The hastily prepared Inheritance Ceremony ultimately ended even more hastily, filled with indescribable panic and chaos.
A new emperor dying during the Inheritance Ceremony was something that had never happened since the founding of the Soma Alliance. The entire incident took on an almost surreal quality.
But no matter how surreal it was, reality had to prevail in the end. And the greatest practical question was: what now? A country could not go a day without a ruler. The First Prince was dead, so who should inherit the throne next? By law, it should be the First Prince's offspring. But while the First Prince was good in every respect, there was one thing he was not good at: womanizing.
The First Prince had been overly devoted to political maneuvering. In order to accumulate political capital, he had always diligently handled practical matters and built up achievements. He was nothing like the promiscuous princes of certain small kingdoms. As a result, by the age of thirty, he had only one child—a five-and-a-half-year-old girl.
Five and a half years old? And a girl?!
That was practically two disqualifications.
At five and a half, she was far too young to shoulder the immense responsibility of ruling the Alliance. And for a girl to inherit the throne and become empress went far too greatly against common consensus.
That left only the First Prince's brothers as candidates, with the Second Prince being the most suitable choice.
Aside from his age, the Second Prince was in no way less capable than the First Prince. If he were truly elected, there would not be much negative impact.
But... considering that the First Prince had died in such a bizarre manner during the Inheritance Ceremony, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that he had been murdered. Looking at