Chapter 31 – The Abandoned Wife
A fat hand gripped a broken banister. The rings on its fingers produced a dull, echoing sound of metal and stone colliding. Gilbert was in the process of surveying the former palace of Elpasa, now his.
“Should I have fixed up the whole place?” The terrace connected to his bedroom—which had previously belonged to the king—was half demolished.
The empire did not maintain colonies—instead, it absorbed all the countries it defeated. In a way this was a benevolent thing to do. Gilbert obeyed the policy and accepted all citizens of Elpasa as his feudal subjects. Of course, some refused to serve him, but they all ended up as slaves, regardless of their former statuses. It was a strict, dictatorial system, and the people no longer plotted resistance. The foundation and bloodline of the fallen kingdom died with all members of the royal family.
And the citizens and remaining aristocrats needed a leader for them to obey. Even though he had betrayed the kingdom, Gilbert was the only person who had the right to rule the new fiefdom.
He intentionally left the palace in partial ruin, to continuously remind his subjects of the kingdom’s frailty. He had to rationalize his betrayal by explaining that he had had no choice, and constantly displayed the empire’s power and status to everyone dwelling on his land.
While looking down at the village and its sparse remnants of the war, he suddenly slammed his hand into the banister.
“What an arrogant bastard!” His lips twitched in a rage. A knight standing behind him stared inquiringly. But the subject of his anger was not there—he was in the imperial palace.
The war would have dragged on with far more bloodshed, if it weren’t for me! How dare he not realize the debt that he owes me?
Gilbert pictured Duncan Graham and his perpetually pompous behavior. He hadn’t even shown his face to the conferring ceremony for Gilbert’s new title.
Gilbert had been created the marquis of the realm by Duncan’s nameless servant. He gritted his teeth at the humiliating memory. Duncan wasn’t even the emperor – he was only the representative of the throne. And yet he had chosen to delegate the ceremony to his underling.
“How dare he?” How could Duncan mistreat Gilbert, who was instrumental to his conquest of Elpasa?
Gilbert had not been able to see Duncan since their sole meeting before the war. Despite his countless requests for an audience and trips to the capital, the answer was always the same.
‘An audience is not possible at present.’
There were no reasons, excuses, or explanations of when he might be available. In spite of his bitterness, there was nothing Gilbert could do. It was Duncan Graham. The palace was strictly under his control, and all aristocrats in the capital, powerless on their own, depended on him. The weaker ones were forced to leave the capital, and those who could not afford to keep a house there, including Gilbert himself, could only stay in their fiefdoms and wait for Duncan’s call.
Duncan’s power and fame were even more unshakable than Gilbert had imagined. And it was only logical. As a knight, Duncan had gained full control of the army more than ten years ago and staged a successful coup against the emperor.
The emperor at the time was a pathetic man, powerless against the nearby independent nations and whose only idea was to move the palace to a different city. Duncan’s occupation of the palace, which started with the excuse of rescuing the empire from enemy invasions, solidified through the continued victory against the neighboring countries.
And the victory was achieved by Duncan’s son, Alexandro Graham.
The Archduke is now being praised as the empire’s hero, Gilbert thought to himself.
Some of the aristocrats, tired of Duncan’s unquestioned power, even wished that Alexandro would become the emperor as soon as possible. For some unknown reasons, Duncan had not claimed the throne for himself. Some conjectured that it was to crown his son as the first ruler of the unified empire, but no one could be quite sure. Alexandro was currently preparing for an expedition for inspecting the fiefdoms of the empire.
“How troubling.”
When Gilbert first became the ruler of Elpasa, he visited the lords of the neighboring lands in an attempt to form an alliance. However, they did not seem to welcome Gilbert, who had turned his back on his country and worked for the empire’s benefit.
Unluckily for him, his new, northern territory was far from the independent nations that had been defeated by the empire. Instead, it was a quiet place, ruled by long-established lords who had been there for generations. The only war they had seen was the few days during which Elpasa was conquered.
No matter how many letters he sent to the lords, the only reply Gilbert received was, ‘Let’s meet sometime later. I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment.’
Gilbert understood how crucial their support would be for him. Who would vouch for him if he ever got accused of plotting against the empire? What if his subjects rioted against him?
He glanced behind at the heavily armed knights protecting him. They were watching him at the same time as protecting him. All knights on his land had been provided by Duncan under the pretense of keeping Gilbert safe. All his own soldiers had been taken away, and he was no longer permitted to form his own army.
“Phew…” Gilbert walked on. He couldn’t just sit there and wait until things changed. In order to hold on to the position that he barely won, he had to keep knocking on doors.
Beatrice must be dead by now, right?
Pushing the thoughts of the wife he abandoned, he prepared wedding invitations to be sent to the neighboring lords.
♔♔♔
“I am… what?”
“Do I need to say it again? You are! Joining! The ceremonial expedition! That starts! Tomorrow! Serving! The Archduke!” Trigger shouted at Chloe with frustration. But she could only blankly stare at him like an idiot.
Heh! He had never seen her looking so stupid. Having watched her only do and say smart things, her expressionless face nearly made him burst into laughter.
Meanwhile, Chloe was completely incapable of laughing at the same matter.
Why me?
She knew about the ceremonial expedition – the entire empire was talking about it. She had been told that it was to congratulate the newly promoted soldiers, boost the knighthood’s morale, and keep the feudal lords under control.
It could take an entire year… And she was going to be a part of this journey.
“His Grace is a very…charismatic man. You should feel honored.” Choosing his words carefully, Trigger decided to express his respect for the future emperor, rather than using his initial choice of ‘scary’ to describe him.
Chloe could not conceal her despair at the unexpected turn of events. Never had she ever thought that she would be participating in the expedition. She had heard some of the horse grooms brag about having been invited to join, which they considered a great privilege.
But why take me? She could not understand. Why had she been chosen to serve the Archduke?