Chapter 87 – Balkan Civil War (5)
Balkan Civil War (5)
A few days later. Heinrich’s villa.
Heinrich was listening with satisfaction to the reports coming to him.
“Hmm… The Marquis of Deerwood swore an oath of loyalty to me?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! It seems to be true that Hyria got divorced. Moreover, since there is a rumor that she suddenly disappeared from Villa 1, it could be that she went back to her parents’ house and asked the Marquis of Deerwood to take revenge.”
“Well, it’s a bit of a pity that I won’t be able to show you the insides of that bitch, but… First, it’s good news that the Marquis of Deerwood has become an ally. How many troops did you say you can send?”
“It seems that the Wind Rage duchy is located right above his territory, so he is said to be sending 2,500, which is half of the 5,000 private troops.”
“Good! It’s not that bad! Good job.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
From then on, all Heinrich heard were good reports.
There followed reports of oaths of loyalty from various minor noble families and contracts with several mercenary groups from the Kingdom of Aalto, and Heinrich was already imagining himself beheading Prinz and ascending his throne.
“Whew~ There’s only good news today. Still, most of the high-ranking nobles are still waiting for their liver, so please try a little harder. Of course, they are the ones who don’t have any regrets as long as they remain neutral, so give that guy Prinz strength too. I don’t think it will add anything, but wouldn’t it be better if I turn it over to my side?”
“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
“Then today’s meeting ends here…”
Heinrich, who was finishing his meeting and was having a good time in his secret room, heard a disturbing sound.
“Your Majesty! This is an urgent report!!”
“What? If it’s not urgent, you…”
“Princess Rachel has disappeared!! She was surprised that no maid entered her room this morning and reported it to Shin. When Shin hurriedly went there, there was really no one there.”
Uddangtangtang!!
At the report that made the back of his head tingle, Heinrich overturned his chair and stood up.
“What. What? Tell me in detail!!”
“I didn’t eat the food that was brought to the room for the past few days, so I just went on a hunger strike… But this morning, I didn’t eat the food that was brought to me, so I went in to see if the maid who was feeding me food might have died, and when I went in, I found that no one was in the room. “
“Didn’t you say they were locked in a secret room with no way to open it from the inside?”
“Yes! It’s clear!! Don’t you know that that room was originally used by His Majesty to punish women?”
“Uh… Yes, I can’t open the door from the inside without the magic key I have… Damn it!! How on earth did I get out of there!!”
Heinrich burst into anger, picked up the cup he was holding, and threw it away.
“Your Majesty, don’t worry too much. What can that bitch do on her own?”
“That’s not true! If she goes back to Leon, the secret pact with the King of Leon will be broken! If Rachel joins, Fiona will gain strength again, and the King of Leon will have enough troops to put pressure on the Eastern Front. The number will decrease! Maybe we won’t be able to put pressure on them at all!”
“But you can’t go out of Adria anyway. Don’t you know that the guards are thoroughly checking and searching the gates of Adria? If that bitch had tried to go out of the gates, a report would have come in long ago. Besides, if you want to use the space movement magic circle, you have to go outside the gates. You have to go out, and you also need your ID.”
“Well…”
“Even if you try to get to the upper part, the land distance to the Kingdom of Leon would take almost three months. That’s also the distance to the border, and if you wanted to get to the capital of Leon, wouldn’t you have to take another month and a half? That journey is weak, Rachel. You can say that it is impossible to endure this.”
“You’re right. Still, just in case, strengthen the security checks at the castle gate. And find a place where that bitch could be hiding!”
“Yes! Your Majesty”
Of course, Rachel had long since left for Juno’s domain with Diane and Hyria, but Heinrich could not have known that.
Since Diane usually lived a reclusive life, nothing was revealed about how she was doing, and since she was Diane who moved through the Alchemist Association after escaping from the imperial palace using a secret passage to bring in reagents, their traces suddenly disappeared.
Four months later, Prinz’s villa.
There were more forces supporting Prinz than expected, and thanks to this, Prinz was able to rally more soldiers than expected.
“Your Highness. This is a letter from Duke Windrage.”
“Hmm? Lord Windrage?”
Duke Windrage was the maternal grandfather of his beloved younger brother, Juno, and one of the few high-ranking nobles who had sworn an oath of loyalty to him while most of the high-ranking nobles remained neutral, so Prinz happily opened his letter.
“Holy shit! King Leon finally made his move! I guess he coveted Polygal Island…”
Duke Windrage’s letter included an apology stating that he would not be able to move his private soldiers, one of the axes supporting the eastern front, due to the large-scale movement of the Kingdom of Leon’s army.
“This is a difficult situation… If the Wind Rage army cannot join, one-fifth of our army will be lost.”
“How about buying additional mercenaries? Lord Wind Rage says he will add more funds in exchange for his troops…”
Thanks to Diane’s financial support, Prinz had purchased a considerable amount of mercenaries, but it was difficult to beat Heinrich with financial power, so he had given up on hiring additional mercenaries.
“I will look into it, but… All the mercenary groups near Adria will have already concluded contracts with either us or Prince Lee’s side.”
“I guess so… Whew~ I’ll look for additional numbers first.”
“Yes! Your Highness. I will do my best.”
Of course, even without the Windrage army, the number of private soldiers gathered by Prinz was approaching 40,000, but it was clear that Heinrich would have gathered a formidable army, so the departure of the elite Windrage army was painful.
As Prinz continued to worry, a guest came to visit him, and he greeted him on the terrace to cool off for a while.
“Welcome. Commander of the Knights of the Guard. It’s been a long time. How have you been?”
“Yes, Your Highness. You are quite thin… Are you sleeping well?”
The guest who came to Prinz was Count Liechtenauer. Prinz warmly welcomed this elderly swordsman who had faithfully served as Charles III’s bodyguard for the past 40 years.
Haha, are you going to be able to sleep well? Moreover, the relationship with Leon seems to be going so well that Leon sent troops for Henry and started to put pressure on the eastern front. Phew,~ If that guy ascends to the throne, the Balkans will be devastated. It’s obvious…”
With a bitter smile, Prinz took a sip of his tea and continued.
“So… Why did the Commander of the Guard come to see me?”
“Actually… I’ve been constantly thinking about whether I should tell you this or not for the past four months.”
“Hmm? What do you mean? Four months ago… I think you’re talking about when my father passed away…?”
As if Prinz’s words reminded him of that time, the veins appeared in Lichtenauer’s fists and his muscles gained strength. No matter how old he was, Lichtenauer’s body, which had undergone a body change, was as strong as that of a man in his 30s, and his hand smashed the cup he was holding.
Wow!!
“Whoa… Calm down. Commander of the Knights of the Guard.”
“Ah… I’m sorry about this. This expensive cup…”
“It’s no big deal… So what happened when my father passed away that made him worry for four months?”
“According to the Rishkar system that you mentioned, I couldn’t help you, so I couldn’t say anything… In fact, the will that Prince Lee took over the throne was a fabrication…”
“Hmm… Well, I guessed that much. Even though I dressed up as a woman and my wife has a rather strange body, isn’t this the kind of father who would shake up the empire by suddenly appointing Heinrich? Besides, the secretary “The Marquis García, who was a young man, is making a fuss next to Heinrich, and I’m not so stupid that I can’t guess that.”
“Then why didn’t you inform us of that fact…?”
“Why should I tell you now? Even if I say that the will was fabricated, Heinrich will counterattack by saying that I am spreading a rumor, so it doesn’t mean much. History will be on the winner’s side anyway… If I win, it will become the truth.”〈 Br〉
“… What you said is correct. And in fact… Your Majesty nominated Yuno as the next emperor…”
At Lichtenauer’s words, Prinz jumped up from his seat.
“Is that true?”
“What would I do if I told a lie here? Anyway, His Majesty’s will has become meaningless by now… I just wanted His Highness the Crown Prince to know the truth, so I came here and told him.”
“Phew~ Thank you for telling me the truth. If things were as they were, my father would have wanted Yuno to sit on the throne and me to lead the empire as prime minister. It is certainly the emperor’s duty to produce a successor, and my father knew that better than anyone else. I mean…”
“You are correct, Your Highness.”
“But as the Lord said, it has now become difficult to place Yuno on the throne. Of course, since I heard the truth from the Lord, if I win, I will make Yuno the crown prince. Honestly, it is inevitable as it is impossible for Yunas to produce a successor. . Haha,”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And as of today, I will step down as the commander of the Knights of the Guard and leave for Tessida Nikana Territory to serve His Highness Yuno as per His Majesty’s will. Before he passed away, His Majesty left a message for me to serve His Highness Yuno as my lord.”
“Phew~ It’s a pity, but… Sir, I can’t intervene in our brothers’ fight… I can’t help it. Still, if Yuno recovers and returns and I win, Yuno will become the head of the imperial military led by me. Then, you will return to the Imperial Military, so please take care of my younger brother Yuno until then.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Personally, I will pray for Your Majesty to win.”
“Thank you, Lord Liechtenauer.”
Like that, Liechtenauer left Adria, and Prinz became even more angry at Heinrich, who even manipulated his will.
‘I had a guess… But since it turns out to be true that even the will was falsified… Heinrich, you will never be forgiven!’
