Question

why was the council forced to alter the execution of the criminal in too dear​

Answer 1

The king changed his mind to execute the criminal because it was an expensive process, so he turned it into life imprisonment.

• The expression has been taken from "Too Dear."
• The story is about a small kingdom that did not have enough funds to even keep the criminals in the prison.  
• The king released the criminals knowing that their maintenance is just a burden on the national budget.