episode_0018

Adele von Setia. Henrik’s second son, he was now trembling with fear.

‘Isn’t this Yeongju Castle…? ‘I haven’t been here since I was a child. Why are you here?’

After Andeln ascended to the throne, Adele left the castle and lived in the village. He lived solely on his own kite-making skills, without any help from his family.

What soon appeared were the heads of the four generations of families. The heads of the four families spoke, explaining various political situations, but Adele could not understand them at all. The only thing he understood was that he had to become the next lord.

‘I… To become a lord?’

Adele had no interest in politics since she was young. I have never wanted to become a lord or something.

‘I absolutely hate it! ‘I will live as a kite maker!’

With that in mind, I forced myself to wear the crown given to me by the local bishop.

—–

The next day, Franz Mayer ascended the mountain. Seeing Franz suddenly appear, Adele woke up with a happy expression, as if she had found a savior.

“Brother! Oh no! Sir Franz!”

“Adele.”

Franz got down on one knee. Adele approached Franz and helped him stand up.

“Sir Franz! These people are telling me to become a lord! I don’t like lords! My path has already been decided! It’s the craftsman’s way! It has nothing to do with politics!”

“I understand Adele’s feelings a hundred times.”

“Please save me. I can’t communicate with the heads of the 4th generation families. No matter how much I say that I will not become a lord, they just ignore me.”

“Adele.”

Adele, taken aback by Franz’s serious voice, answered without realizing it.

“Uh, yes.”

“Do you know why Andeln and Adel are not at odds with each other?”

“That’s because I gave up on the Operation Committee early… ”

“No.”

The first reason is that Adele was not interested in politics.

But there was another reason more important than that.

“Let me tell you a story from the past. Once upon a time, there was a great king in a certain country. The king had four older brothers and two younger brothers, but he soon killed them. What could be the reason?”

“Well, that’s… Are you afraid that your brothers will threaten your position?”

“Only half of the answers are correct. The correct answer is because the king was the fifth. The king, who had four older brothers, lacked legitimacy and thought that other brothers could threaten his position at any time, so he killed them.

“… What does that have to do with this situation?”

“The reason why Andeln did not kill Adel is also simple. Because Andeln is the first son. Since he was ahead in legitimacy, there was no need to kill his younger brother, who was less legitimate than him.”

Adele’s expression turned pale. Doesn’t that mean that if he had been born as his older brother, he might have been murdered?

But I soon felt relieved. Luckily, he was born as a younger sibling. That’s why he wasn’t killed. No, rather, Andeln died first.

“It is too early to feel at ease. Imagine the next lord coming into power. The lord was probably one of the Ignati family members. Ignati was the lord who originally ruled this region before the rise of the Setia family. So to speak, it is a return to the past.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But the lord of Ignati knows. The fact that there are many nobles and people who support the Setia family, which has been in charge of this region for 40 years. Therefore, you may feel that your position can always be threatened. So what does the lord from Ignati think of Adele?”

“Political threats… ”

“Yes. We will try to eliminate Adel, who holds the legitimacy of the family line of succession, to prevent Setia factions from having second thoughts and to prevent dissatisfied vassals from revolting with a lord from Setia.”

“Lord, I don’t want to die! Save me!”

At that moment, Mayer spoke calmly with an expression as if he was saying something absurd.

“There is no need to die. Isn’t the current lord Adele?”

“Ah… ”

Adele was not stupid. In terms of political sense alone, he was actually superior to Andeln. Nevertheless, the reason Adele was not a match for Andeln was because Adele had no interest in politics. I’m not interested, but I have talent. Therefore, Adele quickly grasped the situation.

“I see. The moment I step down from my position as lord, I will die… ”

“Yes.”

If you are not a lord, you will die. I had to choose one of the two.

“Adele. Become a lord. While Adel reigns as a lord, no one else will become a lord in Adel’s place. Of course, there is no need to get killed. The only way for Adele to survive is to rule the family as a lord for her entire life, then have children and pass on the lordship.”

“But… ! I love making kites!”

“Do you value your years? Is your life precious? Please choose one.”

Kite was like everything to Adele. But it wasn’t more important than life. Without life, there is no year. That’s why Adele had no choice but to choose life.

From then on, Adele calmly accepted the title of duke. The heads of the four generations of the family wondered what kind of magic Franz Mayer had done to make Adele suddenly so obedient, but they did not ask. That’s because my relationship with Franz wasn’t that good.

—–

The Mayer family was number 2 in the Duchy of Setia in terms of the size of its territory. Number 1, of course, was Adele von Setia, the head of the Setia family. Just below that was the Mayer family.

However, if we look at the political situation alone, the Setia family falls much further down than number 2. This is because the four major families, ranked 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th in terms of territory, united and acted as one faction.

Mayer is strong. However, it is not as strong as all four major families combined. The saying goes that there is no business in numbers.

That’s why Mayer decided to build up his own numbers. He decided to attract several families ranked 7th or lower into his faction.

One of them was the Ignati family. The maternal Ignati family is headed by Adele von Setia’s mother’s brother’s daughter. Although he was excluded from politics due to generations of control from the Setia family, he was more desperate for faction.

After hearing the offer to recruit Franz Mayer, the Ignati family immediately took Franz Mayer’s hand. Several weaker families who were close to the Ignati family also came under Mayer’s command.

The four major families that have enjoyed overwhelming power until now through the union of Numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6.

To counter this, the Mayer family gathered together weaker families and began to keep the four major families in check.

A new faction to fight against the four great families. It was the birth of the pro-king faction.

—–

“I heard that your movements have been unstable recently.”

Among the four major families, the head of the Gizelle family has been fighting over and over again. Mayer laughed lightly.

“I’m just moving to help my lord more efficiently.”

“If you want to help your lord, the Mayer family should do it alone. Don’t cause a storm on the flat land.”

“Was bringing together factions the cause of a stir?”

“Won’t this become a spark for a useless factional fight?”

“Then, the four major families, who have formed factions for decades, have been causing constant upheaval.”

“What a damn bastard!”

“Hahaha!”

Franz Mayer left with a big smile. The heads of the four major families stared at him with eyes filled with anger.

—–

Our lord Adele von Setia, who has no interest in politics at all.

It’s a paradoxical story, but the Setia family was enjoying its heyday under Adele von Setia.

Of course, to be exact, it wasn’t Adele’s credit. Half of it was Henrik’s contribution and the other half was Maier’s contribution.

Henrik painted the big picture. The big picture is to form an alliance with Leona and share Clozel’s territory with Leona.

And Mayer defeated Leona’s vanguard who was trying to break the agreement. Therefore, it could be said that this heyday began with the collaboration between Mayer and Henrik.

The power of the Setia family was stronger than ever before. Just looking at the number of soldiers, 40,000 can be mobilized. but…

‘There are muskets in Kruzenstein County.’

As if they had learned something from the previous battle, several families under the Setia army began raising long spear soldiers.

However, even if pikemen could follow suit, it was quite difficult to obtain muskets in large quantities. Unlike the port city of Krusenstein, the Duchy of Setia was a mountainous area, so trade was not smooth.

Moreover, a person named Leona von Krusenstein.

This woman’s commanding ability is truly extraordinary. No matter how new a weapon you have, it is impossible to win against an enemy twice as strong. It was clear that his original abilities were quite outstanding.

An eye for discovering new weapons. Ability to command war.

There was a complete monarch in the enemy army who possessed both abilities.

He was of a different class from our friend Adele von Setia.

Therefore, our troops had no choice but to be very nervous. This is because Kruzenstein could advance north to take the castle again at any time. and…

“Brother, listen.”

Lucille was whispering to Franz. For some reason, Lucille is not the first to do something like this. It’s definitely important.

“It is said that the Kruzenstein family ordered the main military leaders to march.”

“That means… ”

“I think it will start a war soon.”

Krusenstein’s invasion was not far away.