319. The War of Puppets (16)
Rene Philippa de Carvellier. The first female emperor in the history of the empire, a great hero who ended the tyranny of the previous emperor and saved the people, and a heroine who avenged her father’s death herself.
That was the rumor circulating about her among the people now. Gossip spreads faster than any other rumor, and it was an image created after active manipulation of public opinion by Iron Side.
So, Rene Philippa believed she had been “gifted” her throne. This laurel wreath is not mine. That thought always weighed heavily on her heart.
‘You must be like an emperor.’
An emperor must be the sovereign of sovereigns. If the monarch of a nation is the parent of the people, the emperor must be the model among those monarchs.
The emperors in stories were always like that. Those who actually inherited the throne were mostly cunning politicians, but at least Rene, who had not established her position through her own political skills, thought so.
“Stand up.”
She personally helped up a soldier who had collapsed, gasping for breath. The man, who looked like a peasant soldier with a shabby appearance, shrank back in fear at the sight of Rene’s shining armor and golden laurel wreath.
“Stand up. Son of the empire. Pick up your spear and defend your homeland.”
“Y-Your Majesty!!”
The title “Your Majesty” is not for the emperor. But the ignorant peasant soldier reflexively shouted it and bowed his head. Rene, without caring that her cloak was getting dirty, knelt down and helped him up.
“It’s not time to give up yet.”
After lifting the trembling peasant soldier, who was shaking from shock and fear, Rene mounted her horse and surveyed the military camp. Despair loomed over them like a shadow on the battlefield.
“Marshal of the Cavalry. When do you think the next offensive will be?”
“Their frequency is gradually increasing, Your Majesty. The last interval was half a day, so I expect it to be sooner than that.”
“We lack information.”
“Count Tremule’s absence has been fatal, Your Majesty. After this war, we must reorganize Iron Side’s network.”
“After this war? Haha… Your mindset is commendable.”
Rene laughed brightly and patted the marshal’s back. A great commander must always be able to focus on the aftermath of war.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Rene looked at the marshal for a moment before turning her horse.
“I must gather the generals. See you in ten minutes.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
* * *
Rene’s field conference was not just for high nobles. She wanted to see all field commanders at once, so the entire chain of command, from marshals to frontline unit leaders, gathered here.
One hundred and twenty. That was the number of commanding officers gathered in western Palts. It was a large number, but Rene let out a deep sigh as soon as they assembled.
“Thirty, huh.”
Thirty were missing from the last meeting. Since they couldn’t have disobeyed the emperor’s orders, their absence was clear. The names of the missing officers would likely be found on the list of the fallen.
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Why should you? I am the one who feels guilty towards you all. You are doing well.”
“Your Majesty…”
An unshakable dark cloud hung over the conference room. The atmosphere was not much different from the battlefield. If even the emperor’s audience hall was like this, it was almost miraculous that there were so few deserters.
“The enemy’s offensives are becoming more frequent. What do you think this means, generals?”
“It means their main force is approaching, Your Majesty. And Duke Sephor of Bülrang…”
“It must be the Beastman Nobility. Surely you all know that the Duke of Sephor is nothing more than a puppet of the Beastmen, right?”
“Ahem…!”
It wasn’t easy to discuss in public how a ducal family of the empire had been taken over by savages from the wastelands. The generals blushed and turned their heads.
“Chieftain Hearttaker is my friend and a trustworthy sovereign. And Sir Sernerd, who could be called the chieftain’s right hand, is also my betrothed. Have you forgotten that the Federation of Nobles is risking their lives to fend off the enemy at this very moment on the empire’s borders?”
“Your Majesty, but…”
“Enough. Let’s stop this discussion. Once this war is over, I will formalize the extermination of the Sephor ducal family and grant the title of Elector to Chieftain Hearttaker.”
“Y-Your Majesty! The empire’s thousand-year history has never seen the Electorate transferred to others!”
“We are living in an era where we must rewrite history. Listen, generals!”
Rene slammed the armrest of her throne and shouted.
“Has there ever been a time in the empire’s history when the emperor devoured his own people, played into the hands of demons, the church opposed the imperial family, interrogated the empire’s people, and the divided lords raised their spears against each other?”
“……”
“There is only one reason the empire could last forever! Not history, nobles, lords, or the emperor. It was because of the people living in the empire. We are the people of the empire! It was because we could proudly call it our nation! Are you proud of the empire now, generals?”
“Your Majesty…!”
“I am not! Since the great Emperor Charlemagne, there has never been a day when the empire’s foundation crumbled so much! Minister of Foreign Affairs!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
As Rene shouted, a noble in a judicial robe stood up and bowed deeply. Rene looked at him with burning eyes and said.
“Speak! How many lords have responded to the Elector’s summons?”
“Marquis Grimor is said to be leading twenty-six thousand infantry towards Palts.”
“And?”
“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“This is the reality!”
The enemy’s offensive was weaker than initially predicted. Perhaps it was due to Robert’s efforts, still fighting in the Great Wilderness, and the Beastman Federation blocking the path to Paltennoia.
The initial estimate of two hundred thousand troops had now dwindled to five, six, or ten thousand cavalry launching sporadic attacks. The enemy was not united now.
It was a miracle. Like a tidal wave breaking against a breakwater, finally turning into ripples in the harbor. It meant that the empire’s breakwaters were rising in all areas between the enemy’s main force and Paltennoia.
Information was paralyzed. Iron Side was a decentralized organization, and it was Robert’s role to oversee them. For such a person to now have to dive into the wastelands himself, how desperate must the situation be?
Even so, the lords remained silent. The empire was crumbling. Not only did they not respect the imperial authority, but since there was a precedent of the throne being transferred by force, there was no rule preventing them from doing the same.
The lords are jackals. The imperial family must never show weakness in front of them. But the early days of Rene’s reign, though heroic, were still tainted by the stigma of a violent usurpation.
“Even the Beastmen of the Federation of Nobles, whom you called ‘outsiders unrelated to the Electorate,’ are risking their lives to defend the empire! And what are the so-called imperial citizens doing now? What are the great nobles you so wish to protect, wearing the ‘Electorate,’ doing now?”
“Your Majesty…!”
“I see despair in your eyes. But it’s not over yet! It’s too early to give up! The reason the Electors are silent is precisely because we are on the brink of disaster! So, have hope. Even the silent Electors must feel our hope!”
The thoughts of the Electors were almost palpable. If the emperor fell and Paltennoia burned, they would use it as a pretext to reclaim the land and march on the capital.
They know one thing but not the other. They don’t know the enemy’s forces. The painful reality brought by information asymmetry…
Even if she delivers this information now, there won’t be any lords who will believe it as it is.
They are underestimating the enemy. They think that the emperor, who was defeated by external forces, is weak, and that defeating those external forces will elevate their own authority.
But no. After the emperor falls, after the capital is captured, the enemies who have achieved their primary goal will scatter in all directions. It will be like an invasion of locusts, an unstoppable disaster.
So, it must be told. The emperor can overcome this situation, and afterward, the emperor’s spear will point at you. Fortunately, even though the emperor’s legitimacy has been tarnished by the usurpation, the emperor’s authority as a war sovereign remains high.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!!”
At that moment, the curtain of the military tent was lifted, and a soldier rushed in, prostrating himself. It was a great discourtesy in the audience hall, but the ministers did not scold him. They had anticipated the kind of information the soldier would bring.
“Have they come?”
“Yes, yes! Your Majesty! The enemy’s legion is advancing!”
“They were faster this time. They’re getting faster and faster.”
-Clank.
Rene stood up and grabbed her weapons. As a noblewoman from the Carvelier territory, the days when she had only held a dagger were long gone. She now carried a longsword at her waist and walked out with heavy steps.
“I hope all of you will attend the next meeting.”
It was a greater encouragement than a simple “Don’t die.” The commanding officers sincerely bowed behind her and shouted.
“Long live the Divine Leviathan Empire!”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
* * *
-Hold the line! Hold! Do not retreat!!
The western front had turned into hell. The enemies rampaged through the hastily built wooden barricades and formations, slaughtering the infantry with terrifying ease.
Even amidst this, some officers of the Imperial Army showed heroic feats. They held the line against cavalry charges, maintaining their formations and solidifying their ranks.
But looking at the battlefield as a whole, it was nothing but a kind of tragedy. Individual valor was mercilessly crushed by the violence of the masses.
The western front was being reinforced, but it was far from enough. Among the conscription centers across the empire, only those near Paltennoia, where the emperor’s authority still held, were functioning properly.
The elector dukes remained silent. The western front would not hold for long. The emperor would die here. No, all of them would. They would die here.
The great capital that had stood for a thousand years. The foundation of Paltennoia, built by Emperor Charlemagne himself, was right before their eyes. It stood precariously, as if symbolizing the empire’s downfall.
After the western front fell, there would be no fortress left to defend the path to Paltennoia. This place was, in a way, the last bastion.
-Do not retreat! Do not…!!
-The general has fallen!
-Run, run away!!
The line was breaking. Rene, on horseback, watched the scene and let out a deep sigh. The enemy’s forces were greater than yesterday. Nearly double compared to the day before.
Had Bülrang finally fallen? Had the resistance of the Beastman Nobility been broken? With the Federation of Nobles abandoning their defense, only the enemy’s main force remained.
“Is this the end…?”
The vanguard of the two hundred thousand strong army rushing from the wasteland. Initially counted as fifty thousand cavalry. Among them, twenty thousand enemy troops had broken through Bülrang’s defenses and were marching toward the capital.
They couldn’t even stop that number. They were unprepared. They lacked time. Countless excuses tangled in her mind. At the end of that tangled thread, the conclusion was always the same.
Is this the end? Is all that remains to be remembered in history as the last emperor of a fallen empire?
“Your Majesty, please take care of yourself.”
“Lord Borua.”
“I have gladly served two lords, but I have no intention of serving a third.”
Borua laughed heartily and put on his helmet. From the previous Duke Carvelier to the present, Borua had served two Carveliers. Serving a third lord would be a disgrace to a knight. He shook his head and raised his lance.
“The late Duke once gave me a command during the last war.”
“What was it…?”
“Fear my own weakness if I cannot protect the people.”
-Clank.
Borua lowered his visor. His gruff voice echoed through the gaps in his helmet.
“His Grace told me to fear only my own weakness, so I, Borua of Ribue, shall face the enemy’s army without a single fear.”
“Lord Borua.”
“Therefore, Your Majesty, please also face them without fear. Your Majesty must value the survival of the people more than the death of soldiers. This is my final loyalty, so please heed it.”
“I will remember you.”
“I will also remember that I was Your Majesty’s knight.”
Borua led the knights of Ribue and prepared to advance beyond the encampment. The limbs of the Carvelier family gathered in one place and offered a brief salute to her.
Rene’s hands turned white. Deep despair settled in her heart, but she could not show such a face to her vassals who were marching to their deaths.
So she smiled. To those who would write another heroic epic in this battlefield, and as the ultimate tribute to their struggle that would end in tragedy.
At that moment.
-Whoooosh—!!
A horn sounded from beyond the east. Everyone in the encampment, no, everyone on the battlefield, turned their gaze toward the hill where the dawn was breaking.
* * *
“Sir Paliamain, take the east with the knights of Altkairn.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Sir Pafnarmear, take the west with the knights of Althais and flank the enemy.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“The knights of Altberth will follow my banner and break through the center. Listen!”
-Clank!
-Clank!!
At his words, all the knights in formation gripped their spears. Clank, the sound of steel gauntlets gripping sword hilts echoed loudly.
Against the backdrop of the dawning hill, a young knight in a black cloak raised the banner high. The banner of the steel city, Altberth!
“Do you remember? Do you remember the oath you swore? Do you remember the day you swore before me, before my sword!”
-Even if we cannot save all the injustice in the world, we will not ignore the outstretched hand of the sick and weary!
“Law, diplomacy, politics, and reality will block you! At times, justice will be treated as less than the cheapest piece of scrap! But we are fools who never gave up on being knights, even in those moments!”
-Temple of the Gods, grant us your blessing!
“Justice is neither lofty nor sublime! It is now treated as a cheap joke, a pitiful sympathy! But do you remember? Do you remember our ancestors who rose up, staking their lives on that light word!”
-Dane, grant us your blessing!
The cloaked knight gripped the reins and shouted. The horse reared up, its front legs kicking, and the cloak fluttered wildly in the wind. The knight raised the banner high and shouted.
“Follow your king. I will never stand behind you. Dane, advance! Death to the enemy!”
-Knights of the Round Table! Death to the enemy!!
-Whoooosh!!
-Thud thud thud thud thud!!
Along the ridge, a group of cavalry began to descend, their backs to the rising sun. Watching the scene, Rene muttered blankly.
“Fools…”
The Eastern Kingdom should never respond to the empire’s crisis. At least, the Dane Kingdom should never. With the concession of La Merthion, the Dane Kingdom had already lost the authority of the entire Eastern Kingdom alliance.
The kingdom’s authority, diplomatic missteps, political checks… abandoning all of that, the young knight had led his vassals here.
Fools. This is just another nation’s suffering, with no benefit to them… the outcome of this battle will have no effect on them. Yet, they staked their lives on that empty plea for help and rushed here!
“Lord Borua…”
“Yes, Your Majesty…!”
Rene didn’t even think to wipe her flowing tears as she lowered her helmet visor.
“Support those fools. Will you join me in the charge?”
“It would be an honor, Your Majesty!!”
“We are the empire, Lord Borua. Shouldn’t we set an example for those fools?”
“Then, may I have the honor of shouting it myself?”
“Gladly.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty!”
Borua’s voice, muffled by his helmet, rang out loud and clear.
“Death to the enemy!!”
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