Civil War Period –
Plague The parlor of the marquis’ residence, where spring has arrived after a winter that was colder than usual.
As always, Christine lifted the cup with an elegant gesture, savored the coffee, and then slowly put it down.
I glanced at the silver teaspoon she was using to briefly stir the coffee before drinking it, and then opened my mouth.
“Your face looks a little better, Christine. Fortunately, the.”
Christine’s deep black eyes stare at me.
After a moment of silence, Christine answered calmly and smiled.
“Thank you, Pierre.”
The last time I met her was at the funeral of the ancestral Count of Aquitaine.
Physically, she secured the countess without major damage, but emotionally she lost her entire family in an instant. Even in the form of betrayal.
Keeping alive the son of a countess who committed treason against her family must not have been a light burden for her.
Nevertheless, she calmly carried out the funeral with a resolute attitude and did well to calm the atmosphere of Aquitaine, which had been disturbed by the unpleasant incident and the death of the count.
Although I feel fortunate that the woman I have as an ally is this kind of person, I cannot help but feel complex emotions as the person who brought her in.
I have no choice but to do my best to ensure that the woman holding my hand is safe from the coming tribulation.
Christine leisurely took another sip of coffee and opened her mouth.
“As you requested, we are collecting information on the northern region through the top.”
“okay. “What’s the atmosphere like?”
“Of course it’s confusing. The lords are also running out of money, so they are selling tax rights to lower nobles or wealthy people or borrowing money, but those who buy them are exploiting the commoners even more harshly in the hope of making a profit. Moreover, in the north, the harvest was said to be in shambles due to the record-breaking cold. “There have already been several peasant uprisings.”
The signs of revolution are clearly approaching.
Francia was called a blessed land because it was quite warm and the land was fertile, but it snowed frequently this winter, and even now that winter is over and spring has arrived, there are many days when I feel cold.
Meanwhile, the lords were busy plundering each other’s territories, so it was inevitable that food would become scarce.
“Moreover, it is said that near the front lines, the armies of the 1st and 2nd prince factions are roaming around, besieging the city and extorting money under various pretexts. “Cities have paid a lot of money to purchase tax rights and autonomy, but they are pressuring them to pay taxes and threatening them with the military if they refuse, so dissatisfaction is skyrocketing.”
Christine, who had said that much, let out a small sigh and asked.
“It certainly seems like the kingdom has reached its limit, as you said. But even if the commoners revolted, how long could they hold out against the overwhelming force of the kingdom’s army? “I’m a little skeptical.”
Everyone thought so.
However, the plague that will spread this time is as deadly as the forgotten Black Death that stained the continent with fear a long time ago.
“well. “To be honest, looking at what is happening in this kingdom, I think God wants its destruction.”
The plague hit the army stationed in the north most harshly, and the first prince died immediately from the plague.
The amazing ‘Blue Knight’ Marquis also died miserably on the battlefield, not as an honorable knight but as a victim of a plague.
“Well Pierre. “Do you know that strangely, I feel even more reluctant when you say that?”
Christine narrowed her eyes and looked at me, so I laughed it off.
“Haha, sorry about that.”
However, for me, who has memories from before the regression, it is beyond discomfort.
After the death of the first prince, the surviving first prince faction begged for mercy from the second prince and asked for a compromise, but the second prince faction, which had already squeezed everything out to the limit, only thought of somehow sucking up the scapegoat and making up for its losses.
The remnants of the 1st Prince faction, without the 1st Prince, were pushed to the south and clashed again with the 2nd Prince faction, and the army, already tattered by the plague, was exhausted to the point of exhausting each other, and a revolution broke out in the north.
Even at that time, the Second Prince faction, which thought this was funny, let its guard down and was defeated several times by the revolutionary army. Only after that did it come to its senses and reach out to the remnants of the First Prince faction.
In this way, I was transferred from the remnants of the 1st Prince faction to the kingdom’s army and fought against the revolutionary army under the newly crowned 2nd Prince King Louis.
And then he appeared.
“…You couldn’t find him?”
“That guy? ah. “My name is Raphael Balian.”
Christine blinked and then nodded.
“yes. Honestly, I’m lacking in clues. He’s from the city, probably working in the military, and that’s about his name. “There are too many people in the Kingdom of Franzia to find it with just this.”
“I thought you might have already distinguished yourself, but…”
I smiled bitterly.
He was very young when he took over as commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army. It wouldn’t be surprising if it hadn’t been revealed yet.
Even when the revolution broke out, the kingdom’s army was strong in terms of objective strength. It is entirely his credit to defeat them in succession and ultimately bring victory to the revolutionary army.
If possible, I wanted to connect or secure it in advance, but there was too little information.
“For now, I’ll just keep looking. But if he’s from the North, I honestly can’t expect that. Even if you’re at the top of Aquitaine, you can’t set foot on the main battlefield where the 1st and 2nd prince factions frequently clash.”
“Thank you for just that.”
“And even if it’s a secret, I’ll tell you because we are allies. “Both the 1st Prince faction and the 2nd Prince faction were very interested in me.”
“…I guess so.”
The Count of Aquitaine maintained neutrality by not supporting either the 1st or 2nd princes, but so far, as an ally of the Marquis de Lafayette, it has supported military expenses and acted as an implicit ally of the 1st prince.
However, Christine and I’s engagement was broken off, and the owner of the Count’s house changed in the meantime, so it is not strange that both of us are eyeing the Count of Aquitaine.
Moreover, Christine is a very young, attractive, and wealthy unmarried countess, and the only current heir to the family is her half-brother, who is expected to have already fallen out of favor with the head of the family.
As a married woman, there are few people more desirable than this.
“There are a lot of marriage talks where the conditions aren’t that bad.”
After saying that, Christine slowly picked up a cookie and lazily put it in her mouth and chewed it.
I watched her as she did so and answered briefly as she finished swallowing the cookie.
“Is that so.”
Christine laughed at my reaction.
“My ex-fiancé is boring. “I thought you would be a little more interested than that.”
“I don’t think I would be very interested in you if I saw you.”
Christine burst out laughing at what part of my answer she found funny.
“Of course, I have no intention of getting married right away. They give the appearance of comforting a tragic incident, but in reality, they are just hunting dogs who covet Aquitaine. And…”
Christine stopped talking and looked a little sad.
She didn’t add anything, but I thought I got the idea.
If Christine gets a husband, whoever it is will probably be the first to try to get rid of her brother.
“Oh.”
After a while, Christine calmed down her expression and clapped her hands lightly.
“I heard a book called Identity Theory is popular in the North. “I heard that the commoners are not enjoying their fair rights compared to the clergy and nobles. Is this also related to what you said?”
I couldn’t help but frown when I heard Christine’s words.
“…Identity theory?”
“Well, I guess you know everything, Marquis So, too?”
“Of course not. “Can you possibly obtain the book?”
“Of course. “I’ll get you one.”
Christine answered calmly, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of discomfort.
And then there was a knock on the door.
“Excuse me during the conversation, Marquis de Minor. “This is an urgent report from the north.”
“I’m sorry, Christine.”
“It’s okay. I’m also a little curious about what the news is.”
“Please come in.”
Baron Dumont came in, showed courtesy to Christine and me, and handed us a letter.
The content of the letter was simple.
There is news that a deadly plague has broken out in the north and is spreading rapidly.
I played it to Christine and she looked at it and raised her eyebrows.
Is it because I was relieved that the incident I knew happened as it was, or because I was worried about the terrible devastation that this incident would bring?
A sigh that even I didn’t recognize came out.
“…We’re all going to be busy.”
–
“Close the gates!”
“The gates are closed!”
I was riding a horse and watching the marquis’ capital, Toulouse, be blockaded.
In the city, officials cover their mouths with white cloth and go from house to house, educating commoners to stay home as much as possible and to always boil water before drinking.
I turned my horse and started heading towards the Marquis’ residence.
As news of a plague spreads out of nowhere and the city becomes busier, the residents also look very anxious.
Still, the situation is much better than before the regression.
This time, unlike the previous Count of Aquitaine, who knew in advance that a plague would strike and only offered a reasonable selection of allies, there was Christine who helped me get the supplies I needed as much as possible.
Thanks to the profit made from raw materials against Abyss Corporation, there is a certain amount of medicine and enough food stockpiled to prevent the residents from starving even if the city is blocked for a while.
Before the blockade, it took time to issue the same instructions and deliver supplies to each village in the marquis’ territory, but fortunately, it seems that we were able to meet it in time.
It is impossible to compare it to the North, which faced the plague with a large, dense army in a state where sanitation and other things were in shambles due to long-term stationing without any time to prepare.
Nevertheless, I can’t shake off this feeling of uneasiness.
I had never heard of the book ‘Identity Theory’ that Christine mentioned before I returned.
Similarly, books about the ‘Third Estate’, meaning the commoners, were popular, but they only came out around the time when the First Prince died in a plague and the Second Prince ascended to the throne as King Louis, convening a parliament to pretend to listen to the complaints of the commoners. It’s a book.
According to Christine, the content itself seems similar to that book, but there is a strange sense of incongruity.
Was the release of the book brought forward as a result of my regression and actions? To think that way, there is no clear causal relationship.
I got off the horse, left the horse with the stable keeper, and entered the mansion, but thoughts never ceased in my head.
If I were to think a little optimistically, a book called Identity Theory was originally popular, and I, who was a frequent person in the mansion, may not have known of its existence.
It would be easy to think of it that way since it is not something that would be widely distributed to nobles, but…
the attempt to poison Christine did happen.
The outbreak of plague also occurred.
But can we be sure that the 1st Prince and the Marquis will become victims of the plague this time too?
As I entered the office, I remembered the time I heard that the Marquis had died not from a battle, but from the plague.
It was neither joy nor sadness, but just helplessness.
The fact that the man who pitied me, drove me into frustration, and was so intoxicated with his own greatness was no different from fate in the face of a lantern in the wind was simply heartbreakingly vain.
So I thought the Marquis’ death was a very natural thing to happen.
But Christine, who was destined to die, is now alive.
If either the 1st Prince or the Marquis survives, or if the 2nd Prince dies, the future may be very different from what I know.
I bit my lip.
We won’t hear any news from the North until the plague subsides.
It is impossible while the blockade continues to obtain the book Christine mentioned called identity theory and find out if it is the book that was popular before the return.
Should we just leave the outcome when the plague subsides to God?
When I entered the office, swallowing a slight feeling of helplessness, there was a pigeon by the window.
Jeon Seo-gu was entrusted to Christine, who had paper tied to her toes.
Although it is a means of delivering news even in a blockade situation, even Jeonseo-gu has its limitations.
The only thing you can do is return to the place you remember, so in a blocked situation like this, once you let it go, that’s it.
And in this situation, there is very little news that is important enough for Christine to send it.
I quickly unfolded the news brought by Jeon Seo-gu.
[To Pierre de Lafayette, the Younger Marquis.
I was lucky. The merchant ship also stopped its activities due to the blockade, but the merchant ship that finally returned brought news.
The location is near Montpellier in the southeastern part of the kingdom. It is said that they heard a rumor that a woman wearing clothes covering her entire body and a veil and a man who appeared to be a bodyguard were going around treating the sick.
I hope that the news you were expecting is correct and that you and the Lafayette family are in peace.
Sincerely.
Christine Daquiten.]
I clenched my fists.
found.
When the priests of the Holy Church and the Kingdom were self-sufficient and ignored those dying from the plague, they personally healed the sick and performed miracles, and were revered as saints. Finally, those who were falsely accused of being witches by the Holy Church and praised her. died by
She is a princess who went missing in the capital when the civil war began.
?
