episode_0156

Report from Nicaea.

“Ioannes… ended up dead.”

I roll my head over the report that he was horribly murdered by mercenaries, and the news that the mercenaries sent his head away.

Ioannes, citizen of the empire and king of Nicaea.

The fact that he died horribly at the hands of mercenaries… if done well, it would be useful, right?

It is said that Savinelli has now retreated from Dupol and the imperial army has succeeded in entering the Adriatic.

Savinelli… I want it.

I really want Savinelli, having heard that he had a hard time on the Dupol front line due to his excellent intelligence.

If he does well, won’t he help me get out of this hellish office?

We haven’t surrendered yet, but we will soon.

With that in mind, I wonder what to do with that mercenary group.

Hmm…

It is said that mercenaries currently on the Jarl front are also leaving the front and heading to Byzantium.

There is a sea in the center of Nicaea, and you cannot cross it without a boat.

The only way is through Byzantion to the eastern part of Nicaea.

They say they are currently waiting for my ruling in Byzantion.

“Should we just kill them all?”

No, some of them must be taken prisoner and brought to court as criminals who killed the King of Nicaea.

And I feel that it would be a good idea for me to win the favor of the Nicene people by punishing the mercenaries who brutally killed the King of Nicaea.

Currently, Agrippa has taken Ioannes’ entire family captive.

Since they are also members of the royal family of a country, they are currently being held in the imperial palace rather than a prison.

The proud Nicaeans probably have quite an antipathy towards the empire.

I plan to blame it on the mercenaries who killed King Ioannes.

I didn’t know it would turn out like this, but… it’s not that bad.

With that in mind, he orders Agrippa to annihilate the mercenaries.

Perhaps the soldiers deployed in Byzantium are not enough. An order was also issued to request support from William.

“Whew… I just need to take down Savinelli with this and it’s over.”

No matter how clever Savinelli is, it is nearly impossible to create a supply that does not exist.

With that in mind, we are now starting to draft bills for tax reform and disbanding the imperial faction in earnest.

at that time.

-smart!

“Who?”

-The Empress Dowager has arrived.

When my mother-in-law suddenly visits, I get up from my seat and pay attention to my clothes.

Okay, nothing’s wrong.

“Tell them to come in.”

As soon as I finish speaking, the door opens and my mother-in-law comes in.

“Mother-in-law. What is going on here? You’d rather call me…”

I say this out of regret for having my mother-in-law, who is older than me and is a member of the imperial family, come to my place, but she shakes her head with an inexplicable smile.

“Would you use my son-in-law who is busy doing government work if I told him to come and tell me to come?”

I smile wryly at those words.

“Yes. But what is going on?”

My mother-in-law smiles faintly at my words.

“I gave advice to Theodora as you said.”

I nod my head at those words.

“But she called the Supreme Court Justices. He said he asked about the right to veto.”

She said she was calling the Supreme Court Justices, so I sent them a secret order in advance.

If you happen to be asked about the right to veto, don’t keep quiet, pretend it’s difficult to say as much as possible, and then tell them.

That way, she will firmly believe it.

She probably knows that I brought them into the lawsuit against the Emperor family before.

Adequate acting is required.

“Okay, I played with you the way you wanted, so now you play with me the way I want.”

No… mother-in-law. What are you saying? I did this for my mother-in-law and daughter.

And you use words that might be misunderstood if someone hears it…

I say that with an embarrassed face.

“Yes? That… what is that?”

“As the adult of this imperial family, I have a duty to ensure that Terra and you have a child.”

That’s not wrong.

If the emperor dies without children, the right of inheritance passes to Joy, but it is difficult to say that this is a highly legitimate succession.

Because the former emperor and I are sisters.

Sometimes, war breaks out because of an emperor who dies without children.

Or even if there were children, there were only daughters.

Although inheritance is determined by law, the rise and fall of a family depends on who becomes emperor, so there are times when attempts are made to resolve it by force.

“But…now is the time…”

For me, I have to keep her as a virgin so I can easily annul the marriage.

“I don’t know why you’re so scared of that kid, Terra, but it seems like you two need to be closer.”

-Sreuk…

My mother-in-law said that and sat next to me.

“So, how about moving back together with that child? If Nicaea loses the war, won’t you get Epirus, Egypt, and even Nicaea?

And He holds my hand.

“In that case, you will feel a little relieved even if you get a bigger territory. So even if the two get together again, Tera, that child will not object too much.”

I reply to that with a perplexed expression.

“I fully understand what you are saying, but…”

As a mother-in-law, I completely understand.

Since he is the adult of the imperial family, if the emperor does not give birth to a successor quickly, the empire may be shaken later.

But no matter what… A cold wind is blowing between me and her, and they tell me to merge…

Of course, even if we merge, I have no intention of doing anything like that with her.

I have to quietly step down, but she won’t send assassins to me, who can retire and live peacefully in the New World.

When I think like that. My mother-in-law speaks with sad eyes.

“Are you not planning on giving me grandchildren?”

“No… that’s…”

I feel burdened when I see those pitiful eyes.

Wouldn’t it be too burdensome for an adult to make that kind of expression?

“I listened to your request, but you really can’t listen to mine?”

I declare my surrender to my mother-in-law, who seems to cry if I tell her that she cannot listen to me.

“Amalgam… We will merge. But I don’t want to have children yet…”

At my words, my mother-in-law held my hand and nodded enthusiastically, interrupting me.

“Cancer! I know! You can do it whenever you want(?). First of all, if you share a room again, there will definitely come a day when you will want to be faithful to your desires. I don’t plan on getting full after the first drink.”

It’s a day when I want to be faithful to my desires. Every day, I am overflowing with the desire to survive.

However, I couldn’t bear to tell my mother-in-law that I wasn’t working at night because I was afraid of being assassinated during my pregnancy, so she just laughed.

***

Open the letter from Roman.

In short, the order was to kill all the mercenaries and, if necessary, even call William to kill them brutally and display their bodies so that Byzantine citizens could see them.

I knew it.

To be honest, I don’t like those mercenaries either.

Even though Ioannes rebelled, he is the king of a nation.

Because it makes no sense for him to die due to the dastardly actions of a Babylonian mercenary.

The only thing that can kill him is the proper judgment of the law.

“The order must have been issued. I’ll put an end to it all.”

Agrippa was afraid that he might annihilate them, so he provided only the minimum amount of food.

If you call William and gradually cut off food and supplies, your enemies will soon have no choice but to face death.

So Agrippa sends a letter to William.

***

Although Savinelli has not been sorted out yet.

I think it will be sorted out soon.

Agrippa was asked to recruit Sabinelli, Alexander, and other outstanding Nicene notables.

Nicaea is a traditionally academically advanced country.

They are a country that has preserved its ancient heritage for a long time, so much so that in ancient times, the center of the world was Nicaea.

And there have been many outstanding people since ancient times.

That’s why I want to hire famous people from Nicaea and appoint them to the Archduchy and various parts of the empire.

Even though… their king is dead and they may be quite dissatisfied with me, I am the one who will step down soon.

They will be quite helpful in the era of Theodora’s reign, so you should hire as many of them as possible.

Especially Savinelli.

Although Savinelli is a loser, his abilities are unbelievably outstanding.

William disrupted the enemy’s gaze in the Adriatic, took control of the fortress of Toulouse, and blocked the Nicene army in Thessalonica, and Agrippa dealt the final blow by capturing the enemy’s capital, Byzantion.

It is obvious that one of the two will be number one in their major, but it is Savinelli who has accumulated many majors.

Although it has not yet surrendered, it will soon.

Because there’s not much he can do.

Well, time will tell. First of all, we need to take care of the urgent matters first.

“After dealing with the mercenaries, I think we can report it to the council and prepare an improvement ceremony.”

Improvement ceremony.

When a war is won, the generals and soldiers who contributed to the victory are paraded around downtown Roman.

And it was customary to show the loot and prisoners they had acquired to the people of the empire.

The person who stands at the forefront receives great honor.

Although William and Agrippa should probably be at the front.

I have no intention of calling William and the Golden Knights to the capital.

Rather, I plan to place William and the Golden Knights there to block any seditious movements in the Kingdom of Nicaea.

Well… the justification is appropriate.

This is roughly how the civil war was resolved

“And… Now all we have to do is get rid of the demon worshippers.”

The reason why I have coveted power until now is to prevent the resurrection of the Demon King.

And although it has been hiding its tail well until now, it gradually revealed itself through contact with anti-government protesters.

And I will never miss their tracks.

Only then…

Because I can leave Roman.