episode_0009

He left the dinner with Teodora.

As he walked back the way he came, he thought.

He expected that she wouldn’t easily accept it, but…

Seeing her strong will, he felt bitter.

“Sigh…”

Teodora, who had just turned 20.

Maybe I’m asking too much of her.

To her, I am the son of an enemy.

The son of a usurper who killed beloved family members and tried to steal the empire.

It would be difficult for the descendant of a family that ruled the empire for generations to accept marrying someone like me, who openly shows intentions of marrying her and ruling the empire as he pleases.

So, her reaction may be natural.

-Creak

He opened the door to his room.

Dragging his tired body, he roughly lay down on the sofa.

“Ha… Will she hate me more when she sees what I have to do in the future?”

I will intentionally undermine the emperor’s authority.

That way, the officials will be loyal to me.

And then…

Once the situation stabilizes and maybe someday… if we have a child between us…

Teodora might not hesitate to use any means to get rid of me.

At least she might mistakenly think that my child will become the crown prince.

It wasn’t today, but… someday… she might try to assassinate me.

Ha… I’ll deal with that later.

Right now, I’m really tired.

The heavy fatigue weighs down on my body.

My head hurts.

It feels like a fever is rising from my head, so I press the back of my hand against my forehead.

Is it a cold…?

I should just check on it today and go to bed early.

With that thought, I get up and head to my desk.

“Huh…?”

A report that seems to have just arrived.

Sealed in an envelope as if it were confidential, with an urgent seal on it.

He roughly tears it open.

-Rip.

And starts reading the report carefully.

“Now… are they advancing?”

The report contains information that the emperor’s army is ready to move, with troops starting to mobilize.

On one side is the capital of the empire, Roman.

Of course, the army heading towards Roman is not even 150,000 strong, but with the triple walls, it won’t be easy to conquer. They probably aim to surround rather than directly engage in a siege, but the problem is…

“It’s not going to be easy…”

On the other side, the army is moving towards the Francesco Duchy. In other words, towards my territory.

It will be difficult to stop an army of nearly 50,000 troops.

Especially with the elite army of the Duchy and the famous Gerosin Legion stationed in Roman.

Even Mary, who is known as a fierce general, will have a hard time stopping them.

“Ha…”

It seems like it will be difficult to go to bed early today.

With that thought, he spreads out a military map on his desk.

***

-Tweet tweet!

The chirping of birds is heard through the window.

He feels the bright sunlight and the morning breeze announcing the morning.

“Sigh… I stayed up all night.”

Seeing that the number of the emperor’s army far exceeds his expectations, he couldn’t sleep well due to worry.

He reviewed the preparations for stockpiling supplies, army deployment, and initial strategies in case Roman is besieged, and thought about negotiation tactics.

The formidable Duchy and my younger sister Mary.

“Mary…”

If they attack my territory, the Francesco Duchy.

No matter how much I call her Mary, it will be difficult to stop them.

But I worry because Mary, who has a strong sense of pride, may try to defend it to the death.

At that moment.

-Knock knock!

“Come in.”

As I said that, the door opened and Agrifa entered.

“Did the Duke sleep well?”

Agrifa also seems to have not slept well, with slightly messy hair.

“No. I couldn’t even sigh.”

Saying that, he pushed the report he received last night towards Agrifa.

“Take a look at this.”

Agrifa’s face stiffened as she glanced through the report I handed her.

“It’s faster than I thought…”

“That’s true, it would have been better if we could delay it a bit longer.”

I expected the three members I saw last time to inform the Imperial Faction about my intention to marry Theodora, but the speed at which they are moving is faster than I anticipated.

“Still, it seems they haven’t gathered their forces.”

I chuckle at Agrifa’s words.

“That’s true.”

Even so, the difference in numbers between the 30,000 troops in Rome and the 20,000 troops in the Grand Duchy of Francesco is significant for a battle.

“Do you mean to call Princess Mary to Rome?”

“Give up the Grand Duchy of Francesco?”

Agrifa tilts her head at my words.

“Yes. If negotiations go well, there should be no problem, but you should prepare for the possibility of negotiations breaking down.”

She’s right. But…

“Mary won’t leave the Grand Duchy of Francesco, will she?”

She is a true noble.

A true noble who doesn’t cowardly flee from her people, unlike fake nobles.

Agrifa, understanding the meaning of my words, smiles wryly and says, “Still, if it’s the Duke’s order, wouldn’t she follow it?”

I ponder for a moment at her words.

If the Grand Duchy of Francesco remains intact, it would greatly benefit my future plans.

Abundant mines and manpower.

A strong guild and market where skilled craftsmen gather.

Rich farmland providing ample food.

And the Grand Duchy’s greatest asset, the generals and staff.

The reason the Grand Duchy can exist as a power in the north is because it has the Empire’s only military academy and excellent officers who graduate from there.

If I were to lose all of that, I would suffer a serious blow.

Thinking about the impending arrival of the Demon King, I feel a lot of regret.

No… if it’s going to disappear anyway, I should at least save Mary…

After much consideration, I speak up.

“Send a message to Mary.”

An order as the Duke.

With this, perhaps Mary will listen more closely to my words.

“Observe as much as possible, and if it seems impossible, wait for the right moment and hide… prioritize safety…”

Even a skilled knight and commander must be saved.

As I make this difficult decision, a sigh escapes me.

“Ha…”

Exhaling deeply, I ask Agrifa, “But what’s the matter?”

Agrifa’s expression changes as she takes out a piece of paper from her sleeve and hands it to me.

“A verdict was reached today in the Supreme Court.”

I receive the several pages of paper and quickly scan through the lengthy contents.

The result is more important than the details in this case.

[In this case, the court accepted the defendant’s argument and conducted an unlawful review of Article 12, Paragraph 2 of the Imperial Law, which can be seen as aiming to prevent rebellion and continue the lineage of the great late Emperor.

Therefore, the defendant’s argument that even if a member of the Augustus family establishes a collateral family, the succession right is maintained is in line with the purpose of the law.

Therefore, the defendant’s argument that the law in question infringes upon the law regarding the establishment of collateral families is supported by 6 judges as unlawful and 3 judges as lawful, and a judgment is rendered accordingly.

The judgment that Article 12, Paragraph 2 of the Imperial Law is in violation of the Imperial Law and henceforth has no legal effect.]

“Not bad.”

Although it was a rushed trial, I have obtained a means to pressure the parliament and Theodora with a verdict from the Supreme Court, which has the right to judge the law.

Of course, if the process is handled properly, it would have taken quite a long time.

Normally, it would have taken several months to three years for the Supreme Court to conduct an unlawful review and hear the opinions of the parties involved.

During that time, the Imperial Faction’s army would have arrived in Rome.

And there would be no guarantee that the verdict I wanted would be reached, so I made sure to bribe to ensure that the verdict I wanted would be delivered as quickly as possible.

I had already bribed Balloran, so the process was easier than I thought.

“With this, most of the matters are settled.”

Of course, there are many… no, a lot of issues in terms of procedures, but it’s not a big problem if I can push through with my own strength.

After all, it’s all for the sake of obtaining a plausible excuse.

The difference between having a legitimate reason and not having one is like night and day.

Now, I can afford to ignore this side of things.

The biggest issue at the moment is the imminent arrival of the Imperial faction’s army.

I plan to negotiate with them, but if things go awry, I’ll have to firmly imprint our military strength on their minds.

That way… they won’t bring up any unreasonable demands during the peace talks.

So…

I say to Agrippa, looking at him.

“If we deploy the Divine Army in the first battle… it should be quite impressive, don’t you think?”

He smiles brightly at my words and nods his head.

***

The day the Supreme Court ruling was announced.

During a late lunch break.

I check over things that could be useful for negotiations while eating a sandwich.

“Agrippa might not back down at this point, right?”

I point to the purple areas on the imperial map symbolizing the Emperor’s decrees.

Once we pass these two areas, the Emperor’s direct decrees will only remain in the vicinity of Rome.

“If we offer Epirus and Aezip, it will be a tremendous concession.”

Agrippa nods his head.

Both Epirus and Aezip are royal territories belonging to the Emperor.

Epirus is a central hub of trade and resources responsible for 20% of the empire’s overall taxes.

Additionally, Aezip is known as the empire’s breadbasket, providing cheap grain in times of famine to ensure the empire’s stability.

I am considering handing over these two places to the leader of the Imperial faction, King Ioannes of Nikea.

If a civil war breaks out now, it will be the end.

Whether we win or lose, it will deal a significant blow to the empire’s administrative capacity.

And it will make it even harder to stop the Demon King in the aftermath of the civil war…

That’s why I am considering handing over these two places and pushing my proposal.

“Well… negotiating like this should resolve things nicely. Refusing would be foolish.”

I nod at his words and say, “That’s right. I should propose our intentions to Ioannes soon.”

With that said, a sudden thought crosses my mind, and I quickly turn to Agrippa.

“Oh right! Is the thing I mentioned last time being prepared well?”

Agrippa nods in response.

“I have already recruited minstrels to spread songs.”

One of the things I have been doing recently is working to gain the support of the Roman Empire’s citizens.

One of these tasks involves gathering minstrels to sing romantic songs about me and Theodora.

I secretly fell in love with the beautiful Theodora, and in the song, I kill her tormentor and kidnapper, Balor, confessing my love to Theodora on behalf of the heavens. It may seem cheesy, but it is a necessary task at the moment.

The current public opinion in the empire is at its worst.

The Grand Duke, who is obsessed with power to the point of killing his father, the usurper.

If the image is not good, it will lead to mistakes in the future.

But I believe that by spreading a song about my love for Theodora, rather than being a usurper, a young Grand Duke who loved the beautiful Princess, I can avoid the suspicions of the empire’s citizens.

-Sigh.

They are the core of the empire.

“How’s the reaction?”

Agrippa smiles at my question and says, “Children and young people seem to like it. But the older folks don’t seem to be as fond of it.”

Well… they are more interested in politics.

They won’t easily believe it.

“But still… it’s better if the younger people like it than the older ones.”

Their favor towards me will be a great strength for me.