episode_0011

I received a letter saying that my father had collapsed. I missed that letter.

“Wagon. No, words.”

It’s not a carriage. If you ride a carriage in this situation, you will be late.

“Bring the horse! That’s me!”

shouted to the knights. Asilia opened the door and came in.

“What’s going on?”

“Father collapsed! We have to climb the mountain right now! Bring my horse!”

“Oh my! Get your horses ready!”

Asilia immediately stepped forward and began arranging the horses. It seemed as though the servants and soldiers had been struck by lightning during the night.

The horses were ready during the night, not as a result of the servants and knights being busy for a while.

“Well, my lord. It was late at night. As you know, riding a horse in the mountains at night is quite dangerous… ”

The knights tried to stop me, but I shook them off.

“Shut up! My father has fallen! I can’t sit still like this!”

My voice was so loud that many servants and soldiers followed me out of the castle. However, it wasn’t just servants and soldiers who came out.

“Brother!”

A voice came from somewhere. When I turned around, Lucille was there.

“Lucille?”

“Where are you going?”

“My father collapsed. You know that. People in my family are weak. I have to go right now.”

“Don’t go.”

“What does that mean? My father collapsed!”

“It is dangerous for both the current head of the family and the next head of the family to rise to the top. If two people die in one place, who will fill the power vacuum?”

“What? Who killed my father and me at the same time?”

Instead of answering, Lucille looked at me quietly. He looked like he really didn’t know. And I soon realized.

‘Master…’ ‘

Henrik von Setia. A man who rose to the throne through numerous betrayals. It wouldn’t be surprising if the man did anything to strengthen his power.

“Then what should I do? My father collapsed.”

Even though he was not my real father, he treated me like a real father. He fell, but we can’t just pretend not to notice.

“I’ll go.”

“What? Are you?”

“Yes. If I go, nothing will happen. Even if the current head of the family or his daughter is killed while the next head of the family is alive, there will be no benefit.”

“Ah… ”

“Get off.”

Lucille quietly held out her hand. I had no choice but to hold her hand.

“Asilia, carriage.”

“Yes.”

After Lucille left, I could only stare blankly at her back.

—–

2 weeks later. Lucille is back. With my father.

In order not to worry me, Lucille continued to send me letters writing about my father’s condition and the atmosphere at Torgenberg Castle. Thanks to that, I was much less anxious.

When my father came back, I asked him.

“Are you feeling well?”

“It’s okay. I rested so much that I felt frustrated.”

“What did you say the name of the disease was?”

“It’s called overwork. What has been building up since I was young has exploded now.”

“Ah… ”

That’s definitely understandable. This is because my father took charge of the family’s major and minor affairs alone.

“They say you should get enough rest. Otherwise… ”

After that, he didn’t need to say anything. But I could predict what the next words would be.

My father, who had been walking for a while, suddenly asked.

“Son.”

“Yes, father.”

“Would you be able to do well if you became a lord?”

“… ”

What does that mean? My father’s condition.

Are you so bad that you even think about giving up reading?

“For that, I have received training so far. I am confident.”

It would be better for me to inherit reading skills quickly. Only then will my father be able to rest in peace.

“Then… ”

“Yes.”

“It’s nothing. You can do well.”

What was my father trying to say?

I don’t know yet, but I want to do what I can for my father.

—–

Henrik von Setia provided a large amount of gold coins and military supplies to the Leona forces as planned.

Upon learning of this, Kreuzel von Krusenstein sent an official declaration of war to the Setia family.

However, Crozel never led an army to invade Setia. This is because to the north of Crozel was Henrik von Setia and to the south was Leona von Krusenstein.

If you attack the north, they will attack from the south. If you attack the south, they will attack from the north. Crozel was unable to do anything and was just dragged along by the two-faced attack, which was like an attack on Seongdong.

Meanwhile, while Leona was dealing with Clozel, there was no war at all in the Setia family, and peace continued like that. Peace brought about by rival civil war. Our army’s warehouses were filled with gold coins and soldiers, and these gold coins and soldiers would one day become military supplies and strengthen our army.

Meanwhile, my father Georg von Mayer retired. Because of that, I naturally became the head of the family.

However, there were still many shortcomings before I could say that the family name was mine. This is because there were still more subjects loyal to my father than those loyal to me. If my father and I have different opinions about some big incident, my father’s opinion will have more weight.

In this game, Arcadia, there were many cases where the retired former head of the family reigned like a king. So not much has actually changed yet. It was just that I received the name Gaju a little early.

Therefore, I was always and everywhere careful in my conduct, and I never did anything excessive to my subjects and acted carefully.

Three years have passed since that kind of life began. I, who was 19 years old, turned 22, and Lucille completed her coming-of-age ceremony and turned 16.

Lucille was old enough to get married, but I had no intention of getting her married. I didn’t want to see her give birth to a child, and more than anything, she said she would never get married in her life.

At age 16, Lucille was strikingly beautiful. When I walked down the street, most men would turn around at least once.

But Lucille herself had not changed much. He grew a lot taller and looked more mature, but his behavior was the same as before.

“Meet the head of the family.”

Lucille would sometimes tease me like this. Of course, I told him to call me brother instead of matriarch when the two of us were together, but he made it difficult for me by calling him matriarch.

“Lucille. I told you not to do that when the two of us are together. So, what’s going on?”

“This is a report from an informant dispatched to Torgenberg Castle.”

If Lucille had come to report it in person, it must have been quite important information.

“What is it?”

“I think Henrik’s condition is getting much worse. It seems that he often coughs whenever he takes care of government affairs and his appearance has become very gaunt.”

It has come. In fact, Henrik dies soon. In the original history, although there may be differences depending on the game, people usually died around this time.

“Hmm… Really?”

Nevertheless, the reason why he cannot transfer the family name to his children like his father is because both of his children, Andeln von Setia and Adele von Setia, are untrustworthy. Since there is no trustworthy successor, he cannot entrust an heir to the throne, so he takes care of government affairs himself.

“I think it would be a good idea to pay close attention.”

“Yes. Because I don’t know how the situation will flow.”

“I will try to secure more information sources.”

“I’ll take care of that part. Little brother.”

Lucille nodded and left. What Lucille was worried about was probably a civil war breaking out due to a fight for succession rights. If that happens, our troops will also have no choice but to participate in the civil war.

Of course, civil wars happen. However, the reason was a little different from what everyone expected.

—–

April 16, 547, Imperial Calendar. A civil war broke out.

The cause of the civil war was none other than the assassination attempt of Andeln von Setia, the eldest son of the Setia family. Andeln led a group of knights who followed him and attempted to assassinate Henrik. However, Henryk, who was in his 60s, had outstanding physical ability that belied his age and somehow survived by jumping from the balcony and only spraining his ankle.

As a result of this incident, Andeln fled from the castle and formed a rebel army, and the four major families responded, growing in size to about 20,000.

In contrast, few nobles took Henry’s side. This is because the fact that Henryk’s health was deteriorating was well known among the nobles.

The setting sun and the rising sun. It was obvious to anyone who could see which side to raise. Most of the vassals sided with Andeln.

Only then did Henrik realize that he had lived his life wrong. If he had lived a life filled with faithfulness, his retainers would have also maintained their faithfulness to him until his death. However, Henrik had always been a mean opportunist from his childhood until now, and his history became a punishment, and no one took his side.

‘I was an opportunist, so my subjects were bound to be opportunists as well.’

Meanwhile, a single nobleman appeared before Henrik.

That was Franz Mayer.