Baseless excuses

When princess Jessica heard this question, she was surprised. She did not have an answer, her father had disapproved of her marrying him but she loved him.

"I have not thought about it," Princess Jessica replied. When Benedict heard this, she was relieved.

"I know as a princess you must think of the kingdom first but you have to give your the opportunity to be happy," Benedict said.

When the princess heard this there was no change in her expression. She knew that her father loved her the most, she was not sure if she would dare go against him like this.

Seeing that there was no reaction, Benedict was a bit disappointed. She hated the fact that she had known Jessica since they were children but could not see though her thoughts.

She just opened her mouth to say more but the princess bit her to it. "I am mourning my father," she said. When Benedict heard this, she swallowed it. She knew not to push her luck too much.

"I would not be able to accompany you anymore I have things to do," Princess Jessica got up.

"Can I help you with anything? Uncle was very nice to me," Benedict said. She wanted a chance to get more information, the Palace gate were shut too tight.

"alright," princess Jessica agreed.

...

Gousho royal palace.

"Your highness, the people of Dumbi seems to be angried this time, We can not afford a war with them," A lord got up and spoke. The Emperor was still sick, and so the crown prince was in charge of making the decision.

"Indeed, but the death of their king has nothing to do with me," The Crown prince said. He hated been questioned but there was nothing he could do. As long as his father was still breathing, he was just a crown prince and this lords could decide to pull their support and support his brother.

" Nothing to do with you? We are not all fools," the first lord that spoke was angry.

"What do you mean by this lord Ross? I am the crown prince of Gousho, a proud son of Heaven. I have no reason to attack him. If I want to teach him a lesson then I would just double his kingdom taxes, is there a need to play hide and seek," the Crown prince was angry.

Another lord got up, " your highness, could its be that you could not even keep spies away from your men? " He questioned.

When the crown prince heard this he wanted to knock the Oldman dead. It's was one thing to be forceful accused but his question was hinting that he was not capable. He knew for a long time, that a few of the lords were not satisfied with him and wanted the second prince to seat on the throne.

"This has nothing to do with my men," The Crown prince said. He knew that no one would believe him. He had indeed quarrel with the king, then he sent a few men to enter into Dumbi and invistigate the lover of the princess.

Dumbo had grown and he was looking for a legitimate reason to kick the Tait family out of the ruling position. What he did not expect was for some imposters to attack the king and Frame his people.

"Lord Ross, this is not a time to talk about what has already happened. The Crown prince is the next Emperor, we must think of how to defend the kingdom should Dumbi dare to attack," Another lord spoke up.

"lord Dandy is right, the skill of the soldier of Dumbi can not be under extimated, I suggest we attract their weapons house first," Another lord said.

Lord Ross purses his lips, he had never like the crown prince. He felt its was a waste to have the crown prince rule just because he is the first sin when the second son is more capable.

" Is there really a need to prepare for war? Dumbi would not dare make a move, without weapons, can a war be won?" the third lord stood up.

"You have a point, although Dumbo does not have raw materials or can its forge weapons on its own, it's is never wrong to be careful," Lord Dandy said.

"Lord Dandy is right, since king Lorenzo picked a wife from among the women of Dumbi, my father had a feeling that the family of Tait is planning to rebel. We have done our best to reduce the weapons in their possession but we still have to be careful. My brother has already journey to Dumbi, I am sure he would be able to gather information, " the crown prince said.

When The lords heard this they were satisfied. Back then it's had taken many people by surprise that the crown prince of Dumbi had chosen a wide from Dumbi. The Emperor had disapproved of this, but king Lorenzo's father had allowed it. It was said that the young prince was smitten by beauty but the old Emperor did not believe it.

He specifically doubled the taxes and cut off weapon supply to Dumbi. To everyone's surprise the king and the young prince had accepted this.

Later the second prince, has picked a wife from Gousho, this had put the Emperor's heart at rest. The strange thing was that the king Lorenzo did not keep a mistress and after the death of his wife he did not marry again.

Instead he dared to train his daughter as a successor. Many people did not agree to having a women rule them but it's was difficult to fight against the king.

"I heard General Daiz raises his son to fight for the throne. Princess Jessica would have enough on her plate, how can she think of going to war," a general said.

"True, we must pay attention to the coronation, this might be an opportunity to sieze Dumbi," another general said.

"Don't think about it, Dumbi can not be sized without war. Moreover the people of Dumbi pays respect to the one on the throne. If we attack Dumbi we would also attract enemies to ourselves," The crown prince said.

When lord Ross heard this he looked down on the crown prince more. Other may not know this, but he knew that without the strategy and leading of the second prince, the crown prince was not confident to win the war.

As it stand, the second prince refused to fight Dumbi, so the crown prince was pushing forward baseless excuses.