episode_0120

As soon as we arrived in Roman, we boarded the carriage heading to the imperial palace.

I am anxious about a situation that is more unusual than I thought.

When the Golden Knights were coming this way.

Ioanes must be attacking Dupol.

Dupol, a basin, is a very important geographical area for the empire.

First of all, there is a narrow canyon leading to the Romans to the west, connected to the Kingdom of Erne and Boheme to the north, and to the Kingdom of Nicaea to the east.

In other words, if Dupol is completely lost, it will be difficult to break through even if the shortest route from Roman is blocked by a small number of troops.

Additionally, my original plan was to seize a stronghold between the Kingdom of Nicaea and the Duchy of Dupaul while attacking Dupaul.

Then, the main force of Nicaea, tied up in Dupol, has no choice but to be isolated in Dupol, as its supply is at risk.

The plan was to trap Nicaea’s troops in the basin and attack Nicaea…

To that end, a fleet has already been borrowed from the United Kingdom.

If you do something wrong, all your plans will go wrong.

Is it because he read my anxious mood?

I look around, thinking that it is too quiet inside the carriage.

Joey, Theodora, and their mother-in-law look awkward.

I am puzzled as I look at the three people whose faces are stiffer than usual.

Theodora, I’m sure it’s because she knows the atmosphere is unusual right now, but…

Why Joy and her mother-in-law?

Let me see them both. The mother-in-law, with an apologetic expression on her face, opens her mouth.

“Son-in-law… I’m sorry. Sir William is not the type of person to do that, so why would he do such a careless thing…”

Ah… is it because I’m sorry? I know that my mother-in-law or Joy didn’t do anything in particular.

I say with a smile, thinking that they have no reason to apologize for this.

“I’m fine. There must have been some misunderstanding. And you don’t have to worry about your mother-in-law or sister-in-law. Because I know how people outside view me.”

When I say that, the atmosphere actually becomes heavier.

After seeing the three women with their heads down as if they were criminals, I look out the window and get lost in thought.

I prepared a decisive blow. It turned out to be a failure.

What William did itself is not a big risk to me.

Rather, the more problematic thing is that William abandoned the work he should have done.

Although the Kingdom of Ern and Bohemi were warned in advance, preparing for war took longer than expected.

There is a lot to do, including gathering soldiers scattered throughout each region and checking war supplies.

Although reports have not yet arrived in Roman, it would not be surprising to say that Dupol is currently being invaded.

While I was thinking about that, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace.

“Mother-in-law, please excuse me first.”

Leaving the women behind, I hurriedly get off the carriage and head to the Grand Duchy.

Before coming to Rome, a messenger was sent telling Mary to come to Rome with 20,000 troops and an order to Agrippa to quickly complete preparations.

When I enter the Grand Study, I see Lucius and Müller.

“Your Majesty the Archduke, are you here?”

I say this to those who look haggard.

“Would you like to hear the current briefing right now? Where is Victor?”

Lucius responds urgently to my words.

“Minister Victor is currently in his office.”

After hearing those words and heading to the front of the office, the soldiers hastily open the door.

“Great… Your Majesty the Archduke! Welcome!”

I say this as I look at Victor, who seems to have gotten older since I haven’t seen him.

“I would like to hear a briefing on the current situation.”

When I said that, Victor nodded.

“Roman and Dupol are in an unusual situation right now. Inside the Council, the Archduke’s ability to govern is questioned, and reports received today indicate that Nicaea has invaded the Dupol frontier.”

This was already expected.

But the biggest problem is…

“Then, where is William?”

At my words, Victor wipes his cold sweat with a handkerchief and says:

“It is said to be near the city of Aden now.”

I feel a little relieved by those words.

If you go to Aden, it will take about 5 days.

It’s already impossible to go back to Dupol.

It’s something I’ve been planning for quite a long time, but it comes to nothing and I feel discouraged.

I worked hard for so long, but…

However, we cannot just remain frustrated here.

The worst thing here is that the Golden Knights must rebel until the end and prevent them from becoming fertilizer for Roman.

“I will send a messenger.”

Victor looks hesitant at my words.

“Your Majesty… I’m sorry, but I already sent it… Is there any point in sending it again because I received an insulting reply? ”

“What was the answer?”

Victor can’t make eye contact with me when I say that.

“I asked what the answer was.”

“He… that… wants justice…”

A random definition.

I was puzzled by those words, but then I realized what William wanted to say.

Are you trying to tell me that I’m not qualified to rule the empire?

Stupid guy…

It’s stupid and foolish.

Is it just because of something like that that you messed things up like this?

I am not greedy for power.

After I finish my work, I will leave this empire without any regrets.

But… I am endlessly irritated by the situation in which William is trying to commit suicide without even knowing it, and by doing so, he is giving wings to Ioanes, who is already a burden to deal with.

“Ugh…”

My eyes suddenly hurt, so I cover one side of my face with my palm.

“Grand Duke! Are you okay?”

“Ugh… It’s okay. My eyes just hurt for a moment.”

Recently, I feel like my left eye has exploded, as if my intraocular pressure has increased, and I fall to one knee due to the painful sensation.

“Great… Great Duke!”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

The doctor says it’s due to overwork and stress, but there’s nothing they can do about it right now.

“First of all… send a messenger. Let’s talk…”

Lucius and Victor urgently come over and help me.

“Take a rest first. Aren’t you coming from far away?”

-smart.

[His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.]

I answer that question.

“Ask them to come in.”

When she comes into the office and sees me, she is surprised and says:

“You?! What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?!”

“It’s okay… just be quiet.”

I force my legs to strength and sit down on the sofa in the office, leaning back and tilting my head back.

And… I press my left eye with the back of my hand and get lost in thought.

“Lu… Lucius, call a doctor right away.”

“Yes.”

First of all, if William doesn’t want to listen to what I say, then you can handle it with Theodora’s orders.

If William tries to head to Dupol, it is obvious that he will block the road.

The shortest route from Roman to Dupol is a narrow canyon, so it is not easy to enter.

If you go in wrong, the ambush will result in great losses.

However, you cannot immediately lead a large army and go to the Kingdom of Ern and Bohemi.

My main force is in the Grand Duchy, and no matter how quickly I prepare it, it will take at least a month.

The only thing that matters is whether Ern and Bohemi listened to my warning and prepared diligently.

Basically, I like managing risk.

That’s why I hoped this situation wouldn’t happen.

By marrying Mary, Roman was vacated and Ioanes let down his guard.

That brought out the outside world.

Perhaps, if I were in Rome, even if the Golden Knights were heading to Roman, I could have taken them under Theodora’s orders.

No, in the first place, Theodora clearly gave an order in the past to consider my orders as her own?

“You… look at my eyes.”

Theodora approaches and looks at him with concern.

I usually calm down quickly. Perhaps because the situation is serious, the pain in my eyes does not subside.

“Please raise your hand slightly.”

With those words, I gently relax my hands…

The left eye looks blurry, probably due to tears.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No. are you okay. It’s like this sometimes.”

Now the pain has subsided and I can stand up.

“First of all, I will send you a letter. Lucius: Among the party that came with me, there will be people named Philip and Martin. He issued letters of appointment to the two men as commanders of the Empire and the Great Air Force and told the troops to complete preparations for war.”

“You…”

Theodora looks worried, but ignores it and continues.

“And Müller. I heard you were summoned to the Imperial Diet. How is the atmosphere in the Imperial Assembly?”

Mueller frowns at my words.

“Not very good. Overall, they were hostile towards us.”

I nod my head at those words and glance at Theodora.

Epirus and Ezip.

If they find out that the two regions were given to Ioanes, there is a high possibility that they will take unexpected action.

I tell her that I don’t think she should know this right now.

“Theodora. Can you leave for a moment?”

Theodora hesitates at my words.

“I… can’t I be there too? It’s a story about the empire, right?”

I shake my head at those words.

“Sorry… I’ll tell you later… later.”

Block any information that might interfere with controlling William.

If she loses her temper and does not cooperate with me and kills William and the Golden Knights, who are known to be loyal, it will be very difficult to bear that notoriety.

When I refused, she looked shocked and then bit her lip.

“Okay.”

As Theodora leaves the room, she gestures to Müller.

“Does the council know that I handed Epirus and Ezib over to Ioannes?”

Everyone looks puzzled at what I say.

“No? Rather, they say that Epirus and Ejib should be released according to the peace process? With Princess Joy Gun.”

“What?”

Epirus and Ezib have already left my hand. But do you want it again?

I didn’t understand for a moment, but I finally realized it.

Damn old man… are you pulling tricks like this?

He didn’t tell me on purpose that he had an affair with Epirus in order to criticize me.

“True. Send me an official letter saying I will attend the regular council meeting tomorrow.”

If you come out that dirty, you should be punished.

-Ugh…

I grind my teeth thinking of Ioannes.