In the court of the Kingdom of Selseta, a heated debate was going on.
The topic was just one thing: whether or not to fight the Urgalia Army to rescue the King’s younger sister, Mito Selsetia.
One courtier shouted, “If Princess Mito is taken to the Imperial Capital, rescuing her will be extremely difficult. Before that happens, we should use all our army’s strength to save her!”
Another official shot back, “If we could do that, we would have already marched out! Don’t you understand how dangerous it is to fight the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) on open plains?”
”Are you saying that because it’s dangerous, abandoning the Princess is unavoidable? Right now, the royal capital has sixty thousand soldiers. The Empire’s army on the Dalai Plains has twenty thousand. If we use three times their numbers, even the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra)-“
A officer sneered, “Ha! This is why civil officials who don’t know the battlefield aren’t worth listening to! Most of those sixty thousand are drafted farmers. If they take even one charge from the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra), they’ll immediately freeze with fear and run!”
”Fixing that is the job of military officials, isn’t it? Are you scared?!”
”I’m telling you not to toy with armchair theories, you fool!”
As time passed, the debate grew hotter, and emotions ran so high that insults sometimes flew back and forth.
But no matter how heated the debate became, the courtiers’ opinions never came together, and only time flowed by uselessly.
At that moment, one of the generals leading the Selseta Army, Simeon, opened his mouth while frowning.
”It was none other than Urgalia that told us Princess Mito is alive. This is surely a trick to lure our army out of the royal capital. The Dalai Plains must be covered with a careful trap. Marching out knowing that is the act of a fool.”
”But-!” a Silku officer cut in.
Many Silku live in the Kingdom of Selseta, and some of them serve the kingdom.
Many Silku follow Mito, who shares the same blood of their race. The Silku were desperate to somehow guide the debate toward rescuing Mito.
But Simeon cut off the other man’s objection and kept speaking.
”Listen. I want to save the Princess just as much as anyone. But to save her, we would need to fight with all our army’s strength. She is not an opponent we can beat while holding back. That means leaving the royal capital empty.”
Here Simeon paused for a beat.
He waited for the courtiers’ eyes to gather on him, then spoke his conclusion.
”I believe that may be exactly what Urgalia is aiming for. In other words, the enemy’s target is this royal capital.”
Hearing Simeon’s words, the courtiers swayed and rustled like reeds hit by a strong wind.
The courtiers were debating whether to rescue the King’s younger sister in a royal capital far from the battlefield. Their worry for her was not a lie, but even so, somewhere in their hearts was the thought, “We here in the royal capital are safe.”
That mindset was especially strong among the civil officials, and Simeon’s point smashed that optimism.
Then, the King of Selseta, who had until then silently listened to his subordinates’ opinions, opened his mouth for the first time.
”If we force Mito’s rescue, it could lead to our kingdom’s destruction. Simeon, is that what you mean to say?”
”Yes, Your Majesty. Of course, I too wish to save Princess Mito. But winning on a battlefield where the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) waits with a trap is extremely difficult. As a result, if the royal capital falls-please consider this carefully.”
”Was telling us Mito is alive done with the wolfish heart of seizing the royal capital? That is just the sort of thing Urgalia’s starving wolves would think of..,” the King muttered.
The King of Selseta said that and sank into thought with a pained face.
After a little while, when the King of Selseta spoke again, a tragic resolve was stuck on his face.
”…I will not send an army to rescue Mito.”
”Your Majesty?! Then Princess Mito will-!” a courtier cried out.
”I know!”
The King of Selseta shouted down the courtiers who raised their voices, then began to painfully reveal his heart.
He addressed the room directly: “If I do not send the army, I cannot save Mito. I know that without being told. But as king, I must think of my country before my sister. I must value my people’s lives above my sister’s life. Since Urgalia’s aim may be the royal capital, I cannot risk danger and send soldiers for Mito.”
”But it is also possible General Simeon’s guess is wrong!” an official argued.
”Yes. But to know that answer, there is no other way than to actually fight the Urgalia Army. And even if we learn the answer after losing to the Urgalia Army, it will be too late.”
After saying that, the King of Selseta covered his face with his right hand and let out a pained voice.
He added softly, “Above all, I think Mito herself would not wish to be rescued. No one loves Selseta and understands the duty of royalty more than my sister Mito Selsetia. If I now risk danger and send an army for Mito, Mito would surely kill herself and refuse to become a burden on our country. So I will not send the army. No, I cannot send it…!”
At the King of Selseta’s words, which seemed to spit blood, the courtiers all fell silent in awe.
There could be no retainer who, after being told that much by the man who was both her brother and their king, could still demand sending troops.
The courtiers bowed their heads, accepted the King’s decision, and left the meeting room with slumped shoulders. Only Simeon the general remained.
After a little while, Simeon called out to the king, who hung his head.
”Your Majesty.”
”…Has everyone left?” the King asked quietly.
”Yes. Everyone except me has left.”
In response to Simeon’s words, the King of Selseta raised his face.
His face was terribly calm, and nowhere remained the figure of the “brother king suffering as he weighed the nation against his sister” that he had shown the courtiers until a moment ago.
”Simeon. Do you think everyone accepted it?”
When the King of Selseta asked, Simeon respectfully bowed his head and nodded.
”After seeing Your Majesty’s grief with their own eyes, there is no way anyone could not accept it.”
”Then it is fine. If I were slandered as having abandoned my sister of Silku blood, it would cause problems for the kingdom’s future rule,” the King replied.
Friendship with the Silku is the foundation of the Kingdom of Selseta-the words left by the First King of Selseta are now the national policy of the Kingdom of Selseta.
Even a king cannot avoid the courtiers’ backlash if he goes against national policy.
The King of Selseta opened his mouth while picturing his late father the former king in his mind.
The King continued, “I did not think that Mito would fall in just one day, but even so, the royal capital still has sixty thousand soldiers. The Urgalia Army must also leave some soldiers at the border. With this, we have fulfilled our promise with the Holy Kingdom to draw the Urgalia Army to the western border. I want His Holiness the Holy King to praise our kingdom’s sincerity in continuing to fight the Urgalia Army without yielding even after the King’s younger sister was taken hostage.”
Hearing the king’s words, Simeon cut in with difficulty.
”…Your Majesty. It is hard to say, but in the matter of invading other countries and expanding territory, the Holy Kingdom is no different from the Urgalia Empire. They are an opponent who might bare their fangs at us at any time.”
”Do not worry. That was just sarcasm. The Holy Kingdom grew big by devouring the main line of the Raitel Imperial family. I hear the Holy Kings through the generations have been desperate to wipe out the blood of the Raitel Imperial family. I do not expect decent honor from such a country. They probably think of our kingdom as nothing more than one of their pieces.”
After saying that, the King of Selseta clicked his tongue in irritation.
”-But any country is better than Urgalia. Is that not so?” the King added sharply.
”Yes, that is exactly as you say.”
He went on, “If the Holy Kingdom uses our kingdom, then our kingdom can use the Holy Kingdom too. It was bad for Mito, but thanks to this, we can claim, ‘Our kingdom carried out such a fierce battle in keeping with our promise to the Holy Kingdom that we lost the King’s younger sister.’”
-And he had also cut off the buds of internal conflict over the next succession to the throne.
That was the voice of the King of Selseta that Simeon heard not with his ears but with his heart.
At thirty-five years old, the King of Selseta had five children with the queen and consorts, but for some reason, all of them were girls.
It was three years ago that this King of Selseta finally got the son he had longed for. The King of Selseta was delighted and made this child crown prince, but in part of the court, voices of dissatisfaction were whispered.
The foundation of the Kingdom of Selseta is friendship with the Silku. But the crown prince has no connection at all with the Silku. If the crown prince takes the throne, the relationship between the Kingdom of Selseta and the Silku will probably grow thin.
Here, following national policy, should they not make Mito-the king’s younger sister, born between the First King of Selseta and a Silku-the next king?
That voice was small, but it was certainly whispered in various places in the Selseta court.
Mito had no ambition for the throne. The King of Selseta knew that too. But if Mito’s existence shook the stability of the kingdom, then removing it was also a king’s duty.
The King of Selseta walked over to the window and let his eyes run across the royal capital’s streets spread out below. While silently gazing at the city his father the former king built and he inherited, the King of Selseta said just one word: “I’m sorry.”
It was a small murmur that did not even reach General Simeon’s ears.
Trivia:
- The King’s calm face after the courtiers leave reveals the grief was a performance, meaning Mito’s capture conveniently solved his succession problem.
- Simeon hears the King’s true thought in his heart rather than his ears, hinting the two share a bond where unspoken political truths pass between them.
- The national policy of Silku friendship was left by the First King of Selseta, who fathered Mito with a Silku, making her both a symbol of that policy and a threat to the crown prince.