Chapter 88
Once again, the young royals’ gathering was held in Queen Elodia’s garden today.
Princess Muriela, having just rinsed off the sweat from sword practice, arrived with a fresh, radiant face.
Naturally, her two maids, Florina and Bianca, were close at her side, attending to her.
Seeing her, Princess Adeline greeted her with a bright smile.
And of course, Kasper was by her side.
“Hi, Muriela! But why did you call us here today?”
“Mu-sister! You look healthy as always!”
“Hey! Sister Adeline, Kasper. Have you both been well?”
“What do you mean ‘been well’? We ate together just yesterday.”
The three of them laughed together.
With only Alfred and Kaelen left to arrive, everyone would soon be present.
The trio enjoyed snacks prepared by Queen Elodia as they chatted and waited.
Ever since the incident with Katrina and Brandon, the young royals had been meeting informally like this.
Usually, Alfred would bring news he overheard at the main palace, or they’d simply catch up.
The host of the gatherings was simply whoever had something to say that day.
It sounded fancy, but really it just meant “who called the others over.”
Even the location never changed—it was always Queen Elodia’s garden.
And today’s host was none other than Muriela. She had something important to say.
“Ah! Brother Alf! Brother Kaelen! Hi!”
Kasper was the first to spot the two princes as they arrived and called out cheerfully.
“Yeah, how’ve you all been? Silly brats.”
“Hey, everyone.”
Alfred’s personality had mellowed out significantly lately.
Once prone to rebellious outbursts during a rough adolescence, he had now become a model elder brother.
Of course, he still tossed out the occasional sharp or gruff comment—that was just his personality.
But he now showed his affection for his younger siblings more openly, and he smiled more, even if it was mostly faint smirks.
“You two are here? Brother Alfred, chase off the attendants like you did last time.”
“Huh? What’s going on today? It’s been a while since you asked me that. You weird little thing.”
“Hehehe, it’s something like that.”
Alfred grumbled but still obeyed Muriela’s request without resistance.
It was the first time they’d cleared the attendants since the meeting to rescue Katrina and Brandon.
Their usual conversations hadn’t been serious enough to warrant such privacy until now.
“There. All done. Everyone’s definitely far enough away.”
Muriela used Zephyr to make a final check to ensure no one was eavesdropping nearby.
Bianca and Florina already knew everything, so it wasn’t about them—but formalities still mattered.
She looked around at each of her siblings’ faces one by one.
Her gaze gave the young royals an inexplicable sense of tension.
And then, her small, delicate lips opened—and she made an enormous declaration.
“Kasper, sisters, brothers. Something big is going to happen within the next two or three weeks.”
Naturally, everyone was surprised, and they each began reacting in turn.
“…Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Something big?”
As expected, Alfred leaned back in his chair and grumbled exactly the way Muriela anticipated.
“Come on, kid. What now? Can’t we just live in peace?”
Yet the faint smile on his lips was his own way of showing trust in Muriela.
She returned the smile and continued.
“That’s why I’m telling you now—so you won’t be shocked when it happens. Not just Solineum, but even this palace is going to be completely turned upside down.”
While the rest froze in surprise, unable to speak, Alfred’s gaze turned serious.
“Turned upside down, huh.”
The Crown Prince’s low voice.
“Yeah. Got it, kid. To be honest, it’s not like I haven’t sensed something. I’ve seen and heard a few things myself while going in and out of the main palace.”
He was right. Just by being at the main palace, you ended up exposed to a lot of critical information.
From what Alfred had gathered, Silbrenoa—and especially Solineum—was in dire straits defense-wise.
Most of the Capital Defense Force had been disbanded, and the remaining troops numbered only 2,000. Just 2,000.
Silbrenoa, a kingdom with well over a million citizens, had only 2,000 troops in its so-called elite unit.
And “elite” was just a label—at this point, even calling them regular soldiers was embarrassing.
Ever since King Eldric, his father, seemingly lost his mind and began slashing the national defense budget, it had been years.
Naturally, the first to be cut were those who cost more—veteran soldiers with high salaries.
The seasoned troops had scattered, and the rest? Not much better.
Even military training had recently been suspended indefinitely.
At this point, it was questionable whether this force could still be called an army.
If there was one bit of luck, it was that they hadn’t sold off their weapons yet.
Well, at least weapons didn’t walk off on their own unless sold.
However, most of the people meant to wield those weapons were new recruits, untrained and unfit.
A majority of them had joined not out of duty, but due to the economic crisis plaguing Solineum for years.
In other words, they were unemployed citizens who had joined the army out of desperation.
Their discipline wasn’t “tight”—it was buried under the dirt.
“I had a feeling something was up. I was wondering when to bring it up with you all… But Muriela, where are you getting this information?”
“Ooh, as expected of Brother Alfred—sharp as always. Mmm… I’ll tell you who my source is after everything’s over. For now, what matters is getting everyone through this safely.”
Alfred didn’t know the domestic and international situation in detail, so he only had a general sense of danger.
He had felt that chaos might break out soon, but not the exact timing.
He once again felt just how unusual his younger sister was.
He glanced around at his siblings, who still looked blank and confused.
Kaelen in particular—supposedly the second prince—was hopeless. His eyes were still pure.
Alfred had been trying to fill him in, since they lived together, but the guy was just a fool.
Unless it was about swordsmanship, Kaelen showed zero interest—so nothing ever stuck.
‘Sigh… this idiot.’
With a brief sigh at his hopeless brother, Alfred turned to face Muriela directly.
He then voiced the question that had become a matter of life and death for everyone.
“Alright, I get that something big is coming. So what should we do?”
This was the core. The most important thing to know.
Knowing Muriela, she had probably already prepared countermeasures.
She was weird, lacked noble etiquette, and always seemed absent-minded…
Yet despite all that, Alfred trusted her deeply.
‘This little runt will do whatever it takes to protect her siblings. And she probably has the power to do it too.’
How long had it been since he’d come to truly understand her?
Three months, maybe?
Looking back, it was incredible.
This was the same girl everyone had called a lifeless doll for doing absolutely nothing.
And now, in just a few months, she was maneuvering the entire palace?
What kind of storybook nonsense was this?
Every word she said was insightful, and somehow she always knew more than him.
If his gut was right, she already had the important details planned out.
“Alright, then I’m going to start explaining now, so listen carefully. If you don’t understand this, it could really end badly—so make sure to let Mom or the servants know when the time comes, okay?”
“U-uhh…”
“What’s this about?”
Everyone except Alfred still looked unconvinced.
They didn’t even know what kind of crisis was coming.
Naturally, Muriela had no intention of explaining everything. The fewer people who knew, the better.
What mattered was the plan.
Why tell them this early?
Because they needed to memorize and rehearse it in advance.
“So, when the time comes, you’ll hear a loud commotion from outside. Probably well before anything happens. As long as you stay alert, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much.”
“Commotion?”
“Yeah. It’ll be so loud you won’t be able to ignore it even if you want to. So just knowing ahead of time will help you stay calm.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll remember that.”
Muriela looked around at her siblings again. Once she saw their full attention, she continued.
“This next part is the most important. Once the chaos starts, calmly gather everyone and come to my quarters.”
“Huh? Your quarters?”
“Yup. We’ve got something to do there. It’s how we’ll all get through this safely, so remember it well.”
“Alright.”
“So we go to you, got it?”
“Exactly. Don’t forget—and don’t waste time. Come straight to me.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
And finally, Crown Prince Alfred brought the conversation to a close.
“Alright, I hear you, kid. I don’t know what you’re planning… but I’m looking forward to it.”
A soft smile curved at the edge of his lips.
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