#Chapter 203: Conditions

“What do you suppose would happen if the population of Orlune thought that one of their numbers might be its lost heir?”

“I'd guess some would try to take advantage of it.”

I went ahead and said this with as much conviction as I could. At this point, there was no reason to try hiding such ideas from the king. He'd clearly thought of these on his own and seemed to be testing me. I'm sure he wanted to see if I would try to lie my way out of it, and then he could say that I was doing exactly that. Because if I was going to lie to the king about being his heir and try to claim a place within the royal family, why would I tell him that's the sort of plan someone might come up with?

“Are you trying to take advantage of me?”

His blunt question was accompanied by a direct stare as if he would see straight through me to the truth.

“I wouldn't dream of it. I've built a career around trying to do what's best for our country. I know that you need an heir. But lying about it wouldn't serve the bes