Chapter 354
Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (70)
#90 Their Circumstances: The Situation of Ignal Nel Karan.
“It seems information has leaked again.”
I can’t help but frown at the words of Aelt, my personal guard.
“Is that possible?”
I was already aware there had been circumstances where information had leaked to the enemy through several defeats. That’s why we searched internally multiple times to find enemy spies.
As a result, we found spies from the Kingdom of Merdea, Howling, neighboring kingdoms, and even spies planted by allied nations, executing them publicly in front of all soldiers.
But another spy?
“Could it be that Duke Raisha’s strategy is superior?”
The internal cleanup was already complete. In a situation where there were no more branches to cut from the tree, what more could be cut?
“Are you saying there’s a traitor among the commanders?”
“That could be the case.”
Four people among the commanders who used to participate in meetings were revealed as spies. Fortunately, they were all lower-ranking commanders, but to think there could be more spies…
“Then…”
“Yes, Your Highness. As you suspect… There could be a spy among the senior commanders.”
Senior commanders knew everything from basic meetings to operations kept as secret even from our own forces.
“Then we need to overturn everything.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It wasn’t good.
Suspecting allies was very tiring work. Once suspicion started, there is no end to it, and over time, those under suspicion became aware they were being suspected.
If I suspect others, others will also suspect me. When everyone suspects each other, they can’t trust one another, and the organization eventually collapses.
“We need to handle this as quickly as possible.”
“We must, Your Highness.”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Defeat…”
In my life, the word defeat was rarely used…
“These days, it’s become too familiar.”
“It’s because our forces’ fatigue has accumulated. If we rest a little more, like the northern times again…”
Aelt began speaking with a flustered expression.
“Those are just excuses.”
It was true that we had fought numerous battles in the north. It was also true that we came down immediately without proper rest. But the soldiers weren’t tired enough to suffer repeated defeats.
I was simply outmaneuvered by Duke Raisha.
“But…”
“Enough. Don’t make me more miserable than this.”
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
I patted Aelt’s shoulder as he bit his lip and lowered his head.
“Everything is my fault.”
Whether the strategy was wrong, the soldiers were tired, or there were other reasons, we were defeated because I made wrong judgments.
I knew that one word from me could easily kill hundreds or thousands, but I forgot that, blinded by military achievements.
“There’s an old saying that you learn through defeat.”
This is a learning process now. We can use these defeats as fertilizer to avoid future defeats.
“Your Highness.”
Aelt’s wavering gaze began to change.
“I’m sorry. Because I wavered, you wavered too.”
Aelt had been with me like a brother since very young. Having spent the longest time together, he seems to have been quite shaken seeing me waver.
“No, Your Highness. When the master wavers, it’s the servant’s role to correct them. It was my inadequacy that caused the wavering.”
“An inadequate ruler with an inadequate servant… What a fitting combination.”
“I will strive to become a perfect servant.”
“And I will strive to become a perfect ruler.”
We looked at each other and started laughing loudly at something amusing.
As the tension from defeat dissolved, things we couldn’t see before began appearing one by one.
“There exists someone who knows our tactics besides our army.”
“You mean… You’re not talking about spies.”
“Right.”
Faces that came to mind in an instant.
It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be possible. But… If it were true, they could become the most fatal poison.
“Even if it’s related to the imperial succession, would their Highnesses Atia and Raid sell information to enemy nations?”
“I’d like to think not. However…”
Besides our army’s commanders, only my younger sister and brother, who maintain cooperative relationships with us, and His Majesty the Emperor, who receives direct reports through magical communication devices, knew our tactics.
“I don’t think my siblings would sell out their own people, blinded by military achievements. However…”
From ancient times, there have always been those who sacrificed not only their people but also their own families for power.
If there’s a 1 percent, no, even a 0.01 percent chance, it would be good to verify it.
“From now on, prepare for three operations. One is for our military commanders, and the other two are operations to be shared with Atia and Raid.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It was just about sharing the operations to avoid interfering with each other’s plans. There would be no problem even if they were informed of different plans and notified after the fact that the operation had changed just before it began.
If the enemy moves according to the operation I shared, then I can suspect the side that was informed of that operation.
“Since these are dangerous missions, use minimal forces and prioritize survival above all.”
“I will relay it as such, Your Highness.”
Aelt personally selected a small force to carry out the mission I ordered.
A mission to find where information was leaking. And through this mission, I was able to find two risk factors.
One is an allied commander. The other is…
“It can’t be, Raid?”
It was my youngest brother, Raid Nel Karan.
#91 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Villain
<This time even the First Prince’s plan failed! How did this happen!>
Throwing the roughly written letter into the fireplace, I let out a deep sigh.
“How? I simply lied.”
We were winning too much. Anyone would find it suspicious.
Unless it was the youngest prince who was even younger than the princess, the First Prince had the ability to be called a great commander even excluding his status as royalty. While such a First Prince kept losing, I, who suddenly appeared, kept winning.
Once could be luck, twice could be coincidence. Three times becomes skill, and four times becomes expected in this field, but I went on to win five, six times.
Up to this point, it could be considered my achievement. However, it was very bad that the First Prince was losing consecutively.
It wasn’t due to overwhelming numbers or being caught off guard by the enemy’s unexpected strategy, but rather losing because the enemy knew and countered all of his plans, someone of the First Prince’s caliber wouldn’t miss that information was leaking. In fact, after his first defeat, the First Prince carried out extensive purges and discovered numerous spies, all of whom were publicly executed. Yet the same defeats continued, so he had no choice but to suspect everyone who knew the information.
So I need to lay low for a while. The moment I’m discovered, princess or not, they’ll have my head.
“Hmm, was this one caught by chance?”
After confirming that the organization’s letter had completely turned to ashes, and even using the iron poker beside me to turn it to powder, I checked the contents of this operation sent from the First Prince’s formation.
“I made the right choice to lay low.”
They divided fifteen people into three directions to carry out the operation. It wasn’t a big operation, saying they would use knights’ mobility for raids like how I send mages to drop bombs, but it was complete nonsense.
If it were mages or wizards maybe, but raids using knights?
“Anyone can see it’s a trap?”
Even if they were knights who could use sword energy, unless they were close to being a Swordmaster, they couldn’t fire sword energy from a distance. No, even a Swordmaster would have more difficulty with ranged attacks than an ordinary mage.
In terms of destructive power, they could use instantaneous firepower greater than a mage, but afterward, they would only meet a dog’s death after being surrounded. That’s why mages who could attack enemies from a distance conducted surprise attacks, and that developed into becoming battle mages.
The First Prince couldn’t be foolish enough not to know this…
“Could he?”
In the past, I could have confidently said no, but after seeing him lose to Duke Raisha recently, I had slight doubts.
“No, he couldn’t be.”
Right. Sending knights must be to retrieve the bait that was thrown. While they might lack in range and firepower, their survival rate is overwhelmingly high. He must have used the knights as bait to minimize troop losses.
“In the end… This is beneficial.”
I didn’t take the bait.
The two operations that took the bait were operations I didn’t know about, so they must have been spread in suspicious areas.
There might be real spies, or the knights’ movements might have been accidentally detected by the Kingdom of Merdea’s thorough surveillance. But the First Prince would have no choice but to be suspicious. If he’s not a fool, he would try to understand why he keeps losing.
Just getting out of his suspicion will be a great benefit to me. Though I should still lay low for a while more.
“Now then, how should I use this…”
With a little effort, I could make the relationship between the First Prince and the youngest prince irreparable. For Howling, that would be the best outcome.
“But not for me, right?”
If the First Prince and the youngest prince fight, the princess will have to mediate.
And the princess will assign that task to me.
The twisted First Prince and the youngest Prince will try to form an alliance with the Princess to increase their allies, and that will make me, the middleman, very annoying. So I decided to quickly get rid of the annoying tasks.
They won’t raise my salary much anyway, so it would be better to just take a little less money and have an easier time.
I was thinking I should just roughly plan the strategy and worry about what to do with Duke Raisha tomorrow, but,
“Has Ast de Lilac, the Count, arrived?”
As soon as morning broke, an annoyingly handsome young man was greeting me.
“Yes, Your Highness First Prince.”
The First Prince I met recently is still handsome.
When he reached out his hand with a smile so bright it was somewhat, no, very unlikeable, I naturally bowed and grabbed his hand, shaking it a couple times.
“It’s an honor to personally meet the great commander who has been continuously victorious against great commander Duke Raisha.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Great commander Duke Raisha. At those words, I barely managed to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out.
Although I managed to hold back my laughter by pinching my thigh with all my might, the First Prince caught sight of my momentarily grimacing face.
“You must have it tough too. Since the opponent is that formidable.”
I quietly nodded at the First Prince’s words praising Duke Raisha.
“Y-yes, Your Highness Ignal.”
I wanted to beg him to do something about this person, but seeing the Princess trembling while tightly gripping the edge of her chair, the words that had come up to my throat instantly went back down.
I’ll just have to answer with ‘I understand’ and ‘Yes’ and send the First Prince away as quickly as possible.
“Your Highness.”
“Ah, look at my mind.”
He took out a well-sealed letter from his possession and handed it to me.
“I hope only you, Atia, and Sir Ria will see this.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
“I should get going as I need to move soon too. Then farewell, Atia.”
“I won’t go far, Brother.”
The First Prince and Princess briefly met eyes, but soon the First Prince smiled and left the tent with someone who appeared to be a knight.
“What’s the matter so early in the morning?”
Suddenly, the First Prince appeared, made a funny remark as if he had a grudge against me, and left.
“It must be to deliver that.”
The Princess, who like me had heard the First Prince’s tremendous joke(?), let out a small sigh.
“Brother seems to suspect our younger brother.”
As expected, what I confirmed yesterday was indeed a trap.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The more detailed content should be… In there?”
A letter sealed with the First Prince’s seal. This meant that it was a personal matter of the First Prince, not the imperial family.
“Ast.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I took out a letter opener from my pocket, removed the wax seal, and extracted the contents inside.
“Here it is, Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
Upon receiving the letter, the Princess immediately began reading the letter sent by the First Prince.
“What does it say, Your Highness?”
“It’s nothing special… Or maybe not?”
“What do you mean?”
“Read it yourself and judge.”
I wonder why she’s reacting like that.
I took the letter and read the contents carefully.
“It really seems like nothing while being something.”
“Right?”
The content is that the youngest Prince could be a traitor, so they would integrate and operate their armies together.
“This seems like something that didn’t need to be handed over so grandly…”
“I understand Brother’s purpose but… Will it work?”
The First Prince must have thought that the youngest Prince sold information to the enemy country to eliminate competitors for the succession to the throne. That’s why he must have thought of merging the armies.
Although it’s temporary, the moment they merge, the two units will share defeats just as they share achievements. He must have done his best to both suspect and not suspect the youngest Prince.
“Well, if the two of them join forces, they won’t lose to Duke Raisha… Won’t it work out?”
“You think so?”
The Princess frowned and pushed the letter into the corner of her desk as if bothered, then stood up from her seat.
“Well, it’ll work out somehow.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Whether they merged and defeated Duke Raisha, or failed to merge and suspected each other, it had nothing to do with us. So I was about to suggest we go eat breakfast, but,
“Huh…”
I couldn’t help but gape at the news that arrived ten days later.
“How far is this going… Duke Raisha coin’s skyrocketing…”
To conclude, the First Prince and youngest Prince succeeded in merging. And… They got crushed by Duke Raisha again with those combined forces. Also, we, or more precisely, I ended up having to handle the aftermath.
