Ch.154Neighboring Countries (6)

“…What?”

I should never give such a dumbfounded response as it would seriously damage my image, but I can’t help it. Wouldn’t anyone react the same way if they heard such news?

“Could you… repeat that?”

“The King of Lotharingia has melted down both the ring and scepter of Neustria and used them as decorations for his crown…”

…That madman.

When I was in Dijon, I thought he was just eccentric but had a realistic sense about him, but to do something like this.

Not only did he destroy Neustria’s ring and scepter, but he turned them into crown decorations? Isn’t this clearly a sign that he’s picking a fight with Albion?

No, that doesn’t even begin to explain it. If he simply wanted to oppose us, a declaration that the Duchy of Neustria would never be returned would have been sufficient.

To do this to Albion’s royal family’s lost treasures isn’t just opposition—it’s like slapping someone across the face, challenging them to an all-out brawl.

“…And the King of Lotharingia explained that he did it because the nobles kept claiming legitimacy over the Duchy of Neustria, so he eliminated it altogether… is that right?”

“Yes, Your Highness…”

Indeed, it’s likely that many nobles, not just those from Albion, claimed legitimacy over the Duchy of Neustria. Given its long history, most nobles have some blood connection to Neustria.

But that hardly justifies such an action. I simply cannot understand it.

Sure, the King of Lotharingia might have been annoyed by these claims of legitimacy, but they weren’t actually threatening him, were they? He could have just told them to get lost and kept the artifacts safely stored away. Why go to the extreme of melting them down and turning them into crown decorations?

With this, all future claims and demands regarding Neustria will clearly disappear. Even though the Duchy of Neustria had been outwardly destroyed, as long as the ring and scepter remained, there was a possibility it could be revived someday, like the New Kingdom of Lotharingia. But now, that possibility has completely vanished.

To risk war just to eliminate an annoyance—truly the thinking of a madman—wait a moment.

‘Even if war breaks out, would Lotharingia really fear it?’

No matter how much Albion might rage, it cannot exert physical force against Lotharingia.

Even if it tried, its power would be severely limited. The sea makes it difficult for Lotharingia to invade Albion, but conversely, it also makes it difficult for Albion to invade Lotharingia.

Even though Albion is a maritime nation with extensive knowledge of navigation, supplying an army across the sea is an entirely different matter from coastal navigation.

An army isn’t some band of barbaric raiders from centuries ago. In modern times, with the increased weight of military forces, armies require continuous supplies. It would be extremely difficult for Albion to invade Lotharingia-Carolingia. Moreover, Albion has no territory on the continent, so it would need to conduct landing operations, and even after landing, it would struggle to defeat Lotharingia’s powerful land army.

Disguising the navy as pirates to plunder Lotharingia-Carolingia’s coastlines and merchant ships would be feasible, but then Albion’s merchants would also be exposed to similar dangers from Lotharingia’s retaliation. Additionally, all Albion merchants would be banned from entering Lotharingia-Carolingia, which would be a critical blow to Albion, for whom trade with Carolingia remains important despite expanding markets to the Empire.

If the King of Lotharingia considered all this before committing such an act… haha, what a madman.

“…It’s his own form of revenge, I suppose.”

“Revenge… you say?”

“Yes, the King of Lotharingia must have been furious at Edward’s demand to return Neustria. This is likely his revenge.”

It’s truly a malicious and vile form of revenge.

If Edward does nothing, he’ll suffer a major blow to his prestige and might seriously have to consider rebellion. If Edward raises an army, he won’t be able to inflict meaningful damage on Lotharingia-Carolingia. Instead, he’ll suffer significant losses due to the backlash from mobilizing troops.

“Well, this has nothing to do with me. It’s solely a matter for the Albion royal family, so I’ll stay out of it.”

Wow, what a relief.

If I still held some official position like before, I would have racked my brain trying to resolve this issue. But now, I enjoy complete freedom without any official duties.

Until just a moment ago, I felt nothing but vague anger and hatred toward that bastard Edward who completely expelled me from power, but now I feel nothing of the sort.

You all figure it out. It’s none of my business.

……….

“Mobilize the army immediately!!”

“Your Majesty, please reconsider.”

“Reconsider? RECONSIDER? How can you say such a thing now?!”

Damn it… damn it all…!

My plan to retrieve at least Neustria’s ring and scepter by bringing in the Empire has completely fallen apart.

No, it’s worse than that. It feels like that plan has suddenly transformed into a dagger, mercilessly stabbing me.

“Currently, Albion lacks the capacity for a foreign expedition…!”

“Grrrr…”

Damn it.

It’s humiliating that I can’t refute this.

As the chancellor said, current Albion cannot afford an all-out war with Lotharingia. The defense treaty with the Empire is only effective for defensive wars, meaning Albion would have to fight Lotharingia-Carolingia alone, which carries extreme risk.

Moreover, even if we won the war, there would be nothing to gain. Trade with Lotharingia-Carolingia would be completely ruined, severely worsening domestic conditions, and the Duchy of Neustria has already been completely destroyed, leaving nothing to claim.

All we could gain would be some prestige and honor. While that might be sufficient reason to start a war… I want tangible benefits.

“Gah…! Are you saying we should just sit back and watch that Lotharingian bastard get away with this?! Huh?!”

“What I mean is that a physical expedition is not the only way to resolve this issue!”

“…Explain in detail.”

What I can do now is everything except military action.

The fact that Neustria’s ring and scepter, which could be considered lost treasures of the Albion royal family, have disappeared like this means, conversely, that any action I take will be completely justified.

Even nobles who were on bad terms with me wouldn’t dare oppose the royal family after such humiliation. Rather, they’ll desperately pretend not to notice to avoid getting involved in this mess.

“We must strongly protest to the King of Lotharingia while mobilizing all diplomatic channels to pressure Lotharingia.”

“You mean spread rumors and find allies?”

“Yes, we should spread malicious rumors to damage Lotharingia’s reputation, and use that damaged reputation to build an alliance against Lotharingia. Ah, how fortunate that we have a defense treaty with the Holy Empire. Your Majesty’s foresight is truly remarkable.”

“Hmm, hmm…”

That wasn’t my intention when forming the alliance… well, since I’m the only one who knows that, I’ll take this secret to my grave.

…Tsk, I formed the alliance to use the Empire, but ironically, it’s because of the Empire’s nobles that this disaster has occurred.

……….

Wow… quite the uproar indeed.

The people of Lotharingia and Carolingia seem to have found great satisfaction in giving a big middle finger to the nobles of Albion and the Empire who made unreasonable demands. There was even a play called “The Foolish King of Albion” performed in the center of Dijon recently.

Of course, the nobles’ reactions were different. Some rejoiced like the common people at the Albion king’s humiliation, but there were many nobles within Lotharingia and Carolingia who had connections to the Duchy of Neustria, and not a few of them publicly expressed their displeasure, like the nobles of Albion and the Empire.

Even if they had no intention of claiming legitimacy, it’s understandable they’d be upset when a venerable duchy with which they had connections was suddenly and completely destroyed, vanishing into the annals of history.

“But since it lives on as a decoration on the Lotharingian crown, the Duchy of Neustria hasn’t completely disappeared, has it?”

“…Your Majesty.”

“I’m joking, joking.”

As I touch the new decoration on the crown while saying this, Ines, standing nearby, looks at me with dead eyes, as if she can’t believe what I’m saying.

This incident seems to have been a great shock to Ines as well. Well, assassinating the troublesome Albion king would be one thing, but completely destroying a venerable duchy would be unimaginable to Ines, who was born a noble.

“Leclerc, is there any sign of collective action from the nobles who have expressed dissatisfaction?”

“None, Your Majesty. They merely complain that your actions were too cruel, but there are no nobles in current Lotharingia and Carolingia willing to rebel for a duchy that has already been destroyed.”

Ugh… judging by the strange emphasis on the word “cruel,” it seems Leclerc was quite shocked as well.

I can’t promise I won’t do something like this again, but if I find myself in a similar position next time, I should try to exercise more restraint.