"Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness, wake up! Something terrible has happened, His Grace the Duke has been assassinated! Her Majesty the Queen wants to see you!" The luxuriously decorated bedroom door was suddenly pushed open as a mature and steady-looking gentleman rushed in with reddened eyes and shouted loudly.
"Hm, what?" Arthur, sound asleep, woke up in an instant, climbed out of bed, and hurriedly asked the old gentleman, "Butler Hunter, what happened?"
"There's no time to explain, Your Royal Highness, hurry to Her Majesty the Queen's side. His Grace the Duke was assassinated on the streets of London this morning, and now both the Royal Family and the entire government are hunting down the culprit." The man called Hunter spoke with reddened eyes and a slight sob in his voice.
"Ah? What on earth is going on? How could my father be assassinated?" Arthur was instantly shocked, asking in disbelief.
Arthur's father, Arthur William Patrick Albert, was one of the greatest monarchs in the history of the British Empire, the third son of Queen Victoria, and the distinguished Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex of the British Empire.
For a prince and duke of such noble status to be assassinated in the capital of his own country was something Arthur simply could not bring himself to believe.
"I don't know either. Everything was fine at first—who could have expected an assassin to suddenly come and murder His Grace? There's no time to dwell on it now, Your Royal Highness. Go to Her Majesty the Queen first; at least it is absolutely safe there right now," Butler Hunter said with grief and concern.
Speaking of Old Butler Hunter's resume, though not glorious, it was deeply rooted.
Ever since Duke Arthur William Patrick Albert was granted his peerage in 1874, Butler Hunter had been the butler for the entire duchy and Duke Arthur, spanning a period of more than twenty years up to the present.
Throughout these twenty-or-so years, not only had Duke Arthur been watched step-by-step by Butler Hunter as he grew into a qualified duke, but even Arthur had been raised under Butler Hunter's watchful eyes.
This was why Butler Hunter was in such profound grief upon hearing that Duke Arthur William Patrick Albert had been assassinated.
"What should we do now?" Arthur had transmigrated into this body for only a mere few months, and during this brief time, he did not have a thorough understanding of his current environment.
Moreover, his prior knowledge of the British Empire was only half-baked, limited to knowing that Queen Victoria was one of the greatest monarchs in British history and famously styled as the grandmother of the European Royal Family.
Under these circumstances, with his original body's father, Duke Arthur William Patrick Albert, assassinated, Arthur was at a loss for what to do for a moment.
"Go to Her Majesty the Queen's side first. The most important matter right now is to ensure Your Royal Highness's safety," Butler Hunter said decisively.
Having lost Duke Arthur William Patrick Albert—the lord he had watched grow up like his own child—Butler Hunter could no longer tolerate any misfortune befalling Arthur, whom he had also raised.
"All right then, Butler Hunter." Arthur understood the gravity of the situation and nodded.
Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria's conference room.
At this moment, the conference room was packed with high-ranking officials and royal family members from the United Kingdom, all of whom held absolute authority at least at the ministerial level.
"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. The departure of His Grace the Duke is a matter of profound regret, but the most important thing now is to uncover the motive behind the assassination and the mastermind pulling the strings," Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said with a sorrowful expression.
No matter what, for a prince of the British Empire and a distinguished duke to be assassinated in the capital of the British Empire was an extreme humiliation to both the Royal Family and the government.
This was not only a challenge to the dignity of the Royal Family, but likewise a challenge to the dignity of the British Empire.
One had to bear in mind that the British Empire was currently the undisputed number-one superpower in the world, with a navy that thoroughly crushed the world's second and third-ranked powers.
Against such a backdrop, for someone to dare orchestrate the assassination of a duke and prince of the British Empire in the capital city of London was equivalent to openly slapping the British Empire and the British Royal Family across the face.
"The Prime Minister is right, investigate this for me immediately! Within three days, I want to know every detail about the assassin and whether anyone is pulling strings behind the scenes. Round up everyone linked to this assassination case, and only release them after confirming they have zero suspicion. I want to make those who dare harm Arthur understand that the dignity of the Royal Family is not so easily trifled with," Queen Victoria, already eighty years of age, said from her seat of honor with a face full of sorrow and rage.
Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert had been Queen Victoria's favorite son ever since his birth. Although a large portion of Prince Arthur's affection had been diverted after the birth of his younger sister, Princess Beatrice, he remained Queen Victoria's most cherished son.
Especially after the second son, Prince Alfred, went to Germany to inherit a peerage, and the fourth son, Prince Leopold, passed away in 1884 due to hemophilia, Prince Arthur came to be valued even more heavily by Queen Victoria.
Coupled with the fact that the eldest son, Edward, never enjoyed Queen Victoria's affection and frequently made headlines with scandals regarding his dissolute personal life, Queen Victoria cared for him even less.
It was precisely because of this that rumors constantly circulated among British political circles and the common folk that Queen Victoria intended to bypass Edward and install Prince Arthur as the crown prince instead.
Although Queen Victoria had taken no action to strip Crown Prince Edward of his position, whether she had thought about it privately remained unknown.
Tap, tap, tap!
A knock suddenly sounded from outside the door, interrupting Queen Victoria's angry roar.
The people present cast their gazes toward the door one after another, attempting to divine who on earth would dare disturb Queen Victoria's wrath at a time like this.
"Grandmother." Arthur slowly walked in, speaking with reddened eyes.
This single word of address instantly dispelled Queen Victoria's anger. Gazing at the face before her that closely resembled her most beloved son, the corners of Queen Victoria's eyes could not help but well up with two tears as she choked out,
"Good boy, come here to your grandmother. Rest assured, with grandmother here, no one can harm you." Queen Victoria stepped forward, took Arthur's hand, and led him up to her seat of honor.
"Your Royal Highness." The government officials bowed to Arthur one after another.
"Issue the order: all of Arthur's titles shall be inherited by Little Arthur, including all castles and estates. Arthur shall be buried with the treatment of a prince, and the national flag shall be flown at half-mast for three days." Queen Victoria said sorrowfully while gently stroking Arthur's face with reddened eyes.