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Chapter 27
Even when the Lord of Luden declared war on territories with commoner knights and no castles, the Empire’s people laughed at her saying she had gone crazy. When Nathantine submitted to Luden, everyone pointed at him saying that he had chosen wrong. But when the much richer Del Maril, right below the vast Luden, lost in the battle, everyone felt that something was going wrong.
As long as the emperor could tax the territories, he didn’t participate in the territorial battles. Instead, his principle was to declare war in the territory in advance. Thus, Luden obtained six estates before winter passed.
The other estates were comparably warmer than Luden, which was facing a cold winter. Driven with the momentum gained, the soldiers marched eastward without hesitation. The thousand soldiers quickly became 1,500 to 2,000. In an instant, it even reached Marquess Glencia’s fortress. The famous estates expressed their displeasure only at that time.
But it was already too late.
Orient of the East, Del Maril and Palla – all those influential lords that reigned fell on their knees in front of the thunder’s feet. The Knight of Luden was soon referred to as Luden’s Mad Dog, which finally changed to Luden’s Thunder. The estates with the most tax revenues in the empire now belonged to Reinhardt.
The Imperial Family was in trouble by that time. It was because since the founding of the Empire, the only Lord with this much wealth and territory was Lord Rembo. Lord Rembo has a vast area of territory from the borderlands of Glencia to the southern deserts and jungles. Since more than half of Rembo was desert, however, it could not be inhabited, so only Glencia was up to par with the territory.
The Emperor now had a headache. He swore, he never thought that crazy woman who was once his daughter-in-law and crippled his son, was now this resourceful. When Reinhardt was the Crown Princess, she didn’t have that much presence. She was just an ordinary royal woman, except that he worried about her not being that well-behaved.
“If Hu Linke was here… no. If there was a Hu Linke, then the reason Reinhardt Linke was in Luden in the first place would be…..”
It was only a day after he heard the news that even the wealthy and powerful Orient had been subdued under Luden’s control through the Crystal Gate, the Emperor hurriedly gathered his vassals to discuss their preparation. But no one came up with a proper opinion – not even the Crown Prince.
“Please rescind your order to disband all the enlisted men on Marquess Glencia’s, and have Marquess Glencia check on Luden.”
He was saying something like this. The Emperor barely resisted his urge to throw something at Mikhail Allanquez. His son was such an idiot.
“Half of Luden’s enlisted men came from Marquess Glencia, what are you trying to say?”
“… Then won’t you be the one to run and be loyal if Marquess Glencia called you? But still….”
One of the vassals nearby touched his forehead. The Emperor cried as he seemed to represent his feelings as it was.
“It only means that Marquess Glencia and the deposed Queen have colluded!”
“That is why I am asking you to rescind your order to disband the privates within Marquess Glencia. From there, you can take the private soldiers from her, and you can drive a wedge between them….”
〈Take this b*st*rd out. 〉
The Emperor would’ve said that if it weren’t for his son. He mumbled instead.
“You fool! Will Luden give back the enlisted soldiers if I were to cancel the dissolution of the private soldiers given to Marquess Glencia? That Marquess would recruit new soldiers to increase their tax!”
“… Ah.”
The Emperor had never had a high expectation of Mikhail, but he had never felt so disappointed in him. The Empire itself has always been peaceful. While there was some turmoil at the border and some pirates, it wasn’t enough to harm or weaken the national power.
The Empire has never experienced a major war. Founded by the first Emperor Amaryllis Allanquez, the Allanquez Empire steadily ran through a moderately strong structure of money. The reason he had expanded their territory with Hu Linke at the forefront was because he had abundant wealth and he was a general capable of commanding the continent.
Even so, a monarch had to have a more appropriate brain, ideas, and learning in order to maintain what is appropriate. The Emperor had an adequate amount of each, so he thought that his son should also have that. Although he was greedy, had bad habits towards women, and ignorant, it was only common to those born all-knowing.
But now, the Emperor was on the verge of going mad. He couldn’t believe his only son was so stupid. And it was hateful how he had such a skill to chase out a woman and replace her with another woman.
No, it wouldn’t have happened if Mikhail was the one who had gone to the Sarawak uprising years ago in the first place! He was a cowardly b*st*rd who could only see what was in front of him.
The Emperor was furious to see the Crown Prince, his son, sitting in front of him with a brusque expression. He couldn’t believe he was looking like that. He heard that after injuring his leg, the Crown Prince had been depressed and sometimes had neurotic seizures. Since then, Mikhail would only stare at him with a hurt expression, and cry as he bleeds in front of him, but he couldn’t really empathize with him.
〈‘But this is your country to rule, you b*st*rd!’〉
The Emperor gently rubbed his brow bone with his thumb. His mood has been really bad since yesterday. That was when Count Mullay, among his vassals, cautiously opened his mouth.
“I heard that the Lord of Luden was able to win countless battles in the territory wars because of an excellent knight. It was said that the knight studied under the second son of the Ernst family.”
“And so?”
Count Mullay flinched at his words, “Why bother repeating a story I already know?” Still, he answered with a stern tone.
“However, that knight was only taken in for a brief time. He was originally a soldier, but he went to war as Nathantine’s rental knight, due to the reduced number of conscripted soldiers. So, he wasn’t an official knight yet.”
“… So?”
“Even if a person goes to war despite not being an official knight, he wasn’t normally charged with crime since he will die at the war before he was even charged with one. But I’m not saying it wasn’t a crime, so call him to the capital.”
The Emperor closed his eyes angrily.
“Would he come here if you said that the Lord of Luden was crazy as an excuse?”
“Your Majesty.”
Count Mullay shook his head.
“We all know how Lord Luden was driven out of the capital.”
“However?”
“Lord Luden, no Reinhardt Delphina Linke, will surely come to the capital. The Linke family has now lost their wealth and their titles have been confiscated, so there is no trace of them. Knights are incorporated into the Imperial Army. No one could have imagined that the deposed Queen, who was driven out to Luden in that state, would become the great lord.”
The Emperor knew at once what the count was talking about.
“Would the reinstatement of the Linke Family be enough?”
“You can argue that you will also officially sign that soldier as a knight without charging him with a crime. But please don’t clarify about her reinstatement. Instead of reinstatement, tell her that you would return Hu Linke’s body buried in the public cemetery outside the capital since the deposed Queen has now become a sinner. And apparently, the knight was marching with the sword of Hu Linke.”
“… And?”
“You can do whatever you want once you get your hands on him.”
The Emperor nodded his head in satisfaction.
Recruiting and appointing the deposed Queen who was kicked out a few years ago as the Great Lord may have been the sign of reinstatement for her. After all, honor is the most important property of a noble. If she is interested in honor, then he can persuade her to come under his control.
If that knight with incredible power got in his way . . .
“But Your Majesty.”
At that time, the Crown Prince intervened while complaining. Mikhail said as he tapped the table lightly with a sulky face, “What about my face?”
“… Face?”
(T/N: Not the literal ‘face’. It refers to someone’s dignity, reputation or image. Mikhail thinks that with that notion, he will lose a lot of face in front of Reinhardt. )
“That’s right. That woman was a sinner who dared to stab me….”
“Crown Prince.”
The Emperor’s anger rose to his throat.
〈‘This son, this is son is who will succeed me.’〉
Since it was the Empress who helped that son ascend the throne, he thought that he could do nothing if she killed and eliminated those women who had been carrying his child or his potential offspring. Since there will be more blood to spill on himself if he ascended the throne.
But he now hated the Empress even more. If she was going to leave one, she shouldn’t have left this son. If only there was one more. However, neither he nor the Empress were able to have children since they have grown older. So there was only Mikhail.
“There are many things in the Empire that are more important than the face of the Crown Prince.”
“… But – ”
“Is the Crown Prince thinking of his face when Marquess Glencia and the Lord of Luden have collided to bring more than 10,000 troops to the archipelago?”
Only then did Mikhail shut his mouth. Every word he said was making the Emperor angry. The Emperor saw the servant waiting behind the table where the Crown Prince was sitting. Other servants couldn’t enter the place where they discussed national affairs, and the Emperor’s vassals were no exception. But the Crown Prince’s servants were always there. The reason was very simple – the Crown Prince hasn’t been able to walk properly on his own since he injured his one leg.
Even if you can’t walk on your right foot, you still have a cane. However, the Crown Prince always used his servants as if they were his hands and feet. He looked like someone who was acting too much for a man who was only missing one leg.
〈’There was no way the quiet Crown Princess would stab that man just because her father died.’〉
The emperor thought unconsciously. Mikhail had been married to Hu Linke’s daughter for over five years. There must’ve been something that happened over the course of five years he didn’t know of. It was his son who gave her punishment. The Emperor was surprisingly convinced that there must’ve been other reasons besides Mikhail’s request of words and Hu Linke’s death.
The next morning, Count Murray passed through the Crystal Gate with a letter to the Lord of Luden. The contents included her promotion as the Great Lord and returning Hu Linke’s body. It was indirectly suggesting the reinstatement of the Linke family’s rights.
Instead, the Emperor demanded only one thing: come to the archipelago to have a royal audience with the Emperor, and have her knight receive a formal appointment.
It was an offer Reinhardt could not refuse. She had no intention of rejecting it.
(T/N: This chapter taught me to learn about royalties.)
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