First of all, if he or another royal had been killed in the hands of an enemy, the masses would not have cared even half as much as the Arnicans did. Ordinary Lyseans had no love for their nobles and aristocrats, who often treated them all as less than dirt.
Said nobles and aristocrats would have immediately turned their attention into how to take advantage of such a tragedy. Was there now a power vacuum they were free to exploit? Should they stay loyal to their kingdom, or was there something to be gained in throwing their lot with the enemy?
And if, should Leal not be the one killed but, instead, the one on whom a part of the responsibility to lead now fell, could he be as capable as this younger princess appeared to be? Actually, to begin with, would his own people even rally before h
