episode_0024

“A detachment of the enemy army surrounds Torgenberg?”

“Yes!”

“Where on earth did you come in?”

“This is a side road used during the 11th invasion!”

“I guess the Mayer family is blocking that place?”

“… ”

“Franz Mayer… You betrayed me!”

When Endia took out his sword, everyone present followed suit.

“Listen everyone! Kill Franz Mayer as soon as you find him!”

But before the command was even delivered.

-Dang! Dang! Dang!

The alarm bell began to ring without mercy.

“Why did the alarm bell ring?”

“The enemy’s main force… The main force is attacking!”

“Suddenly attacking? It’s twice as many troops?”

Then the head of the Plea family speaks.

“… It is not a double car.”

“What does that mean?”

“If the Mayer family leaves and joins the enemy army, it is not a double difference.”

“… ”

The four generations of the family had a shiver down their spines.

“You have to leave the military right now.”

“But… The enemy is approaching every moment! If you attack the military now, you have no choice but to get caught and suffer damage!”

“For even some soldiers to survive, they have no choice but to defeat the army. Otherwise, we will be blocked and annihilated by Mayer’s forces.”

“Damn it!”

Pow! Endia threw the kite he had received from his lord on the floor. I brought it to show off to Mayer. Endia seemed angry and trampled on the kite several times and then spoke to the family heads.

“Everyone, please return to your respective families.”

“Now, wait! Then what about my lord?”

“Even if I go back now, it will already be too late. My lord, give up and return to your own clan to defend yourself.”

“… Okay.”

An order was given to abandon the master, but no one had any doubts. To them, their master was nothing more than a scarecrow who could be replaced at any time and manipulated according to their taste. No one here was truly loyal to Adele.

Soon, the four major families fled with their soldiers, and Krusenstein followed suit and began to steadily reduce his troops.

When the four major families arrived at their castle, many of their troops were dead or scattered after being attacked by the enemy, and less than half of them remained.

—–

Krusenstein immediately led the main army and entered Torgenberg Castle, the headquarters of the Setia family.

“Everywhere is blessed by nature. There is a castle like this… If I had tried to drop it the normal way, it would have taken a very long time.”

It was Leona von Krusenstein who admired the defense power of the castle called Torgenberg.

As soon as they arrived in front of the castle entrance, Clemens was down on one knee and welcoming Leona with the castle door wide open.

“Clemens.”

“Master.”

“You had a hard time.”

“No. This person worked harder than me.”

Clemens’ eyes fell on Lucille Meyer. Lucille led all of her family’s remaining soldiers and even gave up the defense of Mayer Castle to join the Krusenstein Army’s detachment and help build Torgenberg Castle.

Leona was impressed when she saw Lucille for the first time. There is such a beautiful woman in the world that, if she were a man, he would have taken her as his wife.

“Are you Franz Mayer’s younger brother?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“We will compensate you separately for your merits in the future. Please look forward to it.”

“Yes.”

“Clemens, who is he?”

Clemens quickly stood up, grabbed Adele by the back of her neck, dragged her, and threw her in front of Leona. When Adele saw Leona, she trembled like a rabbit in front of a tiger.

“Well, well, that’s… ”

Looking at that scene, Leona was just dumbfounded.

‘Are you saying you don’t even have the spirit to show confidence in front of your enemies? He is truly an ordinary person.’

Leona sighed and asked Adele.

“Adele von Setia.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Franz Mayer is a loyal subject of the world. What is the reason for staying away from such people and getting close to strange people?”

“Well, that’s… ”

that… Why?

Emotionally, he was completely dependent on Franz Mayer. But he kept saying things I didn’t want to hear, so I naturally distanced myself from him. It wasn’t intentional. In my heart, I continued to rely on Franz Mayer. However, I hoped that he would not urge me to take care of political affairs.

Adele von Setia thought of Franz Mayer as her older brother and completely relied on him. Nevertheless, what kept me away from him was a misunderstanding that arose from a trivial matter. And that misunderstanding created the current situation.

“If you don’t answer, I won’t bother to ask. Take me with you.”

“Yes!”

Adele was afraid. Where are you taking yourself? Will he be locked in a dungeon like his father was? until the death? Does he quietly disappear like that without even knowing when or how he died?

Thinking like that, Adele urinated.

—–

Soon, Franz Mayer and his pro-royalists entered Torgenberg Castle.

Leona sat on the throne used by Setia and looked down in all directions.

‘It’s not as big and fancy as the Krusenstein family’s throne, but it feels good to sit on someone else’s throne.’

I took over the country. This country is mine now. When I thought about it that way, I felt satisfied.

“Sir Franz Mayer has ascended.”

“Stop.”

Soon Franz Mayer appeared in front of Leona.

The Franz Mayer I saw for the first time was very different from what I imagined. In my imagination, I thought of him as a cold-hearted and rational strategist with sharp eyes, but when I saw him in person, he was more ordinary than I thought, and above all…

‘You don’t give the impression that you are a ruthless person.’

He gave the impression of a warm-hearted village young man. Leona was a little surprised by the sight being different from what she had imagined, but she thought it wasn’t a bad thing.

“Franz Mayer.”

“Charge.”

“Call me master.”

“There has not been a formal vassal contract yet.”

“Don’t worry about contracts that can be broken at any time. True loyalty comes from the heart, not from a contract. Since you have decided to follow me, you can now call me master.”

“Charge.”

“… ”

It’s not easy. Leona said, thinking like that.

“Okay, okay. I’ll post the contract soon. Then let me ask you one question. Franz Mayer. Why did you betray Adele?”

“Because I had ambition.”

“Ambition?”

“I just wanted to get ahead and achieve more.”

“Push… ”

At those words, Leona laughed without realizing it.

“Franz Mayer.”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t raised your head since a while ago.”

“Because it is polite not to raise your head in front of His Highness the Duke.”

“I command you to raise your head.”

Soon Franz Mayer raised his head. His expression was gentle, but his eyes were lifeless. Leona thought that Franz Mayer was pitiful, but that made her want to torment him even more.

“Franz Mayer. look into my eyes From now on, don’t tell lies. You are not the kind of person who would betray your master because of ambition. If he were that kind of person, he would have rebelled and become a monarch rather than joining me. But this time, I will forgive you for lying. Because I liked you. Forgiveness only happens this once, so next time, tell the truth. Why did you betray Adele?”

“… ”

“… ”

Franz felt it instinctively. Lying in front of this woman doesn’t work. If you are going to surrender someday anyway, it would be better to surrender in advance. Franz decided to tell the truth.

“It’s all because of me.”

“Because of you?”

“Adele could not be called a competent monarch even with empty words. Instead of taking care of government affairs, he only made connections with his disciples.”

“I know. Because the Krusenstein family also has informants.”

“If it had gotten that far, I wouldn’t have betrayed it, but the problem was that I was there.”

Leona gave a puzzled look.

“Why is that a problem?”

“As long as I am around, the Setia family will not easily be subjugated to the Krusenstein family. Despite repeated defeats every year, they must have been able to survive somehow thanks to the defense power that comes from the natural environment.”

“… ”

Krusenstein cannot conquer Setia easily. Although she didn’t like what she said, Leona didn’t bother to refute it. Because those words were true.

“Every year Krusenstein and Setia would have been fighting to the limit. Meanwhile, Krusenstein and Setia would have gone to hell. In order to cover the enormous military expenses incurred in the war, countless people would have been squeezed, and many more people would have suffered from enormous taxes and starvation than would have died in the war. I just thought that it would have been better to betray my master and save my people than to walk down the obvious path of pain. So this is all because of me.”

Mayer spoke gloomily, but Leona continued to look at Mayer’s face with a smiling expression. Leona liked Franz Mayer more and more. Starting with this confidence that the fate of two families will change because of a treacherous man named himself, to the warm heart that thinks of the people. But what I liked most was that all of this was the truth, not his bravado or illusion. Leona also had similar expectations.

“Franz Mayer. I’m becoming more and more interested in you.”

“… ”

To be honest, Franz Mayer was tired of Leona. I knew that Leona was originally this kind of person. The fact that he is a person who is very interested in talented people and always looks for new talents. But what I didn’t like was that I thought that my sadness was nothing more than something to fill the hunger in this woman’s heart. That’s why Franz Mayer opened his mouth with a bit of defiance.

“Charge.”

“What was it? Tell me anything.”

“I’m tired because I came a long way. Can I go and rest?”

“… !”

Countless people everywhere looked surprised. This is because it was the first time in his entire life that he saw someone who, while attending an audience with the monarch, asked for rest because he was tired. What kind of rudeness is this? While everyone was dumbfounded, Leona laughed out loud.

“Hahaha!”

Although people were surprised by Franz Mayer’s rudeness, Leona found Franz Mayer’s behavior cute, like a small animal raising its claws and rebelling.

“Got it. Go and rest. You held onto me too much.”

When Leona said that in a laughing voice, the subjects were both relieved and surprised. Has the tyrant Leona von Krusenstein ever been so generous to one of her subjects? If another subject had made such a rude remark, wouldn’t it have been strange if he had had his head cut off?

“Before that.”

But Leona’s words did not end there.

“Let me tell you one thing. After a month, I will give you a gift. This is a very big gift given with great intention, so please look forward to it.”

Franz Mayer knew Leona very well. Because Leona was the main character of the game. However, because he didn’t know everything, he couldn’t even guess what kind of gift Leona was trying to give him.

Looking at Franz Mayer like that, Leona decided to herself that she would quickly give him the secret gift she had hidden, so she would have to approach her subordinates after this audience.