The current capital Silesia seemed as though it had been plunged into a quagmire of chaos. Moreover, not only didn’t the city manage to crawl out of the bog, but it kept sinking further instead. Less than ten days had passed since Tigrevurmud Vorn left the city, and yet the situation in the city continued changing by the minute.
Eugene Shevalin had been dealing with the governmental duties as proxy rule instead of Prince Ruslan who had collapsed from overwork. The earl tried to carry out his work sincerely while rallying the people serving at the palace. However, Eugene soon got imprisoned by Grand Chamberlain Miron based on groundless suspicions, resulting in Miron becoming the new proxy ruler. This whole affair took place on the next day after Tigre left the capital.
Miron didn’t harbor the slightest ill will or ambitions, but looking at it objectively, anyone concluded this change in rulership to be the result of a power struggle. And the civil and military officials serving at the palace couldn’t help but harbor the same scruples as everyone else. Thus they wondered whether the governmental duties would really be carried out properly with the grand chamberlain at the helm.
Ruslan and Eugene had experience as both had supported the late King Viktor as assistants. Ruslan had received a broad education as the next-king-to-be and participated in many official duties. Eugene had served as diplomatic envoy for a long time, and moreover, was known to have managed the Pardu Earldom he had been granted by the previous king without a hitch.
On the other hand, none of that applied to the grand chamberlain.
And thus, things developed just as the officials had feared. Miron replaced several of the bureaucrats backing Eugene.
In the eyes of Miron, Eugene was a traitor who had waited for the perfect opportunity to snatch the crown, and thus it was only natural for him to keep people, who trusted such a man, at a distance. However, when Eugene took over the governmental affairs as Ruslan’s proxy, he hadn’t made any changes in the personnel the prince had installed. Even though the bureaucrats following the prince opposed him, he had prioritized resolving the ongoing state of disorder.
Because of that, people were also slandering Eugene behind his back, claiming that he was throwing his weight around in the palace as if he was owning the place, but this measure avoided a stagnation of governmental affairs.
As such, Eugene’s arrest was grave enough to make the bureaucrats fear for the future. Still, Miron hadn’t served many, many years as grand chamberlain for nothing. Once he set out to handle the governmental affairs, he produced such a steady and reliable output that it gave the bureaucrats a peace of mind. However, most of his experience and knowledge was limited to the inner workings of the palace, and he lacked imagination about what might be going on outside the capital.
On the fourth day after Miron had become the proxy ruler, a messenger from Julian Kurtis, who had raised an army in the Bydgauche Dukedom, visited the palace. Julian’s letter, which the messenger presented after having been led into the audience hall, was surprisingly high-handed.
“Four thousand of Bydgauche’s soldiers are currently three days by foot away from the capital. As long as the foolish Ruslan doesn’t concede his right to the crown and leaves Zhcted forever, my father’s grudges won’t be cleared. We won’t stop our march either. We’ll soon cross the Varta and attack the capital. I’d like you to also understand that you won’t just be facing Bydgauche’s soldiers either. Those holding territories north of the capital mourn over the death of my father, and intend to send their soldiers to support my case.”
The officials lined up in the hall were lost for words. They wondered whether Julian Kurtis planned to destroy the Kurtis family in his generation.
“Has Duke Bydgauche lost his mind?”
Of course, Miron was enraged, but he couldn’t avoid being wary about the second half of Julian’s letter. The Kurtis family was prominent and famous within Zhcted without a doubt, and it was also a fact that some people felt anxious and distrustful when it came to Ruslan.
Julian’s father Ilda was King Viktor’s nephew. He had garnered the support of many people as someone excelling in military prowess. If Julian were to make use of those personal connections and his blood relationships, he might be able to form a huge power opposing Ruslan in Zhcted’s north. If that were to happen, Zhcted would be split right in half.
“Tell Duke Bydgauche to immediately withdraw his soldiers and return to his territory. We have already ordered the neighboring lords to suppress Duke Bydgauche.”
Just then, several among the civil officials looked at Miron with eyes colored with blame. At the time when they received the report about Duke Bydgauche’s movements, it was Eugene, and not Miron, who had decided to request the neighboring lords to deal with the situation.
Miron’s way of handling this matter was correct as a politician. Giving the other side the impression that he, as the current proxy ruler, had carried this out could make the other side falter. But, it was questionable whether they’d actually consent to his demand.
The messenger kept his silence, but the light dwelling in his eyes was clearly full of scorn towards Miron.
Being rubbed the wrong way by this, the elderly chamberlain thundered, “In the first place, what’s the idea with the Kurtis family pointing its weapons at the capital despite being related to the royal family!? His Highness Ruslan has been engaging in governmental affairs without any problem whatsoever, doing his utmost to maintain the kingdom’s stability. Doesn’t Lord Kurtis understand that causing confusion and disorder after surrendering himself to his emotions is also going to disgrace the late Lord Ilda!?”
“In that case, I’d like to be given an audience with His Highness.” The messenger’s sharp voice, teeming with poison, echoed throughout the audience hall. “Where is His Highness? What about Earl Pardu? What would Lord Ilda, my former master, say if he saw the current, wretched state of the royal palace!?”
The military officers swiftly exchanged tense looks upon the messenger’s outburst. Seeing how Julian had dispatched a messenger like him, he obviously didn’t plan to negotiate any further. A buff military officer stepped forward, wedging himself between Miron and the messenger.
“Your Excellency, I believe we should allow the messenger to take a rest at the royal palace. And we should also close the capital’s gates at once.”
This should have been a reasonable measure. But, the grand chamberlain shook his head, frowning.
“…No, let’s avoid going this far. If the neighboring lords move, Duke Bydgauche should realize his own mistake. It goes without saying that he’ll have to face a severe punishment, but I think we should give him the chance to make up for his wrongdoings. If we close the gates, it might result in the duke feeling cornered.”
The officer was dumbstruck. Without hiding his irritation, he raised his voice, lashing out, “Even if we assume that the duke is going to acknowledge his mistake, we should only grant him some kind of opportunity to do so, after he demonstrated his will to atone by employing all means available to him.”
“Your Excellency, I share his opinion.” Another officer spoke up.
He exchanged a look with his nearby colleagues, telling them to escort Julian’s messenger out of the audience hall. Once he made sure that the messenger had left, flanked by two officers, he turned around to Miron once more.
“It’s plain obvious that Duke Bydgauche is currently overflowing with fighting spirit. Right now we don’t have many soldiers in the capital. Our forces are limited to those guarding the palace, manning the walls, and maintaining public order on the streets. Please order the gates to be shut, even if only for the sake of avoiding the worst case from happening.”
“But, if we exhibit our intent to resist by closing the gates, it’ll only fan Duke Bydgauche’s will to fight. Moreover, aren’t the citizens already anxious because of all the strange incidents occurring in the city most recently? If we were to close the gates under such circumstances, it’d frighten them unnecessarily.” Miron objected with a sullen look.
The elderly chamberlain had almost no battle experience. Thus he felt reluctant to make a decision that would turn the capital into a battlefield.
“Being defenseless against the several thousand soldiers approaching the capital would frighten the citizens as well, wouldn’t it?” A civil official, who didn’t hold Miron in high esteem, spat out.
Miron looked down on the official with a bitter expression, but he had no choice but to admit that the mood drifting in the audience hall was clearly in favor of the official’s opinion.
“I understand. Let’s close all gates…” Miron finally folded, urged by the silent pressure from all sides. “But, get everything ready so that we can send a messenger to Duke Bydgauche at any time. Though it’d be great if the lords could rein him in for us.”
The vassals exchanged gloomy looks in response to the chamberlain’s statement. But, they had no time to bicker around. If the letter told the truth, Duke Bydgauche’s army stood three days from the capital. On top of closing the gates, they had to adopt various measures to alleviate the citizens’ worries.
The time when things in the capital started to become turbulent spelled the end of a battle that had taken place on a plain extending in an area north of the capital, around two and half days away by foot.
◆◇◆
A wind pregnant with the stench of blood whirled up clouds of dust and carried them across the land. Close to one thousand armored corpses were littering the ground with broken swords and spears serving as their grave markers. Mixed among those corpses were the abandoned flags of the Kurtis family, stained with blood and mud.
They were the soldiers who had followed Julian Kurtis. From among his 4,000 soldiers, 1,000 had gone back to the mud, 1,000 had fled, and the remaining 2,000 had capitulated after discarding their weapons.
The ones who had defeated them were approximately 5,000 soldiers wearing armor and fur while holding swords and spears. The losses on their side didn’t even amount to 50, and even if you included the injured, the numbers still remained below 200.
With a cold, wintry wind blowing, they had gathered the surrenderers in one spot, watching the vicinity to make sure that the soldiers, who had run away, didn’t come back. The flags they were flying depicted Zhcted’s black dragon on the one hand, and a circle consisting of black and white in the center of a light blue background on the other hand. Latter was the flag of Principality Osterode.
Their commander was a beautiful woman with long, bluish hair and violet eyes that gleamed bewitchingly. The pure white dress enveloping her delicate body was decorated with roses all over, matching her white rose hair ornament.
She was shouldering a huge scythe which didn’t fit her transient appearance. The scythe was as tall as an adult, and had an ominous shape that would immediately remind anyone of a dragon claw, while furthermore emphasizing that impression by a combination of deep crimson and pitch black colors.
The woman had lightly brandished that scythe on the battlefield.
Her name was Valentina Glinka Estes, a Vanadis with the alias 『Illusory Princess of the Hollow Shadow』. The scythe held by her was her draconic tool 『Cracked Void of Sealed Sinisterness』, Hollow Shadow Ezendeis. 2
After Valentina had escaped the capital, she headed back to Osterode right away. And while secretly moving her soldiers, she investigated Julian’s movements, waiting for a golden opportunity.
Three soldiers showed up in front of Valentina who was sitting on her mount in the rear of her army. They were courteously carrying a single corpse.
“We have brought what we believe to be Julian Kurtis.” One of the men went down on his knees, reporting.
The other two placed the corpse on the ground. It was a young man with an age of around 15 or 16 years. His hair was disheveled, and dry blood clung to the left side of his handsome face. The silken clothes, adorned with extravagant embroideries, were tattered and smeared with blood. The gauntlet of his left arm was twisted in a strange direction.
Valentina got off her horse, and knelt down in front of the remains. No emotions were visible on her face.
“Indeed. It’s definitely Lord Julian.” Valentina announced, gently closing the eyes of the corpse.
She had met Julian on several occasions in the past. The last time was in the midst of autumn, back when he had visited the capital to succeed the Kurtis family after his predecessor Ilda had lost his life in the palace. Valentina had kindly consoled the youth who was saddened by the sudden death of his father.
Several days later, Valentina and Julian had met once again. With them being alone, Valentina passed on a certain message to Julian, who had apparently calmed down somewhat after having inherited the Bydgauche house and its dukedom as well as having received Eugene’s patronage.
She had told him, “Ilda’s death might have been deliberate.”
Prince Ruslan had shown up in the palace after having recovered from his illness roughly one month before Ilda’s death. At that time, Ilda had begun to investigate the prince’s condition, harboring doubts about it. Valentina informed Julian of all this.
In the eyes of someone who knew all the facts, they might be shocked by Valentina’s audacity. After all, it had been none other than her who had deliberately murdered Ilda while pretending for it to have been an accident.
“Then again, I don’t believe that His Highness would do something like that since he had been greatly relying on Lord Ilda.” Finishing their conversation with this remark, Valentina had bid farewell from Julian back then.
But, after Julian had gone back to Bydgauche, Valentina began to plant Ruslan’s guilt in his head. Of course not directly. She used the scheme of employing many middlemen so that it wouldn’t ever be possible to track the source back to her.
All kinds of people such as Julians relatives and friends, the nobles visiting his dukedom, and merchants closely tied to the Kurtis family talked to Julian. Some among them insisted that “Lord Ilda had been assassinated by His Highness Ruslan.”
“To His Highness it looked as though Lord Ilda was aiming for the crown. If something were to happen to His Highness or His Highness’ son, the crown would fall into Lord Ilda’s hands.”
Assuming Ruslan and his son Valeri were to lose their lives, Ilda, who ranked 7th in the crown succession line, would succeed the kingship. In the past, King Viktor had nominated Eugene, who ranked 8th in the crown succession line, as his successor. However, King Viktor himself retracted this later on.
Also, Eugene silently obeyed when Ruslan recovered from his illness, but Ilda didn’t even try to hide his doubt and discontent over this. There were even rumors about him having said to King Viktor that he couldn’t agree with entrusting the governmental affairs to Ruslan.
For this reason, Ruslan had assassinated Ilda. Before he was done in first…
Julian bought that story. He was a smart, young boy, but he lacked the experience to notice the scheme coiling itself around him. Furthermore, it was certainly true that his father’s death had some questionable aspects to it. As the subordinates, who had served the family since his father’s time, agreed with him on this, Julian raised an army, labeling Ruslan as his enemy.
And then he and his army got defeated after suffering a surprise attack by Osterode’s army.
For Valentina, who was plotting to obtain the throne for herself, the Kurtis family was a hindrance she had to crush while she still had the chance.
The Bydgauche Dukedom boasted the best military forces and was abundant with wealthiness among the northern lords. If the Kurtis family felt like it, they could move thousands of soldiers within a day. If such a family had become Valentina’s enemy, Valentina would be forced to always set aside soldiers to protect Osterode from this looming threat.
This was why Valentina had instigated Julian.
Julian had no children, meaning the Bydgauche Dukedom would likely be broiled up in a succession dispute for some time. At some point, they’d probably settle on someone, but it’d be no problem to ignore this side over the winter, Valentina assessed.
“Hand over Lord Julian’s corpse to Bydgauche’s army. Having it buried by them might give his soul some peace.” Valentina stood up, ordering her subordinates.
──Still, it does have a bad aftertaste…
Valentina mumbled under her breath. She had executed this plan because she considered it necessary, and thus didn’t regret any of it. But, her having closed his eyes was not only an act of courtesy, but also stemmed from a certain extent of sentimentality.
──Oops, that’s no good. Is it because I’ve heard that folklore from Aunt Natasha?
Shaking her head, she got rid of the tiny reservation nesting in her heart. While mounting her horse again with the hem of her dress fluttering, Valentina surveyed her subordinates.
“Well then, let’s head for the capital, shall we? The Varta should come in sight the day after tomorrow. As soon as we cross it, we’ll be right there. Also, we must send a messenger to the capital, don’t we?”
After making sure that Bydgauche’s soldiers had retreated while carrying the corpses of their comrades, Osterode’s army resumed its march. As proof of their victory, they had loaded the armaments of Bydgauche’s soldiers and their flags on carts.
And then, three days later, Valentina arrived in Silesia. Seven days after Tigre had left.
◎
————— End of Part 3 —————
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