by Ryota Hori
I’ve only met him today, but I can say with some confidence that his judgment and ability to assess the situation are quite reliable.
In the short time they’d spoken, he left a strong impression on Count Bergstone’s heart. His mannerisms were good, and just in terms of diplomacy, he already showed impressive prowess.
Which meant future tidings for the princess’s faction may well have changed for the better. The nobles’ faction had likely attempted to lure in other neutral nobles the same way they had tempted him, but after hearing that man’s words, no one would be foolish enough to take their offer. In other words, the possibility of being able to recruit the other neutral nobles was certainly there.
Yes, with Ryoma Mikoshiba by their side, the princess’s faction would grow in power, and it was perfectly possible for Princess Lupis to become sovereign over the kingdom of Rhoadseria. And so, Count Bergstone was conflicted.
“Aaah... What am I to do...?”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door to his study. Count Bergstone’s mind, which had been running in a maze of those thoughts and considerations, snapped back to reality at once.
“Sir?” The voice of one of his maids brought his conflicted mind to reality. “Dinner is ready, and the guests are already seated at the dining table.”
Gazing out the window, he found the sun had already set, and a curtain of darkness covered the outside view. His meeting with Ryoma ended a bit after one in the afternoon, which meant Count Bergstone had spent five to six hours wallowing in anxiety in his study.
“Ah, yes... I’ll be right over.” Count Bergstone gave that pithy reply before fixing his appearance and setting out for the dining hall.
After having dinner, Count Bergstone’s concerned wife, the countess, entered her husband’s study after he shut himself in again.
“Oh, it’s you... I was merely mulling over things.” Count Bergstone smiled to cloak his tiredness and prompted his wife to sit on the sofa. “What are you doing here so late at night?”
“You were acting oddly during dinner, so I was just... Did anything happen?”
The roast chicken they served during dinner was the Bergstone kitchen’s most prided dish, but in contrast to his usual gormandizing ways, the count hardly touched it. From his perspective, now was hardly the time to be enjoying a meal.
“No... Nothing’s wrong. Nothing you should concern yourself with.” Embracing his wife’s shoulders, he tried to soothe her with a gentle smile.
However, having been married to him for as many years as she had, she could easily see through the grim shadow hanging over her husband’s heart.
“No! That’s not true. We’ve been married for twelve years... How could I not tell something is wrong with you?!”
The countess was concerned for him from the bottom of her heart. They had been bound in what was commonly called a political marriage, but the countess deeply loved her husband, who was to turn forty-three this year, and Count Bergstone loved his wife just as deeply in return.
“Is it because of the guests who arrived today?”
The count had been fine that morning, but had suddenly shut himself in his study after noon time. It would only be natural to suspect they were the reason.
“Does it... have anything to do with the palace?” Noticing her husband’s expression change at her prior question, the countess pressed forward.
Being a noble’s legal wife meant she wasn’t removed from power struggles within the country, since her husband’s choices could decide the fate of the entire house. And that held all the more when these struggles dealt with the fate of the country as a whole.
“Dear...” Seeing her husband’s attitude, the countess became convinced. “Aren’t we husband and wife...? I might not be of any help to you, but if I could carry at least some of the burden, could you please tell me what’s the problem?”
Count Bergstone couldn’t help but be touched by his wife’s sincere words. Perhaps he really did want to tell this to someone... Maybe he really was this conflicted.
“I may not be knowledgeable with politics...”
After Count Bergstone came clean about his concerns, the countess began giving her hesitant but clear take on the matter.
“But if you were to earnestly support Her Majesty now, when she is weakest, I doubt she would treat you badly.”
While she claimed to not be knowledgeable on the matter, her opinion was one that would not put the name as the lady of the Bergstone house to shame. But even as her words made him happy, Count Bergstone shook his head slowly.
“I know that, of course. But that’s not the problem. The issue is whether Her Highness can win, even with my help!”
The countess knew that well enough; it went without saying. The princess’s faction was the most inferior of all, and lacked resourceful manpower. That was why Count Bergstone would earn so much in the event of their victory. But that was only if they won... If they were to lose, he would lose everything. It was that fear which bound and paralyzed the count’s heart.
But the next moment, the countess said something that shook his heart.
“Then, Dear... Shouldn’t you just lead her to victory?”
Those words were all too unpredictable for Count Bergstone. And as her husband stood there frozen with surprise, the countess began saying what her heart earnestly believed.
“You are a talented man. Ever since I married you, I’ve not once doubted your talents... I truly believe you are a man worthy of shouldering the fate of the kingdom of Rhoadseria. And that is why I do not wish to see you waver! Take back the confidence you had before! The way you were twelve years ago, you would have never allowed yourself to falter here! Yes. The way you used to be...”
An anger that had built up over many years made the countess shiver.
“The way I... used to be...”
Blankly staring at his wife as tears filled her eyes, the image of his old self, overflowing with confidence, surfaced in Count Bergstone’s mind. Twelve years ago, when he was still in his early thirties, he was one of the most influential people in Rhoadseria. A young politician of boundless wisdom, assertively involved in domestic trade and even chosen to be one of the palace’s bureaucrats.
But pride comes before a fall, and what set Count Bergstone’s life, which seemed set to be smooth sailing, onto an off-course direction, was his greatest backer, and the father of his wife, former prime minister of the kingdom of Rhoadseria, Marquis Ernest, losing in a political struggle against Lord Gelhart. As a result, his territories were confiscated and his family brought to the brink of extinction. The majority of his blood relatives were exiled from Rhoadseria.
The only remnants of Marquis Ernest’s bloodline were Count Bergstone’s wife, who had married into his family, and her sister, who had married another noble. And before he knew it, Count Bergstone was expelled from the epicenter of politics.
It wasn’t a question of the count’s talents. Just the fact that he had wed the daughter of a past political adversary put him in the bad graces of Lord Gelhart. Furthermore, his confidence in his own talents bought him the dislike of the deceased King Pharst the Second.
No one remained to extend a helping land after he had lost his stepfather, who served as his backer, and was shunned by the king as a foolish, pompous neophyte. In the end, Count Bergstone was expelled from the palace and forced to live a reclusive life in his territory.
In the twelve years since, Count Bergstone acted only to desperately protect his lands. His joining the neutral faction was simply owed to him waiting for the coming storm to pass him by. His heart was set on defense. And little by little, that defanged him.
“I wouldn’t have wavered about this before...” Count Bergstone’s face filled with life.
Just like the countess said, twelve years ago Count Bergstone would have taken the gamble without a moment’s hesitance, and would have been completely confident in his abilities. He may not have been as talented as he once belie
ved, but one thing was for sure; if he didn’t believe he was, he would remain a loser who lost before the battle ever started.
What would I have done in this position twelve years ago? Would I have even waited for Meltina to get involved? No... I wouldn’t. I would have offered myself to the princess’s faction on my own, and helped Princess Lupis. No telling if the princess can win? Nonsense. If I do not know, I simply need to make sure she wins with my help!
His wife’s words brushed the rust off the heart of the man who had been preoccupied with nothing but defense for twelve long years. And at that moment, the flame of ambition that once burned in his heart as a younger man was rekindled.
“If I side with Princess Lupis, either great glory or bitter defeat will await. And of course, you will share my fate... Are you still content with that decision?”
Bergstone asked the wife who had accompanied him all these years one last time. At that point, this all went without saying, but this was still a gesture of affection toward his wife.
“I am. Even if this path leads to the gallows, I will march along it by your side!”
And once he’d decided, the count would not waver any longer. He would not try to judge whether he could win or not, because he’d already decided he would use all his power to help make Princess Lupis the true ruler of the Kingdom of Rhoadseria.
“I will go meet Elnan at once. Help me prepare to leave.”
“Right now?” The countess asked, puzzled.
He’d already waited twelve years, and it was a bit too late to leave.
“Yes. I’ve delayed my response to Sir Mikoshiba until tomorrow, but simply giving my assent tomorrow would be far too dull.”
Count Elnan Zeleph— a neutral faction noble whose lands shared a border with Count Bergstone’s, and also the man who had wed the countess’s sister.
The only one to earn any merit from my turning from the nobles’ faction to the princess’s faction alone would be Sir Mikoshiba... But if I draw Elnan to the princess’s faction, the merit would go to me. And Elnan is my brother-in-law... Likely the only man I can still trust.
Having resolved to side with the princess’s faction, his mind gained the sharpness it had once had in his younger days. If he were to simply switch sides to the princess’s faction as things were, the credit would go entirely to Ryoma Mikoshiba. No one would hold Count Bergstone in high regard for switching sides.
But what if he were to bring another noble into the fold as he joined? The credit would all go to Count Bergstone. So if he was to solidify his position in the princess’s faction, he couldn’t afford to fail.
“You do whatever you can to keep Sir Mikoshiba here! Understood?! Do not let them leave before I return!”
“Yes, dear. Be careful on your way!”
Seeing her husband’s face regain the radiance of years past, the countess bowed her head deeply.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
Duke Furio Gelhart, prime minister of the Kingdom of Rhoadseria and head of the nobles’ faction, involuntarily slammed his fist on the ebony table furnishing his office. His side supposedly held an absolute advantage over his opponents, but over the last few days he’d been receiving one disturbing report after another.
“W-Well...”
“Well, what? Get to the point.”
Fearing his master’s displeasure, Gelhart’s aide hesitated to speak, which only spurred the duke’s ire further. He was a man at the age of fifty-six— the prime of a politician’s life. Gelhart’s hair was a carefully combed shade of blond streaked with grey. The diligently trimmed mustache over his lips implied his neurotic nature. He looked quite the refined gentleman at first glance, but the enraged expression currently on his face washed away all traces of that elegant countenance.
But his anger wasn’t for lack of good reason. His aide was, in fact, just as confused at this flurry of unexpected, troubling news. The only thing they knew for certain was that members of the neutral faction they’d signed secret agreements with had been turning to the enemy’s side one after another over the past week. And while they were mostly middle-class nobles, they all had lucrative lands under their control.
Of course, lucrative as they were, their lands couldn’t match his lands, or those of the other nobles who formed the core of the nobles’ faction. Even the strongest and largest among the middle-class nobles, Count Bergstone, could only conscript a thousand soldiers at most and a few dozen knights, and perhaps add mercenaries to the mix. Whatever the case, his forces would only number at slightly over a thousand.
But even if one noble alone couldn’t turn the tide of the war, it could be problematic if those nobles consolidated their forces. There was a parable of how, during Japan’s Warring States period, a conqueror by the name of Motonari Mori ruled the Chugoku region, and taught his son of the Legend of Three Arrows. While it was dubious whether that story can truly be attributed to Motonari, it was an anecdote that stressed the importance of unity.
This parable had a single meaning: no matter how small forces may be on their own, they can become a mighty army if they come together.
Of course, being a denizen of this Earth, Gelhart couldn’t have heard of this Rearthian precept before, but he understood the meaning behind it on his own, thanks to many years of experience. It was for this reason that Duke Gelhart showed unusual graciousness in a plot against the most influential neutral nobles. The bait he offered them was the prospect of increasing their territories and guaranteed positions within the government once the fighting concluded.
The result was that the many nobles who were displeased with the way he had treated them for a long time turned to his side with almost comical ease. In the end, the neutral faction was a gathering of nobles who were driven out of the political core, and were out of touch with the changing of the times. Given the chance, they would pounce to his side, their eyes alight with greed, and conveniently manipulating such fools to achieve his ends was a simple matter for the man who held the politics of the Kingdom of Rhoadseria under his thumb.
Or so it had been, until the winds suddenly started changing direction recently. And furthermore, those who switched sides were influential members of the neutral faction, ones who had been offered significantly favorable conditions.
Someone’s manipulating things from behind the scenes... And it’s someone bright.
Duke Gelhart’s well-cultivated political sense of smell picked up on a plot being spun by some unseen enemy. The conditions he demanded of the neutral nobles were that they not mobilize their troops, and that they back Princess Radine; that was all. The risk on their behalf was minute, while the merit they would gain was quite large. And so the neutral nobles, who were forced to lead their days in misfortune and obscurity, flocked to his side.
It goes without saying that Duke Gelhart had no intention to fulfill those promises to begin with, and he didn’t see them as members of the nobles’ faction or his allies. He simply didn’t want them to make any kind of needless movements that would throw the war situation into chaos.
Besides, if Gelhart were to calculate the number of territories he’d have to give up should he hold up on his end of the bargain, it would turn out that he’d have to give away half the kingdom’s territories. And moreover, these agreements held no binding power; they were all done in secrecy, and since no contracts were written down, the law granted them no power.
Ergo, the deciding factor would be the might of the arm, and Duke Gelhart was the stronger one. Once the nobles realized they’d been duped, it would be too dangerous for them to turn to forceful measures. Everyone, save for the ones most lacking in prudence, would simply yield to the situation, keep their mouths shut and do nothing, displeased as they may be. It was a reasoning even a child could understand, if one simply disregarded their greed and calmed down to think about it.
Duke Gelhart’s plot was meticulous to that extent, and it all tipped over this late into the game.
They must have
sided with someone quite intelligent... Surely.
A sharp click of the tongue escaped Duke Gelhart’s lips.
“We only know two things for sure. The nobles who promised us their assistance are swearing allegiance to the princess’s faction one after another, and...”
The aide then trailed off. He knew that what he was about to say would make his master explode with anger; contrary to his appearance, he had a surprisingly short temper. But at the same time, his many years of experience taught him that keeping quiet would lead to the same result.
And so, steeling himself for the scolding sure to come, he fulfilled his role.
“Some of the nobles who turned are showing an unusually firm approach towards us...”
“What do you mean, ‘firm approach’...?” Duke Gelhart asked, somehow feeling as if he was being made fun of here. “Are they increasing their territories’ defenses?”
Irritating though it was, in the end, he didn’t take the resistance of the weak seriously. But what his aide said next made the color drain from Duke Gelhart’s face.
“They’re... gathering their forces and marching to the castle...”
“What?!” The duke couldn’t hide his surprise.
This wasn’t something which could be overlooked. Honestly speaking, Duke Gelhart wasn’t particularly bothered by the neutral nobles turning sides. But the neutral faction’s nobles mobilizing their territories’ soldiers and stationing them in the capital changed the situation drastically.
A faction had turned coat on them. While this may have seemed like a significant loss of military might, such was not actually the case, since anyone who joined them at this point in the game were opportunists who dreaded seeing harm come to them in the first place. They were parasites who gladly took the bait they were offered, but wouldn’t contribute to the faction which graciously fed them.
So in this case, even if they did carry the banner of the princess’s faction, they would be utterly uncooperative, offering no military or financial assistance to the faction. Or at least, that’s how they acted until now...
