What a windfall.
That was how fortunate this was.
The very man I had wanted to summon had walked right into the jaws of the royal citadel.
However, the counterintelligence network that had found the Duke of the East had only recently been established, and it was not fully functional.
Part of it had also been deployed to recover the treasury funds embezzled by the Finance Minister, leaving it in an incomplete state. That someone as important as the Duke of the East had been discovered so easily.......
It was also possible to interpret this as him deliberately inducing a meeting outside official procedures.
“What has become of the eastern rebellion that you are here? Had you informed us, we would of course have received you.”
Whatever his purpose, he had gone so far as to spy on us, only to be caught. I asked in order to shame him.
He did look abashed, in fact.
Of course, since the Duke of the East had never openly declared rebellion, there was no reason to interfere with him anywhere in the kingdom as long as he was not leading a large force.
If he had simply come because he wanted to see the royal citadel where he had been born and raised, it would have been appropriate to receive him with a fitting ceremony.
All the more reason his decision to come in secret, without informing the royal citadel and while forgoing all protocol, was suspicious.
“Ahem. I wished to see how the great Late King, His Majesty my elder brother, had governed.”
His Majesty, my elder brother? What a laugh.
He was his brother, though.
“It is not something the Duke of the East needs to know in depth.”
“You are being unkind. I, too, must make plans against contingencies.”
I was pressing him for doing something absurd, but his words were not entirely wrong.
What if something happened to the young Queen?
If the next succession had not been firmly decided, that too would shake the entire kingdom.
The lawful next heir was the Late King’s second daughter, born to the deposed Queen.
But the deposed Queen, an Imperial princess, had not merely behaved atrociously. She had tried to absorb the whole kingdom into the Empire.
Rather than enthrone the Late King’s second daughter of Imperial blood—the legitimate, rightful heir—the Duke of the East was the better choice.
Thus, should Her Majesty die suddenly, the man I, the Regent and Lord Protector who held all royal authority, would enthrone would be this man.
“We must discuss what comes after Her Majesty. Is that why you were receiving a letter here?”
Her Majesty was still young, so it would be years before she bore a lawful, rightful heir.
Of course, there was another clever option, but it was not a matter to bring up now.
“Ah, do not misunderstand. As a stratagem to suppress the eastern rebellion, I spread a rumor that I was leading troops to the capital, hoping to lure the rebels out of their fortresses.”
It sounded like a plausible excuse, but the Duke of the East’s words were full of contradictions.
Considering the funeral and coronation, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army was saying he would leave the battlefield for nearly a month.
It sounded as though the situation was nowhere near serious enough that he needed time to flush out rebels with a false rumor.
That still left the contradiction of his taking the Lion Unit out of the royal citadel.
It was a trivial rebellion, so why did he need the royal citadel’s troops?
Moreover, if he wanted to spread a rumor, he should have arrived after announcing it publicly. What was the point of coming in secret and getting caught by the counterintelligence network?
“You are not a man incapable of containing that unrest. If the situation is poor enough that you must resort to such a stratagem, I shall suppress it in your place.”
“Heh, heh, hahahaha! You truly have not changed, my lord. That confidence.”
At last, the Duke of the East flung back his hood, laughing, and held out the hand that gripped his sword.
“Ah, we met so suddenly that I failed to greet you. It is good to see you. It has been a long time.”
“Good to see you.”
“If I had intended to cause trouble, I would not have come like this, so please excuse me. Is it not as if your sword were pointed at my throat?”
“As I wrote in my letter, you are not a man who would be unable to escape alone.”
“These knights are not the same. They are dear to me, and it pains my heart to think of their heads being hung in the royal citadel.”
“Do you not trust the swordsmanship said to be the finest in the kingdom?”
“With the Frost Sword in your possession, you are no longer an opponent one step beneath me.”
I could not feel what this sword did, but the Frost Sword itself said that even without royal blood, it was far better than any masterwork sword that had come before it.
It was so absurd that it treated itself as a strategic weapon that I did not bother replying.
Still, watching blood freeze solid was rather impressive.
“It is not good to converse with such a noble person in a place like this. Let us go to the royal citadel.”
“There is a matter I wish to discuss with only the Grand Duke of the North, but the royal citadel is not a good place for it.”
As I expected, it was probably a discussion about the next royal authority. It would not be pleasant for the newly enthroned Queen to hear.
After all, talking about who would become the next monarch while she was King could be interpreted as treason.
“Then how about the Sanctuary? You can pay your respects as well. Her Majesty will soon retire for the night.”
“Very well.”
The Sanctuary within the royal citadel could be reached without going through Her Majesty.
After confirming that Her Majesty had gone to bed, I had the knights line up outside and leave them to exchange greetings among themselves before entering the Sanctuary.
As a member of the royal family, there was no reason to bar him from entering the Sanctuary even if Her Majesty was its keeper.
“You are the first guest among those attending the coronation to arrive.”
“That is as it should be, is it not?”
“If you watch over the coronation, I will have no great worries.”
The Duke of the East’s early visit had been unexpected, but it was for the best.
If the King’s brother, who led a large faction, attended not only the Late King’s funeral but the new Queen’s coronation as well, it would serve as a warning to nobles who did not attend the Queen’s coronation.
If Her Majesty held the royal family’s legitimacy, the Duke of the East was the one who symbolized actual power.
If Her Majesty and I could control a man with actual power, even a transitional regency government would gain strength.
“To think he grew this thin.”
“At the time, he could barely swallow water.”
Judging from the state of his remains, the Late King had already been little better than a half-corpse while he was still alive.
The warrior we both respected was gone, and even I had been shocked.
Of course, the Duke of the East was part of a band of traitors that, the moment the brother he held in such esteem took to his bed, swallowed up the elite soldiers his brother had painstakingly raised under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion.
The Late King had been unable to pay their wages because of financial difficulties, and the eastern rebellion truly had not yet been put down. That was the only reason they were not official traitors.
The Late King had considered the Duke of the East a great threat, which was why he had summoned me, another powerful courtier.
“Because of that filthy bitch.......”
“Queen Elined, I presume?”
“When the true Queen rests here as well, what reason would I have to speak nonsense?”
When the person being referred to was unclear, it was an insult to the one interred here, so I corrected him.
The Late Queen, Her Majesty’s birth mother, had been humble and kind, in contrast to the haughty Imperial princess who had become the deposed Queen.
However, since the Duke of the East’s domain lay in the East, his main enemies were the eastern foreign tribes rather than the Empire to the northwest.
I remembered that he had not been on particularly bad terms with Queen Elined, the former Queen of Imperial birth.
Of course, he now plainly seemed to hate her intensely. Perhaps he was overdoing it because his past friendship with Elined—now the kingdom’s official, universally despised fucking bitch—might become a stain.
The Duke of the East began to state his business.
“How is the Queen? Is she the sort of person fit to be King?”
“The Late King is before us. That is a presumptuous question.”
“Lord Protector, I too fully acknowledge your abilities and consider you a talent capable of supporting Her Majesty.”
“I thank you.”
“However, Her Majesty is still young, and there will be no heir for some time. For the stability of royal authority, there is something I would say.”
“If you mean that you will remain quiet, I welcome it.”
I had made a joke, but the Duke of the East gave his usual smile for a moment, then hardened his expression again before answering.
“Grant me the titles of Guardian of the Holy Land and Administrator of the Crossroads.”
They were titles Her Majesty had held when she was a Princess, and they had not yet been granted to anyone else.
The royal capital contained the Church of the Holy Spirit’s holy site, the Cathedral of the Messiah’s Chief Disciple’s Ascension, as well as an eight-way crossroads built by the great empire that had once stood in the ancient royal capital, connecting the kingdom’s east, west, south, north, northeast, southwest, southeast, and northwest.
The ducal title of Guardian of the Holy Land and the comital title of Administrator of the Crossroads, both tied to those two places, were core powers of royal authority customarily held by the King’s formal heir.
The roads and holy site played an enormous role in sustaining the royal capital. Since antiquity, many states had risen and fallen in this land.
Yet everyone wanted this royal capital, Palatina, and among them, the authority to oversee those two places had become the King’s actual power.
The Church of the Holy Spirit cooperated, and everyone who used the roads had to pay a toll at the crossroads controlled by the King.
“You have ambitions for the throne.”
“Not now. But neither is it an ambition I could never pursue.”
“I see.”
He was not saying he wanted to become King immediately, but rather, ‘If Her Majesty dies, this country is mine.’ He wanted that declared officially.
It was natural to think the Duke of the East, who had both a degree of legitimate succession and power, was entitled to it. But the power he held was too great for this point in time.
Even if Her Majesty did not die, he would be able to wield power exceeding hers if he acquired those titles.
His troops in the East, together with the Lion Unit alone, already surpassed the Royal Domain’s mobilizable forces.
“It is true that I coveted the throne. I have likely told you already.”
While I pretended to be agonizing over the matter, he said it bluntly.
“Of course I know.”
“But do you think many have considered deeply why I covet the throne?”
If he wanted to become King, he needed at least a vision.
How did he want to lead the kingdom? That dream and goal.
“You wish to use the kingdom’s military as you please.”
“......I cannot deceive you, can I?”
Since he was openly revealing his ambition, there seemed to be no need to change the subject.
But his demand was unexpected.
‘He could openly pressure us with military force and threaten us to hand over the throne, yet he asks only for the next royal authority....... He is not the sort of man to make such a political demand while taking a step back.’
It was like an armed robber saying, ‘Ah, give me just a thousand won!’
If that was the case, it was safe to assume he either had no bullets or was holding a toy gun.
With that in mind, I intended to offer a condition that went beyond his.
“Very well. In exchange for granting you those titles, return the Lion Unit in its entirety.”
The royal family’s authority? I did not need any of it.
All I needed was the Lion Unit.
Someone else holding royal authority?
I could simply mobilize the Lion Unit and seize it by force.
“I expected you would say that. Lord Protector, you may not understand, but hear me out.”
“What is it?”
“The Lion Unit must be disbanded.”
“Hmm?”
Yet the Duke of the East suddenly put forth an absurd argument.
I dismissed it outright.
“The Lion Unit’s dissolution is not a matter for you to discuss. The Lion Unit belongs to the King, the head of the royal family, and only the King may discuss its dissolution.”
Her Majesty had to decide this. Even as Regent, I was reluctant to claim that right carelessly, but it was not a matter for the Duke of the East to discuss either.
“I do not want to seize the Lion Unit. My purpose is to commit them to civil war and reduce their numbers.”
“That is a transparent excuse.”
I dismissed him, but it was an unusual interpretation.
Of course, it was a method often used when sacrificing troublesome mercenary units or useless allied forces.
‘Could it be?’
Thinking of the history of my previous life, the Lion Unit could become a warlord faction.
Ten thousand soldiers who guarded the King’s immediate vicinity.
If the King could not properly control men like these, there was a high chance they would become a coup faction that meddled with royal authority and even replaced the King.
“Lord Protector, perhaps the Lion Unit is now thought to be a force that safeguards royal authority. But look at their conduct. Because they were not treated well, they have no intention of returning from the East.”
“That is not the duty of those who safeguard royal authority.”
“Exactly. When an army does not move like the King’s hands and feet, it is no longer a royal guard. It becomes an armed power that must be checked.”
As I had expected.
That did not mean I had no such concerns myself.
But the kingdom was still not free of conflict, and royal authority had not been firmly established.
I needed to directly or indirectly command the unit that would serve Her Majesty and use it for military tasks such as expanding the northern frontier and securing the eastern trade routes.
Beyond that, bringing this unit back immediately was itself a symbol that Her Majesty held both legitimacy and actual power. It could suppress the nobles’ resistance.
“I believe I understand what you mean. But it is not for you to worry about. So long as the royal citadel can regulate the balance of power with them, there will be no problem.”
“With the present young Queen? That will be impossible.”
“I will regulate it, and I will instill in her the ability to do the same. A royal guard that threatens the King? That is merely a failure to trust the King who governs it.”
“It is dangerous. Truly dangerous. Do you think I have them in hand? Because a mere few coins of their wages were delayed, they submitted to the East and are not even willing to return to the royal citadel of their own accord. Can they truly be called the royal family’s loyalist force? Can they be told to serve the new Queen?”
Still, I could sympathize with the Duke of the East’s concern about the Lion Unit itself.
A unit that was meant to give the royal family absolute loyalty had dared to act on its own accord.
Knowing history, I could not say it was not dangerous.
The Lion Unit had shown that, when their wages were delayed, they tried to choose their own King.
It was not wrong to say that they had become a source of disorder in the kingdom.
“Making them larger and expanding them further will also cause problems for the nobles. The warriors close to the King will inevitably become nobles. If we create new nobles from them, will the kingdom have land to distribute? Will they be satisfied with mere wages?”
“Very well.”
“Hmm?”
“Then, by royal command, Duke of the East, lead the Lion Unit and conquer Dalmatia, Duras, Tirana, and Abania, which stand behind this eastern unrest.”
“What?!”
“In that campaign, place the Lion Unit at the front and expend all of them. Preserve the Eastern Army, and use it to hold those lands. No matter what, should a unit bearing the royal crest be expended against mere rebels? Use it to conquer the eastern states that were once the kingdom’s old lands.”
They were small kingdoms and principalities, each a region one-fifth the size of our kingdom.
Bringing them under our rule would give the kingdom a vast inland sea and the eastern trade routes.
“Dalmatia and Abania as well? Dalmatia perhaps, but Abania is not under those eastern heathen bastards!”
“Did you not say you wanted to be Guardian of the Holy Land? Dalmatia and Abania are the sea and land routes to the eastern holy land occupied by heathens. The kingdom is a country descended from the ancient Empire. If you retake the ancient Empire’s holy city, how could I not grant you the title of Guardian of the Holy Land?”
“Heh, hahaha?”
The Duke of the East seemed at a loss for words, only letting out a hollow laugh.
“If that is difficult, return the Lion Unit. I understand your concern, so I will use them only where they will benefit royal authority.”
“In the end, that was what you wanted to say.”
“Have you not seen that I hold the full authority of the country despite being a noble of a different surname because I expanded its territory? If you want a title, earn merits worthy of it.”
I had the merit of expanding the kingdom’s territory.
The Duke of the East, too, had some merit in opening part of the route eastward, but it did not compare to mine.
“Lord Protector, then will you truly establish the imperial bitch’s child as the successor to royal authority instead of me? If this continues, that is what will happen!”
If he wanted to become the successor, I had told him to go on the eastern expedition. He was changing the subject.
I could sense his contradiction: he wanted to hold both the legitimacy and actual power of the throne, yet he did not want to fight me.
There was something in the Duke of the East’s words with which I could sympathize.
If the Lion Unit could not be used by Her Majesty as she was now, it might be better to get rid of them.
Then they should be used somewhere of greater value.
I had offered him that solution, yet he returned to the starting point and asked whether I would officially name Her Majesty’s foreign-born half-sister as the successor.
For this, I had prepared an answer in advance.
“There is a simple way. Would you like to hear it?”
“What is it?”
“Have your daughter adopted as Her Majesty’s daughter or the Late King’s daughter and make her first in the line of succession. There is constant unrest in the East, so your home castle will be unsafe. Leave your daughter in the royal citadel.”
“.......”
He did not answer.
At first glance, it sounded like a favorable proposal to raise his daughter as a candidate for succession.
But I was really telling him to hand over his infant daughter—the Duke of the East’s daughter, the Queen’s cousin, and third in the line of succession—as a hostage.
“So then, what will you do? Hand over the Lion Unit? Go on the eastern expedition? Have your daughter been adopted into the royal family’s direct line? Or?”
“Are you not worried about what means may come next if I refuse?”
If he accepted none of those three proposals, the Duke of the East could unite with the Lion Unit and wage civil war by attacking the royal citadel.
He had no justification, but he could make such a threat because he held a powerful army.
But.
“If I feared that, do you think I would make you such an offer?”