In the original plot, the preceding King before Christopher Esclamado doesn't have the quality of a ruler. He was not excellent at anything, and was more of a coward. He only became the king because in his generation he was the one who had awakened his dragon blood.
This unfitting king was living in peace and wealth as he thought he would pass his crown on peacefully without any drama in the succession. The appearance of more than one dragon awakeners made him cower in fear. Not in fear that his kingdom would be in a chaotic state, but he was more concerned that he could not descend as long as the successor had not been decided yet. He didn't even have the guts to clearly announce the current status of the current crown prince because he was also scared of the effect of abolishing the current crown prince status.
The current crown prince holds power over the magic tower, which will greatly affect the kingdom if he is placed on the bad side.