis assured. "By the way, where is Augustine?"
"He went to have fun with his friends," Maarit replied, a sly smile playing on the corner of her lip.
Somehow, she wished Queen Aria was alive to watch how she would make her son the crown prince and eventually the king instead of Eldie.
"Mother! Mother!"
Augustine's voice rang through the chamber as he ran in.
"Augustine, what is it again? Did your father call you in for a private meeting?" Maarit asked calmly, a faint smile on her face.
She knew that is the only thing that could make her carefree son react this way.
"I overheard from one of the maids working in the king's chamber that the king already decided the date for coronating—"
"Coronating me?" Maarit, who couldn't wait for him to complete his statement, asked excitedly.
Augustine hesitated before replying, "It is not yours but Eldie's." He turned to face his grandfather who pretended not to be present. "Minister Wis, is there no way you can stop Eldie's coronation?"
Minister Wis chuckled at the sudden desperation from the boy who isn't working for the position of the crown prince.
Unlike Eldie who doesn't have any supporters, Augustine had his mother and him!
"Father, why are you laughing?"
"It is just funny hearing Augustine wants to stop the coronation from taking place," he chuckled again. "If he really wants to become the crown prince, let him work for it just like Eldie."
"Father, you know Augustine can't stand the sight of blood. And also, he has been trying his best to study and learn the basic principles of the Heart kingdom crown prince," Maarit defended her son.
"See," Minister Wis's brow drew together. "You are the one spoiling this boy. You kept providing one excuse or the other for him," he revealed. "Except he proves his worth, those who were supporting me would no longer give me their support, especially after Eldie returned to the palace victorious."
Augustine balled his fist before speaking, "Grandpa, what about we kill him after his coronation? That way, my mother would ascend the throne, leaving the king no option but to choose me."
There was silence in Maarit's chamber, Minister Wis thinking over Augustine's suggestion. "Your idea isn't bad, but what if it didn't work out?"
"As you say, I am supposed to show my worth," Augustine revealed his desperation, his voice filled with certainty. "I will make sure the plan is a success because I will never watch my mother bow to that fool after serving his mother!"
And he is older than Eldie!