66. Declaration of War (1) When
the door was fully opened and I entered, the gorgeous interior caught my eye.
‘I guess someone would say it’s not an empire.’
I thought there was a risk that the emperor’s eyes would wander elsewhere in the magnificent and splendid interior, but he quickly shook his head and dismissed that assumption.
Who would dare to leave him behind and look elsewhere? The intimidation of the man sitting at the head of the table at the end of this road extends all the way to here.
Edoardo Desert. The one and only emperor of this land who no one can refute.
Perhaps because it was a public place, he was right there, displaying an even more insurmountable dignity.
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Cruel, who was standing next to me, took the first step. Not to be outdone, I quickly came to my senses and started walking towards the emperor.
Soon the steps stopped and Cruel’s and my mouths opened at the same time.
“Blessing the Empire.”
In times of war, ‘Glory’, and in normal times, ‘Glory’.
“New Cruel Hart meets the present-day Empire.”
“Syn Deonhardt behold the present Empire.”
And after that it’s the same.
As I waited politely, the emperor’s voice fell over my head.
Perhaps due to his mood, his voice did not sound very happy, as if he was singing for a public official. Rather…
“Raise your head.”
Oh, it’s not my fault. Look at that face. Where is that happy face? There are wrinkles between my eyebrows.
‘Why? Is it because of me? ‘What did I do wrong?’
Now that I think about it, I’ve done a lot of untrustworthy things.
I sent away people who were possessed by a pseudo-religion, and because of all the fuss I made, I couldn’t even bring a single document… I
guess they realized that I wasn’t a very useful person. I quietly rolled my eyes and looked around.
‘Seeing as I can’t see anyone other than Cruel and me, I guess they don’t plan on officially reprimanding me…’
Then wouldn’t I have a chance too?
First, let’s do our best and if it doesn’t work, we can run away.
Of course, the option of attacking the emperor was not included.
Not only is there no way I can win against those protecting the emperor, but I also don’t want to fight General Nemeseus.
And above all….
‘Because the emperor is a hero with the fragments of a warrior.’
How could the nine princes, who had no foundation, kill everyone and ascend to the throne of kings? How did he become an emperor recognized by everyone just eight years after ascending the throne?
This is because there is overwhelming force.
He is the one with the greatest warrior fragment among the heroes who have appeared so far. The size of the fragment was unknown, but everyone thought so.
That’s because no hero showed as much inaction as the emperor.
There’s no way I could kill him like that. This is a dangerous level even for the general public.
‘Let’s just pray.’
You don’t know, right? Considering the affection we have had so far, we may save it.
No, no. Against the emperor, it would be much more likely to bet on his still usefulness as a ‘spy’ rather than on ‘love’. Because I am the only human who can be by the Demon King’s side.
While my mind was filled with various thoughts, the emperor’s public affairs continued.
After the formalities were over, he finally got to the point.
“Empire Count Deonhardt showed careless behavior, such as letting ordinary people who were possessed by a pseudo-religion go, but he took active action and opened the way to catch the mastermind. Although it is unknown how Cruelhardt moved, he found out the mastermind and obtained the evidence. I brought it.”
Is it an illusion that the voice seems to have added strength in ‘I don’t know how it moved, but’?
The emperor continued speaking with a more uncomfortable expression than before.
“I would like to give the right to wish to both of them for their hard work, but since there is only one right to wish, I have to choose only one person. So, after much consideration, Jim decided to side with Cruel Hart, who played a more decisive role.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Sheesh. Is it really me?
Here, that bastard burned the papers! I can’t shout that.
The good news was that the emperor didn’t think the papers were burned because of the fire I started.
Maybe you thought about it, but as long as you don’t say it out loud, you won’t be disadvantaged for it, so that’s somewhere.
“So what do you want?”
A lower voice than usual asks.
Cruel bowed deeply once more and answered calmly.
“I dare ask you to give me the Hart estate, currently owned by Honorary Count Deon Hart.”
…what?
“…What do Honorary Count Hart think?”
No, wait a minute. Hart Territory is my land!
Of course, I said I didn’t want to have it, so I did everything I could and ran to the emperor to argue…!
Still, it feels bad to be taken away like this. In fact, isn’t the transfer of ownership of the territory without consideration of the parties’ consent?
He quickly turned his head and looked at the emperor. Our eyes met with unwavering eyes.
‘ah.’
There is no choice. If I refuse here, it will only hurt my face. No matter what I say, it’s Yeongji who was making such a fuss about not wanting to have it, so if I just reply that it doesn’t matter, it will completely collapse.
The emperor knew that too, so he pretended to give me a choice and asked what I thought.
“…Even though it wasn’t like that, it was a burdensome territory. I’m just grateful.”
I gritted my teeth and glared at Cruel. He must have sensed my gaze, but he didn’t turn his head in this direction.
There is no way the emperor does not know about my discomfort. He pretended not to notice and lightly tapped the armrest to draw attention to himself and opened his mouth.
“There is a problem that needs to be resolved before handing over the ownership of Hart’s territory to Cruel Hart. You need a title to have a territory.”
My body and Cruel’s bodies trembled at the same time.
‘…huh? ‘Why is he falling?’
No, it’s me. I feel threatened by the fact that he even has a title. Even so, why are you, Cruel?
“I said it before, Cruel Hart. Are your thoughts still the same?”
“…Soshin neither wants to continue the Hart family nor change his last name.”
“…!”
Ah, I realized what you were saying. Because I also rejected the emperor’s offer for the same reason.
The direct reason why I stopped being just an ‘honorary count’.
When I first met the emperor after the eight-year war, he praised my merits and told me that he would support me and that I sit as the head of the Hart family.
Not the current honorary count, but the head of the ‘real’ Hart family with a long history.
If it were normal second sons, they might have been a little greedy. But at that time, I hated the Hart family to the point where I was sick of hearing their name.
There is no way I would sit in a position that I hate so much.
When he flatly refused, the next thing the emperor recommended was another title. It was said that the basic title of marquess could easily be obtained if the emperor used more effort.
Of course, it wasn’t a bad offer.
‘If I hadn’t had to give up the last name of ‘Hart’, I would have easily accepted it.’
Either you build a new castle yourself, or the emperor grants you a new castle.
Anyway, after hearing that since the ‘Count Hart family’ already existed, no other titles with the same surname should appear, I neatly gave up the title.
What the emperor gave me was the title of ‘honorary count.’
Since the title of honorary count is a single-win title, it will naturally cease when I die. In other words, there is no room for confusion to arise later due to the creation of two ‘Hart families’.
Originally, the emperor wanted to give him the title of honorary marquess, but in history, ‘honorary’ titles were only given up to the title of count, so the emperor, who often had to fight with his ministers to clean up after the war, had no choice but to step down due to the circumstances.
‘Cruel also received a similar offer.’
Of course it is. He too is a ‘hero’ now.
Now that I think about it, among the official heroes that currently exist in the empire, there is no one with the title Cruel Hartmann.
If the reason I don’t want to give up Hart’s castle is because I don’t want to forget my anger and revenge, is it because he misses me?
Maybe that too was due to a desire for revenge. A desire for revenge against me, who killed my family in front of my eyes.
It is somehow understandable that he refuses to become the head of the Hart family.
Probably because it’s painful.
“It’s difficult. The title of honorary count already belongs to someone with the same last name. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make you, who hasn’t done much more, an honorary marquess, and we can’t even make a hero an honorary viscount or baron.”
It’s a lie. I just don’t want to give it to him.
Even so, it’s better to have a title than not have one at all. Because of that, there were several protests from the noble faction about this issue, but the emperor simply ignored them each time. It was probably a deal that could be wielded against the duke
. It must have been because he didn’t want to hand over more.
Strangely enough, the duke wasn’t very proactive about this issue, so he was able to ignore it… but
the emperor spoke with an uncomfortable expression towards Cruel, who was silently waiting for his next words.
” Let’s hand over ownership of Hart’s territory to Duke Illuster. What do you think?”
You are the duke’s subordinate, and if you wish, the duke will gladly appoint you as the manager of the estate.
Somehow, it seemed as if he could hear your true thoughts.
Cruel, who was silent for a moment, slowly lowered his head.
“…Your Majesty’s consideration . Thank you.”
“Then it’s resolved. Everyone, except Honorary Count Hart, leave.”
Cruel glances at me and walks away. My wide-open eyes show that he doesn’t care.
Damn you. What on earth are you planning?
No, rather…
‘.. .Why did you leave me alone, Your Majesty? It’s scary.’
Has it finally come?
The moment when it was revealed that I was not a talented person.
I put off the matter of Hart territory for now. For now, I just have to think about how to relieve the emperor’s anger.
I exhaled quietly and slowly closed my eyes. *** Anyway
,
both brothers are stubborn. Even if they die, they do not want to continue the Count Hart family…
Do they know that the ownerless Count family is on the verge of ruin? Collaterals who are almost like strangers have gathered together to claim the owner. He’s barking like he’s supposed to.
But there’s no way he doesn’t know. He just doesn’t care.
The Emperor sighed and looked at Deonhardt, who was left alone.
‘You don’t look good.’
It must have been because the Hart Territory was taken away.
Since he had no intention of causing trouble by mentioning it, Emperor Edoardo obediently brought up another topic. A topic
so strong that the Hart Territory would be forgotten in an instant.
“After the audience . We’re going to have a meeting right away, so you’ll find out soon, but I’ll tell you in advance now. I plan to go to war.”
“…!”
He seemed quite surprised. After all, it has only been two years since the war ended.
The emperor smiled slightly as he faced the enemy’s fully exposed eyes.
“The elimination of the Salvation Church is very important. It ended at the right time. At that time, the Kingdom of Ireon was barking at me to the point that I couldn’t stand it.”
“Are you going to go to war… with the Kingdom of Ireon?”
“That’s how it will start.” That’s the beginning
.
The end will be the unification of the continent.
That’s what I meant . Deon’s expression darkens as he notices. He must be thinking back to the terrible eight years of war.
However, he himself is not so heartless as to send the wounded to war. Oh, right. To be honest, I just don’t want to lose talent like that.
If he had just wanted to order preparations for war, he could have said so at a meeting a little later, but why did they have to meet separately like this?
“I would like to ask you for the Demon World.”
Conquering the continent itself is no problem, but the Demon World is annoying.
There’s no way the Demon King would just watch obediently as the empire devours the continent.
In that sense, Deon Hardt has very high utility value.
He is the hero of the empire and the commander of the Demon King’s army. He is the only human who can stay by the Demon King’s side and gain his trust.
“Stay by the Demon King’s side and do your best to prevent the Demon King’s army from getting involved in this war.”
“…I will follow your orders.”
“I will take charge of the Lofty Knights until you return. If you leave them in the mansion as is, one day, even the Count may be overthrown.”
“….”
“And.”
Even though fall is approaching, summer is still summer, so my eyes were focused on the collarbones exposed through the light clothes.
To be exact, on the black stigma just above the collarbone.
[The Devil’s Curse.]
I stretched out my hand, repeating the words that made me laugh bitterly just by rolling them around in my mouth.
“…I hope next time we meet with this thing gone.“
