episode_0015

“Stop right there! Identify yourself!”

I pull on the reins upon hearing the guard pointing a long spear at us.

-Sigh!

Basilaeus whimpers softly as the horse comes to a halt.

“I am Debiav Ryan, the Duke of Francesco. I have been invited by His Majesty Johannes to come here.”

As I say this, I take out the invitation in my pocket and hand it to the guard, who roughly opens the letter.

After a moment, the guard lowers his spear and speaks.

“I have confirmed it. Please dismount. I will guide you.”

Upon his words, I and my knights dismount.

We follow the guard.

Soldiers and tents as far as the eye can see.

Glittering sword blades.

Archers honing their skills by shooting arrows.

The military presence seems more tense than expected, with patrols of ten or twenty moving in formation.

Hm… But it doesn’t seem like there’s an abundance of food and supplies.

Perhaps they moved too quickly, intending to avoid direct combat and focus on encircling us?

Indeed, supplying an army of 150,000 properly is no easy task.

Lost in thought, we suddenly arrive in front of a large tent.

“Here we are, Your Grace.”

“Thank you.”

I say as I enter the tent.

A man with black hair and scattered white strands can be seen throughout.

I estimate him to be in his forties.

Judging by the elaborate attire he wears, he must be Emperor Johannes of the Hwangje faction.

“Welcome, Your Grace. I am Johannes Angelos.”

He extends his right hand to me, and I smile as I shake it.

“Pleasure to meet you. I am Debiav Ryan, the Duke of Francesco.”

He opens his mouth with a stoic expression.

“Come this way, everyone is waiting for you.”

Following Johannes, we see men seated around a large round table.

There is a variety of men, from those flaunting their armor to those dressed like city merchants.

“Please, have a seat here.”

Before I know it, the king gestures to an empty seat, and I sit down.

“I offer my gratitude on behalf of everyone present for the courage and wisdom of Duke Francesco in making a momentous decision for the peace and prosperity of the Empire.”

As the king gestures towards me, a man in robes brings papers and carefully places them in front of me and Johannes.

“These are the treaties for reinforcement and future development of the Empire.”

I scrutinize the papers in front of me, noticing the similarity to the negotiation documents given by Agrifa.

I nod in acknowledgment.

“Very well, then, proceed with the signing.”

At his words, I take out a pen from my pocket and begin to write my name.

-Swish, swish!

The golden ink dances on the paper as my name is inscribed.

As the golden ink stops, my name is fully written.

The man in robes takes the paper and exchanges it with Johannes’ paper, handing them back to us.

I accept it and carefully review it once more, finding no discrepancies before finishing writing my name.

-Swish, swish!

As the signatures are completed…

“Now, let us officially declare the end of the war with this.”

Johannes announces to the crowd.

Phew… That takes care of the urgent matters.

“I understand that you will be staying here for a day, Your Grace.”

I nod in agreement.

“I will only stay for a day.”

Johannes smiles gently at my words.

“Don’t worry. Aren’t you a hero of the Empire? Would we dare to turn away an Empire’s hero? Rest easy and enjoy your stay.”

Seeing Johannes quickly elevate me to the status of a hero after just signing a treaty with the enemy in the midst of war, I can’t help but feel a physiological aversion towards him, sensing that he sees me as nothing more than a fellow human like himself.

“Haha, thank you for saying that.”

“And I prepared a banquet for you today because you were coming. What are the servants doing? Not serving the food?”

At his words, the servants enter the tent carrying food.

“You must be hungry from coming here in a hurry, so please eat to your heart’s content.”

Rare and exquisite dishes that are rarely seen on the battlefield are endlessly laid out on the table.

***

And so, the banquet hosted by the Imperial Faction began.

Women seated next to nobles.

They pour drinks into the nobles’ cups, baring their breasts without their tops.

The nobles seem to enjoy it.

Some feel a deep sense of disgust as they see men touching their own granddaughters inappropriately.

Ugh… no wonder the nobles are despised.

They impose heavy taxes on the imperial citizens, yet they indulge in such chaotic parties.

Despite feeling enraged internally, they force a smile and do not show their true feelings.

Some are striving to develop the empire, while others are indulging in revelry.

Although the nobles in front of me disgust me, I force a smile because I cannot waste this precious time.

As I try to hold back my anger by raising my glass, the woman sitting next to me fills my cup.

-Oh my, Your Grace~

-Oh, please go ahead?

Seeing a lecherous man collecting drinks from a young woman’s breasts, my expression darkens.

Then, the woman sitting next to me speaks up.

“Your Grace, you are more handsome than the rumors suggested.”

The woman who stuck to my side.

Her name was Michelle, right?

Sigh… calling these prostitutes to a banquet and allowing such behavior, that’s not what you were given the right to collect taxes for…

If you don’t spend money on such things and lower taxes, the empire would become stronger.

In reality, there are all sorts of taxes here.

Window tax for every window in the house.

Stove tax to keep warm in the cold winter, and marriage tax paid when getting married.

Do these lords collect all these taxes just to engage in such frivolous activities? Greedy bastards.

But I can’t speak out about it here, so I smile as much as possible and politely thank the woman sitting next to me.

“Miss Michelle, thank you for your kind words.”

An old man whose nose reddened as he listened to my words speaks up.

“Oh~ Your Grace, you are quite something~! How great must you be to marry the most beautiful lady in the empire, the Princess Hwatae? Isn’t that right?”

“Haha! If I were ten years younger, I would… I would…”

As he stands up and awkwardly turns his waist, the man… was certainly the Marquis of Itaka, wasn’t he?

I can’t remember his name, but I think I’ll remember it from today onwards.

The sight of the old man swaying his waist while drunk on alcohol is truly… disgusting.

-Haha! Marquis! You seem quite drunk!

-Who says I am?

I smile awkwardly as I watch the old men making vulgar jokes.

“Marquis Manuil, please do not insult my beloved Princess Hwatae.”

The atmosphere at the banquet calms down at my words.

“Please, everyone, behave appropriately. Your Grace is our guest, isn’t he?”

Yohannes steps in to change the cold atmosphere.

“As a loyal subject, how can you insult the future lord? Marquis Manuil’s joke went too far.”

-Exactly! It seems like the Marquis is a bit drunk.

-Haha~ Who wouldn’t be? Marquis Manuil is the horse of Itaka, so the rumors seem to be true.

At that, Manuil laughs heartily with a flushed face.

“Haha~ Your Grace, I went too far with my words. If you were offended, please forgive me.”

I nod and say, “I was not offended.”

As I say that,

“Alright, let’s stop here for today’s festivities.”

Everyone nods in agreement.

Then, Marquis Manuil stands up and says.

“It’s been a while since I ate so much, I’ll make sure to bring a generous gift for the Grand Duke’s wedding.”

With that, he began to escort the women sitting next to him out one by one.

-Oh, Your Grace!

-Come here, I’ll show you what a man is today.

As he looked at them, he suppressed his anger inwardly.

If I had the money to throw a party like this, I would invest in land development or facilities.

Once I secure power and stability, I will put an end to such behavior.

“Grand Duke, allow me to guide you to the bedroom.”

I nod in response to his words.

“Thank you, Your Highness Johannes.”

I nod and follow him as he walks out of the tent.

-Step… step…

Walking side by side on the grassless ground.

He leads me to a fairly large tent a little further away.

-Thud… thud!

The fire inside the tent warms it up.

“I tried my best to make it look nice, but now that I see it, it seems a bit shabby.”

Although Johannes says that, I reply, “It’s fine.”

Saying that, I sit on the chair inside the tent.

“Your Highness Johannes, please have a seat as well. If you’ve come this far, you must have something to discuss with me, right?”

Johannes chuckles at my words and sits opposite me.

“You’re quick to catch on.”

I smile back at his words.

“Is that so?”

An awkward silence follows.

“You must have traveled quite a distance from Roman to here, you must have had a hard time.”

He shakes his head in response to my words.

“Hard time? How could that be? Your Highness, you came all the way from Nikea across the sea, didn’t you?”

Johannes nods in response to my words.

“If your father hadn’t killed the Emperor, you wouldn’t have come here.”

I just smile in response to his words.

“Hmm… you’re different from the other Lion families.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

And the silence resumes.

It may seem like silence, but it’s more like a waiting game to see who will bring up the topic first.

“I know your intentions.”

“My intentions?”

I nod in response to his words.

“You want the empire, don’t you?”

Johannes’ serious tone leaves me speechless.

I didn’t expect such a dangerous topic to be brought up so suddenly.

I tried to subtly steer the conversation in the direction I wanted.

But Johannes suddenly dropping a bombshell makes me uneasy.

Why is he bringing up this topic to me?

Is he trying to nullify the alliance and kill me?

Various thoughts race through my mind, and unease spreads within me.

“You don’t have to answer, but I’ll reveal my intentions first.”

With that, Johannes continues.

“I, too, want the empire.”

I wait for him to continue speaking, lost in thought.

His blatant statement complicates my thoughts.

Why is he suddenly bringing up this topic to me?

“Why would I accept your alliance proposal if I want to rule the empire?”

I shake my head in response.

I quickly think to myself.

He must have wanted to seize the empire and perhaps marry Princess Joy to achieve that.

There’s no concrete evidence, just suspicions.

But other than that, it’s impossible to explain why Johannes wants Princess Joy.

But… why bring up this topic all of a sudden? When we’re alone?

I ponder the hidden meaning behind his words.

“No, I don’t know.”

He nods in response to my words.

“That’s what I thought. There are too many obstacles in the way of seizing the empire.”

With those words, I silently pondered.

I also… had the same thoughts as you.

To seize the empire right away, I need time.

Time to solidify internally, to persuade or conquer other factions and nobles in the city…

Perhaps King Johannes is in a similar situation.

The Imperial faction doesn’t seem to be like the anti-Imperial faction, so I don’t think it will be easy.

But I want to hide my ambition as much as possible…

“I… only need Princess Hwangtae by my side.”

Johannes smiled, giving me goosebumps.

“Hoho, don’t lie. I know your ambition. Everyone sees you as a young lion, a weakened lion, but… I see it… your great ambition.”

With Johannes’ words, it seems like things won’t be resolved easily.