As if the topic had been about this from the beginning, the transition of the conversation flowed quite smoothly. Unnoticed, Cessenia, who had finished the meal, put a small piece of tart into her mouth as dessert.

“We should also discuss the engagement.”

“Engagement? What engagement?”

Elzé, as if she didn’t know this story either, had quite deep wrinkles on her forehead.
“This father has been pushing for an engagement with the imperial family for a long time. That’s about him.”

“The imperial family… an engagement with His Highness, the Crown Prince?”

“Yes. So, this father wishes for Elzé, the second daughter, to be engaged with the imperial family. Becoming the Crown Princess ultimately means becoming the Empress. As someone who always had ambitions to climb higher, it’s quite a good position for you, don’t you think?”

Elzé’s eyebrows trembled slightly.

‘What choice should I make?’

Cessenia rested her chin on her hand, staring intently at her older sister.

“Well, yes!”

“Right. I expected that.”

“But, Father, I don’t like the current Crown Prince.”

“Huh? What’s that about?”

“I want to be the Empress. But, I don’t like the current Crown Prince.”

‘If there’s something different from the past, it’s that she expressed a desire to be the Empress.’

Elzé desperately wanted to recreate a situation similar to the past. It was quite evident. So, when Cessenia mentioned bringing the sacred relic to the temple, she got angry, and Elzé tried to prevent Cessenia from attending the national banquet by any means.

And now, just like in the past, Elzé was thinking of seating Cessenia as the Crown Princess, and eventually as the Empress.

“I don’t understand why you don’t like him. This father planned to propose an engagement with the Crown Prince and intended to ask him to escort you at the national banquet. You would attract more attention than anyone else, Elzé.”

The Marquis also understood Elzé’s feelings.

She was a daughter who wanted to sit at the highest position in the empire more than anyone else. Yet, she suddenly disliked the current Crown Prince.

“If it were another prince, I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t like the Crown Prince.”

“What are you talking about? His Highness, the Crown Prince, will inevitably succeed to the next throne. He inherits the strongest power among the imperial family, and his mother, Empress Mama, also comes from an excellent lineage. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

That was the problem.

His perfection. It made the Crown Prince, Helbert, a failure. No matter what he did, Crown Prince Helbert would become the Emperor. Whether he caused trouble or not, the Empress would block it, and the strong bloodline he possessed protected him.

He maintained his position so firmly until the day Cessenia died.

“I don’t like it. He’s a failure.”

“Elzé! Calling His, His Highness, the Crown Prince a failure…!”

“Being a failure means having trouble even writing letters when you see a woman, throwing a fit if things don’t go your way, and causing a fuss when you can’t have things your way, regardless of whether you’re married or not. That’s not a failure? It’s hard for the Empress Mama to endure, and it’s hard to train him. That’s what being a failure is.”

‘That’s a valid point.’

Cessenia cut a small piece of tart with plenty of strawberries.

“All of that is a misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding? Just because he can’t write a decent letter when he sees a woman and causes a fuss if things don’t go his way, and throws a tantrum if things don’t go his way regardless of marriage, why isn’t that a failure?”

“That’s why… When you’re in a high position, you get swept up in all sorts of rumors. That’s all there is to it. Having met Crown Prince Helbert, he was a very nice person.”
“No, there’s no such trash anywhere.”

Nodding in agreement with Elzé’s words, Cessenia barely managed to suppress a burst of laughter for a moment. Trash? But even in her own thoughts, she truly considered him trash. Trash to the extent that it would be difficult to find elsewhere.

‘Finding and cherishing that trash, and speaking with such pride while holding his head high. It’s really amusing.’

In the past, Elzé had also thrown a fit, expressing her dislike for the Crown Prince, but this time it was more intense.

“Trash, you say. Even if Elzé says…”

“And you haven’t even met him. So, listen to Father’s words. There was nothing wrong in following Father’s words, right?”

“That…!!”

The Marquis, who knew nothing, and the trash Crown Prince she packaged. Unable to reveal the truth to someone who knew nothing, she bit her lips tightly.

“Ha… Anyway, I won’t do it. I won’t. If it’s such a good position, Cessenia can get engaged instead of me!”

That was the moment.

Cessenia drew a clear line.

“In such a prestigious position, it’s only right for my sister to go. How can a younger sister like me covet such a position? Sister, you don’t have to concede on such things.”