Ch.66King (1)
by fnovelpia
I’m fucked.
No matter how I think about it, I’m fucked.
From the moment this Lotharing Kingdom’s ring came to me, Bourgogne was already closely entangled in that mess.
Judging by the mention of allies and such in the letter, the Emperor must have spread this news far and wide. To ensure I couldn’t back out midway.
‘None of the options lead anywhere good.’
If I refuse and return this ring to the Emperor, not only will my prestige plummet endlessly, but all the nobles in the country, regardless of whether they’re from House Bourgogne or not, will go absolutely berserk. And handing it over to a third party is unthinkable. Though I’ve been generous with bribes and favors, such trivial things can’t possibly cover up an issue of this magnitude.
But to proclaim myself King of Lotharing with this ring? While I have legitimacy since most of Bourgogne’s territory once belonged to the Lotharing Kingdom, plus I have the royal seal, there’s a very high chance that both the Pope and the Carolingian Kingdom would strongly disapprove.
The Pope even recently offered to crown me as King of Bourgogne. And now suddenly Bourgogne is sending mercenaries to the Empire in exchange for the Lotharing Kingdom’s ring? The Pope will likely go ballistic, accusing me of disrespecting him and siding with heretics.
With the Church and Crusader forces rampaging right next door potentially turning their blades toward Bourgogne’s homeland, and the Church territories within our borders possibly causing trouble under the Holy See’s orders.
‘The most likely outcome is… ugh, fighting is the only option.’
But then again, I can’t possibly choose to discard the ring that has fallen into my hands.
If I choose to fight, Bourgogne might be reduced to tatters, but it could survive intact. If I return the ring or hand it over to someone else, Bourgogne would completely fracture.
‘Above all, the history of the Lotharing Kingdom concerns me somewhat.’
As evidenced by the Lotharing Kingdom’s ring being in the Empire’s possession, the Lotharing Kingdom was absorbed by the Empire as a vassal state, then perished without leaving an heir, torn into several duchies.
So if I proclaim myself King of Lotharing with this ring, there’s a slight possibility that I might be considered a vassal of the Holy Empire, since nominally the vassal relationship hasn’t been severed yet.
…Could this have been calculated too?
‘No, that’s going too far. The Emperor’s side will probably draw the line first.’
If I become the King of Lotharing, I could claim legitimacy over all territories that were once part of Lotharing’s domain. And if I enter as a vassal of the Holy Empire in this state, it would provide an opportunity to legally swallow up Lotharing territories within the Holy Empire.
Even for an Emperor desperate for allies and military power, the emergence of an extremely powerful vassal that could overturn domestic politics would be quite burdensome.
Probably since the former Lotharing Kingdom’s lineage has already been broken once, they’ll argue that the newly formed Lotharing Kingdom is different from the previous one. Something along those lines.
…I have no choice but to accept it.
……….
The negotiations ended successfully.
In exchange for sending about 10,000 troops as mercenaries to the Emperor and paying a lump sum of 20 times the annual revenue from the purchased territories, the Emperor relinquished ownership of those territories and recognized Bourgogne as the Lotharing Kingdom, while simultaneously declaring that this Lotharing is a separate entity from the Lotharing of the past.
Seeing this, nobles around the world took deep interest and curiosity in the revival of the prestigious Lotharing Kingdom, trying to gather information by any means, while nobles in the borderlands, as they always had, only cared about their own domains and didn’t pay much attention to the Lotharing matter.
However, the Pope feels neither interest nor indifference, but only rage.
“This… this…! How could this happen?!”
The Pope’s trembling roar echoes loudly. Due to the spaciousness of the church, his roar becomes an echo that torments the ears of everyone present.
“Your Holiness, please calm yourself.”
“You must avoid anger. You cannot collapse again.”
“Huff… haaah…”
The aged Pope, drained of all energy, slowly sits down with the support of his attendants.
But despite being completely exhausted, the anger in the Pope’s eyes hasn’t disappeared.
“Haaah… Cardinal, what do you think is the Duke of Bourgogne’s intention?”
“…It’s unlikely that he means to antagonize the Holy See.”
“What?”
Surprised by the unexpected answer, the Pope glares at the Cardinal, looking him up and down slowly, but the Cardinal firmly continues his argument.
“Bourgogne, with its territory adjacent to the Holy Empire and weakened by frequent wars, would have found it very uncomfortable to accept Your Holiness’s proposal to join the Crusade. At that time, if an offer came from the excommunicated one to simply lend troops as mercenaries in exchange for a crown, it would have seemed like a very good deal.”
“No, no. Seeing how he dispatched mercenaries to the Empire to oppose the Crusade despite being weakened, and immediately accepted a crown from a sinner right after rejecting our offer of a crown, this indicates that the Duke of Bourgogne’s faith is extremely low.”
“…Your Holiness!”
As soon as the Pope finishes speaking, several cardinals around him call out with wide eyes.
They could predict with certainty, as if gifted with prophetic abilities, what the Pope would say next, since he doesn’t separate politics from faith.
Wasn’t this how the Emperor’s excommunication happened in the first place?
“It cannot be! If we turn Bourgogne into an enemy, the Crusade will fail!”
“Your Holiness, please remain calm—”
“Silence! Are you suggesting we should just leave the Duke of Bourgogne be?! This is a matter of the Holy See’s authority!”
The Pope’s outburst instantly silences everyone around him.
Well, he’s not wrong. Rejecting the Holy See’s proposal only to immediately accept a similar offer from the Empire is clearly disrespectful to the Holy See.
Afraid of the Empire so he didn’t accept the Pope’s offer? Doesn’t that mean he’s not afraid of the Pope, which is why he accepted the Empire’s proposal?
“…We will lodge a strong protest with the Duke of Bourgogne. So please remain calm until this Crusade is over.”
“Grrrr… Fine, I understand…”
However, the Pope reluctantly backs down due to the persuasion of numerous cardinals. No matter how devout he is, he cannot openly disregard the opinions of so many cardinals opposing him.
“Please move His Holiness inside so he can rest comfortably.”
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
The Pope exits with the support of his attendants, and the remaining clergy look at each other and the Pope’s back, sighing through their expressions.
Lodging a strong protest without angering the Duke of Bourgogne—satisfying these conditions is extremely difficult.
……….
“Long live the Kingdom of Lotharing! Long live King Claude!”
“May God protect Your Majesty!”
‘…This is excruciating.’
After the coronation ceremony presided over by Armand, when I raise my hand high to show the Lotharing ring on my middle finger, everyone gathered at the coronation hall shouts and cheers.
Among them, those belonging to House Bourgogne are so ecstatic it would be no exaggeration to say they’ve completely lost their minds.
Although the country is no longer the Duchy of Bourgogne, what matters to them isn’t the name of the country but the family—they’re absolutely thrilled that I, despite being a bastard, have ascended to the throne.
‘Who knew the high would be this good.’
All the complaints—about not participating in the Crusade and missing out on benefits, about rejecting the Pope’s offer and losing the chance to become king, about my illegitimate birth—all instantly vanished the moment I proclaimed the restoration of the Lotharing Kingdom.
And not only did I proclaim the restoration of the Lotharing Kingdom, but I also expanded its territory, so how could they not be pleased?
Of course, that territory was purchased for a fair price, but most nobles view money as trivial compared to territory, so in their eyes, I simply expanded territory and became king.
“Your Majesty, congratulations.”
“Ah, Leclerc. Thank you for your hard work.”
At that moment, Leclerc approaches and greets me.
From assisting me with state affairs all this time to going to the Empire to negotiate on my behalf while I had to remain in Dijon, it would have been extremely difficult without Leclerc until now.
“Is the crown comfortable?”
“It’s much heavier than the ducal one. But, not bad.”
Unlike the ring that remained intact, the Lotharing crown was stored in the Imperial Treasury with half of it lost, and Leclerc retrieved it through negotiation.
Originally, that half-remaining crown should have been restored according to historical records, but since the current Lotharing Kingdom is not entirely the same as the past Lotharing Kingdom, it needed to be shown as such. So it was combined with the existing Bourgogne ducal crown, making it quite different from the Lotharing crown described in historical records.
In other words, the overall shape is that of the Lotharing crown, but the details have been arranged in the Bourgogne style.
“Really… what’s so special about this crown that makes everyone so happy?”
I had dispatched troops to the territories purchased from the Empire expecting major unrest, but they say the people there were greatly rejoicing at being freed from the Empire and the restoration of the ancient kingdom.
To think that all the problems I anticipated would be solved just by wearing a crown… it’s quite amazing but also somewhat perplexing.
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