Chapter 140: Crichton’s Crown Prince

After their last defeat, Crichton seemed to have spent their days quietly on the surface. 

When Rihannan and Igor had their marriage ceremony, Crichton sent one of their princes, Ivan, as a visitor along with adequate amounts of wedding gifts signifying their wish to keep and maintain a friendly relation between two nations.

Despite this, Igor was sure that Chrichton had hidden plans.

“It would seem that the progress of the construction of their naval ship has not been well. They, after all, suffered quite the heavy loss due to blight and harmful insects… and from us as well, Your Majesty. Not only has it become difficult to acquire wood to begin their constructions, they’re having trouble collecting taxes and so funds are running out. And with the strained relationship going on so far, they’re unable to request help from Lexington. Things aren’t going well.”

Crichton’s Crown Prince who showed a friendly appearance upfront was, in fact, giving orders to prepare for war and the first issue they needed to fix was the rebuilding of the naval warship they lost during the last battle with Arundell. However, after Chrichton had been heavily hit by unexpected blight and harmful insects, his grand plan hit a major roadblock. 

If it was like any other time, they’d have already turned their attention to the principality of Lexington, but with Arundell favoring a figure who had already taken over as Grand Duke, they’ll give Chrichton trouble to provide them lumber nor will they make a move without permission from Igor. 

On top of that, Lexington’s Grand Duke saw the result of the battle between Arundell and Chrichton and how the latter faced great devastation during their naval battle. Afterwards, Lexington expressed their wish to build stronger ties with Arundell.

“But the crown prince isn’t one to give up so easily,” Igor replied. 

In Chrichton, the royal family bore great and omnipotent power over the ruling country. On top of that, the crown prince was powerful enough for all his plans and commands to come to fruition.

“Yes, Your Majesty. As predicted, he gave the orders of enforcement. Though there’s much less harvest this year compared to before due to the blight, he gave out orders to collect more taxes than before. There are even talks that it was not enough and that they’ll take more from the nobles as well.”

Though Chrichton went through the same problems in the past, it hadn’t become a huge issue then. They had an abundance of food and if there was anything they lacked, they’ll trade via sea routes. However, with the loss of the naval battle, the situation turned a 180. 

“Voices of resistance are becoming stronger from the people of Chrichton, something of a rare occurrence. There’s talk about the crown prince’s right to remain on his seat of power, too. His notorious acts before had lowered the people’s image of him to a boiling point, contributing to many disdains from both the nobility and the common folks.”

Igor nodded. “That’s probably the case.”

Political power is only stable when things are calm and peaceful. When the seemingly indestructible castle walls showed signs of cracks and when the milk and honey the people once took for granted gets cut off, the nobility will form different thoughts and opinions, especially if the person in question was someone they loathed. 

“A group of people opposing the crown prince is quietly gathering with Prince Ivan as the head… and Baron Dimitri as well. It seems though that it’s Dimitri controlling everything behind the shadows.”

Prince Ivan is the youngest brother of the current king and was five years older than the crown prince. He was also second in line to the throne should anything happen to the crown prince. He was closer to the throne than anyone else and was someone the royalty should worry, but because he had a good friendship with the king and bore a gentle personality, he was not someone who sought the throne and hardly anyone was cautious of him.

But compared to the past when he had no strong relation with politics, he now had people gathering under his banner and the person making all things possible was Rihannan’s cousin, Dimitri. 

Igor sighed. He knew well Dimitri had that ability. He was someone that, if pushed to the edge, would destroy all his political opponents and become king himself. 

But it remains to be seen whether his current move is done with the thought of changing Chrichton’s position of power to help Rihannan or that he had a far more grand ambition.