Ch.68King (3)

[“Since you have inherited the Rotharing Kingdom, you also inherit its obligations.”

“Return the territories that belong to Caroling immediately as per the treaty!!”]

‘…This is driving me insane.’

While most of the envoys sent by Caroling participated sincerely in the negotiations, a few troublemakers caused a major incident.

They shouted loudly and treated me rudely in front of my retainers, as if I were beneath them? Are they mad?

This clearly wasn’t what the Caroling King wanted, and when he receives the news, he’ll have quite the headache on his hands.

“We must teach Caroling a lesson immediately, this is absolutely intolerable!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please make a decisive judgment!!”

‘Sigh…’

Whether the Caroling King wanted this or not, this is clearly grounds for war. If I don’t declare war, my honor and authority will be severely diminished.

But the problem is that we lack the resources—we’re stretched far too thin.

The consecutive wars have increased our officers’ experience, but they’ve also depleted our soldiers, and we haven’t fully recovered yet. Of course, we could fill the numbers, but that doesn’t address the issue of the soldiers’ skill level.

To make matters worse, our only complete army is currently serving as mercenaries in the Empire.

Right now, the Burgund—no, the Rotharing Kingdom only has incomplete armies and inexperienced soldiers. True, we still have excellent officers, but with the troops in such a state… sigh.

“Has Aras returned?”

“Yes, he was supposed to be under house arrest for a year as planned, but given the circumstances, he has been returned to active duty by Your Majesty’s order.”

“I see… We’ll need to draft a declaration of war.”

“…!”

At the mention of a declaration of war, the nobles gathered in the council chamber stir with excitement.

At this point, internal affairs are more important to Rotharing than war, but if we don’t go to war, cooperation with the nobles—who are essential for internal governance—will be completely ruined, so there’s no choice.

Ah… I really don’t want to go to war.

Who was it that said? Even if I have no interest in war, war has an interest in me. That’s exactly the situation.

Tsk, I suppose I should start a war but aim to end it quickly.

“However, this will be a war solely for honor, and no other conditions should be attached. Otherwise, wouldn’t it tarnish our honor?”

“Other conditions, Your Majesty…?”

“I mean we shouldn’t make territorial conquest or financial compensation our objectives. Personally, I want those who insulted me to be reduced to the status of commoners.”

It seems most of the nobles gathered here were planning to achieve military merits and then claim ownership of territories or wealth taken from Caroling during the war.

But if we demand territory from Caroling as a condition for peace, they will fight to the death. It’s different from Barthe. They’ve already lost territory in a previous defeat, and suffering another defeat would be truly terrible from Caroling’s perspective.

From my position of wanting to end the war quickly, Caroling’s territory is of no use to me. I’d have to distribute it to the nobles who distinguished themselves anyway, and it would only prolong the war—so why take it?

“…That’s…”

But the nobles can’t voice their complaints.

Of course not. For nobles who value honor above all else, my statement about wanting to reduce those who insulted me to commoners is an extremely cruel and powerful demand, and it perfectly aligns with the justification of restoring honor.

Above all, the only parties in this war are the Rotharing King whose honor was damaged and the Caroling ruffians who made those statements. From the cause of war to what spoils to claim, Claude, the King of Rotharing, has no need to listen to other nobles’ opinions.

The nobles, knowing this all too well, are rendered speechless by Claude’s statement.

“Have all the Caroling envoys left?”

“The troublemakers were immediately expelled, but two still remain, awaiting Your Majesty’s orders.”

“Good, we should give them the declaration of war and a personal letter, then send them back to their country.”

“By personal letter, you mean…?”

“I said personal, do you need to know?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

The Caroling King must be extremely bewildered by this sudden situation, so if I include our position in a personal letter, he should be able to understand my intentions and respond accordingly.

He will probably try to resolve the situation by handing over the nobles who made the disrespectful remarks.

Ah, is this an option that cannot be chosen by a lord who has a feudal obligation to protect his vassals? Well, he could put them on the front lines and deliberately have them captured or killed.

Hmm… I can’t handle any more war; I hope this ends quickly.

……….

“Is everyone alright?”

“Ye-es… Of course I’m fi—oof…”

“Thank you for your concern.”

After things were mostly settled, I was resting in the bedroom shared by Chloe and Ines.

Of course, “shared” only means they’re in the same large room with a bed at each end, separated by a massive curtain.

Originally, I wanted to give Chloe and Ines separate rooms, but that would have greatly upset whoever I visited second, and due to their inexplicably strong insistence, they ended up sharing.

Leclerc reported that the servants were pointing fingers and whispering behind their backs, but thanks to Ines stepping in to maintain discipline, such talk has ceased.

“None of my clothes fit anymore, so I had to get new ones. I wanted to make clothes to show you myself, brother…”

“No, with your belly growing so much, you shouldn’t be making anything yourself. You need to rest properly from now on.”

“Hehe… yes…”

Though I scolded her, Chloe seems even happier.

With a flushed face, she gently caresses her swollen belly as if it’s precious.

“…Ah, aah!”

Thump—

“Ines?!”

Just then, a short cry came from Ines nearby, followed by the sound of something falling roughly onto the bed.

Startled, I turned to see Ines, who had been sitting on the bed looking at me just moments ago, now lying down with her hand on her forehead.

“Are you okay? What’s this suddenly—”

“Ah, hahaha… I’m sorry. My head is throbbing a bit, so it seems to be simple anemia.”

“There’s nothing simple about it. If it’s anemia… right, you need to eat lots of meat and rest well? Good, I’ll tell the chef to include plenty of meat in both your meals from now on.”

“Hehe… Thank you, my lord.”

Ines thanks me with a bright smile, snuggling into my arms. She’s so beautiful and cute that her true nature seems like a mere dream.

“Ugh… Brother, I feel a bit dizzy too.”

“Really? Ah, of course you would.”

At that moment, Chloe on the opposite side of the room also let out a short groan and complained of anemia, just like Ines.

Both Chloe and Ines are carrying children, so it’s natural they would experience anemia.

Hmm… I was too careless. I should have prepared countermeasures for anemia in advance.

“Let me see… hmm, your face is a bit pale.”

The situation seems more serious than I expected.

Chloe’s face, which wasn’t like this just moments ago, has become slightly pale.

I’m too worried to leave them like this. I should stay by their side until their symptoms improve.

……….

“Haaaaaah…”

“Your Majesty, that pretender—”

“Silence, you’re interrupting my thoughts.”

They could have just collected the money and been done with it, but they caused a major incident and still have the audacity to act proud?

Tsk… I included people from various factions in the delegation to Rotharing to manage the factions, but who knew it would turn into such a poison.

Seeing that the troublemakers all belong to a faction dominated by aggressive young nobles, it’s clear they deliberately provoked Rotharing.

Whether it was truly for honor, for national glory, or because they thought war would advance their careers, I don’t know… but did they have to go this far?

“Hmmmm…”

It seems the bastard king was also very reluctant to wage this war.

While the public declaration of war was filled with all kinds of aggressive language, his personal letter talked about friendship between the two countries, an unwanted war, and so on, before stating that he would be satisfied and withdraw if he obtained the bodies or persons of the nobles who insulted him.

Of course, if we could end this war with just a few nobles who caused trouble, it would be very beneficial, but if war breaks out and I hand over my vassals as prisoners to the enemy… well, terrible things would surely happen.

…Let’s try something.

“Would you gentlemen like to lead the vanguard in this war?”

“R-really?! Yes, if you would… if you would grant us this honor, we will surely bring victory—”

‘…How predictable.’

That reaction confirms it. These bastards clearly provoked Rotharing with the aim of distinguishing themselves in war to advance their careers.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so excited at the mention of the vanguard. The vanguard, of course, is the role that can earn the most merit in war.

“Now that war has broken out, there is only one option. Issue a call to arms to all vassals throughout the country. You will lead the vanguard of my army.”

“Your Majesty…! Thank you, we will certainly repay your trust—”

How noisy.

Even if I say vanguard, I won’t give them command authority. They’re fools who dragged the country into war for their own benefit, aren’t they? I’ll just have them act as figureheads beside the real commanders, pretending to lead.

Then I can hint to the commanders leading the vanguard, and they’ll arrange for these men to be captured by Rotharing during battle.

If that’s not possible, I can simply have them “honorably killed in action.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. I will immediately issue the call to arms to all vassals across the country.”

Some retainers seem to have caught on to my intentions, their expressions suddenly hardening, but they don’t appear inclined to interfere with what I need to do.

Of course, they must hate having their precious private soldiers constantly called up for war. Especially since this is an offensive war, not defensive, so they have no grounds to refuse.

At this rate, even if these damned fools don’t get captured or die in battle, they’ll probably end up drinking poison and dying soon enough.

I should be thanked for giving them the chance to die honorably on the battlefield rather than dying quietly without anyone knowing.