Chapter 367
Side Story – Memories of an Imperial Princess (83)
#104 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of the Merdea Kingdom
News began to spread throughout the Merdea Kingdom.
“Have you heard?”
“Ah, you mean that?”
“Yes. These days, no one talks about anything else.”
“Because it’s that serious.”
The Merdea Kingdom was currently in a precarious situation.
The kingdom’s borders had been breached, and the Raiko Kingdom’s army, which had joined hands with the Imperial army, could advance on the capital at any moment.
However, the rumor spreading throughout the kingdom was so incredible that it made even such an atmosphere seem trivial.
“Could it be the Empire’s doing?”
“Must be, right? No matter how you think about it, Duke Raisha isn’t that kind of person.”
“Of course. Besides him, was there any general who defeated the Empire?”
“No. This is all the Empire’s scheme to bring down General Raisha.”
The rumor was that Duke Raisha becoming the Grand General was all a result of being manipulated by the Empire.
Duke Raisha was the hero of the Merdea Kingdom.
No one would want to believe that their hero was actually a fake hero created by the enemy nation.
Therefore, most of the kingdom’s people, despite hearing the rumor, thought it couldn’t be true.
But.
“Ha! I told you, didn’t I? Someone like Raisha could never defeat the Empire.”
“What?”
“What do you know about it?”
The phrase âmost peopleâ meant there were those who weren’t part of that majority. And they had something in common.
“What do I know? Can you see this?”
*Thump!*
The man, who was the only one cursing Duke Raisha in the restaurant, firmly placed one of his legs on the table.
“What on earth…”
While people frowned at the man’s behavior, they soon realized what he was trying to say.
“Y-your leg…”
What he had intended to do wasn’t just putting one leg on the table.
He wanted to put both legs up, but he couldn’t.
Because he only had one leg!
“Do you know where my other leg is? It’s in an Orc’s stomach! In an Orc’s stomach! Just because I followed that damn Duke Raisha’s orders!”
The man roughly brought the bottle of alcohol in his hand to his mouth.
Whether due to the alcohol or anger, his face reddened as he began to curse.
“You bastards! Duke Raisha even lost to Orcs who have no intelligence! Such a person achieving consecutive victories against the Imperial army that even Duke Arisetias couldn’t defeat? You think that’s possible?”
“T-that can’t be!”
“Earlier you asked what I knew? Let me ask you who said that. What do you know? Has anyone here been commanded by Duke Raisha? No, right? Go find people who have. There are many whose lives were ruined because of that bastard.”
The man frowned when he found his bottle empty and placed it on the table.
“Damn! I came out to drink after a long time, and my mood is ruined.”
Then he struggled to stand up using his crutch.
“Owner, check please.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
Many people just watched as the man left the restaurant after paying.
“Could it be…?”
“N-no. He’s an Imperial spy. That bastard must be an Imperial spy trying to defame Duke Raisha!”
While those who deeply trusted Duke Raisha denied reality, there were too many who had suffered because of him.
“My son died because of Duke Raisha!”
“Because of Duke Raisha, I lost my father, husband, and son!”
“Due to his nonsensical commands, I have to live with a disability for life!”
“How could they make such an incompetent person Grand General! What is the kingdom thinking!”
As time passed, more and more unfavorable news about Duke Raisha began to spread throughout the kingdom.
It wasn’t Howling’s scheme.
Even Howling’s operatives who had infiltrated the Merdea Kingdom for their plan were surprised by how negative the public opinion was about Duke Raisha.
They almost asked âAre you part of our organization?â to those who cursed Duke Raisha as if he were their family’s sworn enemy!
The more surprising fact was that they were pure citizens of the Merdea Kingdom.
They were simply angry because Duke Raisha was truly their family’s enemy.
This was because Duke Raisha had done many things over the years.
Not wanting to be compared to the previous Duke Raisha who had accumulated numerous achievements, Duke Raisha used his position to participate in numerous battles.
From small-scale goblin subjugation to large-scale battles with neighboring countries.
Although Duke Raisha’s territory was completely unrelated to the border area, he led his troops to the border area for military achievements.
He only participated in relatively weak regions, but had remarkable achievements.
And it wasn’t just the people who knew this fact.
“Your Majesty! He is truly incompetent. I saw with my own eyes him being defeated by the Kingdom of Dermea even with three times more soldiers.”
“Indeed. Duke Raisha was the first person I’ve ever seen in my life to be fooled by goblin intelligence.”
“When facing ogres, he was someone who ordered regular soldiers to block them in tight formation. The sight of dozens of soldiers being crushed by a single ogre’s strike still haunts my dreams.”
As public opinion about Duke Raisha worsened, those who had been suppressed by his power began to speak up one by one.
“Your Highness, he is not a man capable of handling the position of Grand General.”
“That’s right. Don’t you know that well, Your Highness?”
“In the palace, he’s just someone who looks at Princess Meiria with lecherous eyes.”
Dozens of nobles began flocking to Vaeis, who was chosen as the next king, to speak the truth about Duke Raisha.
“Sigh……”
Vaeis couldn’t hide his bewilderment as he watched the nobles who came every day to speak ill of Duke Raisha.
“When I didn’t believe him, no one would listen to me……”
Now that he tries to believe in Duke Raisha, all the nobles are telling him not to.
“Oh God, what should I do?”
Everything seems dark.
Both externally and internally, the Kingdom of Merdea was shaking.
At this rate, it will collapse.
First, there was a need to stabilize internally.
“Tell Grand General Raisha. Leave a small force with General Bagraine and abandon Fort Mebelis! Tell him to lead the troops back to the capital himself!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The method Vaeis chose was a head-on breakthrough.
Call Duke Raisha to the royal palace and order him to defeat the First Prince of the Empire.
If Duke Raisha wins against the First Prince, it would prove his ability and the rumors would die down, and if he loses, then the rumors are true and they can just strip him of his position as Grand General and recall the troops.
Although the kingdom might suffer losses in case of defeat, it was an inevitable decision to stabilize internally.
Unlike before, since they said they would charge him with treason if he disobeyed orders, Duke Raisha wouldn’t be able to disobey.
Vaeis looked at reality coldly and made the right judgment.
It wasn’t a bad judgment. It wasn’t the best choice, but it was the second-best option.
However… The opponent was not good. It was because the opponent was ‘that’ Duke Raisha.
Bang!
“Y-Your Highness!”
“What is it?”
“General Bagraine has died!”
“What?”
Who was General Bagraine? He was the head of the Viscount Ragrasha family and a general trusted even by King Graide.
Being too upright was his weakness, but he was an excellent general who had the conviction and ability to maintain that uprightness.
To think that such a person would die!
“Did the Imperial army attack?”
He was blocking the Imperial army at Fort Mebelis along with Duke Raisha. His death meant that the border with the Empire was in danger.
“No. General Bagraine was… Poisoned.”
“What?”
Vaeis’s mind went blank for a moment.
‘Poisoned, poisoned… Did the Empire use poison? A skilled person like Bagraine couldn’t be killed by ordinary poison though?’
Another possibility crossed Vaeis’s mind but he denied it. It was because it was too absurd.
However,
“General Bagraine was… Poisoned by Religieus.”
“Religieus?”
“Duke Raisha.”
“W-what is this……”
That absurd imagination became reality.
“It’s treason.”
“What?”
“After receiving Your Highness’s message, Religieus called those who were loyal to the kingdom and poisoned them, then declared the Kingdom of Raisha, saying that the kingdom had abandoned them.”
“What… Is this……”
Vaeis could only gape at such a huge shock.
Betrayal in this situation! Treason!
It was enough to make one question if he was in his right mind.
In a situation where it was uncertain if they could hold on even if everyone in the kingdom united, to split the country in two at a time like this!
“How foolish, how foolish!”
Even if they split! They would only be devoured by the Empire.
That powerful and greedy Empire would not leave either the Kingdom of Merdea or Religieus alone.
“…Does father know about this?”
“Yes. He is personally leading troops toward Duke Raisha’s estate.”
Treason results in the extermination of the entire family of those involved. If a lord is involved in treason, everything in the territory under their rule is burned and destroyed.
“Damn it…”
The situation is not good at all.
Although that’s what the law dictates, in a situation where every single soldier is valuable, we couldn’t kill everyone in the vast territory of House Raisha and its inhabitants.
“What did father… Say he would do?”
However, even in times of war, those involved in treason cannot be left alone. Setting one precedent will continue to be a hindrance.
“He said to execute everyone with Raisha ducal blood, and send the remaining people to the frontlines as slaves.”
“I see…”
That was somewhat fortunate. If anger had blinded them to destroy everything, it could have been the worst situation.
“As expected of His Majesty…”
Vaeis let out a sigh of relief.
The worst situation was avoided.
But that choice was neither the best nor the second-best. It was merely the lesser evil.
“Damn it!”
His head becomes complicated.
Why did this situation come to be?
“Why?”
Has God abandoned this kingdom?
Vaeis muttered while worrying about the increasingly darkening future of the Kingdom of Merdea.
#105 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Villain
“Where have you been?”
“Ah, Lady Ria.”
“And in such suspicious attire…”
Lady Ria looked at me with suspicious eyes.
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
I was wearing a set of black clothes that screamed ‘I am suspicious!’ to anyone who looked.
“I was working.”
“What kind of work requires such clothes?”
Suspicious, right? Right?
Looking at Lady Ria who wasn’t hiding such a gaze, I started covering my body with a serious expression.
“Where are you looking?”
I cover my chest and vital areas with my hands. My face shows a disgusted expression as if looking at a pervert.
“W-where did I look!”
Lady Ria’s face started turning red and her gaze naturally went to the parts I was covering.
It’s natural to look once when someone reacts like this, even if you weren’t conscious of it before!
“My, my! You’re looking again!”
“N-no! I’m not!”
To Lady Ria, whose face was red enough to burst, I muttered in a cold voice.
“As expected, your age…”
“What does age have to do with this?”
While a normal protagonist would pretend not to know at times like this,
“How many people your age aren’t engaged?”
“Aagh! I-I had one! I had a fiancĂ©! It’s because of those evil Merdeans that I don’t anymore!”
It’s all the Merdean Kingdom’s fault that I couldn’t get engaged!
It was a moment when I wondered how long that excuse would last.
“Ast… Don’t tease Ria too much.”
“Ah, Your Highness.”
Perhaps because Lady Ria’s voice was too loud, the princess walked groggily to my tent, which was quite far from her tent, with a face that had just woken up.
“What’s with that outfit?”
“It’s what I wore while working.”
“What work?”
“Work for the Empire.”
They’re being too suspicious of someone who worked for their country.
Ah… It’s not my country. Because the country I was born in was destroyed!
“Remember when I used some money for operation costs before?”
“Which one? You’ve used quite a lot of money.”
“When the Finance Minister personally complained about using that large amount without any content.”
“Ah, that…?”
To the princess who nodded, I told her what I had done.
“I helped Duke Raisha become independent from the Kingdom of Merdea.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
The princess muttered ‘Am I not fully awake yet?’ and tried to go back to sleep.
“Your Highness? Aren’t you going to hear the full report?”
“I’m not fully awake yet.”
“Today’s touching true story, the birth of the Kingdom of Raisha!”
“Ria, did we keep military dogs? I keep hearing barking.”
“I don’t think we have any military dogs, but I’ll go check.”
Hey? Isn’t this too harsh for someone who worked hard?
“Um? Your Highness? Lady Ria? Hello?”
At first, I thought it was a joke, but seeing the princess actually going into her bedroom and Lady Ria starting to search for military dogs, I could only let out a deep sigh.
“Whatever. I’m tired, I should just sleep.”
You who worked hard, just go to sleep!
I changed into comfortable clothes and lay down on the cot, and started falling asleep,
“Aaaaaaaaaaast!”
The next morning at dawn, I woke up using the princess’s voice as my alarm.
