This is a story from immediately after the civil war was suppressed.
There is a man named Oscar Fia Hogan.
His family is court nobility—a viscount house without territory, and he is the milk brother of the Second Prince, Jake.
He could be called Jake's right-hand man.
And with Julius's downfall, Jake had come within reach of the throne.
In other words, his milk brother Oscar was a person in an extremely important position.
Such Oscar's parents were—holding their heads in their hands.
"Prince Jake has done it nooowww!"
Oscar's father, the viscount, screamed upon hearing about the incident that had taken place at the academy.
Oscar's mother was panicking back and forth.
"What on earth happened?"
The viscount, his hair disheveled and face pale, looked at his wife.
"—At the academy, it seems Prince Jake fought a duel for the sake of his lover."
"Th-that's quite serious."
In the past, Julius had also fought a duel in the same manner and lost.
That incident had been the catalyst for him being stripped of his position as crown prince.
For the nobles, royals causing duel scandals was something they wanted spared.
His wife tilted her head and placed a hand on her cheek.
"So, who is the partner? Depending on who it is, Prince Jake's position could become various kinds of troublesome."
Her thinking was that depending on the partner, they might approve it, or if not, they wanted him to withdraw.
After all, the Hogan family belonged to the faction supporting Jake.
If Jake became king, the rewards would be great, and they had supported him up until now for that very reason.
Making Oscar, their heir, into Jake's milk brother was also for that purpose.
And the viscount's wife had raised her son Oscar together with the Jake she had been entrusted with.
Since there was also affection involved, she seemed to hope the partner would be someone suitable for Jake.
However, the viscount hung his head.
"—It's a man."
"Eh? Dear, I'm sorry. I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
"It's a man! The one Prince Jake fell in love with is a cross-dressing man! He looks like nothing but a woman, but he's a genuine man!"
The viscount covered his face with both hands.
And his wife also covered her face with both hands.
"Why would a man duel over a man?!"
His wife knew Jake from when he was little, and it seemed she couldn't believe he would harbor romantic feelings for the same sex.
The viscount raised his face and stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes.
"—It's over. The Hogan family is finished. At this rate, Prince Jake will also fall from grace."
His wife suddenly realized something.
"No, not yet! Even if he likes the same sex, he just needs to take a proper woman as his wife! He should fulfill his royal duty by producing an heir, and that man can just be stuffed into the inner palace!"
In other words, he would take a woman with proper standing as his wife and have her bear an heir.
Jake's partner Arle could be put in the inner palace, and the two of them could love each other there.
However, naturally, the viscount had already considered such things.
"Even I had thought of that much! But—Oscar's letter says..."
The letter from Oscar, who was at Jake's side, said, "The two are in love with each other, so I am supporting them."
His wife looked at the letter and clenched it tightly.
"That idiooot! That's where you're supposed to stop him!"
Since he was her own son, she found him adorable, but viewed as a noble head of house, Oscar was too straightforward.
Furthermore, he wasn't the cerebral type either.
He loved moving his body, and if anything—no, he was a perfectly muscle-brained type.
Because of that, he was supporting Jake's infatuation with Arle.
If Oscar had stopped him, things wouldn't have become this troublesome.
However, Oscar had apparently warned Prince Jake, at least, with "Wouldn't that be a problem when you become king?"
But in response, Jake had reportedly replied, "I have found true love. I don't need the throne!"
Oscar's letter said, "I was moved by that spirit. I intend to continue supporting Prince Jake from now on as well."
The viscount collapsed to his knees.
"Stupid soonnn! That's where YOU'RE supposed to follow up! Instead of supporting him, restrain the prince!"
The viscount muttered weakly, "At this rate, we can't even laugh at Prince Julius."
Jake's older brother Julius had been seduced by a woman.
And Jake had been seduced by a man.
His wife laughed sadly.
"What on earth are these brothers doing together? At this rate, the kingdom really will be checkmated. Or rather, we've only just barely escaped being checkmated."
The situation had been changing dizzyingly over the past few years.
The civil war from a short time ago had nearly split the country in two.
Just when they thought they had escaped that crisis, next the crown prince candidate Jake was falling in love with a man and saying he would abandon his right of succession.
The viscount took Oscar's letter from his wife and, muttering sadly, read further.
"It's over. The Hogan family is also finished—hm?"
But as he read further, life gradually returned to the viscount's face.
He stood up and embraced his wife.
"Wh-what's wrong, dear?!"
"Rejoice! Our son really is a child who can do it when he tries!"
Although she had worried about her somewhat muscle-headed son, the continuation read as follows.
"P.S.—I have been dating Jenna, the eldest daughter of the Bartfort family. In fact, she has told me that she is pregnant."
His wife saw it and screamed.
"That's not something to write in a postscript! Write more details about that paaarrrt!"
The letter continued with things like, "She said it was a safe day, but..." and so on, making it clear that their son had been deceived.
However, the viscount was overjoyed.
"Speaking of the Bartfort family, Lord Leon is a duke! Through Oscar's connection, we can also join that faction!"
However, his wife had a worried expression.
After all, a woman who had trapped their son was coming as his bride.
"B-but, will it really be alright? Given the partner's age, she's a child from exactly that terrible time, isn't she?"
By "the terrible time," she meant the students from the period when the academy's preferential treatment of women had gone too far.
Hearing she was a girl from that period, one couldn't help but be wary.
The viscount's wife was from a count's family, and she was a woman who did not drag exclusive slaves around with her.
Because of that, she was all the more wary of Jenna.
"Indeed, I can understand your anxiety. But I hear the duke is lenient toward his relatives. If she's a problematic woman—no, if there's a problem, surely she'll feel indebted to us."
The viscount was eager to exploit that.
After all, Leon was without a doubt currently the kingdom's hero.
And he had deep ties with the royal family, and was a figure who would shoulder the core of the nation going forward.
Thinking they could form a connection with such a Leon, it wasn't a bad story.
His wife was saddened.
"Oscar—he really is a fool. Despite how much I told him to be careful of the academy girls."
The viscount strongly embraced his wife.
"Endure it. This is also for the family. We will support our son and ensure the Hogan family's continuation."
"—Yes, dear."
A few days later, just as the two had predicted—or rather, beyond their predictions, something happened.
Leon, accompanied by his father Balcus, came to apologize.
The viscount mentally pumped his fist.
◇
Jenna had done it.
She had stolen Oscar, who had been getting along well with my little sister Finley, from the side, and on top of that, gotten pregnant.
Thanks to her, the family was inconvenienced.
Against Jenna, who seemed full of happiness, Finley was directing a horribly cold gaze.
Well, anyway—.
"—Your methods are dirty."
My old man, who came with me to apologize to the other family, was holding his head in his hands.
"Of all things, a court noble viscount house—thinking about the relationship from here on out, my stomach hurts."
The other family was one that served as wet nurses for the prince.
It was proof of being trusted by the royal family, and their lineage was solid.
With Jenna marrying into such a family, my old man's stomach was hurting.
"Still, the viscount was kind, wasn't he?"
"Conversely, that's what's frightening. I thought I'd be scolded with, 'How dare you deceive our son!'"
Normally we would be the ones in the position to be angry, but because Jenna's methods were so awful, we ended up having to apologize.
It was good that the viscount was a nice person, but my heart ached from the feeling of having deceived nice people.
My old man had a tired face.
"—If it was going to be like this, I should have married her off sooner."
Fortunately, Oscar was happy upon hearing that he was going to have a child.
Having a child while still a student, what's up with that? I thought, but both the other family and ours were nobles.
Apparently, that wasn't a problem.
However, here's what I was thinking.
"Why am I the one coming to apologize?"
Bowing my head for Jenna's sake, I felt like I hadn't changed at all from when I was wiping Marie's behind in my previous life.