Chapter 369
Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (85)
#107 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of the Merdea Kingdom
“Ahhh!”
A soldier fell from the fortress wall after being hit by an arrow shot from below.
“Block it!”
Arrows were unavoidable.
But the large flames that followed had to be blocked at all costs.
An arrow might kill one person, but magic could kill hundreds.
If the walls crumbled, the fortress itself would fall.
“Mages, intercept enemy spells! Hurry!”
Bang!
They tried to cast defensive magic as soon as they spotted the enemy’s magical attack, but it was too late.
A massive explosion shook the fortress wall, and cracks began to form in parts of it.
“Damn it!”
The commander frowned at the weakened wall.
“Curse it all…”
The situation made him swear involuntarily.
He still couldn’t understand why this was happening.
“Damn traitors!”
His eyes caught sight of a fluttering flag.
On it was the crest of the kingdom’s most historically prominent family.
The Raisha family crest!
[The Merdea Kingdom has abandoned our Raisha family, who shared its history…]
“Those are a traitor’s words! Ignore them all!”
But the Raisha family crest had changed slightly from before.
The griffin, which had symbolized protection of the kingdom, had become a dragon, and the two crossed swords that had also represented protection now stood upright toward the sky.
It likely symbolized their intent to become rulers rather than protectors.
[The Merdea Kingdom has already abandoned its people! Come to our Kingdom of Raisha!]
“Kill them! They are traitors who abandoned the country in its time of crisis!”
The commander shouted at the top of his lungs when he sensed the soldiers wavering at Religieus’s magically amplified voice, but he couldn’t stop their unease.
It was inevitable.
Someone who had been a hero of the kingdom until yesterday was now a traitor!
Even those who had insisted it must be imperial trickery and that General Raisha would never do such a thing couldn’t deny the reality of Religieus leading troops to attack the Kingdom of Merdea.
Duke Raisha, no, Religieus is now the enemy!
“Commander! The soldiers’ unrest is concerning!”
“These idiots!”
Even accepting this fact changed nothing.
Why had Religieus suddenly changed his mind?
Why had our hero become our enemy?
The Grand General who had held off the Imperial Army at Fort Mebelis until the very end!
As if answering the soldiers’ doubts, Religieus amplified his voice through magic so everyone on the battlefield could hear.
[The kingdom abandoned us! Us who fought the empire on the frontlines! They accused us of treason, tried to take everything from us and kill us!]
Even as a traitor, he had been a hero.
Someone who had achieved countless military exploits and fought his best for the kingdom.
This former hero was now appealing with a voice full of indignation.
“It’s all lies! Lies! Don’t be fooled by the enemy!”
The commander hastily dispatched from the kingdom shouted until his face turned red, but the soldiers could feel their emotions swaying more toward Religieus’s voice than his.
[Those who truly care for the kingdom! Help us! Drive out the corrupt royalty and nobility, and end this fight with us. Why did you take up arms? Why are your hands holding spears and bows when they should be holding farming tools? It’s all because the corrupt royalty and nobility picked a fight with the empire.]
“What nonsense?”
The great war started with the Merdea Kingdom and Helkas Kingdom, and the war with the empire essentially began because of Religieus.
Blaming it all on the Merdea royal family and nobility was absurd to those who knew the truth, but.
“That’s right…”
“This all happened because those noble bastards wanted to live well.”
“Even if the country grows, do we get more land?”
“We’ll just get more work.”
Those who knew nothing were gradually being persuaded.
[I ask you this. If I were truly a traitor, would over a hundred thousand soldiers follow me? Would generals who were loyal to the kingdom until yesterday follow me? Everyone knows! That the kingdom abandoned us! That the corrupt royalty and nobility tried to kill us because they feared us!]
The hearts of the soldiers defending the fortress began to lean toward Religieus.
The atmosphere inside the fortress changed.
Sensing this, the commander bit his lip and drew his sword.
“Fight! Fight the enemy! They are enemies of the kingdom!”
The soldiers raised their weapons at his command, but their fighting spirit had long since disappeared.
“You bastards!”
“Ugh!”
The commander approached a hesitating soldier nearby and cut his throat.
“What are you thinking now! Do you believe the words of invaders who attacked the kingdom? Do you think the Merdea Kingdom abandoned you?”
After pushing the beheaded corpse off the fortress wall, the commander glared at the soldiers with reddened eyes.
“Where is your homeland! Is it the Merdea Kingdom or the Raisha Kingdom!”
“The, the Merdea Kingdom, sir!”
When a soldier who met his eyes answered urgently, the commander nodded and raised his sword.
“Our homeland is the Merdea Kingdom! That man is a traitor who betrayed his country! Those who are bewitched by his words are also traitors!”
The commander pointed his sword forward at Religieus.
“And only death awaits traitors. Remember that.”
“Yes, sir!”
Seeing the soldiers’ unrest settle, the commander secretly let out a sigh of relief.
However.
[That is their logic. If you don’t follow their words, you’re a traitor! An enemy! We are not like that. The Raisha Kingdom has already made a peace treaty with the empire!]
“Religieus, you son of a bitch!”
[Come to the peace-loving Raisha Kingdom! Together we will overthrow the Merdea Kingdom and lead the continent on the path to peace!]
Bang!
While focusing on Religieus’s words, another massive fireball hit the fortress wall.
The fortress wall shook with a huge explosion.
The crack in the wall grew bigger, and soon after, a large portion of the wall broke and fell with a loud noise.
“Peace? A peace-loving bastard doing a surprise attack!”
[There is no mercy for the enemy. That is the Kingdom of Raisha.]
“Argh! Kill them! Someone kill that damn traitor!”
The commander was gritting his teeth at Religieus’s words, but the continuous magical attacks gradually began to break down the fortress walls.
While the Kingdom of Raisha had many experienced mages and wizards who survived on the front lines, the Kingdom of Merdea had dispatched all their remaining mages to fight against the Karan Imperial Army targeting the heart of the kingdom, leaving only a very small number of mages to defend the fortress.
Even with the protection of fortress walls, there’s no winning against overwhelming firepower.
Like the crumbling walls, the soldiers’ morale began to collapse, and as time passed, more soldiers fled to the Kingdom of Raisha.
“Damn it!”
Although the commander tried to defend the fortress until the very end.
“This is it.”
“May the gods curse these filthy traitors! Ugh!”
In the end, unable to withstand the overwhelming numbers of the Raishan army, the fortress fell after three days.
***
Princess POV
“…Did they win again?”
I was slightly surprised at hearing another victory news from Raisha.
“They fight well.”
“Basically, the soldiers’ specs are not good.”
“But the commander is Duke Raisha, right?”
Even the finest army can turn into a rabble depending on the commander.
Yet they’ve already conquered five fortresss.
“Did they have some talent we didn’t know about?”
Even though they’re focusing on the allied forces of the Empire and the Kingdom of Raiko, I expected breaking through would be difficult since they’re defending in fortresss.
It was better performance than expected.
“It’s just the result of strategy, Your Majesty.”
“What did you do this time?”
“Nothing much, Your Majesty.”
That ânothing muchâ is what created the Kingdom of Raisha.
When I narrowed my eyes and glared, Ast avoided my gaze while sweating.
“What is it? What?”
I thought I had a bad dream the day before, but waking up to find ‘it wasn’t a dream but a nightmare reality!’ is enough to experience once in life.
“Ah, well, it’s nothing really…”
This was the same Ast who said it was nothing when an enemy general became independent and established a kingdom.
“You want to become a Count with that ‘nothing,’ don’t you?”
I brought over the pen and paper from beside me and began writing familiar sentences.
“Your, Your Majesty!”
Rip!
Ast urgently grabs the paper.
Thanks to that, the pen nib tore the paper in half.
“Eek!”
Ast’s face turns pale seeing the content written on the torn paper.
Soon after, he tore the paper into small pieces and threw them into the air.
“This isn’t necessary!”
“It’s okay, Ast. We have plenty of paper.”
As I reached for the stack of papers piled high on one side of the desk, Ast grabbed my hand.
“My! Do you know what happens when you grab a royal’s hand like that?”
“I didn’t do anything. When we met last time, I just wrote a few lines and told them to read it during battle.”
“What?”
“The justification.”
Reading the justification.
Could that alone lead to victory in war?
“Well, it’s certainly possible.”
While professionally trained military soldiers might be different, justification holds great power in situations like the Kingdom of Merdea where they’re recruiting ordinary citizens due to declining forces.
While there are oddities like Ast, ordinary civilians typically feel even small sins deeply.
And with Ast, who established a kingdom with just his tongue, writing the justification.
It would be impossible not to be convinced.
“I can roughly guess.”
It probably says the Kingdom of Merdea was wrong, and Duke Raisha had no choice but to establish the Kingdom of Raisha.
“Isn’t it getting too big?”
It’s good that the Kingdom of Raisha and Kingdom of Merdea are fighting, but ultimately, the winner should be the Kingdom of Merdea.
As the war on the continent grows larger, promises between countries are being ignored, but it’s not good to break promises first.
We made a non-aggression treaty with the Kingdom of Raisha believing Ast’s words, but if the Kingdom of Raisha devours the Kingdom of Merdea like this, it only benefits the Kingdom of Raisha.
“It’s fine, Your Majesty.”
As if knowing my concerns, Ast said there was nothing to worry about.
“We’re dealing with Duke Raisha, no, King Raisha.”
“Too many people have lost to that Raisha.”
The military powerhouse Kingdom of Merdea, my younger sibling, my older sibling.
“…I’m starting to wonder if the Karan Empire wasn’t really such an insignificant country after all.”
One was considered a country capable of keeping the Karan Empire in check, and the other two were considered the most excellent among the royal family.
How remarkable must King Raisha be to have defeated such people!
“So do you think we’ll lose to King Raisha?”
“No, not at all.”
But I could answer immediately to Ast’s question.
Losing to King Raisha?
That was unthinkable.
“That’s right, Your Majesty. That’s exactly who King Raisha is.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that’s right. No matter how well things are going… No, the better things go, the more that person shows their true value. That’s King Raisha.”
“I suppose so?”
“Yes. That’s right, Your Majesty.”
Ast said with a bright smile, showing no sign of worry.
“Perhaps by next week, the Kingdom of Raisha will be cut in half?”
“Even so, isn’t one week too rushed?”
But as always.
Duke Raisha showed power that exceeded our expectations.
That’s right.
In just one week.
“Your Highness! The Kingdom of Raisha has fallen!”
“……”
“……”
He lost his kingdom.
