Day after day, unpleasant reports have come to him who supposedly is in an advantageous position.
āT-That isā¦ā
āThatās what!? Say it clearly!ā
The man who is Duke Gerhardtās aide is also lost for words.
The only thing they know is that in the last few days, the neutral faction who had promised their assistance to them had switched over to the princessā faction side.
And they were the nobles who own some level of territory that went over.
Those nobles are the people who had joined the noble faction due to the favorable rewards that they had been promised.
Moreover, the condition they asked for in return is only not to move their soldiers and give support to Princess Ladine.
The nobles who accepted the deal will gain huge benefits in exchange for some low risk jobs.
The nobles who were part of the neutral faction is in fact part of the noblesā faction.
Of course, Duke Gerhardt never had any intention on keeping his promise to those nobles.
After all, thinking mathematically, it would take half of the kingdomās territory just to increase their land as a reward.
But of course, something like that cannot happen.
āThere are only two things that I can understand. Those nobles had sworn their loyalty to the princessā faction one after another. Andā¦ā
The aide stopped his words there.
If he continues, his Lord would become outraged.
But if he kept on being silent as well, it would also end up with the same result; he was able to understand that thanks to his experience.
The aide prepares himself to be blasted by his Lordās furious wrath.
āThere are also nobles who had a firm stance in supporting their faction among themā¦ā
āWhat does that mean? A firm stance?ā¦ Do you mean they strengthened their territory guard?ā
Duke Gerhardt asked as if he had become stupid.
āThat isā¦ They seem to have gathered the territory soldiers and entered the royal capital.ā
āWhat did you say!?ā
Duke Gerhardt did not hide his surprised expression.
That is something that he cannot overlook.
Even if the nobles changed sides to the princessā, Duke Gerhardt wonāt have much problem.
However, if the territory troops join them at the royal capital then, this changes everything.
To change sides.
One might think they will become a large force, but in reality, it is not.
Because those who changes side around this time are those who hates losing their money.
Someone who does not contribute much to a faction would usually change side with some incentive.
For example, even if the princessā faction were to raise their flag, if they donāt offer any funds, mostly those people will reply with uncooperative-like attitude.
At least, thatās how itās supposed to be.
Because he understood that, at the time he invited them, Duke Gerhardt did not ask for excessive cooperation from them.
Because he knows that they wouldnāt help him even if he asked for it anyway.
Thatās why Duke Gerhardt feels a sense of danger.
He thought that they only supported the princess by staying within their own territory.
āWhat does this meanā¦ are they really joining the princessā- No, in the first place, who are they?ā
āFirst it was Earl Bergston, then Earl Zerev, and then there were also small nobles who held territory around them had entered the royal capital.ā
āKhuuā¦ That Earl Bergston bastard! Always trying to obstruct meā¦ No, wait, the princessā? It was not the knight faction, but the princessā?ā
Since he was so angry, Duke Gerhardt did not notice such detail.
āYes, Iām also curious about that, but no matter how much I investigatedā¦ it is definitely not the knight faction, they belong to the princessā factionā¦ā
It might sound the same, but the truth is quite different.
Although the knight faction is, without a doubt, the princessā base support.
The reason for them to support her is not because sheās the princess nor because sheās the leader of the imperial guard chivalric order.
But it was because of General Hodram who is currently supporting Princess Lupis.
The ones who swore loyalty to Princess Lupis is Meltina, the vice-leader of the chivalric order, and others, which are just some low-class knights.
Most of the middle ranked knights who hold units are part of General Hodramās clique.
Princess Lupis is merely a figurehead of the Knight faction.
However, several nobles appear to support such princess.
An aristocrat has military power in accordance to the scale of their territory.
Middle ranked noble such as Earl Bergston, possesses military power around 1,000.
If one were to include Earl Zerev and the small nobles around them, the princess would easily get around 4,000 of war potential.
Of course, Duke Gerhardt, the current leader of the noble faction has around 40,000 troops.
Furthermore, if he does not care about his own territory and conscript the farmers and hired the mercenaries, that can easily exceed 60,000.
Currently General Hodramās forces are around 15,000 troops.
Even if they both combined their force, it is still less than 20,000.
Although it was worrisome that some nobles had switched over to the princessā side, Duke Gerhardt still holds the advantage.
-
After Duke Gerhardt dismissed his aide, he sank deeper into his seat while brooding over the situation.
(Princess Lupisā¦ Does she plan on taking power from Hodram?)
Such thought crosses over Duke Gerhardtās mind.
If one were only looking at the behavior of Earl Bergston and Earl Zerev, nothing much could be analyzed.
And he also denied such an idea himself.
(Noā¦ That is impossible. Princess Lupis canāt do something like thatā¦)
Duke Gerhardt doubted Princess Lupisā capability.
Princess Lupis turned 22 years old this year.
She was the leader of the royal guard chivalry order for around five years, thus he canāt say that sheās incompetent.
However, that is only applies to military affairs.
Though, it was natural for her to end up like that.
She had never participated in any government affairs.
No matter who, one cannot do anything and expect a quality result without any experience.
When it comes to capable people by her side; the subject would not change either, since thereās only Meltina who is also the deputy leader of the Royal Guard as the princessā aide.
Moreover, Gerhardt himself recognises that people from the army are usually lacking in the brain department.
In other words, it would be impossible to maintain Rozeria Kingdom with only the princessā power alone.
(Had Princess Lupis have the total control of either military or politics, it would be differentā¦ yet again, even the military, thereās Hodram. Though it seems like her power is strengthening with the support of another party. It was not her personal power.)
Duke Gerhardt himself knows what Hodram is aiming at, since they have a similar ambition.
(Even if itās slow, Hodram will eventually abandon the princess, and within three yearsā¦ She will either get killed or confinedā¦ he will definitely do one of them.)
Duke Gerhardt himself has no interest in taking the throne for himself.
Because he is more concerned about profits rather than fame.
Whereas General Hodram is the type of person who cares for both fame and profits.
Although he seem only to be chasing after profits, in the future, he might seek some fame himself.
And that fame is called being the king.
(If they win, I will die, but that will also be the same for Princess Lupis. No matter who wins, she will end up dyingā¦)
For Gerhardt who has another figurehead in the name of Princess Ladine, Princess Lupis is nothing more than a bother.
When two people want to succeed the throne, it might cause the eruption of a civil war.
However, Duke Gerhardt has a question regarding Princess Ladineās legitimacy himself.
Itās true that she does have the same silvery hair, just like the previous king, and thereās also a similarity regarding her features.
Since he made use of the kingās will, one canāt easily call it fake either.
However, since Duke Gerhardt himself is the mastermind of the current situation and being someone who had survived through a lot of political struggle, he somewhat feels that everything about the current situation is fabricated.
The king passed away, and an illegitimate child had been found before someone could succeed the throne.
One might say that the timing is too good.
Still, he ends up supporting Princess Ladine, since he needed someone with Royal Bloodline to fight against General Hodram.
After all, if he fought against the knight faction who has Princess Lupis without bringing any figurehead, people might put a stigma on him as a rebel.
If that happens, he might find himself betrayed even by the people from the noble faction.
Gerhardt himself thinks that all of this is stupid, but it is absolutely necessary to have a justification for wars.
Even if that justification is merely a lie.
(Well, whatever. Even if sheās a false princess, if I recognize her, she will become genuine oneā¦ I can easily dispose of her if sheās a fakeā¦)
A smile appears on Gerhardtās face after thinking until there.
Now that the justification has already been fulfilled, what one needs is the war forcesā strength.
Currently, the noble faction has an advantage over numbers, and the matter of pulling the neutral faction towards them is also going well.
Even if it gets reduced a little due to the princessā faction, it does not pose much of a problem.
(The real problem is what had the princess decided to start nowā¦ It does not seem to be the idea of that deputy leader. Does that mean she has someone else pulling the strings?)
He does not mind ignoring all of it since he was still in the advantageous situation; however, Duke Gerhardt does not like the secret maneuvers that the princessā faction is making.
āā¦Someone!ā
Gerhardt who finally got his thoughts settled, called for his aide.
āDid you call?ā
āUmuā¦ Iām slightly concerned about the princessā faction recent maneuvers.ā
āWould you like to send a spy?ā
āUmu. I donāt care how much money you use. Hire the best person for this job.ā
His aide shows a surprised expression.
After all, he knows that his master is not a generous person.
āInvestigate if thereās an able aide near the princessā¦ If so, kill that person immediately!ā
Duke Gerhardt who had won many political struggles has never place his hope on optimistic judgments.
He gained the power in his hands by removing any obstacle beforehand.
āCertainly.ā
His aide then leaves the room after lowering his head respectfully.
āWhoever they areā¦ if they dare to interfere with my plans, then I will kill them!ā
Duke Gerhardt was ready to use anything at his disposal.In order to rule over this country named Rozeria.
Liked it? Take a second to support Novels on Patreon!