Chapter 142 – 41. The Emperor’s Birthday Banquet (3)
“This year’s tribute is nothing too great.”
Viscount Mason said. The expression on the emperor’s face as he received the tribute was plain.
The order of offering tribute was from the lowest-ranking delegation. Of course, the level of tribute will increase as you go further back. It didn’t seem like that at all.
“However, even though it is now a tribute from the feudal lords higher than the marquis. His Majesty’s expression doesn’t seem very pleasant.”
It was as Mason said. After the great war with the demons, the power of the empire was steadily declining.
It is gradually losing its dominance as the center. And even in that empire, the real power was Cardinal Grius, not the emperor.
‘Sparing tribute to the emperor. It would be much more profitable to stab the surplus money back to Grius.’
Of course, that was not the case for Marshal Wilhelm, who was full of loyalty to the Empire.
And I, her grandson, will marry Lilia in the future. I prepared a valuable gift called cryolite crystal.
“Five. It seems that this time it is the turn of the Marquis of Aitern.”
Chloe’s family, Aitern. Chloe also participated in the birthday banquet, and was seated with the delegation of the Marquis of Aitern.
A representative of the delegation came out and offered tribute to the emperor.
“Hmm. It is a beautiful horse.”
Fortunately, the emperor’s expression softened. An Aitern marquis with a huge business. Therefore, whether the emperor or Cardinal Grius had the means to spend any amount of money for profit.
‘Still, you gave me a more useful tribute than I expected. Did Chloe move?’
As for me who knows the future, it’s actually a rotten rope whether it’s the Emperor or Cardinal Grius. In any case, it means that the Marquis of Aitern has no intention of turning against the emperor.
After the turn of the marquis, the delegation of high-ranking nobles of the duchy or higher came next.
The dukes from the royal family were titles close to honorary positions, and there was not much difference from the tributes of the feudal lords before them.
Now, the last remaining envoys are two. The Duke of Orhein in the south and the Margrave Reinhardt in the north.
Of course, the Grand Duke’s family, the Reinhardt family, was higher in the imperial order of protocol. Duke Pedro’s envoys went under the dragon statue where the emperor was seated and first offered tribute.
“Hmm. How can the tribute be worse than that of the Marquis of Aitern? As expected, Duke Pedro seems to be just as rumored.”
It was just an ordinary gold ornament. Of course, even in Ireland, gold was a precious metal. A thing that even a noble can easily possess. The emperor frowned.
I answered Mason.
“Right. It must mean that you don’t have to fawn. Unlike His Highness Wilhelm, he is full of ambition.”
Mason gave me a look of surprise at my answer.
“You know me well. However, the south is far from our north or center. Rumors about him are things you may not know if you are not interested in the state of the empire. You’ve studied that. You are amazing.”
“As the successor of the Marquis. And as Her Highness Lillia’s fiancé. I just knew what I needed to know beforehand. You don’t have to exaggerate.”
“Haha. Still, the children of nobles these days, especially the children of nobles who came to study in the imperial city, are not interested in such complex politics at all. I don’t know if it was a promiscuous banquet or playing with fire. It’s really surprising to see how the Count has changed.”
It’s not just studying. I knew in advance the war that Duke Pedro would cause in the future through the demon slaughter.
So I often thought about it from his point of view.
In the second part of Demon King’s Slaughter, Duke Pedro rebels.
The Duke of Orhain, who already firmly controls the south. Considering that the current empire’s dominance is barely reaching the union of the kingdoms of central and western Island.
The ambitious Duke Pedro had no reason to bow his head to the Emperor any longer. He did the same to the real thing, Cardinal Grius.
‘The owner of the Sentiac Knights. And the duke is also a grand master. There is no need to bow down to a mediocre corrupt priest.’
And the meaning of the present offering was great. It means that the South will no longer be blindly loyal to the Empire.
If you think about the flow of the second part of Demon King’s Slaughter. Starting from this emperor’s birthday banquet, many local feudal lords joined the forces of Duke Pedro.
Now that I’ve confirmed the Duke’s will. For princes in southern influence, he had no need to hesitate.
“That won’t be good. Overall, this year’s Tribute seems to be worse than I thought. If this happens, the feudal lords who maintain neutrality in the middle might form solidarity with the south…”
Mason was right. Everyone gathered here confirmed firsthand that the empire’s grip was shaking.
It was never good for me either. I thought about the flow of the demon king for a moment.
Cardinal Grius later uses the fall’s failure to capture the nest to further strengthen his power.
Take responsibility for the failed attack and purify all loyal forces of the royal guard.
Of course, in the process, great chaos occurs in the ecliptic. Taking advantage of the chaos, a rebellion begins in the South.
In most endings, the imperial capital has been captured by Duke Pedro.
If you lose the center of the empire, especially the ecliptic, you will not be able to stop the demons that will pour out in the future. It was fortunate that Chloe took my side in that regard.
‘It was good that I tamed him.’
If Aitern’s wealth and Reinhardt’s might were combined. Because the possibility of protecting the ecliptic from the south increases.
Through my tribute, Essenmund’s will was sufficiently demonstrated. That’s how much he put in. If you look at that meaning, you will be able to prevent the departure of neutral lords to some extent.
“I am worried about the future.”
Not only Mason, but also Lilia’s expression was not good. Eirin highly praised Lilia.
There was no way she was unaware of the dark clouds hanging over the Asterisk family.
‘If that emperor dies later. After all, I have to hand over that legitimacy to Lilia.’
Because Lilia would be much more suited to an emperor than that stupid emperor. In the meantime, the delegation of the Duke of Orhain withdrew.
“It is our turn. Are you ready? Count Julian?”
I nodded. Viscount Mason. And with the family members brought from the mansion.
I took the cryolite statue and stood in front of the emperor.
***
Chloe was satisfied.
Emperor’s birthday banquet. As a member of the Marquis of Aitern, the feudal lord, Chloe also attended. She was not the representative of the delegation, but attended as a noble lady.
Although the banquet in earnest has not yet begun. The gaze of the men present at this meeting was divided into two. Princess Lilia and herself.
She wore a more fancy dress than her usual banquet. A blazing crimson-red dress, matching her own silver hair and enemies.
Seeing that bewitching appearance, the gazes of noble men did not leave him even for a moment. The vassal of Aitern glanced at them and said.
“As expected, the lady’s beauty is bound to attract attention wherever she goes. Haha.”
“Well, I am not surprised. A woman as beautiful as a young lady is rare anywhere in Island.”
“His Highness Lillia is pretty too. Obviously, our young lady is full of different charms from Her Highness.”
These are vassals and people of the upper class. That’s why I didn’t say empty words to myself, Young Ae-in. In fact, Chloe’s value is highly evaluated even in Aitern Corporation.
Chloe laughed lightly. It wasn’t particularly surprising. Her own good looks were well known to Chloe too.
Even though she was sitting still at the table. Come first and have a drink or refreshment. There were many men who handed it over without stopping.
‘I can get this kind of attention even though Princess Lillia is here. Whoops. That’s me.’
Although the interest was very gratifying. The man he wanted never came to him.
Unfortunately, Count Julian is the representative of the Essenmund delegation today. In fact, he came dressed up in his usual boat to impress him.
He hadn’t spoken a word yet.
Moderately defeat the children of nobles approaching him. Chloe’s head, seated in front of the table, was busy.
‘A tribute to the emperor. It’s worse than expected.’
The fact that the empire’s dominance has been weakening since the current emperor’s accession. If it was a high-ranking aristocrat with a head, there was no way he wouldn’t know.
A while ago, the confusion caused by the massive outbreak of demon beasts. It seems that this incident served as an opportunity to harden the hearts of the local feudal lords.
‘At least that I don’t have to look good to the emperor. Even the stupid nobles seem to have noticed.’
The Empire’s greatest power. The royal guard of the ecliptic. An elite armed group comparable to the White Nights of the North and Centiac of the South.
When various territories of the empire are in great damage due to the appearance of monsters or monsters. Whenever that happened, they were dispatched to show the power of the empire.
However, the Royal Guard is now in a mess with factional fighting. Imperialists and Greeks.
And even if it wasn’t for the faction fight, the appearance of witches in the vicinity of Guhwangdo increased so much that there was no time to show its influence outside the ecliptic.
‘It means that the empire can’t show its strength as an empire.’
It seems that such complaints are blatantly piled up. It was natural if Yeongji’s troops were lousy lords.
And you have to look good to Cardinal Grius, who is more powerful than the emperor, so you can receive reinforcements first.
Even in the Aitern family, opinions about this offering were divided.
Hardliners who blatantly lower the level of tribute to the Emperor and bribe Cardinal Grius back.
Even so, the moderates said that the emperor should be lined up without change.
However, the final opinion was decided not in either place, but in the middle. Tributes were to be paid to both the Emperor and Cardinal Grius.
That was Chloe’s opinion. While I was thinking like that.
Finally, the last delegation. A delegation from Essenmund stood before the Emperor.
And right in front of the delegation. The Count who couldn’t take his eyes off Claw for a moment. Julian von Reinhardt was standing there.
***
All eyes in the banquet hall were focused on Count Julian.
‘Earl Julian… I made it into a special statue with that precious cryolite.’
I’ve been doing brain-blazing calculations last week to help with that. Chloe herself was well aware of the value of the tribute the Count had prepared.
‘If it’s Count Julian. He certainly wouldn’t have touched the cryolite without thinking.’
Chloe had a very high regard for Count Julian. If that kind of thing is to show loyalty to the emperor with a tribute that he put so much effort into.
It clearly meant that the emperor was not a rotten rope. In fact, even if it was a rotten rope… Chloe wanted to stand by Count Julian’s side.
I don’t want to admit it, but Because I wanted to buy his favor. Since it was an official statue, Count Julian seemed more handsome than usual.
Although Chloe had no interest in a man’s appearance. It was as different as that count. The appearance of Count Julian standing proudly in front of the emperor as the representative of the delegation.
‘I’m sorry… I have to be patient here.’
Chloe’s body twitched reflexively. A vassal of the Aitern family said.
“That person. Did you say Count Julian? I’m sure he did some fucking shit in the Pantheon last year… But he looks perfectly fine.”
It was to the point where even the family members were puzzled by Yulian’s changed appearance.
It was then. Reinhardt’s delegation in front of the emperor. The delegation finally unveiled the tribute.
“That! Isn’t it cryolite?”
“Yes. A rare specialty of Essenmund. That ice crystal.”
When Chloe answered, the vassals around him murmured.
“That precious cryolite… That’s such a big cryolite. Wait, it’s not just cryolite. Isn’t that definitely a statue representing His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Really so. That too is of a very high level… But isn’t cryolite a mineral that cannot be processed by normal methods? It would only be possible with alchemy.”
Concerning the authenticity, the people of Aitern spoke in low voices.
“If it is genuine, that would be a surprise. We, the people of Aitern, know more about alchemy than anyone else. If you process cryolite incorrectly with alchemy. If you don’t do it, the quality will change into a lousy mineral that is worse than a stone on the roadside.”
“That is correct. But if it’s really genuine. That’s how much Essenmund and Reinhardt are said to have great loyalty to His Majesty. Unlike other nobles.”
“If that’s what the northerners want, then we’ll have to think about it too.”
“Fortunately, the. Thanks to Lady Chloe’s opinion, our tribute was not lacking. There won’t be anything bad between Marshal Wilhelm and our company.”
As befits a delegation from a merchant family, the profit and loss calculations were carried out busily during that short period of time. Chloe listened in silence to what the family members were saying.
“Miss Chloe’s decision was right. Sanghoe’s new business is centered on the northern part. There is nothing wrong with showing that it means the same thing as Essenmund.”
“As expected, Miss Chloe!”
“What. She should be able to think that much, because she is the daughter of Ai Tern.”
Although the true intention was to earn Count Julian’s favor. People in his family rated him highly, so there was nothing wrong with him.
“By the way, that Count. Even standing in front of Your Majesty and His Excellency Grius, you look confident. Standing in the center of it, anyone would feel intimidated.”
Gasin was right. Count Julian showed his respect to the emperor. Every posture overflowed with the elegance of a high-ranking aristocrat.
“To be able to serve as the representative of the delegation at such a young age. Anyone can see that he is the official successor of the Grand Duke. This is true I think we should drastically revise the evaluation of him as a bitch.”
“Then that count. And his evaluation of Essenmund too. Your Excellency the Marquis may raise it higher.”
“Your Majesty seems to be very fond of that offering. It seems that Margrave Wilhelm hired a very famous alchemist. I am so happy that even if I paid a lot of money and hired him, it would not be a waste of money.”
Chloe saw the emperor at the center of the banquet. It was an expression of great surprise that did not fit the emperor’s stature.
‘How happy I am.’
It was then. Cardinal Grius and his aides lined up next to the emperor. And in front of the noble delegation, a short disturbance arose.
“Wait a minute. What do you mean? Count Julian. You mean the count made this cryolite statue himself?”
I heard the voice of Cardinal Grius. All eyes in the banquet hall were focused on it.
