I! Cleaner!

"So... just lift Prince Joshua up, let the Queen and the Minister of Finance behind him, and have them fight with the Princess?"

After hearing the elderly noble's proposal, the assembly of the Old Nobility couldn't help but weigh the pros and cons, and they all fell into deep thought.

For the majority of the Old Nobility to turn and side with the royal family, which sought to curb their power, this sounded like a ridiculously foolish idea.

After all, Prince Joshua and the Queen were also part of the royal family; siding with them would also bring a lot of control. If he really did defeat the Princess and successfully rose to become the "representative" of the royal family's will, he would equally target the Old Nobility with madness, and the situation would remain unchanged.

But just like what the Duke of Lionheart did, when you no longer had the ability to be the player, you might as well sell yourself to the highest bidder.

For the Princess, who had already grown large, these Old Nobility held little value, but for Joshua, whose inheritance rights were precarious and could be "married off" from the Kingdom at any time to wed a she-monkey across the sea, their support was nothing short of timely assistance.

To obtain power to counter the Princess, Joshua and the Queen behind him were sure to go all out to win over these people, offering unusually generous conditions, which would provide room for maneuver.

As for what Joshua would do after ascending... that was a problem for later!

If they couldn't suppress the growing Princess now, they would be locked in a kennel, or even directly slaughtered, losing even the right to consider the future! Moreover, compared to the crafty Princess, the prideful and arrogant Prince Joshua would be so much easier to deal with!

"This idea isn't bad... I agree!"

The young noble, who previously wanted to throw both Leon siblings away, was the first to step forward and express support for the new proposal.

Immediately, a large group of Old Nobility whose interests were threatened and who vehemently opposed the implementation of the new decree stepped up and expressed their support as well.

"I agree too."

"Seconded!"

"Let's go with this, we've no choice left!"

Once the majority of the Old Nobility had already expressed their stance, even those more conservative individuals, though still harboring some doubts about this proposal, couldn't come up with a better solution at the moment. They chose to tacitly agree, or simply decided to give it a try and followed suit.

"Since the majority favors it, let's decide on this for now."

After looking around the room at the overwhelmingly one-sided situation, the middle-aged man hosting the meeting took over and loudly announced,

"In order to counter the Princess's new decree, we shall collectively turn to the Queen and do our best to support Prince Joshua's succession.

"Additionally, to speak frankly, among the ninety-two noble families present today, even if there are dissenters, please keep in step with everyone. Even if you do not support Prince Joshua, please do not drag us down.

"Otherwise... don't blame others for being unsympathetic."

...

The collective defection of the Old Nobility to the Prince was naturally impossible to conceal. Before the Old Nobility's gathering even dispersed and actions began, the Princess had already obtained the relevant intelligence.

"This is troublesome now..."

After receiving the list of Old Nobility who chose to turn to Joshua, looking at that long and alarming list of names, the Princess's brows couldn't help but furrow deeply.

Not to mention Joshua, she was all too familiar with that ambitious stepmother. Even if this incident hadn't occurred, she wouldn't have given up on Joshua's succession. She would have found an opportunity to cause a big stir, and now, with the support of the Old Nobility, her disruptions would certainly be larger.

The unfortunate part was, if it were just some scheming, it would be fine. For a woman whose mind was in line with Joshua's, she only needed to dig a small pit to make her fall hard enough to behave for a while.

But her brother, her inexpensively inherited uncle, was the current Minister of Finance, and he and his family behind him were the actual controllers of the Ministry of Finance, leaving her no room to interfere.

And her implementation of the new decree relied heavily on financial support. She didn't even need to do much; with a few small tricks during the struggle for the throne, she could make the finances stagnate enough to halt the new decree before it started.

As for breaking this deadlock...

Picking up a quill dipped in ink, she wrote a few words on the paper, and the Princess couldn't help but sigh softly.

The best solution was to actively provoke a small-scale border conflict and create a bloody incident.

With the previous precedent of defending the country six years ago, upon entering a state of war readiness, even the most preliminary one, neither the Queen nor the Ministry of Finance dared to give her any hassle.

Otherwise, not to mention letting Joshua inherit the throne, if the Queen dared to cause trouble at such a time, her father might climb out of his sickbed, eager to personally strangle Joshua.

However, although this method could break the deadlock and didn't even require her to come forward—just a hint to Old Hill, who was the Minister of Defense, to silently solve the matter—it went against her initial intention, which was to avoid the Kingdom descending into war...

Then she had to try other methods.

After scratching out "war" as an option, the Princess moved the quill tip to the side and forcefully circled "push hard."

The most appropriate course now was to take advantage of the moment when the Old Nobility had just aligned with Joshua and hadn't fully negotiated their cooperation. Through the Ryan Family's Upper House seat, she could enact parts of the new decree into law.

As long as the new decree that restricts Old Nobility privileges and facilitates business development was forcibly executed, the commerce controlled by the Lower House would find leverage and assist in pushing some of the new decrees.

Even if the Ministry of Finance intended to block her afterward, touching the merchants' interests would bring significant resistance, as the merchants, being the largest source of tax revenue in the Kingdom, held substantial influence over the Ministry of Finance as well. In this way, she might be able to leverage the Ministry of Finance to acquire the budget necessary for fully implementing the new decree...

Let's go with this!

After ticking off "push hard," the Princess did not stop writing; instead, she tapped the paper with the quill tip, continuing to ponder.

To achieve all this, it was essential to secure the Ryan Family's Upper House seat to push through her new decree. And to secure that seat...

A marriage alliance with the Ryan Family was a must! That meant she had to deal with Leon!

After dipping the quill in ink, writing "Leon" next to "push hard," the Princess, having fully clarified her thoughts, pondered for a while before ringing a bell to summon the maid waiting outside,

"Mili, is Master Wilde's Morning Star Troupe performing currently?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

The maid nodded after a moment of recollection, then considerately inquired,

"If you wish to take a break, the Morning Star Troupe sent their top-level balcony tickets..."

"No need."

After waving away the maid's proposal, the Princess instructed,

"Just get me a couple of better seats in the second-floor box area... and remember to buy a couple's box!"