by Hyougetsu
Lord Veight might have been willing to help me, but I had no idea where he was. Is he waiting at Creech Castle with Uncle Woroy? But that’s so far... What about Uncle Barnack? Where’d he go? I had no money and no food. Worse, the sun was about to set. What should I do...?
Anxious, I nevertheless decided to put some distance between me and the town. I didn’t want to cry in front of other people. So I’d go somewhere I could be alone. Hesitantly, I took another step forward.
The moment I rounded a bend in the trail, I spotted a carriage waiting in the trees. It bore a familiar crest. Meraldia’s crest.
“Wha—!?” The moment I shouted, the carriage’s door opened and, as if by magic, Veight appeared. “Veight!?”
The kind man from Meraldia gave me a gentle smile and said, “My apologies for being so late. Woroy insisted on being here to greet you, and smuggling him through North Rolmund proved to be quite an ordeal. Your uncle is one stubborn man.”
“Uncle’s here!?”
“Yo, Ryuunie! Looks like you’re doing well!” Uncle Woroy called out as he stepped out of the carriage after Veight. I heard he’d been taken prisoner, but he was wearing a sword at his waist. In fact, he hardly looked like a prisoner at all.
“Uncle!” Without thinking, I ran up to Uncle and leapt into his arms. “Uncle! Uncle!”
“Come on, kid. You know men of the Doneiks family aren’t supposed to cry. You gotta keep it together or your old man’ll be disappointed in you.”
But you’re crying too! Also, can you not hug me so tight? It kind of hurts. Looking rather pleased with himself, Veight walked up to me and said, “For the time being, you can live at Creech Castle. Eleora already told me I can do whatever I want with it. Besides, that castle’s sturdy enough that I can protect you two from any threat.”
Lord Veight hadn’t been lying when he said he was a sorcerer. After all, only magic could have achieved something like this. Veight winked at me.
“Come, Prince Ryuunie,” said Veight with an exaggerated bow. “Join me, and together we will build a new future for the Doneiks family.”
“What do you mean?”
Uncle lifted me up onto his shoulders and answered for Veight, “Oh yeah! We’re gonna rebuild the Doneiks family in Meraldia! Don’t think we’re done for just yet! I’ll tell you all the details later!”
“Please don’t be so rough with your nephew, Woroy. We went through all this trouble to secure him unharmed, it would be a shame if he got injured now.”
Veight’s right, Uncle. The Meraldian general clapped his hands and ushered us into the carriage.
“Alright, get in, everyone. I want to be out of this forest and inside our encampment before the sun sets. Ser Barnack has lodgings prepared for us.”
Twenty horsemen rode up from the other side of the trail and arrayed themselves in a formation in front of the carriage. Veight turned to the horsemen and raised a fist.
“Rolmund’s laws mean nothing to us Meraldians. They can’t stop us from doing what we want! Isn’t that right, guys!?”
The horsemen smiled.
“Now that’s what I wanna hear, Veight!”
“Like hell we’ll let them kill a kid!”
“Welcome to the Meraldian army, Prince Ryuunie!”
I took Veight’s hand and let him escort me into the carriage along with Uncle. After I got settled into my seat, Veight smiled at me again.
“The truth is, Eleora and Ashley are quite worried about you as well. Both of them asked me to protect you, so you have nothing to fear.”
“Th-Thank you, Veight!”
Veight’s so mysterious, and cool, and amazing.
* * * *
Since Eleora was responsible for suppressing the rebellion in North Rolmund, so long as a new emperor wasn’t crowned, she held absolute authority in the subjugated region. Her first order of business was to confiscate territory from all the Doneiks family supporters and redistribute it to her followers. Since most of her landless nobles wouldn’t be able to handle managing huge swathes of territory, she started off by granting them all single villages. From here on out, they’d need to show results to work their way up the nobility ladder. Among the Doneiks family supporters who surrendered, nobles who showed promise were allowed to retain some of their territory. Those deemed incompetent were stripped of their lands, but their peerage remained the same. Doing this meant they got to retain their family names, leaving the door open for them to regain land sometime in the future.
Though Eleora had stripped them of their assets, she’d been considerate enough to leave them their honor at least. Partly because she didn’t want them to start another rebellion in desperation. The authority to seize and grant land normally only belonged to the emperor. However, Prince Ashley had yet to take the throne. And according to Rolmundian law, when there was no official emperor, the commander of an army had full authority over the lands they’d conquered. That law was put into place because oftentimes, princes and nobles had needed to quickly write up new laws after suppressing a rebellion, and couldn’t wait for a lengthy coronation ceremony to take place. Naturally, plenty of Prince Ashley’s supporters were unhappy with this arrangement.
“Your Highness, you cannot just ignore Prince Ashley’s authority like this!”
“Indeed, this is highly disrespectful!”
The moment we returned to the capital, we were bombarded by unhappy members of Prince Ashley’s faction. Today we were entertaining Count something-or-other and Marquis such-and-such. We’d been receiving visitors every day now, so I’d long since forgotten their individual names.
Eleora, who was currently busy penning orders for Ser Lekomya and her other core supporters, glanced at me. She wants me to take care of everything, doesn’t she? Ah well, I guess I can. I reluctantly stepped forward. Originally I’d been trying my best to blend in with the wall and look like a statue, but it seemed my plan had failed.
“I believe you are the ones being disrespectful here,” I said.
I had no intention of granting any of these guys’ demands, so I figured I may as well rile them up. I plopped down onto a nearby sofa and looked condescendingly up at the two nobles.
“Her Highness Eleora risked her life for Prince Ashley. Her respect for the prince is far greater than yours, considering you never even set foot on the battlefield. So hold your tongue.”
Let’s start with some light jabs. The nobles obviously wanted land, and their belief was that even if they hadn’t fought, it was Ashley’s faction who’d won, so they deserved something too. Of course, that was a misguided belief, but the nobles didn’t realize that.
“But Princess Eleora has exceeded her authority by deciding the traitors’ sentences and reallotting land without consulting anyone!” protested the noble.
Yeah, I knew you’d say that. Grinning, I grabbed a sheaf of documents titled “Wartime Law” from Eleora’s table and began to read off, “‘In the event that a rebellion occurs during a time when there is no reigning emperor, the member of the imperial family with the highest claim to the throne active at the front lines has the authority to govern the subjugated territories as they see fit.’ That’s what’s written in Rolmund’s law books.”
“Wha—!?”
Huh, they actually didn’t know that? I guess I can’t be too surprised considering how esoteric this country’s laws are. The two nobles had surprisingly contrasting reactions.
“I-I cannot believe such a law—”
“Hold on a minute now. While Prince Ashley may have remained in the capital, the rebels’ goal was to capture it. So you could claim that it was part of the battlefield too. Meaning—”
I know I’m not one to talk, but this is one crappy argument. If I entertained Count whatever’s sophistry this would never end. I needed to put a stop to this now.
“Please read what the definition of a battlefield is, according to the law code,” I scoffed. “It’s laid out in very clear terms.”
“Ngh.
..”
The nobles exchanged glances, then fell silent. To be honest, I hadn’t read through the law code myself, but Eleora’s lawyers had told me that as long as I told people to check that definition, I’d be fine. However, it seemed these nobles were more persistent than the others.
“W-Well even if Princess Eleora was within her rights to do what she did, she still shouldn’t have taken the matter of the Doneiks heirs into her own hands!”
“Those two are part of the traitor’s family! They should be beheaded!”
God, you guys don’t know when to give up. Fortunately, I was prepared for this too.
“The law I just mentioned specifies that Princess Eleora has every right to decide their fates as well,” I countered. “Are you saying you take issue with her lawfully decided sentences?”
“Of course we—”
I didn’t even let him finish.
“I see, so you’re claiming that Princess Eleora’s mistaken in her judgment?” I rose to my feet and placed a hand on the sword at my waist. “You doubt the same general who invaded Meraldia with only a hundred men, destroyed the Senate, and unified the region?”
Though technically, she wasn’t the one who unified the region.
“Not only that, she was the one who cooperated with Prince Ashley to put down the rebellion while everyone else was sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. I would go so far as to say she is the greatest general Rolmund has.”
This, at least, was the truth. Eleora had succeeded splendidly in her second campaign, and now she was Rolmund’s savior. And since the people believed she’d won her first one as well, the citizenry thought her invincible. As a result, Eleora could do more or less whatever she wanted, and the few nobles who opposed her wouldn’t be able to find the support to really censure her. But the ones who came to complain were too ignorant to realize this. Or perhaps they had realized it and just didn’t want to admit it. Either way, they weren’t very wise. Meaning it was up to me to show them their place. I gazed coldly down at the two nobles.
“Prince Ashley himself said that Princess Eleora’s judgment was sound. Forgive me for my ignorance, but I am a Meraldian after all. Are you two implying you have more authority than Prince Ashley?”
I took a step forward, and the nobles hurriedly stepped back. I kept my verbal grilling going.
“I will be taking Woroy and Ryuunie with me back to Meraldia as official guests of the state. There, they’ll live as proper Meraldian citizens.”
This was a lie. It was true that a new life was waiting for Woroy and Ryuunie once they reached Meraldia, but not as Meraldians. However, Prince Ashley’s nobles weren’t completely stupid. I knew that explanation wouldn’t be enough for them.
“But exile is meant to be a humiliating sentence that leads to death!” the noble protested. “And yet, you’re treating these exiles as honored guests! You can hardly say that the Doneiks have been appropriately punished!”
The noble was right. However, I was under no obligation to follow Rolmund’s laws.
“That’s not my problem,” I replied.
“What did you...”
The two nobles were speechless. I quickly fired back, “I simply provided shelter to two impoverished people. Having been exiled they’re no longer Rolmundians, so how I treat them has nothing to do with you, right?”
“Wha—!?”
Since exile had stripped them of their Rolmundian citizenship, Rolmund’s laws no longer applied to them...or so I’d been told. The Originia family and Kastoniev family lawyers were a force to be reckoned with. I’d hoped this little tidbit of legal knowledge that had been passed down to me would have cowed these nobles, but they still seemed adamant about arguing with me.
“You can’t just ignore the point of exile like this!”
“We’re done talking to a foreigner like you! Princess Eleora, please tell us what you have to say on this matter!”
God, will you ever give up? Eleora looked up from her paperwork and gave the two nobles a troubled smile.
“While Lord Veight is a sworn friend and a trusted ally, because he’s a foreigner, there are times where he refuses to see reason. Even I occasionally have a hard time dealing with him. So good luck dissuading him from his course of action.”
“Are you kidding me!?” the noble screamed.
Eleora was resorting to some petty tricks now. But both she and I had multiple meetings to attend after this. We really didn’t have time to bother with these small fries. I snapped my fingers. The door behind me swung open, and a team of officials walked into the room.
“Who are these people, Lord Veight!?”
“The lawyers of the Originia and Kastoniev families. If you have a problem with my interpretation of the law, take it up with them.”
I grinned at the nobles, and the lawyers all waved their robes of office at them. They took out their law books and prepared to crush any legal arguments the nobles might bring up. One of them looked the nobles in the eyes and said dryly, “Know that anything you say can and will be used against you.”
“How dare you be so rude!”
One of the lawyers took out a pen and scribbled something down.
“Your comments have been recorded.”
“Wha—!?”
“Feel free to continue.”
Prince Ashley’s nobles started to panic. They were up against an army of law masters. If they weren’t careful with what they said, Eleora would have legal grounds to sue them. At long last, the two nobles realized they had no hope of winning.
“P-Prince Ashley will hear of this!”
With that clichéd two-bit villain line, the nobles took their leave. Sorry you have to deal with these guys, Ashley. But it’s partly your fault for not keeping them in line. Once the nobles left, Eleora looked up from the orders she was writing and muttered, “Add those two to the watch list. I want you to dig up something we can use to strip them of their titles.”
The lawyers all bowed to Eleora.
“Yes, ma’am!”
Eleora had formally marked those two as enemies. Right now, she had vast amounts of influence over North Rolmund. And she could use that influence to entice nobles and commoners alike into acting on her behalf. Stripping a lesser noble or two of their rights was well within her current ability.
“All I want is for you to strip them of their influence and power. Make sure you do everything legally. There’s no need to resort to assassination.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The lawyers bowed again, then exited from the room to accomplish Eleora’s will. When just the two of us were left, I smiled knowingly at Eleora.
“You’re quite the kind princess.”
“I don’t have it in me to be as cold as Lord Doneiks. If I tried to emulate him, I’d just end up bringing ruin to myself.”
Eleora sealed the letter she’d been writing in an envelope, then got up and stretched.
“Oh yes, I was sent some spiced sausages as a gift. Why don’t we eat them now, Lord Veight?”
“Sounds good to me. Should I invite the werewolves standing guard outside too?”
“Hm? Oh...sure. I suppose I don’t mind.”
Eleora made a strange face. It was customary among werewolves to share whatever food you had, so if I scarfed those sausages down in secret the others would get mad at me for it.
* * * *
—Airia’s Reply: 6—
Dear Veight,
After your last letter, I heard you were embroiled in multiple battles, so I refrained from replying until things settled down. Firstly, I would like to thank you for sending me constant reports during such a busy time. I have read through all of your letters multiple times. Now that you’ve returned to Schwerin, I no longer worry that sending you replies will distract you from your mission.
You’ll be pleased to know that the Commonwealth Council voted unanimously to adopt your proposal for Prince Ryuunie. Shatina in particular supported it very enthusiastically. I su
spect she saw her own situation reflected in the prince’s. I cannot imagine how painful it must be to lose your parents to political strife. So long as Eleora agrees to spare the lives of the Doneiks princes, Meraldia has no objections to your plan. The northern viceroys have already begun preparations to welcome Prince Woroy and Prince Ryuunie into our midst. It would seem all that’s left for you to do is maneuver Eleora into becoming empress using politics. As the battles that require military might have ended, I’m hoping your next letter will be a merrier one.
* * * *
The two main things Eleora needed to focus on now were absorbing the remnants of the old Doneiks faction, and decimating the power of Ashley’s faction. I left both tasks in the princess’ hands while I worked on getting Woroy and Ryuunie safely out of Rolmund and into Meraldia. I was also sending Ser Barnack with them. A few of the Doneiks family’s staunchest supporters had also come to ask me for permission to move to Meraldia, but for now I decided to take just the princes. Any more people and it’d be difficult to guard them.
Most of the Doneiks family supporters had lost their land, which was why they wanted to move to Meraldia and start over there. Most of them were accomplished soldiers and bureaucrats. They’d all received a first-rate education, and they were fiercely loyal to Woroy. Which was why once the princes were safely through, I was hoping to slowly smuggle those nobles into Meraldia as well.
Woroy, Ryuunie, and I boarded a carriage that would take us out of Creech Castle. Once the carriage was on its way, Woroy turned to me with a sardonic grin.
“So your plan is to shelter us in case you need to use us as political pawns in the future?”
I nodded to him while staring absently out the carriage window.
“That’s right. Both Eleora and Ashley have what it takes to lead Rolmund, though. So I doubt I’ll be forced to use you two any time soon.”
