After seeing off the two leaving northwest along the main road until they weren’t visible anymore, Tigre, Elen, and Lim passed through the capital’s main gate.
“Do you think Ludmila and Sofy were able to meet with Lord Eugene?” Elen asked while they were walking along the street.
The two weren’t with them on this occasion because the group thought it best to explain the circumstances to Eugene by directly meeting him. For this reason Mila and Sofy had finished their farewells with Liza and Olga in front of Sofy’s mansion.
“I think it should have worked out, seeing how it’s two Vanadis requesting a meeting.” Even while answering, Lim couldn’t keep a slight pang of anxiety out of her voice.
Tigre asked, “Is it okay for you two to not return to Leitmeritz?”
“For the present, we dispatched Rurick in the morning. But…” Elen answered with a grave look, and directed her ruby eyes at her adjutant. “What do you think? How many soldiers can we prepare, Lim?”
“Incorporating the time constraints, I think 4,000 will be the limit. 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.” Lim’s answer was fluent, probably because she had already crunched the numbers before.
Leitmeritz’ army had continued to fight in Brune from spring until the end of summer this year. Many soldiers hadn’t recovered from their injuries or fatigue yet. Besides, no matter the reason, forcing the soldiers to fight again would just cause dissatisfaction to accumulate, lowering the morale of the whole army.
“That’s harsh, but I guess we’ve got no choice but to plan with that…”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Elen shook her head at Tigre’s question, “I thank you for the consideration, but please stay still for the moment. After all your statements will be taken as Brune’s statements. Besides──” The sharpness in Elen’s eyes rose to a new level, making them gleam with overflowing fighting spirit. “──It’s my fate to deal with Figneria.”
The feeling that she wouldn’t forgive any further interference resonated in her voice. Tigre and Lim silently exchanged looks. Guessing the youth’s sentiments, Lim nodded lightly.
I’ll protect Elen no matter what comes, was her vow, too.
◎
When the group around Tigre arrived at the palace, Mila and Sofy were waiting in front of the gate. The three immediately guessed that something unusual had taken place, going by Mila’s grim expression, and Sofy’s nervous look.
“What happened?” Elen asked curtly.
While turning her back on Elen, Sofy answered, “All three of you, please come with me. That will be the fastest way to explain.”
Tigre and the others walked quickly through the hallways of the palace with Sofy guiding them.
──Even though it’s the royal palace of a foreign country, I feel like I’ve become quite familiar with it over the course of this winter.
Tigre suddenly thought. The atmosphere in the palace was unusually flurried, and even the low-ranking officials and maids were moving around quickly. There were even some who tripped and fell down, or ran into others. While casting a sidelong glance at them, Tigre was guided to a conference room. Mila quietly informed him that this was the biggest conference room in this palace. Sofy pushed the door open, allowing them to enter.
The room itself was spacious, but it was hard to describe it as bright as it had no windows. A silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and candlestands placed on the big table in the middle were responsible for the illumination. Apparently all chief vassals of the kingdom, including Eugene, had already assembled here. As soon as Tigre and the others entered, they drew all gazes on them.
“Is it really alright for a Brunian to hear this?” A vassal cast an ill-breeding look at Tigre.
Eugene answered, “That man is His Highness Ruslan’s friend, and enjoyed the late king’s deep trust. Of course I trust him as well. By having him know about our country’s present situation, we can ask him to assist us depending on the circumstances.” The earl’s voice was calm but full of dignity.
It was enough to silence the vassal who had asked. Tigre and the others bowed, and sat down on open seats. Thereupon the door was closed.
Eugene looked at everyone present in the room, “Several notifications reached me earlier. First, a Muozinel army showed up at the southern border. The reports give a wide range on their numbers, going from 4,000 all the way up to 6,000.”
The room became noisy. The vassals looked at each other, their faces revealing frank surprise.
“Is it truly a Muozinel army that’s attacking?” As if representing the others, a single civil official asked while knitting his eyebrows.
It was only reasonable for him to doubt this piece of news. It was unthinkable for Muozinel, who were known for their strong affinity with heat and weakness towards coldness, to attack at a time where the winter would only continue to gain in harshness.
“Several reports suggest so. I don’t think that all of them are wrong. While it may be true that they’re weak against cold, we can’t underrate them and leave them to their own devices.” Eugene’s eyes moved, turning towards two Vanadis. “Lady Ludmila Lourie, Lady Sofya Obertas, we don’t know the enemy’s numbers yet, but could I ask you to take care of them?”
Both answered in one voice, “We shall accept this official appointment,” and bowed politely.
There were reasons for Eugene sending out two Vanadis at once. One was because they didn’t know the precise numbers of the enemy, just as Eugene had mentioned. Another was because he wanted the battle to be wrapped up as quickly as possible to avoid the country being filled with an atmosphere of unrest and anxiety.
As if being done with this matter with that out of the way, Eugene shifted to the next topic, “Next, Duke of Bydgauche Julian Kurtis raised an army. He’s demanding a revocation of Prince Ruslan’s right to the throne and his deportation. Furthermore, Polus’ Earl Egol Kazakov has sent a letter demanding my deportation.”
Once again the conference room went astir. Duke Bydgauche is a high-ranking noble in Zhcted’s north, and the previous lord, Ilda, held the seventh rank in the crown’s succession line. And on top of that Earl Polus. The previous lord Kazakov was an excellent warrior with the alias “Bloody Kazakov.”
After finishing speaking, Eugene’s expression became hard. Ilda and him were close friends. But now that it had come to this, he had no choice but to judge the Duke Bydgauche family. The only way for him to show some mercy was to make them surrender in a single battle, and then come up with some kind of punishment.
“Bydgauche and Polus. Both families are famous within the country, but we can’t simply listen to their demands because of that. Dear lords, I’d like you to be wary, looking out whether anyone goes along with their invitation or follows them.”
Understanding Eugene’s resolve from his expression and words, the chief vassals all straightened their backs.
──North, northwest, south, huh…?
Calling the map of Zhcted up in his mind, Tigre groaned soundlessly. If Valentina and Figneria start acting at this point, it’d add the northeast and west. The entirety of Zhcted was about to be wrapped up in the flames of war. Tigre suspected that the Muozinel army, and the actions of the two lords might be part of Valentina’s schemes.
“I decided to ask Lady Elizavetta Fomina to deal with Earl Polus. I already sent a messenger.”
Upon Eugene’s explanation, Tigre’s group exchanged looks. Liza’s departure might have been just a tiny bit too early. All Tigre could now do was to pray to the gods that she’d be able to deal with this without a hitch.
“As for Duke Bydgauche, it’s a bit risky, but I’ve sent messengers to the neighboring lords to have them take care of it.”
A vassal raised an objection, “How about relieving Lady Valentina from her house arrest and having her attack Duke Bydgauche? Her territory, Osterode, is close to Bydgauche. I think it’d be a great opportunity for her to redeem herself.”
“No, the decision by Earl Pardu is most reasonable. It’s wrong to only rely on the Vanadis.”
“But, what are we going to do if those lords end up approving of Duke Bydgauche? The ducal family has strong ties with the neighboring lords since the time of its previous family head.”
The chief vassals chaotically exchanged their opinions amongst each other. However, Eugene didn’t change his thinking.
“I can’t relieve Lady Valentina of her house arrest. She was also close to the late Lord Ilda. She might have also been in contact with Lord Julian.”
Eugene’s attitude was unshakable, reminding Tigre of a rock weathering through wind and snow. Even the other lords had no choice but to withdraw as not a single one among them managed to offer an opinion that made him agree.
At this moment, Tigre opened his mouth for the first time, “I ── no, Brune supports His Highness Ruslan, and thus will assist Lord Eugene Shevarin who has been helping His Highness. I’d like you to have those who consider turning these two into their enemies realize that they’re also turning Brune into their enemy.”
The lords raised their voices in surprise and joy. Despite being exhausted from the previous wars, Brune had repelled Sachstein and driven away Muozinel. And the youth, who had announced his support of Ruslan just now, had served as supreme commander in both wars, and was hailed as hero who had been granted the titles of “Knight of the Moonlight” in his homeland, and “Star Shooter” by foreign countries.
“You have my gratitude, Earl Vorn.” Eugene expressed his thanks shortly.
And then he lifted his face, and surveyed everyone present.
“Dear lords, I’d like to ask you to not be negligent on your preparations so that you can move out at any time. Especially Duke Bydgauche’s criticism of His Highness Ruslan is much less forgivable than Earl Polus’s accusations against me. Let me repeat it. I’d like you to properly warn those close to you so that no one approving of him shows up.”
Eugene’s look carried a gleam that overwhelmed all those who had accumulated plenty of experience on the battlefields or in the palace. Struck by his majesty, the chief vassals bowed their heads and swore to comply.
This spelled the end of the meeting.
◆◇◆
Eugene didn’t leave his seat, and furthermore told Tigre and the Vanadis to stay behind. After the chief vassals had left and with Eugene’s attendants also waiting outside, only six people were left in the conference room. Because it was right after a heated meeting, Eugene’s cheeks were flushed, but looking closely, fatigue had deeply carved itself into his face.
The gray-haired Earl looked at Tigre and the other four, and calmly said, “It’s about Lady Valentina and Lady Figneria. Both escaped between last night and today morning. I’m sorry”
Eugene bowed his head deeply. It wasn’t all that surprising to Tigre’s group as they had anticipated as much, but instead anxiety and nervousness filled their bodies.
“Do you know where the two escapees went to?” Tigre asked.
Eugene shook his head, “For the time being I sent messengers to Osterode and Legnica. But hearing back from them will take many days. I had soldiers secretly search the city as well, but I couldn’t blow this out of proportion, and searching for just two people is far from easy.”
“I think there’s no doubt that both have headed to their respective territories. A magnification of the chaos should be their very goal.” Sofy remarked.
Eugene nodded sadly, “It won’t change anything even if I say it, but if only His Highness Ruslan had gone through the coronation ceremony…”
Vanadis couldn’t disobey the king. If the king ordered it, Vanadis had to stop fighting at once. But, Zhcted had no king right now. Ruslan was a prince, and Eugene was no more than Ruslan’s representative. It might be possible to move up the schedule and hold the coronation ceremony to turn Ruslan into the rightful king. However, if they did this, they’d earn themselves a backlash from the nobles instead. There was no doubt about Julian Kurtis and others not missing that chance to reproach Ruslan.
“How is His Highness Ruslan’s condition?” Lim asked.
Eugene shook his head.
“Since he’s taking a rest, his health is sound. However, there are some strange lapses in his memories. He forgets about the grand chamberlain who meets with him every day, and can’t recall the name of his son,” Eugene explained.
Of course he spoke about this because he had determined that none of those present would divulge this to the outside.
Tigre couldn’t help but look bitter as he reflected upon himself.
“About Lady Figneria…,” Eugene returned to the topic, “I’m going to send another messenger to Lebus. Lady Eleonora, can I leave Legnica to you?”
“Of course.” Elen answered proudly. While tightly clenching her fists, she added, “I’ll definitely catch Figneria. Lord Eugene, please be at ease and leave this to me.”
Eugene firmly shook their hands, one after the other, while telling everyone, “Please.”
◎
—————– End of Part 2 —————–
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