Ch.234Conflict (1)

“…It seems this is our first face-to-face meeting.”

What’s this now?

I thought he was surrendering obediently, but… as expected, that was a misplaced hope.

“Due to your small entourage, I thought you might be someone other than the Emperor.”

This bastard came alone to surrender while secretly sending all his remaining troops back to the Empire.

They say you should be most careful when things seem to be going smoothly. How right that is.

‘Sigh.’

Glancing sideways at Simon, I see his face has turned deathly pale.

We’ve sent pursuit forces to hunt down the stragglers, but it seems they haven’t managed to capture all the fleeing nobles and soldiers.

Well… I can’t really blame him since I was fooled too, but it’s still disappointing.

“…”

When I shift my gaze from Simon back to the Emperor, he’s wearing a peculiar expression—something between disgust and amusement.

…This bastard is clearly delighted to see me getting screwed over.

What a pointless nuisance. With the Emperor captured, the Empire has no future anyway.

“Why did you save all your troops? Don’t tell me you intend to continue the war even after what just happened?”

“Is there right or wrong in trying to save as many lives as possible?”

“Save as many lives as possible…?”

What is he talking about now?

He did this to save as many lives as possible? Nonsense. If he truly cared about lives, wouldn’t he have surrendered much earlier?

No, if he had completely surrendered to me from the start, everyone could have safely returned to the Empire without being hunted down by pursuit forces.

I really can’t understand his way of thinking.

‘…Does he think I would indiscriminately kill prisoners?’

Given my terrible reputation, it’s not completely absurd, but still… isn’t this too much?

I clearly declared that prisoners would be protected in my name. If he doesn’t believe that, he must think I’m a complete idiot.

“Your Majesty seems to think I’m quite evil?”

“Did you not know?”

“…At least maintain some courtesy.”

…He talks too much for someone who was willing to sacrifice his soldiers for his petty pride.

“If you had surrendered from the beginning or withdrawn your army without fighting, innocent people wouldn’t have died, would they?”

“Withdrawn the army…?”

“Yes, as someone who serves God, the indiscriminate killing of soldiers, even enemy ones, is terribly—”

“Haha… Withdraw without stating any conditions? No one placed on the imperial throne would ever do such a thing.”

“…I can assure you that no monarch would sit idle when asked to acknowledge things they haven’t done and reduce their military forces upon arrival.”

He even interrupts me mid-sentence and twists events to criticize me.

So he’s blaming me for being driven away before I could even make demands because his army was too arrogant? Huh… really.

“Ahem, anyway… I’m glad the war is over now. Since we’re protecting His Majesty the Emperor of the Holy Empire, the discord between our countries that began with minor misunderstandings will disappear, and peace will return.”

“…”

The nobles who witnessed the battle’s devastation won’t likely band together to resist, and with the Emperor in my hands, the Holy Empire won’t be able to take any significant action.

In an era where the state and monarch are inseparable—unlike modern times where they might be considered separately—the capture of a foreign monarch in the medieval period essentially means anarchy for that country.

After all, the very definition of treason or rebellion means opposing the monarch, the ruler of the state. Capturing a monarch is equivalent to holding the life and death of a foreign nation in your hands.

‘Hmm… still, if I go too far with this, the backlash would be severe, so I should settle for some territorial concessions and reparations as spoils of victory.’

Like using the authority of an imprisoned sovereign, I could imprison the Emperor and extract various rights and territories from the Empire, but the situation is different here. There are people everywhere who genuinely believe I assassinated the Emperor, and such actions would lead to endless rebellions.

Of course, I could crush all rebels, but what’s the point of acquiring territory if I have to kill everyone each time a rebellion occurs? Territory is acquired to be used, not just to color in a map.

“Would it be possible to issue an order in Your Majesty’s name for them to cease combat?”

“…Do as you please.”

“Thank you for your cooperation. Please don’t take this too negatively—it’s necessary for peace.”

Whew… I was worried at first, but this ended better than expected.

From now on, I need to ensure there’s no more war. How many wars have I fought since my coronation?

……….

[They say they cannot obey orders issued in the name of an Emperor who has been deposed and reduced to merely the Duke of Östermark!]

[The Holy Empire has crowned the Margrave of Meissen, a heretic, as the new Emperor!]

[The newly enthroned Emperor claims that all previous wars were solely the doing of the Duke of Östermark and that the Holy Empire had nothing to do with them. The Emperor has sent a personal letter hoping for a good resolution with the Duke of Östermark—]

‘…Fuck.’

What… is happening right now?

Not only has the Emperor been deposed, but they’re denying the defeat and even pretending the war never happened?

Even more surprising is the Emperor’s—the one I’m holding captive—decision.

[It seems the Emperor declared his abdication before the nobles just before surrendering. That’s why the Holy Empire was able to replace him so quickly!]

“That crazy bastard…”

A person with medieval sensibilities voluntarily giving up his title?

This is beyond ordinary human thinking. He must be severely twisted somewhere.

“Where is the Emperor now?”

“He’s resting in his private chamber.”

“…I bet he’s laughing gleefully in there. To pull such a trick on me.”

I thought his expression was strange when he was first captured—a mix of disgust and mockery.

Such an expression made no sense in that situation, but now I understand why… tsk.

“Yes, and… he also said there’s no need for such good treatment since he’s no longer the Emperor.”

“…”

This won’t do. This absolutely won’t do.

I was planning to send the Emperor back to the Empire and settle this war with some territorial concessions and substantial reparations, but if the Emperor is going to act like this… being patient would make me a fool.

“Increase security measures for the Emperor. No outsiders should be allowed contact with him due to assassination threats.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And I will issue a proclamation to the Empire in the Emperor’s name.”

He says he’s no longer the Emperor?

I can’t allow that. Since when does an emperor voluntarily abandon his title?

“What will the proclamation say?”

“The Margrave of Meissen is a traitor who has usurped the imperial throne by falsifying our orders. Those who are loyal to our will and to the Crown should fight against this traitor. Those serving the traitor should recognize their shame and withdraw their service, and those loyal subjects willing to fight the traitor should take up arms and come to the Duchy of Lorraine.”

“…!”

Leclerc’s eyes widen dramatically upon hearing my order. The consequences of this command must be crystal clear in his mind.

The Empire will be thrown into utter chaos—torn apart even more severely than during the crusade against heretics.

“Have you already spoken with the Duke of Lorraine?”

“No, I’ll have to work on that gradually.”

It might sound irresponsible, but my father-in-law likely won’t mind this situation. If he were the type to be bothered by such things, he wouldn’t have asked when we would go to war with the Holy Empire during peacetime.

He’ll probably see this as an opportunity to expand House Lorraine’s influence and be quite pleased.

“Besides, without the Duke of Lorraine, there’s nowhere to accommodate the Emperor’s loyalists. We can’t bring them into the Kingdom of Lotharing when we were just fighting each other. And if I entrust them to nobles of the Holy Empire with no connection to us, they’ll be beyond my control.”

“…That’s true.”

The Duke of Lorraine is one of the few nobles who maintained neutrality in this war without mobilizing troops. With blood ties, political closeness, and no history of military hostility toward me, he’s the optimal choice for this task.

“Then will you send the Emperor to the Duchy of Lorraine as well? No matter what the proclamation says, if the Emperor remains in Dijon, some will surely doubt its authenticity.”

“No, that would allow the Emperor to escape my influence. He must remain imprisoned in Dijon while my will, disguised as the Emperor’s, is conveyed to his loyalists. Besides, it doesn’t matter if they doubt its authenticity.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Even if they doubt it, what can they do in the unprecedented situation where an Emperor has been deposed during his lifetime? Would you think I would voluntarily give up my throne?”

“Absolutely not. Even in defeat, a monarch abdicating is unthinkable.”

In a feudal worldview without modern civic consciousness, the state is the monarch and the monarch is the state. It makes no sense for a monarch to abdicate to take responsibility for the state’s defeat. This remains true even in the Holy Empire with its elective monarchy.

This means that even if they doubt the proclamation, no one will doubt that the Emperor was unjustly deposed. Even if some nobles heard the Emperor say he would abdicate, they would be few, and it would be highly convincing to claim the Margrave of Meissen bribed them.

Emperor, I’ll make you witness with your own eyes the consequences of your unnecessary scheming.