Chapter 368
Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (84)
#106 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Villain
It’s unfair. So unfair.
I told them everything!
“What do you mean Duke Raisha declared a kingdom?”
Look at how they’re staring at me like a criminal!
I worked my best for the Empire, how can I be treated like this?
“I feel wronged, Your Highness!”
Not recognizing such a loyal subject – this must be a sign the Empire is doomed.
“About what?”
My body trembles at that icy stare.
Ah, what’s this! It really feels like I did something wrong.
“I told you everything yesterday!”
“Did you?”
What’s with that expression?
It makes it look like I’m lying.
“Didn’t Sir Ria hear it too?”
“Did she?”
“I think she might have…”
“No, I definitely told everything yesterday, so why are you reacting like this!”
“I thought it was a dream.”
“I thought it was nonsense.”
“Wow…”
Isn’t this treatment too harsh?
I looked around with the appearance of a loyal subject falsely accused of treason.
Look! This is how I live! Living with such injustice!
“…”
“…”
“…”
But the surrounding gazes seem a little… No, very different from what I expected.
“Excuse me?”
Despite showing my most wronged expression, no one was sympathizing with me.
Rather, no one would meet my eyes.
One would think making eye contact with me would result in treason charges.
“Your Highness, what exactly did you say that makes others terrified of even making eye contact with me!”
I thought I was good at social interactions, but to get this kind of reaction.
This must be a conspiracy.
It was definitely a trap set by the Princess to isolate me!
“Have you already forgotten what you’ve done?”
The Princess looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
“I only did my best at my job.”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it? How does an individual doing their best lead to a noble from an enemy kingdom declaring independence? How does one have to work for something like that to happen?”
“If you work well, hard, and do your best, it’s possible.”
“If everyone worked well, hard, and did their best, we’d have about two thousand countries in the world.”
“There could be even more.”
The Princess and Sir Ria sighed with exasperated expressions.
“Your Highness, this is just the fruits of my hard work coming to bear.”
“Ha! Let’s hear about it. What exactly did you do?”
The Princess’s intensity subsided.
Until just now, she had seemed ready to behead me, but she tends to calm down easily with a little pacification.
How should I put it, like a cat perhaps?
She’s fierce to others but has a weak spot for people she considers her own.
Of course, if I had to choose between being a cat’s servant or the Princess’s servant, I’d choose the cat’s without hesitation.
Cats are cute, but the Princess isn’t.
“As I said yesterday, remember when I pulled some funds for operation execution costs before?”
“I think that might have happened yesterday.”
I earnestly explained everything that had happened so far to the nodding Princess.
“All of that was used to create division between Duke Raisha and the Kingdom of Merdea.”
Actually, that’s a lie.
I said it would be used for confidential operations, but it all went into my back pocket.
And quite openly at that!
This country’s Finance Department was a collection of geniuses, and their leader, the Finance Minister, was a monster who would notice even the smallest amount of money leaking out.
An ordinary person like me couldn’t deceive such geniuses.
But I needed money, so I had to deceive them.
My financial situation wasn’t good because I’ve been requesting items better than bats from the dwarves lately!
I wondered how to get money while avoiding their attention, but the answer was simple.
Their attention couldn’t be avoided.
So… Instead of avoiding it, let’s take it openly!
I took the money openly and when they protested, I said I couldn’t tell them because it was for confidential operations.
This was only possible because we were at war.
Even geniuses can’t do anything when you openly take money and insist it’s confidential!
Finally, there was justification for all that money I’d diligently extorted.
“With that money, I hired mercenaries and supported Duke Raisha in the form of some financial aid.”
“Are you crazy?”
I openly supported the enemy.
This could potentially be considered treason.
“It’s all written in the ‘Make Duke Raisha a Grand General’ project.”
But if all this was approved by His Majesty the Emperor, that’s a different story!
“Using a fake identity, I gained Duke Raisha’s trust. He was quite easy to deceive.”
Not everything was a lie.
The Howling organization I belonged to supported Duke Raisha, which made it easy to make contact with Duke Raisha.
And although it was our first meeting, after talking for about an hour, Duke Raisha declared independence from the Kingdom of Merdea and established the Kingdom of Raisha.
“…So?”
“I went to Fort Mebelis last night with video magic tools received from the Empire’s informants and met Duke Raisha.”
“Video magic tools?”
“I received magic tools from the intelligence department that captured the internal situation of the Kingdom of Merdea.”
Although I gave the magic tools to Duke Raisha, I can explain the contents simply.
“The content shows people across the kingdom shouting ‘We must strip Duke Raisha of his Grand General position! He is a loser!'”
Just showing that was enough to move Duke Raisha’s heart.
“It seems he had just received a letter calling him to return to his home country.”
“Was that alone enough?”
“He was a bit skeptical, so I persuaded him well.”
“Persuasion…”
At the word persuasion, the princess narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
“Was it really just persuasion?”
Sir Ria asked me with a similar expression.
“I’m offended, Your Highness. To doubt someone who worked so hard instead of giving them a reward!”
“Fine. As a reward, the title of Count…”
“Your Highness, I prefer cash.”
Count? That gives me chills.
Just becoming a Viscount has already made me receive so much suspicion from the organization, but Count?!
At this rate, they might actually kill me thinking I’m dangerous.
Like how during the Ming Dynasty, what was it, Hong Wu, killed people who seemed to be getting too successful!
“Then tell me honestly. What did you say to persuade him?”
“It was just ordinary stuff. This letter is surely meant to summon you to the kingdom to purge you. They will welcome you with smiles and then poison you, then say ‘It was all the Empire’s dirty scheme!’ So you need to declare independence now while you have military power. The generals loyal to the kingdom? Just tell them the soldiers need rest from war and invite them for drinks with this in it…”
“This?”
“Ah, it’s deadly poison. I secretly bought it with the money I took for confidential operations this week.”
“…”
The princess just opened and closed her mouth like a carp.
For reference, this money also went into my pocket.
I could get the poison from the organization’s experts.
After all, the organization had ordered me to eliminate Duke Raisha.
Good for the Imperial army, good for the organization, and good for my pocket!
This must be what they call killing three birds with one stone!
“Then just as I had persuaded him, he gathered the generals loyal to the kingdom for a banquet and had them drink the poisoned wine.”
I heard there was even a Swordmaster among them, but against the organization’s deadly poison, knights and Swordmasters were all the same.
Drink and die instantly!
How relieved Duke Raisha must have felt when he saw the Swordmaster who struggled a bit but eventually died!
Well, things progressed quickly after that.
“Once the generals were dead, Duke Raisha moved to establish the Kingdom of Raisha as if he had been preparing for it. He said he would declare the Kingdom of Raisha this morning, and he really did it.”
When I heard he would declare the Kingdom of Raisha tomorrow morning, I said ‘Howling also celebrates the birth of the Royal House of Raisha’ and slipped away.
“This all happened between last evening and dawn.”
The tent was strangely quiet.
Not just the others standing like folding screens, but even the Princess and Sir Ria remained silent.
“Your Highness?”
“…”
Even after finishing the story and watching for about 3 minutes, no one spoke up.
Feeling something was off about the atmosphere, I called out to the Princess but received no response.
“The story is finished…”
I’m starting to get hungry too.
I was dragged here right after waking up and haven’t had breakfast.
I didn’t even eat dinner last night because I was working!
As a proper evil organization member, I could endure fasting for about a week, but there’s no need to skip meals when I can eat!
“If there’s nothing more to discuss, may I go get something to eat?”
I carefully stood up while reading the room.
My legs were numb from kneeling for quite a while, so I stretched them out and turned my head to look around.
“…”
Swoosh.
My knees started bending again.
They’re still numb, but the atmosphere around me is even more numbing.
Everyone is in similar positions.
Either hanging their heads while holding their heads, or looking up at the sky muttering âOh GodâŠâ
Or else,
“…”
Like the Princess, trembling with their eyes closed.
“…”
Since I also have manners, I left my growling stomach alone and waited for the Imperial Princess’s words while remaining kneeling.
“Sigh……”
After about 10 minutes had passed like that.
The Imperial Princess, who sighed loudly as if wanting others to hear, stood up from her seat.
“We will now begin the meeting.”
…Wasn’t it already in session?
I suddenly had such a thought but.
“Understood, Your Highness.”
From the voices of other generals behind me, I could realize that the meeting hadn’t started yet.
Then what was all this until now? A hearing? Was it a hearing?
“The content is… I think everyone knows… But it’s about the war with the Kingdom of Merdea and the Kingdom of Raisha.”
After briefly looking at me with an expressionless face, the Imperial Princess turned her gaze to others and shouted.
“This fool caused trouble… But it can’t be helped. We need to decide whether to finish off the Kingdom of Merdea or the Kingdom of Raisha and inform the Imperial family.”
I worked hard and came back with amazing results, yet I’m being treated like a fool!
No, before that!
“Your Highness.”
“……”
“Your Highness?”
“……”
“Excuse me, Imperial Princess? Can’t you hear me? Your Highness? Your Highness! Your Highness!”
While even waving my hand, watching the Imperial Princess avoiding me, I raised my voice with all my might.
“Most great and beautiful, most noble Imperial Princess in the world!”
“…Alright, that’s enough.”
When I deliberately added embarrassing honorifics, the Imperial Princess finally gave me her attention with a sigh.
It must be my imagination that her shoulders seem to have drooped.
“What is it?”
The Imperial Princess who raised her hand to grab her forehead somehow looked 40 years older.
Wow, to look like that in her teens.
She must have gone through a lot.
“Your Highness, I have a question.”
“Please don’t……”
“Don’t you regret it?”
“…What?”
To the Imperial Princess with a haggard face, I asked with an expression of genuine curiosity.
“Why do we fight with the Kingdom of Merdea?”
“Because they’re our enemy, obviously.”
“Then why do we fight with the Kingdom of Raisha?”
“Well, because they’re our enemy……”
“No, Your Highness. Our enemy is the Kingdom of Merdea, not the Kingdom of Raisha.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s different.”
The Kingdom of Raisha is a new kingdom.
Although it’s a fortress, it had the Fort Mebelis which wasn’t suitable as a capital, and although it was a kingdom born just this morning, it was quite useful with an army of 100,000.
“Isn’t there a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
“What do you……”
The Imperial Princess’s narrowed eyes began to widen.
“Could it be… That?”
As expected of the Imperial Princess. Since she’s quite understanding, there’s no need to explain everything.
“Yes, that’s right. Yesterday, I slightly… ‘Advised’ the Kingdom of Raisha about what they needed.”
What the Kingdom of Raisha needed.
That was justification.
“The Kingdom of Raisha’s justification is that the Kingdom of Merdea abandoned them. In other words, from the moment the Kingdom of Raisha was born, they became hostile with the Kingdom of Merdea.”
The same was true for the Kingdom of Merdea.
While they were in the midst of war with their enemy, their Grand General declared independence in the fortress he occupied.
If they let this slide, it wouldn’t end with just mockery.
The moment Duke Raisha succeeds in establishing the Kingdom of Raisha, powerful nobles might create a second Kingdom of Raisha.
Of course, there probably wouldn’t be nobles as crazy or bold as Duke Raisha… But you never know what might happen.
From the Kingdom of Merdea’s perspective, they need to kill Duke Raisha as quickly as possible.
“Duke Raisha will negotiate with the Empire today. We just need to accept it.”
It was a very simple negotiation.
A non-aggression treaty.
We won’t go to your land, so don’t come to ours.
If they accept that, Duke Raisha will fight excitedly with the Kingdom of Merdea.
When I raised my hand, the Imperial Princess stared blankly.
Feeling that gaze, I showed one finger from my chest area.
“There is only one thing we need to do.”
“……”
“From now on, we just need to watch the Kingdom of Merdea and the Kingdom of Raisha kill each other.”
“……”
“Resolving without fighting! What better happy ending could there be!”
I spoke in a bright voice, but no one in the tent spoke up.
