It's a bit senseless, honestly.
The only way this chain of events could have gone down is if the King knew about it before hand.
What, you honestly don't think that someone in the "chain of command" would have gone to the king and said, "You're Majesty, I apologize, but I bear ill tidings. His Royal Highness, the Prince, is about to take action against the Ark Family."
While I'm certain that the Prince would have a cadre of men that are loyal to him and him alone, it wouldn't be enough to be able to pull something like this without the King knowing about it beforehand.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the King was most likely in on this.
Why? Well, if the Prince is this much of an idiotic spoiled brat, then what does this mean about the King?
Yep. There you go.
The King probably thought that Absolute would simply roll over on this matter once confronted with this kind of "overwhelming" force. And I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that he didn't know about Absolute's capabilities.
This is going to be a serious issue from here on out. Because while I don't doubt that Absolute will get out of it, the fact of the matter is that the Royal Family just tried to have the heir of a Ducal House killed.
Within the very walls of the Royal Palace.
That's the biggest issue, really, because Hospitality has just been violated. You see, Nobility and Royalty are supposed to take Hospitality very, very seriously. It's not simply a matter of good form or manners. It's a solemn promise that the Host will do their utmost to ensure the safety, well being, and comfort of their guests.
And now? If it gets out that the Prince just tried to have Absolute killed within the Prince's very own chambers, then no one is going to trust the Royal Family to honor the rules of Hospitality. And that's pretty damn big because it means that it's very unlikely anyone will willingly set foot in there.
Of course, the Ark family is going to stay quiet about this. For one thing, they serve the Royal Family, even as corrupt as it may be right now. For another, if Absolute has irrefutable proof of what happened, then the Ark family will have the all the leverage they need to get the King to do whatever they want. Because the instant this goes public...
....Well, it's the Heir of a Ducal House. You don't get any higher in the ranks of nobility unless there are things like Archduke... And THAT is usually reserved for members of the royal family (real life example Everyone Knows: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination kicked off World War I).
If the Royal Family was even going to tacitly approve of this sort of thing? It implies that they're willing to pull the same thing with all the rest of the nobility - a big, fat "IT COULD BE YOU NEXT TIME" has been issued.
That sort of thing isn't conducive to the longevity of a King and his family.
If that sort of thing were to happen, the absolute best case scenario would be that the rest of the Royal Family is deposed (if not outright executed), save for the highest ranking daughter. She would then be married off to the male heir of one of the Ducal Houses to maintain the legitimacy of the line of succession. Probably Absolute in this case, due to a combination of being the most effective of the Nobles and also being the primary offended party.
"
