How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love Chapter 324

‘Honestly… the Marquis. To think he’d deliberately destroy Lady Violet’s sword over something as trivial as a medal.’

 

‘He’d aimed for a draw—but one that made him look just slightly superior, ensuring no rumors would follow afterward…’

 

By the time he said that, Leonhard had already been picturing that exact scene in his head.

 

“But… was I the only one who couldn’t keep up with their exchanges?”

 

“I missed it too.”

 

“Lady Violet is incredible. To hold out against the Marquis for a full ten minutes…”

 

Most of the impressions that Julius heard were like that.

 

– It’s amazing that she was able to draw against the Marquis Ajas.

 

‘Yeah… Well, there’s nothing I can do.’

 

He’d hoped this temporary arena would be filled with voices praising Violet—better yet, that her name would echo throughout the capital.

 

But the moment Leonhard was chosen as her opponent, he’d already fastened the first button wrong.

 

‘From here on, I’ll have to rely on the hired cheerers to do their job.’

 

While Julius listened intently to the crowd’s chatter, the Emperor came up to the podium to announce the end of the medal awarding ceremony, which had concluded with a demonstration duel.

 

“Look! Though a wicked faction assaulted the capital and caused countless casualties, we ultimately repelled them and uncovered the true culprits. And should such a calamity arise again, we shall prevail once more!”

 

A large crowd of people had gathered in the capital’s square to watch the demonstration duel between Marquis Ajas and the new Sword Master.

 

As everyone cheered the emperor’s proclamation, the capital square seemed to literally float away.

 

Deafened by the roar, Julius unconsciously frowned.

 

However, the emperor on the podium, without any change in expression, praised the achievements of the countless people who had worked hard to protect the capital and encouraged the people who had gathered there to survive.

 

“In the name of the Emperor, I promise this: that all aid and compensation will be provided, without reservation, so that the wounds you have suffered may heal without leaving scars. And furthermore—!”

 

The countless people gathered in the square waited with one heart and one mind, holding their breath, for the emperor to continue speaking.

 

Julius, who already knew what was about to happen, clenched his fists to hide his slightly nervous feelings.

 

“According to the results of Estroa’s test, I hereby proclaim that Julius Estroa, the Second Prince, has been chosen as Crown Prince!”

 

“Woooooah!”

 

“Long live His Highness the Second Prince!”

 

“May glory bless the future of Estroa!”

 

Had all the false accusations been lifted—and all that sweat-soaked effort to repair the damage—finally paid off?

 

Before the hired cheerers could even begin their work, the people gathered here were already shouting his name in thunderous celebration.

 

Julius, whose heart was touched by this, stood up from his seat and responded with a bright smile and a wave.

 

“And lastly!”

 

At that moment, Julius couldn’t hide his puzzlement at the sound of the emperor’s voice.

 

The closing address was supposed to end with the declaration of his appointment as Crown Prince—wasn’t it?

 

The countless gazes that had been directed at Julius turned back to the Emperor, and the voices calling out his name also died down.

 

Only after a silence had fallen, in which no one dared to speak, did the Emperor declare in a lowered voice, as if to demand that his voice be heard.

 

“Taking full responsibility for this incident… on the day all restoration efforts in the capital are complete, I shall abdicate the throne and transfer imperial authority to the Crown Prince.”

 

That was a truly bombshell statement.

 

Even after the Emperor finished speaking, no one dared to open their mouths.

 

Julius was no exception.

 

The Empress at his side, along with his closest aides, stared at him—asking with their eyes whether he’d known about that in advance.

 

But no one present was more shocked than Julius himself.

 

“L–Long live His Majesty, the future Emperor!”

 

At that moment, someone, either oblivious or quick-witted, shouted loudly.

 

It was only natural that the moment the waterway opened, a torrent of water would pour down.

 

Here and there, shouts of “Long Live the Next Emperor” followed one after another.

 

‘No—making such an important decision without so much as a discussion, or even a hint…!’

 

The nobles also had bewildered faces.

 

Aside from a handful of high-ranking figures—dukes and marquis included—most hadn’t even known that Julius had been chosen as Crown Prince until this very moment.

 

The crown prince had just been chosen.

 

Even though he had been studying imperial studies, he hadn’t yet received any formal education as a crown prince.

 

And yet, the announcement of the throne was made in such a public place, in front of so many people.

 

“Long live His Majesty the Next Emperor!”

 

“May the sun shine upon Estroa!”

 

It was impossible to deny the words spoken by the emperor.

 

Swept up in the flood of congratulations and blessings pouring in, all Julius could do was smile.

 

* * *

 

He was already prepared for the fact that his daily life would change drastically once the fact that he had become the crown prince was announced.

 

What he hadn’t anticipated—at all—was just how vast the difference was between being Crown Prince and being a Crown Prince with the throne transfer already decided.

 

The emperor began to quickly pass the work on to Julius, as if he had planned it all along without telling anyone.

 

Thus, the volume of documents Julius had to review immediately doubled.

 

He was also to attend the State Council next week as the emperor’s representative.

 

The Crown Prince’s education was squeezed into his already tight schedule, and congratulatory letters and gifts poured in from all directions.

 

Even the personal letter to be sent to the neighboring Kingdom of Canel required Julius to draft the initial version and conduct the final review himself.

 

What made his mood sink even lower was the fact that harvest season was fast approaching—followed closely by tax season.

 

There has never been a lord in the world who didn’t care about taxes.

 

And this was precisely the time when they busied themselves laying the groundwork—submitting petitions and complaints to reduce what they owed.

 

Landslides here, drought there, dungeons here—dungeons, dungeons, dungeons… Over here, a perfectly good mine collapsed and crushed miners to death, and over there, monsters appeared in the river and sank every fishing vessel?”

 

—Thud. Thud. Thud.

 

The stack of documents tossed onto the desk was thick enough to pass for a thin book.

 

“I didn’t realize the Empire was such a difficult place to live.”

 

Hearing the self-mocking tone, Rosaline—the attendant who had just poured fresh tea—spoke cautiously.

 

“Your Highness, please don’t take it too much to heart. At least half of those are likely exaggerations—or outright falsehoods.”

 

“That’s exactly why it’s hard. For me.”

 

As Rosaline said, more than half of it is probably exaggerated.

 

The fact that the miners were crushed to death may have been exaggerated from the fact that one miner fainted, and the fact that five fishing boats sank may have actually been just one broken boat.

 

The real issue was that:

 

determining what had been exaggerated, what was partially true, and what was an outright lie—that was now Julius’s responsibility.

 

‘If you were going to leave all the work to me, you should have also handed me the list of intelligence agents planted throughout the empire.’

 

‘…Or don’t tell me there isn’t one? I don’t want to believe that—but is there really none?’

 

‘Then at least give me time to plant my own people!’

 

“Haaah… Fine. We’ll dispatch inspectors across the Empire.”

 

“Are you speaking to the whole country?”

 

“Yes. As a justification, inspecting the state of the Empire before ascending the throne should suffice.”

 

Sending inspectors without cause was practically a declaration of hostility toward the local lord— like barging into someone’s territory and saying, Something seems wrong here. I’m going to investigate.

 

But if the Crown Prince said, “I’ll be Emperor next year, and I don’t understand the world well enough yet—I want to gain information and experience, so please cooperate,” what lord would openly show displeasure?

 

“But Your Highness, we do not have enough inspectors to send them throughout the empire.”

 

There was also the issue of budgeting. Dispatching inspectors throughout the Empire would require an enormous execution budget—and the Ministry of Finance would never approve it.

 

“Then exclude the North. The Marquis can manage itself.”

 

“That would still be tight, but… I’ll try to make it work.”

 

Julius nodded at Rosaline as she bowed deeply.

 

There was still so much to handle.

 

He barely ate dinner, and by the time he finished prioritizing the documents that absolutely couldn’t be postponed until tomorrow, it was already midnight.

 

“That should be enough for today… Where is my wife?”

 

“I believe that her Highness fell into a deep sleep an hour ago.”

 

“An hour ago….”

 

Considering her usual schedule, she must have only just managed to fall asleep after working late as well.

 

‘She really shouldn’t be pushing herself yet…’

 

If he was the future emperor, she was the future empress.

 

And unlike the Emperor, who still held his position, the Empress was set to leave the imperial palace in a few days under the pretext of recuperation—together with Mariette.

 

Because of that, she ended up taking on all the work that the empress had to do from now on.

 

‘Should I just quit while I still can?’

 

Even if there had been an alternative, he would have seriously considered it.

 

Too drained even to sigh, Julius entered his bedchamber.

 

“You’ve worked hard. You too, can go back and rest.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

At Kane’s words that the bathwater had already been prepared, Julius waved his hand vaguely.

 

He wanted nothing more than to wash, collapse into bed, and sleep.

 

Falling onto the mattress, his consciousness already blurring, Julius mentally reviewed the next day’s schedule.

 

‘Tomorrow I need to visit the reconstruction sites… I should get a handle on the agenda for the state council meeting in advance… the fitting for the ceremonial for the investiture…’

 

—Knock, knock.

 

‘Crown Prince Education…Do I really need to get it? I’m already doing it through my work.…’

 

—Knock, knock.

 

Julius’s eyes, which had been completely closed, suddenly opened.

 

He sat up abruptly, reached for the sword he had left lying beside the bed, and glared at the window.

 

“Who are you!”

 

Perhaps intimidated by the sharp tone of voice, the closed window opened, and the intruder, who had been hiding, obediently revealed his identity.

 

* * *