244. The Emperor’s Eye (3)
In the past, during the 50-year war, the main character. The praises of ‘Duke Erbe’ spread across almost all territories belonging to the western front. About half of it was intentional. It was part of the groundwork to create a hero.
But the other half was natural. Fernandez smiled as he was showered with flower petals by women during the triumphal procession heading to Ribue.
-There was no need for behind-the-scenes manipulation, after all.
‘True. The Empire’s situation must have been more serious than I thought.’
Unlike other regions of the Empire, the area near Ribue in the west had no future other than decline. This land, once revitalized by the war industry and with its economic system solidified over the long 50 years, was no different from an abandoned mining village.
Like the villages in front of mines that could no longer extract ore, this land was filled with old men who couldn’t forget their glorious past and starving children.
But a new growth engine had emerged. Though brief, it was as intense as rain during a drought.
The western expedition ended sooner than expected, but during that time, a significant amount of national wealth flowed into the western regions, and they gained a new ‘icon.’
-Carvelier! Carvelier! Carvelier!
The citizens surrounding the triumphal procession chanted the Duke’s castle in unison. The Duke walked, looking at them with a pleased expression. All his vassals walked proudly, their faces filled with pride.
Fernandez turned his gaze. To the center of the procession, where the Emperor’s nobles were positioned.
At that moment, his eyes met Bernard’s, who was looking at him.
“!!!”
Bernard turned pale and quickly bowed his head to avoid eye contact. Fernandez chuckled at the sight.
-Tsk, the knight captain is quite timid.
‘Well, not timid, but made to be timid.’
* * *
It was quite amusing to hold a victory banquet while thinking about the defeat at Ibalis, but the banquet was as splendid as it could be.
Officially, it was to celebrate the successful suppression of the rebel forces within the Beastman Nobility and the acquisition of a vast territory stretching from Ribue to Ibalis. The defeat at Ibalis was not seen as a defeat but was spreading as a tale of virtue.
And the reality was. The true purpose of the splendid banquet was ‘propaganda.’ To showcase the authority of King Carvelier and boost the pride of the army and the people.
“Sir Fernin. His Majesty the King is looking for you.”
When Fernandez was toasting with the Beastmen, Borua approached and whispered. It wasn’t a servant but a knight, almost his right-hand man, the knight captain, who delivered the message.
Fernandez put down his glass and smiled. He stood up, following Borua.
It meant the Duke had acknowledged his presence.
* * *
Unlike the grand banquet outside, the Duke’s reception room had a modest meal prepared.
A minimal number of servants set up a simple meal, slightly better than what low-ranking soldiers would eat, with thin meat soup and dry bread. Fernandez watched the servant quickly place a plate in front of him and then disappear.
There wasn’t a single servant attending. This place was only for the Duke and him.
He had been invited to a humble, perhaps even shabby, meal that commoners might eat.
“Why so, Sir Fernin? Does the food not suit your taste?”
The Duke chewed on dry bread as he spoke. He poured water from a bottle himself. Fernandez glanced at the banquet hall visible below the window and said.
“I didn’t expect a private audience.”
“I’m not a fool.”
The Duke put down the bread and drank some water. He wiped his hands and stared intently at Fernandez.
“No one directly said anything, but the attitude of the Beastmen towards you was quite peculiar. It wasn’t just the respect given to a beloved concubine of a respected chieftain or a high-ranking Beastman noble.”
“I’ve done a lot for the Beastmen.”
“Does that include ruling them from the shadows?”
Fernandez chuckled at the words. He also put down the bread and spoke.
“Chieftain Hearttaker is undoubtedly a hero respected and revered by all Beastmen. Warriors who would jump into fire at her command fill that wilderness.”
“I am the same.”
Erbe wasn’t boasting about his authority. He continued the conversation almost expressionlessly.
“At some point, it became like that. It’s embarrassing to say, but I wasn’t originally a Duke respected by my vassals. From the start of the battles, through the war, up to now. At some point, my vassals started showing me not just respect but reverence, and rumors about me became excessively glorified.”
“Your achievements must be high, my lord.”
“No. No.”
Erbe pushed the water glass aside and slowly interlaced his fingers.
“Since the Chieftain proposed a truce to me? No. Precisely, since you first used force against my vassal in this reception room. All the vassals who challenged my authority left Ribue. As if they were weeded out.”
“Because he insulted the Chieftain.”
“And you saved my daughter. From the ambush of a fallen Dark Mage.”
“I told you that was the Inquisition Officer’s achievement.”
“Let me say it again, I’m not a fool.”
At his words, Fernandez clicked his tongue.
How much did he figure out? Duke Erbe was still looking at him with deep eyes.
“The look in the Chieftain’s eyes towards you… it was affection and respect. A kind of respect that goes beyond mere respect between lovers. A ruler can never have such eyes. The moment you stand above others, it’s not easy to acknowledge someone above you.”
“……”
“Was she also your creation? I gathered various rumors about Chieftain Hearttaker. A tale of a mere Beastman slave, overcoming hardships, finding a forgotten fragment of a god, receiving revelation, and finally rising to the position of Chieftain.”
Erbe was still calm. He could feel a sense of kinship listening to the Chieftain’s story.
A story of successfully suppressing ‘rebels’ and ‘powerful external enemies’ to finally become a ‘hero.’
If you just changed the groups in each pronoun, it wasn’t much different from his own story.
Every scheme, every tactic has a certain rhythm. Tactics devised by the same person tend to have a similar ‘color.’
And as the supreme commander of the 50-year war, a knight who had spent his entire life in war since birth. His senses were extraordinary.
“It’s the same person’s script. That’s the feeling I got.”
“Since when were you sure?”
“Since Lavirata showed me favor. That wraith told me something ambiguous about ‘having already made a pact with someone.’ At first, I thought it was the Emperor’s trick. But that couldn’t be. The Emperor wouldn’t risk his own blood to spread tales of virtue to me.”
Erbe unclasped his hands and held the glass. His hand was trembling slightly.
“The Beastmen were in the rear. The ones who suffered were me and the Imperial Army. Most of the damage was to the Imperial Army. So was it the Chieftain’s doing? Or…”
“Is someone trying to make me a hero, just like they created the great hero of the Beastmen tribe?”
That was a terrifyingly horrifying assumption. Regardless of his own will, he had already become an unparalleled hero, saving the nobles who had insulted him and even acknowledging the Wraith Sovereign, whom he had no connection with.
If that was someone’s grand plan.
“Why me?”
What could such a person possibly want from me?
“There are plenty of more influential Dukes, and if they wanted to connect with the Beastmen, there are easier candidates than me. Why me?”
“You’re misunderstanding.”
Fernandez shook his head.
“It wasn’t to make you a hero, Duke.”
“…Then what?”
“Your daughter. Rene Philippa de Carvelier.”
“…!”
Erbe’s eyes widened. He was momentarily stunned… then glared at Fernandez with eyes filled with rage. The veins on the back of his hands bulged and twitched.
“No one can touch my daughter!”
“The Lady of Carvelier must become the Emperor.”
“…What?”
“She must become the hero who will reunite the fallen Empire, rebuild it into a powerful nation that will last for a thousand years, and be the true name of this era. And she must be the rightful heir to the throne.”
Fernandez spoke calmly to the shocked Duke.
“For that, she needs fertile ground. The current state of this country is too stable. Stably corrupt. She needs power, motivation, and achievements.”
“…”
“Reject the corrupt Imperial Palace. Unite the divided Dukes. Heal the suffering people. These achievements are not bad, but they’re not a beautiful picture yet. To add the finishing touch, one more move is needed.”
Silence fell.
Duke Erbe was slowly being overwhelmed by the man before him. Objectively speaking, it could be attributed to the instinctive presence a mortal feels in the face of a divine being.
No. It was from the achievements and actions this man had done and was about to do.
The most intense human emotion is the fear of the unknown, and to Duke Erbe, Fernandez was the very embodiment of the unknown he had never encountered before.
An unprecedented threat. Like an unpredictable natural disaster.
What can he do? What does he intend to do? What is he thinking?
Not a single clue about any of it.
“What is it…?”
“The death of a respected figure and a beloved father.”
“…Hah.”
Such a being was pronouncing a death sentence.
“That will complete the hero, Duke Erbe. If you want an answer, I’ll gladly give it to you. Your life doesn’t have much left. You must become the womb for the birth of a great hero.”
“For what purpose… are you doing this?”
It’s not the fear of death. He had enough experience not to fear a future that hadn’t yet arrived. So, this isn’t the fear of death.
It’s just a question that arises after resignation.
“The Emperor must die, and the Empire’s corrupt organizations must be cut out. Everything… well, it sounds ridiculous, but it’s for the greater good.”
“Hah… Hahaha.”
Both Erbe and Fernandez laughed at that. No one took those words seriously. It was a gamble where, upon failure, they would lose their lives and everything they had devoted themselves to.
However, these two were too cunning to believe they were acting for the greater good. But what did it matter? Whatever schemes they harbored, they had agreed to use each other.
Revealing one’s true intentions isn’t the only way to make friends. There’s a stickier method: necessity.
For rulers, necessity is stickier than sincerity.
“Then look at the current situation from the perspective of the one who planned it. This morning, after I returned to my territory, I received fresh news.”
The news that Duke Bülrang had begun marching toward the capital. This shocking news came through the chaos of the triumphal procession. A Duke had directly raised an army against the Imperial authority.
“Duke Bülrang is a hot-headed man, but he’s no fool. No matter how much the current Emperor has lost his authority due to past mistakes, directly turning a spear against him is foolish.”
Pro-Imperial Dukes had to support the Emperor for administrative, economic, or nominal reasons. The numerous benefits they received from the Emperor during his reign, the many weaknesses the Emperor held over them.
“A civil war will break out. As you expected. But answer me. Ribue doesn’t have enough troops to directly confront another Duke’s forces. What should we do in the coming turbulent times?”
“Recognize the Emperor’s authority and march to defend the capital.”
“What?”
“Officially condemn Duke Bülrang and side with the Emperor.”
Fernandez gave three reasons.
First. Externally, the Emperor had spared no military support at Ribue’s request. Repaying this would directly affect Duke Erbe’s reputation and prestige.
Second. The capital’s military strength being annihilated doesn’t prove the Emperor’s power. As long as pro-Imperial Dukes remain, Duke Bülrang will face backlash.
Lastly. The most important.
“It can hide Ribue’s true intentions.”
Others might not know, but Dukes would know that the Emperor had schemed to swallow Ribue.
And they would also expect that Duke Ribue had crossed an irreparable river with the Emperor.
In the midst of that, if Ribue supports the Imperial Palace…
“What would others think?”
Some would say Duke Ribue knelt to the Imperial authority.
Others would suspect Duke Ribue’s sinister intentions.
Some would think Duke Ribue gained some profit from the Emperor.
“At least the Emperor would be thrown into confusion. If you march to defend the Imperial authority without doing anything, just losing troops.”
Everyone would speculate on Duke Ribue’s true intentions. The civil war, divided into pro-Imperial and anti-Imperial factions, would spread into chaos.
The Empire wouldn’t split into two, but the moment Dukes start suspecting each other, the line between pro-Imperial and anti-Imperial blurs, reducing it to a conflict between great nobles.
The frontline isn’t just one; the entire Empire begins to roll toward an era of mutual suspicion and restraint.
The most intense human emotion is the fear of the unknown.
* * *
Right after the banquet, news of Duke Bülrang’s march spread throughout Ribue’s territory.
And the Duke, upon hearing the news, immediately organized an opposing army under the pretext of defending the Imperial Palace and maintaining peace.
Naturally, the rumor reached every Duke’s ears. Regardless of allegiance, the Empire’s great nobles, including the Emperor, had only one thought.
‘Why are they doing this?’
Except for one person.
A man from the Tremule Count’s household laughed upon hearing the news.
“It has begun.”
The most cunning strategy is one where the outcome is already decided beneath the surface.
The Empire’s second prince, Robert Benitier de la Tremule, watched the marching troops of Guer and thought.
The turbulent times had begun.
Duke Bülrang’s troops marched toward the Empire’s heart, a great army of fifteen thousand.
Ribue’s Carvelier, leading five thousand troops, declared war against them.
And in the north, Guer. The great fleet of the Tremule Count’s household began to leave the port.
Heading toward the eastern Duke’s territories.
A man who had opposed the Emperor now defended him, while the Emperor’s son attacked pro-Imperial territories.
An era of upheaval had begun, where no one could tell friend from foe.
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