Chapter 185: A Kingdom on the Brink

The day before, I’d heard that Wenzenberg, a merchant from Strasbourg, was crossing over to Breisburg via the Main River. So I’d come up with a scheme to prepare for a possible ambush.

Viktor had told me about a good spot for an ambush on the western side of Eisten.

It was this very terrain beyond the hill. The tall hill made it perfect for concealing a large force.

So I’d written up this operational plan in a secret letter and entrusted it to Wenzenberg along with a messenger.

Wenzenberg saw it as a golden opportunity to build a relationship with me, someone with considerable influence in Breisburg, and readily agreed. And the plan had succeeded.

"Now I finally understand why you told me to set the training grounds to the north."

"That way, it’s much easier to move troops into position."

"How many moves ahead were you thinking?"

To counter Duke Radensdorf, the duchy army had scraped together nearly all its forces for a show-of-force training exercise, and I’d had a hand in choosing the location. It was near Breisburg anyway.

I’d also informed them that the Imperial Knights had sided with Prince Louis. My father-in-law had thrown a fit, wanting to crack those rebel bastards’ skulls open, but I’d suggested we set a trap instead.

That trap began when the Imperial Knights’ vice commander tipped me off about the coming ambush. Sadly, the vice commander was dead, but his warning, given at the risk of his own life, had been absolutely critical to this operation.

So I intended to look after his surviving family.

The same went for the families of the knights who had died alongside him.

If word spread that I took care of the bereaved families too, wouldn’t that build even more trust in me? And that trust would bring me considerable returns down the road.

"So who’s that young lady? Don’t tell me she’s your new sweetheart?"

"She’s the niece of Marquis Offenburg."

"Huh?"

The unexpected status widened Michael’s eyes mid-joke. Why would his brother-in-law be traveling with the Marquis’s niece? That’s what Michael’s expression was asking. I dismounted Mont Blanc and helped Lily down.

She was a mess.

With the cloak thrown over her, her hair was completely disheveled, and blood was splattered all over the parts of her dress the cloak hadn’t covered. Naturally, blood had splashed on me too when I’d cut down the enemy.

"There’s blood all over my dress! It was my favorite one. Ugh..."

"I’ll get you a new dress once we reach Breisburg."

"Really? That’s separate from your earlier promise, right?"

A dress. How much could it possibly cost?

"Now that you’ve experienced a cavalryman’s hardships firsthand, you should be able to weave them nicely into your writing."

"That’s true. Experience is the best teacher."

She’d been chased for the first time in her life and even experienced a breakthrough.

Despite her teary face, Lily nodded bravely.

Michael, who’d been watching quietly, leaned in and asked softly.

"Is she one of those head-in-the-clouds girls?"

"...Just think of her as a literary-minded young lady."

A hundred times better than someone crying and screaming hysterically.

Lily’s handmaids were exactly that type, and the knights had suffered for it.

They said they’d nearly dropped them off the horses.

But it seemed like something of a spark had formed between the knights who’d carried the handmaids and the women themselves. It probably wasn’t just my imagination. In a dangerous situation like that, it was only natural for your heart to lean toward the person who’d protected you.

If they liked my men, I wouldn’t mind playing matchmaker.

The handmaids served the Marquis’s household, so they probably weren’t nobles themselves.

I left Lily with her handmaids and sent them into Michael’s tent.

I couldn’t keep women exposed out in front of the soldiers.

"With this, those Imperial Knights bastards are officially in league with the rebels. No way to deny it now."

Michael was actually delighted that he could now deal with the Imperial Knights commander he’d always despised, and do it legally. When I’d first reported the possibility of their rebellion to the Military Department, he’d insisted on launching an immediate suppression.

But after I proposed luring them into a trap, Michael had held back to secure more definitive evidence. And with the vice commander’s death, the case against the Imperial Knights commander was now ironclad.

"Fortunately, there are no fatalities among our knights."

Fiel had done a headcount of the Gale Knights and reported to me.

I was relieved everyone was safe. A breakthrough was incredibly dangerous.

If any knight had fallen from his horse, he was as good as dead.

The unit couldn’t stop to save him.

"By the way, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

Michael spoke to me with a look of great interest.

He was like a mischievous kid who’d been dying to share something.

"Viscount Loewenbert is currently guarding the royal castle."

"The Viscount himself? That means..."

"You’re probably guessing right."

Viscount Loewenbert was the Capital Sentinel Commander.

The fact that he was standing guard meant something had gone wrong at the royal castle.

"The Queen and Prince Louis tried to assassinate each other. Luckily both attempts failed, but the palace has been thrown into chaos because of it. That’s why the Capital Sentinel Force is controlling Breisburg right now."

"In the middle of all this, mother and son tried to kill each other."

"I thought my father was joking when he first told me, honestly."

The news had clearly shaken Michael to the core; he shuddered.

I’d seen their sinister sides so many times that it didn’t surprise me, but publicly, their image was that of a kind-hearted prince full of brotherly love and a gentle, affectionate queen.

And those two had tried to assassinate each other?

It would have been stranger not to be shocked.

And what worried me most was the crown prince’s condition.

"Is His Highness..."

"Ha, His Highness must have been devastated."

Of course he would be, after going through something so awful.

He’d been forced to see the sinister truth lurking behind what had seemed like a harmonious family.

"He hurt himself. No, it’s more accurate to call it a suicide attempt."

Apparently, the Grand Duke had stayed by the crown prince’s side the entire time until the boy calmed down.

The crown prince had attempted suicide.

Thankfully, only a handful of high-ranking officials knew about it.

This too would cause waves.

The Church would have a field day.

Right now, the duchy’s cavalry was moving to mop up the enemy riders. But my mind was already more concerned with the crown prince’s well-being than with eliminating the remaining enemy.

Was it even appropriate to introduce Lily, the crown princess candidate, to him in this state?

No, it might actually provoke a hostile reaction.

This was no time to be careless. I’d need to keep Lily at my mansion for the time being.

"You’re His Majesty’s special envoy, so head on ahead. Leave the cleanup to me."

Michael reliably took charge of the aftermath.

I asked him to recover the bodies of the Imperial Knights hanging from the zelkova tree on the Offenburg road and to retrieve the carriage as well. I couldn’t leave the bodies of comrades who’d been purged for defying the Imperial Knights commander to be desecrated.

The Imperial Knights would officially be branded rebels, but protecting the honor of those who’d been sacrificed was also my responsibility. They would be remembered as noble knights who gave their lives trying to prevent the rebellion.

When we arrived at Breisburg’s north gate, the atmosphere was so tense it felt like wartime. Inspections had been tightened, and armed soldiers were patrolling everywhere.

Fiel clicked his tongue at the sight.

"It looks like war has already broken out."

"It’s actually about to."

"But won’t this terrify the citizens?"

At least the controls around the plaza were relatively loose, so commerce hadn’t completely died. It was just that the sight of people moving cautiously through the streets had become commonplace.

I entrusted Lily to Viktor and sent them to Rosengarden.

I had to enter the palace and make my report.

The royal palace didn’t seem safe right now.

It was better for me to keep Lily under my own protection.

The Grand Duke would surely agree.

If members of the royal family had tried to assassinate each other, there was a strong chance the servants beneath them had been compromised as well.

And the crown princess candidate, the biggest variable of all, was very likely to become a target herself.