Episode 124 Revolutionary Defense War – Armistice (1)
Germanian Empire Western Rhineland ? Occupied by the French Revolutionary Army.
In the absence of the Marquis de Lafayette, the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, and even Governor Talleyrand, the person in charge of foreign affairs, an invitation was sent from the Kingdom of Krafte to declare war after a two-year armistice.
Franzia was understandably upset.
At least, thanks to the news that the High King of Krafte was coming here with the Marquis de Lafayette to arrange a truce with the Empire, the decision was inclined to hold off until then, but most people were unable to hide their anxiety and chaotic atmosphere.
Especially Count Damien de Mirbeau, who was making a fuss and saying it was all over.
Esiliste Liliane de Francia Queen Eris sighed deeply as she hurried her steps amidst the chaos of the revolutionary army.
“…Are you okay?”
At the cautious question coming from behind, Eris looked back at Frédéric de Beaumont, who was protecting her as always, and smiled bitterly.
“Uncle Frank.”
“It’s been a while since you called me that.”
“Ah~ It’s hard. I thought we had finally won and ended up fighting again after a two-year ceasefire…”
And the opponent was the Kingdom of Krafte.
When you are a small and medium-sized country with only half the territory, you must win a war against the empire, expand your territory, and face the army of a living legend called the Great King.
“Everyone is trying to reassure me, but I can’t even hide my agitation. “Ah, Marquis Lafayette, you idiot.”
Sir Beaumont opened his mouth with an ambiguous expression.
“I’m sure the Marquis de Lafayette did his best.”
The honest knight, who had no interest in politics, defended Pierre on the other hand, and Eris responded with a secret smile.
It was said that some members of the National Assembly were already suggesting that the Marquis de Lafayette was responsible, but Eris did not think so.
“of course. I believe that. There must be a reason why Krafte, who would have benefited from fighting right away, proposed a two-year ceasefire. “No matter what the council says, I am desperately waiting for the Marquis to return.”
However, Sir Beaumont’s expression became more subtle after hearing Eris’ words.
Eris laughed out loud, as if she were a father worried about his daughter, wondering if she had given her heart to a man who also had a fiancé.
“Your Highness, by any chance…”
A man who gave up everything as a Royal Guard knight and adored his mother who protected her all this time.
So you naturally think in that direction?
She probably felt sorry for the man who thought of her as his daughter, but she thought it was quite cute, so Eris said with a playful grin.
“But since you’re not here now, I can’t help it. “I have no choice but to work harder.”
Then he raised both hands and slapped his cheek loudly and spoke forcefully.
“Because I am the Queen of Francia.”
And then we headed towards our destination.
At the envoy’s residence, the attendant called them inside, and Eris turned to Sir Beaumont, smiled, reassured him, and went inside.
“…Welcome, Three Princesses. “The Great King of Krafte said he would arrange a meeting, but he was bored waiting for him to come to another place, so he asked for a meeting to have a conversation between relatives.”
Eris smiled and answered in front of her half-sister, whom she met for the second time.
“You are now queen, Her Highness Cecilia.”
* * *
A year and a half has passed since the two met in the winter Alpine kingdom at the age of 20.
However, the situation was reversed for the two sisters, who were about the same age as mother and daughter due to the large age difference.
At that time, it was a position prepared by them to wage war in a situation where the empire was advantageous, but now the defeated empire was called to the position prepared by Krafte.
However, contrary to the expectations of Eris, who answered boldly, Cecilia did not show an angry response.
After biting her lip and being silent for a moment, Cecilia responded by offering Eris a seat.
“…It would be right to respect her, but the empire has not yet recognized your reign as queen.”
“I know, Your Majesty.”
After a while of looking at each other, Cecilia opened her mouth.
“Okay, you won. Are you happy?”
Unlike their first meeting, neither of them had anyone with them from the beginning.
Nevertheless, Cecilia treats it like an engineering school. Eris responded, feeling that again.
“We haven’t won yet, Your Majesty. … Because we are in a situation where we must prepare for a war with the country called by His Majesty.”
Eris paused for a moment and then opened her mouth again.
“I really want to ask you a question. Even though so many people died or were injured for you, was it not enough? Did we have to continue this war any longer?”
Cecilia silently picked up the teacup, drank from it, and slowly put it down.
As Eris was staring at her while the slow movements continued, Cecilia opened her mouth.
“Is it your idea to treat and treat the imperial soldiers generously?”
It was not an answer to Eris’ question.
Still, Eris answered after a short pause.
“…yes. “With the consent of the National Assembly.”
“Freeing them and shaking the morale of the imperial army and causing it to collapse?”
“I only proposed liberation. It wasn’t my idea to collapse it, but I agreed. … Because it can reduce unnecessary blood flow.”
Cecilia smiled and answered.
“Yeah, I see.”
It felt like a cheap farce that such pure good intentions had caused more damage to the empire than anything else.
After a long silence, Cecilia spoke.
“I’m jealous.”
Eris had a puzzled look on her face.
“…What do you mean?”
“Puppet of the National Assembly.”
-No matter how you wrap it up in plausible words, the hypocrisy you surround yourself with seems noble. You are just a puppet of the National Assembly created by others anyway.
“The Marquis de Lafayette’s plaque.”
-Do you think the Marquis, who wanted to make you a saint and put you on the throne, did so without any selflessness?
Cecilia, looking at the quiet Eris and thinking about what she had said in the Alps, said with a wry smile.
“…I admit it. “I saw you wrong.”
If she was really a puppet queen who had been put in place to prevent war, and if it was something the Marquis de Lafayette used and discarded to seize power, there is no way such an idea would be allowed.
Even though her performance in the battle with the Storm Witch could be seen as a justification for making her presence known as a saint and being elevated to the throne, the presence that Eris showed in this war went far beyond that.
Now, no one in Franzia will be able to carelessly control her half-brother, who has earned the praise of the entire nation and is known throughout the Central Continent as the Saint Queen.
…Perhaps I vaguely realized that this was already the case when we met face to face in the Alps Kingdom.
-At least my position was something I built with my own hands. My destiny is mine and I will continue to move forward.
Cecilia just didn’t want to admit it.
-You, who have not even achieved anything for yourself, will have your fate swayed by others. To me in this war. Even if it’s not, to the person who wants to elevate you to a mere throne for his own ambition.
Why didn’t he know at the time that what he said to his half-brother, who he thought was just a good person and ignorant of the world, also applied to himself, who in fact only started the war and was not allowed to end it?
Cecilia opened her mouth with a self-deprecating smile.
“…Do you think I called because I truly wanted to call the Kingdom of Krafte?”
After losing the war waged by the empire, he opened his hands to the great king of the country, who was treated as the head of the anti-imperialist faction.
There is probably no feudal lord who does not know what that means.
Still, it had to be that way.
Otto II. Because the emperor cannot admit defeat in the war.
He would rather sell his people and borrow the power of demons, but Cecilia cannot tolerate that.
So, enduring the humiliation, he knelt down, giving up the crown that should have been promised to his child.
You have to do it that way.
Although she may become a foolish empress who threw away her child’s throne while coveting the throne of Francia, she will not remain as an empress who abandoned her responsibility and brought down the empire.
“In that case, it would be better to end the war.”
However, the Queen of Saints who fights alongside those who are upright and help her carry out her will spoke as if it were natural.
The pure white light somehow hurt her eyes, so Cecilia closed her eyes and answered.
“That’s why I envy you.”
There was silence again, and Eris opened her mouth.
“Can I hear why you asked to meet with me?”
Cecilia slowly opened her eyes, smiled, and opened her mouth.
“…First, to congratulate you on your victory.”
“Thank you.”
Eris responded with a look on her face that said she wasn’t very grateful, and the smile on Cecilia’s face deepened.
“Secondly, I would like to ask you a favor.”
“Can you please do me a favor?”
“…You have already defeated the Empire, so please win this time too.”
Eris’s purple eyes were wide and blinking, and Cecilia felt a little cheerful.
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“I told him to win. Was what I said difficult?”
Seeing Eris’ expression become even more confused, Cecilia smiled softly and said.
“There is still a long way to go.”
Eris’ expression was openly crumpled, but Cecilia opened her mouth again with a still smile on her face.
“If the Krafte Kingdom single-handedly defeats Francia, where the Empire was defeated, the prestige of the Empire will be completely ended. However, if you win against the Kingdom of Krafte while the Empire heals its wounds.”
“…So you’re saying this is a chance to make up for it somehow?”
Cecilia smiled and nodded with satisfaction.
“is it so.”
Eris stared at Cecilia for a while and then opened her mouth.
“Are you giving up the throne of France?”
“Even if the Kingdom of Krafte wins, will it give the throne of Francia to the empire? “Even if you give it to them, it will only be a facade, or they will demand more compensation from the empire.”
After hearing the calm words, Eris kept her mouth shut and then let out a slightly suppressed tone.
“If it was something you could give up like that, why?”
“…Esiliste Liliane de Frangias.”
Cecilia called her sister’s name.
Feeling unfamiliar with the name of her blood relative, which she had spoken for the first time, Cecilia let out a laugh and opened her mouth.
“Yes, as you said, I was longing for what I had lost, and then I lost what was left, which only resulted in even more suffering.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Regret, regret…”
Cecilia rolled the word over in her mouth as if thinking about it, then opened her mouth.
“It would be a lie if I said I didn’t. “A lot of what I have built has been destroyed by this war, and the blood and tears of the people of the empire that flowed from the war I started will become resentment and pour down on me.”
Cecilia looked into transparent purple eyes that seemed to pierce through her, and a sneer appeared on her lips.
“I deserve to pay tribute to you and your country’s struggles. However, if I had given up on this war, I would have had to live with a sense of revenge and deprivation with nowhere to go. “In the end, this was the only way for me.”
Eris didn’t say anything.
-majesty. How is such an act different from Abama, who sent His Majesty to the Empire while ignoring his sorrow and suffering?
However, the words that had penetrated deep into her heart in the Kingdom of the Alps still stung painfully, causing Cecilia’s lips to tremble.
“That’s just it. I see.”
Cecilia muttered as if she were lamenting.
“I regret not having realized in advance that everything I had was not given to me from the beginning, and that the empire was much more important to me than the throne of Francia.”
There was no one by her side to tell her or stop her.
-I just hope, if possible, that neither of us lose anything more.
All that remains is deep regret at the fact that the only person who recognized it and told it to him was his half-brother whom he had met as an enemy.
The conversation ended with that.
Eris opened her mouth in a place where there was only silence.
“I understand what you mean, so I’ll just go.”
There is no answer.
Eris slowly got up from her seat.
“I blame you, Your Majesty. Probably the people of the empire are like that too. “If you regret it but don’t reflect on it, please at least use that agony for the sake of those who lost a lot because of His Majesty.”
After finishing speaking, Eris turned her back.
Just before she left the room, Cecilia’s voice was heard.
“I failed. … You will win.”
Eris asked without looking back.
“For all of us?”
“…okay.”
Eris slowly turned around, gave a light nod to Cecilia, and answered.
“We do our best. Not for us, but for them as one of the people of Francia.”
