Chapter 166: Heroes of the Turbulent Era 5

She had believed that hell was something to be experienced after death.

Especially since ascending to the coveted Archbishop’s seat she had long desired, that conviction had solidified.

Yet in this moment, she – Maxim Caffeora, former Archbishop of the once-flourishing city of Milano and Imperial commander of the Holy Knightly Orders – keenly felt that this very place embodied hell itself.

“Hey, can’t you clean properly? At this rate, we’ll never finish today!”

“Kuh…”

“What’s that look for? You want to die, wench?”

-THWACK!

“Kuhah!”

A devastating blow struck Maxim’s abdomen, contorting her face in agony.

The burly man mercilessly striking her served as both her guard and overseer of the servants in this rural lord’s manor.

Glaring down at the crumpled Maxim, he snarled:

“Listen up! If you don’t finish cleaning this entire place by today, you won’t even get slops to eat! An Archbishop lazing about…”

“…Kuh…”

With that parting remark, the man departed, leaving Maxim to forcibly suppress her seething rage as she resumed sweeping.

‘Damn it all… Why…? Why must I endure such indignities? Why must I – Archbishop Maxim – suffer such degradation in this wretched heretical backwater?’

Ever since being branded a traitorous informant by Mansfeld for the unintentional misinformation, her life had plummeted into utter ruin.

As recompense for that purported betrayal, Mansfeld had unceremoniously sold her into slavery – introducing her as a slightly unhinged woman to prospective buyers.

Thus, Maxim found herself serving as a menial in the remote heretical hamlet of Berlin – an unremarkable rural holdingwho’s very name she had been oblivious to prior to her sale into bondage here.

A desolate, sparsely populated place devoid of the opulence she had known in Milano. Even Maxim had been unaware of its existence until being trafficked to this wretched locale, compounding her already dismal circumstances.

‘To think I would fall to such a miserable hovel. That I, the resplendent Archbishop of Milano, would endure these humiliations in an obscure village unknown to the world…’

The more she dwelled on her former glory compared to her present plight, the more intense her resentment and hatred burned.

Consumed by these fierce emotions, Maxim ground her teeth while inwardly strategizing an escape from this dire situation.

Though utterly debased, she had not ascended to the Archbishopric through happenstance, but by deftly wielding intrigue and cunning.

Having schemed her way to such lofty heights, she remained ever vigilant, her piercing gaze scanning for any opportunity to reverse her fortunes.

‘A chance will come… It must. Archbishop Maxim cannot be reduced to such ignominy.’

The Frantzian Kingdom.

This vast Western realm had long fiercely battled the Holy Imperium to preserve its sovereignty.

Though once plagued by internal noble strife and wars with the overseas Britonian Kingdom – crises that had severely drained its national strength – a succession of capable monarchs and ministers had steered Frantzia through those perils, its renaissance now firmly underway.

At the vanguard of this resurgence stood Cardinal Richelieu – the brilliant chief minister whose renown echoed across the continent.

Day and night, Richelieu labored tirelessly for Frantzia’s glory, grappling with the myriad internal and external issues besieging the realm:

Suppressing the ever-present threat of factional noble uprisings, as well as the recent overtures of a potential Britonian royal match, among other pressing matters.

Yet chief among Richelieu’s present concerns remained their age-old adversary, whose menace persisted unabated – the Holy Imperium itself.

Embroiled in religious civil war, the Holy Imperium’s plight stemmed from its previous inept emperors’ negligence in swiftly quelling the heretical uprisings.

The price: the formation of the Heretical Alliance, a festering thorn in the Imperium’s side.

Coldly observing their travails, Richelieu pondered how Frantzia could best exploit this turmoil.

‘Certainly, the overall situation greatly favors us. With our long-standing foe, the Holy Imperium, crippled by internal strife, we need not fear their threat for some time. However, merely repelling their hypothetical aggression during this fortuitous reprieve is insufficient.’

For centuries, the Holy Imperium had reigned as the continent’s preeminent power.

Though Frantzia had admirably rebuffed their invasions, it had been a purely defensive struggle – they lacked the might to launch an outright offensive against that colossus.

Hence, Frantzia had maintained a perpetual defensive posture, ever wary of the Imperium’s looming shadow.

Yet Richelieu perceived this civil war as an unprecedented chance to upend that imbalance.

‘Fissures now appear within the great Empire. If properly exploited, we could tear it asunder. Accomplishing that would definitively eliminate the Holy Imperium’s longstanding threat to us.’

A powerful neighbor invariably posed dangers.

The ideal solution was fomenting its fracture, sapping its ability to threaten Frantzia.

‘Moreover, unlike its former glory, the Holy Imperium now wanes. Such an outcome is eminently achievable.’

To Richelieu’s eyes, the Holy Imperium resembled a setting sun, its apex passed.

In contrast, Frantzia’s ascendant star shone ever brighter, its present might unparalleled in its history.

Against that backdrop, the calculating Cardinal began devising Frantzia’s stratagem with cold pragmatism:

‘Yet it remains premature for Frantzia to directly intervene. Despite their infighting, overt involvement from our long-standing foe would surely rouse immense suspicion. An indirect approach, exacerbating their turmoil, would prove wiser.’

When hunting prey, one first released the hounds.

Especially in the present circumstance, where ample prospective pawns were already positioning themselves.

Indeed, Richelieu had spotted ideal candidates already making their opening moves – ones he could adroitly maneuver.

‘The alliance between Elector Friedrich and Duke Christopher IV of the Märkish domains… Truthfully, I would prefer directly backing the Heretical Alliance, but their stance remains too guarded. I shall observe further before deciding.’

With that thought, Richelieu promptly dispatched a missive to Elector Friedrich.

An enigmatic letter in which a Church faction like Frantzia proposed an alliance with a heretical figure like the Elector to jointly defeat the Church’s forces…