Civil War – Blue Knight (2)
Marquis’s guest room.
“First of all, we issued a silence order. “Don’t worry too much.”
Eris laughed awkwardly after hearing what I said.
“I wish you could treat me like you used to.”
“If that’s the case. “Don’t worry too much, Eris.”
When I immediately changed it, Eris’ eyes widened.
After blinking her purple eyes a few times, she opened her mouth.
“Did you originally know, Marquis So?”
“…okay.”
After hearing my answer, Eris smiled bitterly and turned her gaze to Frank, or Lord Beaumont.
“What nonsense. “Have I been showing off like that?”
“Hmm, I don’t think that’s true.”
Eris looked at me with a very suspicious expression and sighed.
“How on earth and since when? “I was given a completely fraudulent contract?”
“No, that’s not it. Even though I knew that you were a princess, I had no intention of immediately announcing it or taking advantage of it. “I planned to keep everything I promised.”
Eris looks quite aggrieved, but this is also unfair to me.
Before the return, before the Church began digging into Eris’s past, no one knew that she was a princess.
It is natural, as he was only a child before the outbreak of the civil war and the king, who favored his concubines, kept it hidden.
When I think about it now, since he had such a distinctive appearance and was naturally weak to the sun, he must have tried to protect himself even more.
In the first place, the Marquis, who instantly recognized a middle-aged man with a bushy beard as a former Royal Guard knight after seeing him use a sword on the battlefield a few years ago, is an unbelievable monster.
First of all, I only introduced her as a sponsored artist, and when the Marquis found out about Eris’ divine power and showed signs of trying to use her, I planned to send her to Christine before that. How could I have expected that she would recognize her as a princess from the first meeting?
Eris looked at me with her unique transparent purple eyes and sighed softly as if she agreed.
“is it so. If I wanted to avoid any inconvenience, I wouldn’t have accepted Marquis So’s offer from the beginning, and I also hid my identity, so I’m not the only one to blame. So? “What do you want from His Excellency the Marquis?”
“They say they will announce the existence of Her Highness the Princess and unite the remnants of the First Prince faction.”
Naturally, this decision does not include the doctor of Eris, who is being semi-detained in the name of protection.
“The second prince has already been crowned King Louis. Even if I announce my existence now, what does it mean? “My mother was not a noblewoman, so I am inferior to King Louis in terms of legitimacy.”
okay.
To be honest, there will be no immediate benefit to the First Prince faction if Eris, who is behind in legitimacy, is announced as the Third Princess.
But that’s the story of the entire 1st Prince faction.
The current center of the First Prince faction is the Duke of Lorraine, who was a close associate of the First Prince. Even though the first prince died, he is still powerful and has the highest authority.
And the Marquis, who was authoritarian and had a strong desire for power, did not like the fact that the Duke of Lorraine, who was in fact in charge of the main force of the First Prince faction, was receiving more attention.
However, the story changes when it is announced that Lafayette has the heir to the throne.
“…Eris, you probably think that by nominating you as the heir to the throne, the Lafayette family can take the lead in the faction.”
Eris gave me a very disapproving look and added something I didn’t necessarily add.
“If you make me a puppet queen and marry the minor marquis, Lafayette becomes the family that produced a king?”
…Well, maybe it’s me?
“don’t worry. That’s just what the Marquis thinks, and it hasn’t been decided yet. “I will not make Her Highness risk her life just for the sake of an internal battle for leadership.”
The three princesses disappeared just before the civil war, and now it is only remembered that there was such a person. A completely forgotten royal family.
So, the secret rumors about the three princesses can be dismissed as mere rumors, but the moment it is announced that Eris has entered the civil war for succession to the throne as the third princess, there is no turning back.
If that happens, King Louis and his faction will definitely try to kill Eris, but more than anything, a revolution will break out soon.
Now, the moment Eris is declared a party to the civil war for succession to the throne, Lafayette and Eris, who supported her, become the main targets of purge by the revolutionary army.
The moment when I announce that Eris is a princess is at least after I have established a connection with the revolutionary army and the moment when the revolutionary army also recognizes the coexistence of some royal families and nobles.
Not now.
Eris listened to me, looked at me quietly, and smiled awkwardly.
“It’s an amazing feeling. “I must be very suspicious of the Little Marquis right now, but for some reason I can trust him a little.”
“okay? “Is that your divine power or the power of origin?”
“I don’t know. “I think my premonitions are pretty good, but if I had a convenient ability like a prophet, I wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”
Eris smiled bitterly for a moment, then returned to her usual bright expression and spoke playfully.
“I won the public’s support as promised. I will continue to work hard to do so. So, I ask you to protect me as you promised. “For some reason, you know my identity, but you are still a trustworthy supporter.”
I smiled bitterly at Eris’ words.
“I intend to do so, Your Royal Highness. No, Eris. It’s comforting to know that your intuition tells me you can trust me. “Actually, I was a little anxious.”
“…As soon as I hear that, I get anxious too.”
“Everything in the world is like that. “How comfortable it would be if you could be sure that everything would be resolved.”
It’s a world that can’t do that, but….
Since I was hit in the back of the head unexpectedly for something that didn’t happen before my return, wouldn’t it be natural to hit me in the back that I couldn’t hit before my return this time?
–
Late evening.
I was standing in a dark room holding a candlestick.
This is a room that only a few people, except me, occasionally enter, so the lights are not normally turned on.
The light from the candlestick I held illuminated the portrait that was immersed in the darkness.
I saw an old man with gray hair but looking strong.
Xavier de Toulouse, 5th Count of Toulouse.
The old man in the portrait is smiling confidently, wearing armor and holding a sword.
My maternal grandfather was a warrior of heaven and loved his subordinates who showed off amazing martial arts.
If he were alive, what would he say about the current Marquis?
I took a step back.
The light from the candlestick illuminated a portrait of a woman with a longingly benevolent smile.
Urria de Toulouse, 6th Count of Toulouse.
My mother, who married my grandfather’s favorite knight and gave birth to me.
A woman who helped my father, Hubert, create the myth of the ‘Blue Knight’ before he had yet been given the name Lafayette, but died young of heartache in the face of cold treatment when her son was defeated by a commoner in the knighthood.
I slowly stretched out my hand and brought it close to touching the portrait.
There is no sense of warmth in the picture. Even if I put my hand on it, it would be like that.
Lost memories are warm, but there is no way to find that warmth in reality.
As I withdrew my outstretched hand and clenched my fist, I heard a knocking sound.
“This is Dumont, the Little Marquis.”
“Come on in.”
Baron Dumont said as he entered the room.
“His Excellency the Marquis is looking for you, Marquis. They say they are skeptical about the civil war and the treatment of Her Majesty the Princess.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
When I turned around, the Baron was looking at my mother’s portrait with a faint look on his face.
A baron who served the Toulouse family for a long time before the Marquis de Lafayette was even born.
I remembered what he said to me earlier.
-Seeing how the Marquis has grown up so beautifully, I won’t be embarrassed if I finally meet Lady Yuria.
Before returning, I did not recognize him as this kind of person.
He was defeated by the commoners, treated like trash by his father, and was struggling with feelings of self-destruction and helplessness, so he did not have time to look back on the people around him.
That’s why, even after my return, I was suspicious of this man who had been taking care of my maternal family for a long time because I didn’t know him well.
“I’m sorry for all this time, Baron.”
“…yes?”
The dumb-bellied face of the man, who looked like he couldn’t even ride a horse despite being an aristocrat from the kingdom of knights, was quite funny, so I burst into laughter without realizing it.
“Let’s go. “This time, I will only trust you, Baron.”
“Oh yes yes. Just trust this Dumont!”
It may seem a little unreliable on the outside, but at this moment, it is truly the best ally.
–
meeting room.
A place where the Marquis sits at the head table and the vassals and vassals of the Lafayette family gather.
While all the vassals were looking anxious, the Marquis the ‘Blue Knight’ was glaring at me with sharp eyes.
“Are you saying we shouldn’t announce the princess’s existence?”
“Yes, Your Excellency. “There is little to gain and much to lose.”
The Marquis glared at me, then burst into laughter.
“You’ve grown a lot, Pierre. “I can’t believe you’re seeing everyone pouting at what I’m saying.”
“It is also my duty as a member of Lafayette to offer advice to Your Excellency.”
“Haha hahaha….”
The Marquis let out a low laugh.
The sitting retainers were seen swallowing dry saliva, as if it felt like a harbinger of a storm.
“Okay, I’ll listen to the reason. But you also have to take responsibility for that.”
The Marquis said, glaring at me with burning eyes as if he could not bear his fiery temper.
If it weren’t for his recent achievements, he probably wouldn’t have even been given the opportunity to speak.
“The First Prince’s faction and King Louis’s faction have already become enemies of the Great Heaven. Since they have set their sights on our destruction, we have no choice but to band together and resist King Louis’s violence. Do you think that the First Prince faction will not be able to unite just because Her Highness is not enthroned as the heir to the throne?”
“….”
The corner of the Marquis’ mouth twitched, but he didn’t bother to refute.
“Realistically, what our faction should aim for right now is resistance, not total victory. The goal is to reduce the strength of King Louis and his faction as much as possible and bring them to the negotiating table. “If we present a new heir to the throne, it will only increase their will to fight and their ability to unite.”
The Marquis looked at me with a very displeased face and suddenly spoke.
“That makes sense, but if we enthrone Her Majesty the Third Princess and drive out King Louis, it will be a strong form of legitimacy.”
“I apologize, Your Excellency. That applies only when it is possible to dethrone King Louis.”
“How dare you discuss defeat in front of me!”
The Marquis, who was already in his 50s, roared like a thunderbolt.
Not only the vassals but also I felt tingles all over from the terrifying cry filled with magical power.
Cold sweat naturally flows.
However, since it started in front of all the retainers, if you step back from here, it will end just like that.
If there is no way back, the only way is forward.
“We were unable to achieve a decisive victory even when His Majesty the First Prince was alive.
“I believe your Excellency knows that it is impossible to achieve total victory over them by giving up the north, including the capital Lumière.”
That’s not what you really want.
“Isn’t what your Excellency the Marquis really wants, not a cause to unite the 1st Prince’s faction, but to take the leadership of the faction from the Duke of Lorraine by supporting His Highness the 3rd Princess?”
“What if you say so?”
“It’s dangerous, sir. As I said, it only serves to create a sense of crisis for King Louis and his faction. Barely taking the lead-”
“What do you say you know when you’ve never even been on the front line! I was the main force of the 1st Prince faction on that front! It was I who was always at the forefront, it was I who achieved the most victories, and it was I who the enemies feared the most! But the Duke, an arrogant, incompetent pig, controlled the princes and nobles and ruined the war!”
Madness and anger swirled like a storm in the marquis’ eyes –
“If I had led them, the civil war would have ended in victory a long time ago! Just one! “They just lacked the bloodline to lead them!”
In the place where it passed, the resentment and lust for power that had built up over a long period of time glistened.
What made him suffer from such deprivation?
The spot where he is standing now is probably the spot where he stole what was my mother’s.
“If that’s the case, Your Excellency. Do you believe that the arrogant Duke of Lorraine and other high-ranking nobles will bow to you just because you support Your Majesty the Princess? Rather, it will become a seed of discord. How dare you believe that marrying an illegitimate princess will solve all authority problems-”
“You! How dare you scold such a scumbag in front of anyone! The name of this Lafayette was all created by me! How dare the parasites that are there! “If I take the princess as my wife and ascend to the throne, know that I may throw you out and make another child my successor!”
“That’s right, Your Excellency.”
“What?”
“I told you so.”
All the vassals who had been overwhelmed and anxious by the Marquis were looking at me with their mouths wide open.
I naturally twitched the corners of my mouth at the sight of even the Marquis, who had been furious and spouting out random words just a moment ago, looking shocked.
“But can you do that, Your Excellency the Marquis?”
Even after his mother died, the Marquis never took a second wife.
Because he loved his mother dearly? He lived with countless mistresses and did not even try to hide them.
He was extremely ashamed of his son Na, who was defeated by a commoner in the knightly system. He even went so far as to throw the knight who defeated me and won the knighthood in the fiefdom along with me for lowering my prestige.
Nevertheless, he appointed me as the deputy lord. Because he still cares about me because he is the eldest son? Because he is the only successor?
If possible, he would have wanted to take a new wife and raise a new successor to his liking.
“This land was the County of Toulouse before it belonged to the Marquis.”
Everything he has. This land was left to my mother from the beginning by my maternal grandfather.
The loyalty of Baron Dumont and other vassals was not to their father, but to the Count of Toulouse, whom they had inherited from their ancestors.
“And now that the mother of the previous Count has passed away, I am the Count of Toulouse, Your Excellency.”
Without me, he is nothing more than a knight with the superficial title of marquis.
That’s why, even though he considered me trash, he couldn’t completely throw me out.
When he was in the territory before his return, he was so young and intimidated that I couldn’t even understand that fact. By the time he realized this, the Marquis had died of a plague of his own accord.
The great ‘Blue Knight’ Hubert de Lafayette. A man so obsessed with greatness and pride that he orders his titles to include Great Blue Knight.
A writer who doesn’t even think about what he received, but remembers the discrimination and resentment due to his origins.
“Your Excellency’s foundation was laid by my maternal grandfather, His Excellency Xavier de Toulouse, and lent to you by my mother. “Your Excellency’s high reputation was established with the blood of the soldiers of Toulouse.”
The man who claimed to have accomplished this feat with only his own sword achieved only the name of ‘Blue Knight’ and the title of marquis.
It is an ambiguous title that is higher than that of an earl, but not a duke, and is only a superficial honor without any fiefdom.
Even the highest honor given to him is ‘Blue Knight’, a name given to a knight rather than a merit or anything else.
So, for him, making a puppet princess his queen and becoming king himself would seem like an opportunity to blow away all the jealousy and entitlement he had built up throughout his life.
“You bastard, how dare you threaten me now?”
Blood appeared in the marquis’ eyes, but the momentum that seemed to make him pull out his sword at any moment disappeared.
“I’m just listing the facts, Your Excellency. Besides… I have great doubts as to whether His Excellency the Marquis would be able to carry out the war like he is now without me. Baron Dumont?”
“Huh? “Oh yes.”
Baron Dumont, who had been sitting blankly, stood up in a huff and handed the document to the Marquis.
As the Marquis twitched his mustache and looked at the documents, I leisurely opened my mouth.
“This is last year’s tax report for the Marquis, or ‘Toulouse’ region. “I don’t know if you know, but it is far short of the military expenses that His Excellency the Marquis has requested every year.”
Until now, all you had to do was scold me, the lord’s representative. If the estate’s produce wasn’t enough, I could either plunder it or collect taxes, and even if it wasn’t, it was my responsibility.
“The plague has broken out, and now that the main battlefield is in the south, you should be worried that not only will the nearby territories be plundered, but the harvest will also decrease further. Even if you want to support Her Majesty the Princess and become the main force of power, is it possible to secure military funds?”
The Marquis is so angry that he looks like he wants to chew me up.
Even if you don’t cry like that, you’re the one who has been living a luxurious life at the front line for years and draining the territory.
He was an ally, and after taking money, he even made the Aquitaine family, which was the least helpful clan, break off the engagement.
“Then what about you?”
I took out the documents I had packed in my arms and handed them to the attendant.
The Marquis, who received the document from the servant, widened his eyes and immediately began to tremble.
“How dare you steal money from my territory?”
“You misunderstand, Your Excellency. Baron Dumont, who has been in charge of administration, will attest to this. “What can we do to raise money from the income of a territory that is struggling to provide military supplies to your Excellency?”
The Marquis turned his head and glared at Baron Dumont, and the Baron flinched but nodded.
“What the Marquis said is correct, Your Excellency. “You can check this with the estate’s cash register.”
What the Marquis is holding is my certificate of deposit from a bank run by the Aquitaine family.
I personally borrowed money from Christine, purchased a lot of raw materials, and sold them to Abyss Corporation after the Industrial Revolution.
They left it to the Bank of Aquitaine to manage some of it for Christine and some for the military, but even then, a huge amount of deposits remained.
The money was copied?
For now, long live the damn demons of the damn Abyss Corporation.
“If, Your Excellency, you continue to ignore my legitimate rights as the Count of Toulouse and decide all affairs of the territory on your own, I will renounce the name of Lafayette and leave the territory.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Then I will go to King Louis and ask him to restore my rights and offer my savings as military gold. I don’t know, but I think those who have become so poor that they want to continue the civil war will be quite interested in hearing my story.”
I doubt whether the Marquis would be able to properly deal with his vassals and vassals even if he had kicked me out before then.
“You, you, you, you…”
If you do that, the veins will pop out of the Marquis’ eyes.
That’s difficult. Although he is a man pathetically obsessed with entitlement and greed for power, the Marquis is capable of being called the strongest knight in the kingdom.
We do not want a situation where a person who is supposed to rush to the forefront and wipe out the enemies on the battlefield suddenly dies again after surviving at best.
“Of course, since I am of Lafayette blood, I am somewhat reluctant to engage in such immoral acts.”
I held out my hand to the marquis, who was trembling with anger and was glaring at me as if he were going to kill me, but could not jump at me.
“So, Your Excellency the great ‘Blue Knight’ Hubert de Lafayette. Give up the useless competition for prestige and let the Duke of Lorraine handle the hatred of his enemies.”
Then, he will also take the revolutionary army’s hatred with him, so we can just change lines to the revolutionary army when the time is right.
“If you will, Pierre de Lafayette, Count of Toulouse, will act in good faith as your ally and provide financial and military help. Of course, your Excellency will have to show me the respect befitting an ally.”
If you don’t like it, why don’t you just go to war alone, holding on to the superficial title of marquess and trying hard to console and appease vassals who have no reason to be loyal?
?
