37-87

EP.87 Balkan Civil War (5) 

A few days later. Heinrich’s private palace. 

Heinrich was listening to the reports coming in with satisfaction. 

“Hm... So, Marquis Deerwood has sworn loyalty to me?” 

“Yes, Your Majesty! It seems the rumor that Hiriya divorced is true. And there are even rumors she suddenly disappeared from the First Palace, so she might have gone back to her family to ask Marquis Deerwood for revenge.” 

“Well, it’s a bit of a shame you all didn’t get to taste her body, but having Marquis Deerwood as an ally is good news. How many troops is he sending?” 

“Since the Windrage Ducal House is right above his territory, he’s sending half his 5,000 private soldiers 2,500 men.” 

“Good! That’s not bad at all! Well done.” 

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” 

After that, all the news reaching Heinrich’s ears was good. 

He received reports of loyalty oaths from various minor noble families, and that several mercenary bands from the Kingdom of Alto had been contracted. Heinrich was already imagining himself beheading Prinz and ascending the throne. 

“Whew~ Today is full of good news. Still, most of the high nobles are still watching from the sidelines, so keep working on them. Of course, those types won’t really help Prinz either as long as they stay neutral, but it would be even better if we could bring them to our side, wouldn’t it?” 

“Understood, Your Majesty.” 

“That’s all for today’s meeting…” 

As he finished the meeting and was about to enjoy some time in his secret chamber, an irritating noise reached Heinrich’s ears. 

“Your Majesty! Urgent report!!” 

“What is it? If it’s not urgent, you ” 

“Princess Rachel has disappeared!! This morning, a maid went into her room and, surprised to find no one there, reported to me. I rushed over and truly, there was no one.” 

Crash!! 

Stunned by the report, Heinrich overturned his chair and stood up. 

“W-what? Explain in detail!!” 

“For the past few days, she hadn’t eaten the food brought to her room, so we thought she might be on a hunger strike… But this morning, she didn’t touch her meal again, so the maid thought she might have died and went in, but found the room empty.” 

“She was locked in a secret room that can’t be opened from the inside, right?” 

“Yes! Absolutely! That room was originally used by Your Majesty to punish women, as you know.” 

“Right, unless you have my magic key, you can’t open it from the inside… Damn it!! How did she escape from there?!” 

Heinrich, furious, threw his cup. 

“Your Majesty, please don’t worry too much. What could that woman possibly do alone?” 

“That’s not it! If she goes back to Leon, the secret agreement with the King of Leon will be broken! If Rachel joins, that woman Fiona will regain her strength, and the King of Leon will have fewer troops to pressure the eastern front! He might not be able to pressure it at all!” 

“But she can’t leave Adria anyway. You know the city gates are under strict guard. If she’d tried to leave, we’d have heard by now. Also, to use a teleportation magic circle, she’d have to go outside the gates and would need identification papers.” 

“True…” 

“And even if she tried to sneak out with a merchant caravan, it’s a three-month journey to the Leon border, and another month and a half to the capital. There’s no way that frail Rachel could survive such a journey.” 

“You’re right. Still, just in case, strengthen the gate inspections. And look for any places she might be hiding!” 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” 

Of course, Rachel had long since left for Yuno’s territory with Diane and Hiriya, but Heinrich’s people had no way of knowing that. 

Diane was always reclusive, so nothing about her movements was public, and she had used a secret passage for smuggling alchemy ingredients to leave the palace and traveled via the Alchemist Association, so their trail had vanished completely. 

Four months later, at Prinz’s private palace. 

The forces supporting Prinz were more numerous than expected, and he was able to gather more private soldiers than he’d thought. 

“Your Highness, a letter from Duke Windrage.” 

“Hm? From Duke Windrage?” 

Duke Windrage, beloved grandfather of Yuno and one of the few high nobles to swear loyalty to Prinz while most others remained neutral, was a welcome correspondent. 

“Damn! The King of Leon finally made his move! He must really want Poligal Island…” 

The letter said that, with the Leonese army moving in force, Duke Windrage’s troops one of the pillars holding the eastern front would not be able to join Prinz, and he apologized for it. 

“This is bad… If the Windrage troops can’t join us, we lose a fifth of our total strength.” 

“What about hiring more mercenaries? The duke says he’ll provide more funds instead of troops…” 

Thanks to Diane’s financial support, Prinz had already hired a good number of mercenaries, but he knew he couldn’t outspend Heinrich, so he’d given up on hiring more. 

“I’ll look into it, but all the mercenary bands near Adria have already signed with either us or the Second Prince’s side.” 

“That’s true… Sigh~ I’ll see if I can find any more options.” 

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll do my best as well.” 

Even without the Windrage troops, Prinz had nearly 40,000 private soldiers, but Heinrich had surely gathered just as many, so losing the elite Windrage troops was a painful blow. 

As Prinz pondered, a guest arrived, and he went to the terrace to greet him and clear his head. 

“Welcome, Captain of the Guards. It’s been a long time. How have you been?” 

“Yes, Your Highness. You look quite thin… Are you sleeping well?” 

The guest was Count Lichtenauer, who had loyally served as Emperor Karl III’s guard for over 40 years, and Prinz greeted him warmly. 

“Haha, how could I sleep well? And now that Leon is openly supporting Heinrich, sending troops to pressure the eastern front… Sigh~ If he becomes emperor, Balkan is doomed…” 

With a bitter smile, Prinz sipped his tea and continued. 

“So, what brings you here, Captain?” 

“To be honest… I’ve spent the last four months agonizing over whether to tell you this.” 

“Hm? About what? Four months ago… you mean when Father passed away?” 

As Prinz spoke, Lichtenauer’s fist clenched, veins bulged, and he gripped his cup so hard it shattered. 

Crash!! 

“Whoa, whoa… Calm down, Captain.” 

“Ah… I’m sorry. This expensive cup…” 

“It’s nothing… So, what happened when Father died that’s been troubling you for four months?” 

“According to the Rischkar system you mentioned, I couldn’t help you, so I said nothing… but the will naming the Second Prince as heir is a forgery…” 

“Hm… I suspected as much. No matter how much I cross-dress or how strange my lover’s body is, Father wouldn’t have suddenly named Heinrich as heir and thrown the empire into chaos. And with Secretary Marquis Garcia always hanging around Heinrich, I’m not so foolish as to miss that.” 

“Then why didn’t you say anything…?” 

“What’s the point now? Even if I say the will was forged, Heinrich will just claim I’m spreading rumors. In the end, history is written by the victor… If I win, that becomes the truth.” 

“…You’re right, Your Highness. And actually… His Majesty named Yuno as his successor…” 

At Lichtenauer’s words, Prinz jumped to his feet. 

“Is that true?” 

“Why would I lie to you now? The will is meaningless now, but I wanted you to know the truth.” 

“Sigh~ Thank you for telling me. Originally, Father wanted Yuno to be emperor and me to serve as chancellor. Producing heirs is an emperor’s duty, and Father knew that better than anyone…” 

“Exactly, Your Highness.” 

“But as you said, it’s too late to put Yuno on the throne now. Still, since I know the truth, if I win, I’ll make Yuno the crown prince. Honestly, Yunas can’t bear an heir, so there’s no other way… hahaha.” 

“Yes, Your Highness. And as of today, I’m stepping down as Captain of the Guards and, following His Majesty’s will, I’m leaving for Teshida Nikana to serve Yuno. His Majesty told me to serve Yuno as my lord before he died.” 

“Sigh~ It’s a shame… You can’t take part in our brothers’ war, but it can’t be helped. Still, if Yuno recovers and returns and I win, he’ll become head of the imperial military. Then you can return to the military as well. Until then, please take care of my brother Yuno.” 

“Yes, Your Highness. Personally, I sincerely hope you win.” 

“Thank you, Lichtenauer.” 

And so Lichtenauer left Adria, and Prinz’s anger toward Heinrich, who had even forged the will, burned hotter than ever. 

‘I suspected it, but now that it’s confirmed the will was forged… Heinrich, you will never be forgiven!’