Inside the throne room, a discussion was now taking place regarding the Alberta Kingdom, who has now cut ties with the surrounding nations. This was an important topic for not only the royal family but also the nobles. They didn't understand why an esteemed Kingdom such as Alberta would cut ties with the nations.
(If the Alberta Kingdom had cut ties with the Watanabe kingdom, one of their most trusted allies, whatever happened there must have been extremely unpleasant)
The King thought to himself.
After all, their Kingdoms had been in an alliance with each other for a long time. There has never been any bad blood between the two Kingdoms, so what exactly has caused this misgiving? The king wondered.
The first princess, who was sitting on the third seat opposite the Queen, suddenly stood up, and she then walked towards the front of the throne to give her report.
"Please allow me to explain from start to finish."
She said with an elegant smile on her face.
"Exactly one month ago, when Rachael and I had first gone towards the Alberta Kingdom. We realised that the security of entering the Kingdom was much heavier than usual. When we went towards a guard and asked about the reason behind why they were so cautious about the entry, we were informed that the King had been almost assassinated."
Hinata said with a distressed expression.
With that, the room was filled with silence. The information was so shocking that everyone inside the room held their breath at her words. The nobles had a look of disbelieved there were not many who were brave enough to assault a King, especially inside the Royal Palace. Those who would do such a thing could either be extremely confident in their abilities or just plain stupid.
The King had already theorised about such a scenario, though even he was extremely surprised to find out the reality.
"I see it makes sense why they are so cautious, if something like that happened."
The King said in a slightly woe tone, after all, he was a great friend of the King of the Alberta Kingdom.
"Yes, I'm sure the Alberta Kingdom must be in quite a panic right now."
The Queen said with a dark Shadow over her face, the news seems to have hit her pretty hard; she never would have imagined that someone would be bold enough to go after the King himself. Scarlett also had a distressful look on her face while she was seated.
"Hinata is the King of that nation... okay?"
He asks in an unusual, worried tone.
"Yes, please rest easy, the assassination was only an attempt; one of the Knights guarding the King was able to subdue the assassin."
Hinata reassured them.
Everyone within the room heaved a sigh, feeling relieved that the worst didn't happen.
"Umm, Princess, did they find any information from the assassin?"
Duke Beckett slowly raises his hand to get permission from the princess before asking his question.
"Unfortunately, the assassin committed suicide before they were able to extract any useful information."
Hinata said gloomily.
With the assassin now killed, the Kingdom of Alberta didn't have any information regarding who the assassin was or where he came from, and because of that, the kingdom decided the safest choice was to cut its ties with the surrounding Kingdoms, not knowing who their real enemy was.
(Honestly, this is starting to be a bother. Why are there so many crises starting one after another)
The King thought while sighing internally.
"I wonder what exactly their goal is in assassinating the King. This can't be from any minor group, maybe an organisation?"
The queen said, placing her hands under her chin with a look of contemplation.
"Yes, that could be it, maybe from the same group that attacked Princess Scarlett?"
The count said with a look of displeasure.
"Huh?"
Rachael had been quietly listening to the conversation before her; however, when the topic of her older sister being attacked came up, she immediately gasped with a shock face.
Similarly, Hinata also widened her eyes at the mention of her sister being attacked.
"Yes, Scarlett was attacked by two thugs in an alleyway a few weeks ago, not only that, but a spy also had their eyes on her not two long ago."
The King explained, seeing their worried face.
"S-Scarlett, you're okay, right?"
She asked worriedly. Rachael also looked at her with a worried expression.
"Yup, you don't have to worry, Haruto was able to save me back then."
She said with a reassuring smile on her face.
Hearing her words, Hinata's face brightened up a bit, but was then turned into a look of confusion when she heard the unfamiliar name.
"Haruto?"
Rachael awkwardly pronounces the unfamiliar name while tilting her head.
"Yes, Haruto is the one who saved Scarlett from her misfortune. Thanks to his deeds, he was rewarded to stay here until he has a place to go."
The King said.
"Is that so? I'll thank him if I ever get the chance."
Hinata said.
"Is he a famous noble from somewhere?"
Rachael asked eagerly.
"Ah, N-No, he isn't a noble or anything. He's just a commoner."
Scarlett said awkwardly, knowing that her younger sister tends to value social status highly.
"W-What! Why would you let some unknown rat inside the Royal Palace, a place meant only for the elites?"
Rachael exclaimed.
"Hey, I think you value status too highly. Haruto may be a commoner, but he's a nice person. I'm sure you'll like him if you take some time to talk to him."
"Whether he is a nice person or not is beside the point; even if he saved his elder sister, couldn't you have just given him some money or something? There is no reason for him to stay here, is there?"
Rachael said. With a displeased face.
"Sigh... Rachel, please stop. There is no reason for you to throw a tantrum, is there? If father said it's okay, it's okay, got it? Please stop giving in to your own personal feelings."
Hinata said with a serious voice, her eyes were extremely sharp as she stared at her younger sister.
"Y-Yes, I understand."
Rachel held down her head with a frown on her face.
Despite the seriousness of her voice, Hinata knew Rachel really cared for her family and was just worried about their personal safety. A small smile was then formed on Hinata's lips.
At that time, there was a knock on the door. The guards slowly opened up the door as a beautiful woman wearing a maid's uniform came into view. She bows her head gracefully.
"Apologies for interrupting your meeting. I came here to inform you that your breakfast is now ready."
The maid said.
"Well, we shall have breakfast right now, let's continue our earlier conversation afterwards."