Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Changelings
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The fact that Providence territory had officially declared war on the kingdom spread throughout the entire nation.
In response to Marquis Providence's declaration, the royal family could not hide their bewilderment.
"A mere territory is defying the entire kingdom? Is the report mistaken?"
"No, Your Majesty. The marquis seems serious. He's already distributed proclamations across the kingdom."
"What is he thinking? Has the doctor perhaps completed his research on mass-producing superhumans?"
In a world where wars were decided by the hierarchy of superhumans, there was no other way to explain Rex's actions.
The atmosphere in the council chamber grew even heavier.
To break the mood, one minister cautiously raised his hand.
"Could it be that he's lashing out in desperation because he's cornered..."
"Then how do you explain this?"
The minister of military affairs spread a map on the table.
The red area marking the marquis's territory stood out prominently.
"Just one week after the marquis switched to the offensive, the territory was conquered. And they breached an imperial fortress in a single day!"
They hadn't trusted the baron's combat prowess anyway.
They had only pushed him forward as a sacrificial pawn to create a pretext for war, without expecting him to hold out.
But regardless of the baron's strength, the fall of an imperial fortress was shocking.
It wasn't just any fortress—it was one built with lost imperial technology.
"The baron's hierarchy was 5th rank. Do you know how many superhumans it would take to breach a fortress he was defending?"
"One 6th-rank knight order commander, perhaps?"
"That's for an ordinary fortress. An imperial-era one requires 7th rank."
Or ten 6th-rankers to substitute for one 7th-ranker.
"Yet the fortress fell. The barony was conquered in just one week."
This implied one of two things.
"Marquis Providence has the technology to create superhumans. Whether it's producing one 7th-ranker or mass-producing multiple 5th-rankers. It must be something he took from the doctor."
Tension rippled through the ministers at the minister of military affairs' speculation.
"I hear the one defending the baron was only a company commander level."
In other words, 5th-rankers were merely company commanders in Providence territory.
One could only imagine how strong the commanders and lords were.
"What's the status of 5th-rank and above superhumans in the capital right now?"
"Excluding Your Majesty, about ten including the knight order commanders."
"Including the heroes?"
"Around thirty."
It was a force that could easily crush an ordinary territory.
Assuming all the wandering heroes across the kingdom obeyed orders without issue.
In practice, they could mobilize about fifteen on demand.
In other words...
"If it's true that they conquered the imperial fortress with superhumans mass-produced using the doctor's technology..."
Simply put, the royals alone couldn't stop the marquis's advance.
Of course, this was only if thinking simply.
"Time is not on our side."
"To think it was stolen right when the doctor completed the technology..."
"Perhaps that was Marquis Providence's aim. He waited until the doctor finished it and then seized it."
Rex's top academy grades supported this claim.
"So he schemed this for thirty years?"
"A monstrous bastard..."
"No wonder the top student let himself get captured by the doctor so easily..."
They had sent the arrogant commoner who dared take top honors to the doctor's lab as punishment, but it had backfired spectacularly.
However, none of those present thought they had done wrong.
A rootless commoner presuming to rise above his station deserved punishment—it was only natural to them.
Thus, their regret wasn't for past mistakes, but for falling into Rex's scheme.
"What about this Duke fellow?"
"He's probably the first prototype made with that technology. They say he was strong even as a wandering knight, but not this strong."
It was a misunderstanding.
Back then, during his wandering phase, he had held back to avoid altering the original story.
Now that the original story had begun, he no longer restrained himself.
But no one there was present to correct their misconception.
"Even now, time is passing. If we leave it like this, the marquis will build an army of superhumans."
Having the technology meant that, given enough time, Providence could keep producing more superhumans.
An army of superhumans.
Not an ordinary army where one superhuman led lesser superhumans and regular soldiers, but an army composed entirely of superhumans.
It meant the revival of that horrifying force that had conquered the plains alongside the first emperor Khan in the imperial era.
The ministers' faces paled.
Though they professed to inherit imperial culture and nostalgically recalled that era in idle moments, no one present truly missed it.
For those in power, preserving their positions was always paramount.
In that sense, the empire's revival meant their downfall, so they desperately sought countermeasures.
"That's why we must unite with the other lords before it's too late. Crush him before he grows stronger!"
"But will the other lords cooperate with us?"
"Ugh..."
But reality was not so accommodating.
The royals had little affinity with the concept of centralized authority.
The current royal family and lords were those who had swiftly claimed land like foxes in the power vacuum right after the empire's fall.
The royals were merely the strongest among them who had banded the cultural sphere into a kingdom, without truly subjugating the lords.
Even the strongest couldn't guarantee victory if the lords united against them.
The lords knew this well, offering only lip service loyalty to the royals.
Thus, even if they wanted to crush Providence with the lords before it grew, the selfish lords steeped in endless egoism would plainly refuse orders.
"At this rate, we'll be picked off one by one."
The lords' alliance would never truly cooperate.
To minimize their own losses, they would push weaker lords forward first and hope the enemy was exhausted by the time their turn came.
When one pointed this out, the eldest-looking minister in the chamber spoke.
"We have to persuade the lords first. If we appeal to the greater good, won't they unite out of necessity?"
The greater good meant stopping the empire's revival.
The lords wouldn't want to relinquish power either, so uniting under this cause might make them set aside some selfishness and cooperate.
Of course, even as they said it, the royals knew deep down.
They themselves wanted the other lords to sacrifice first—would those lords dutifully follow the greater good?
But for now, this was the best option.
To preserve their power, they could only hope greed would overcome selfishness.
Sacrifice born of selfishness.
What a contradictory phrase.
Thus, the royal council seemed poised to resolve on allying with the lords.
But just before the chairman could conclude, the hitherto silent minister of internal affairs spoke.
"I've heard rumors that Marquis Providence is a pacifist. Perhaps we should seek peace even now..."
The minister of internal affairs' opinion was highly reasonable, rational, and close to the correct answer.
There had been almost no casualties during this war, so Rex would likely prefer peace over a prolonged conflict spilling much blood.
Especially since Rex was somewhat materialistic, he could still be reconciled with the royals for a modest price.
"Peace? With what concession?"
"Grant him a dukedom and turn a blind eye to him seizing a few surrounding territories."
This opinion was also highly reasonable.
This way, the royals could claim a moral victory without real losses.
Several other ministers admired the minister of internal affairs' suggestion.
"We've been too narrow-minded."
"Indeed. What is war for? Peace is best."
But some pointed out logical flaws.
"That just buys time. Once he becomes a duke and time passes, what's to stop him from resuming conquests?"
"It's too risky to rely solely on Marquis Providence's goodwill."
Those favoring peace were the relatively younger ministers, while those favoring war were older.
The root of this perceptual divide was largely whether they had experienced the imperial era.
Soon, voices rose among the ministers.
Those who feared the empire from experience, and those who knew it only from books and felt little fear.
"Don't you know how vast a power one man's ambition can grow into!?"
"The empire fell, didn't it? Times have changed. Conquest wars are meaningless now. Any rational person thinks so."
"Human desire clouds the eyes."
"Whose eyes are clouded? Rather than provoking a sleeping dragon, immediate peace might be better."
"That's why we should slay it while it's still young!"
Their arguments were evenly matched.
Both sides somewhat acknowledged the validity in the other's words.
Had it not been for the unpredictability of the marquis's future actions, they might have found a compromise.
As their debate ran parallel, the hitherto silent king finally spoke.
"I have heard your opinions well."
The ministers fell silent at once.
It meant shut up because they were noisy.
Those who failed to grasp this had become handfuls of bloody pulp under the tyrant's hands, so all present knew its meaning.
Satisfied with the ministers' silence, the king spoke.
"What is there to fear? I am here."
Only then did the hawkish ministers' faces brighten.
Conversely, the dovish ministers looked like pigeons that had swallowed beans and fell silent.
In the end, the king rendered the decision.
"Notify the lords. Execute the traitor immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Thus the meeting ended, and policy toward the House of Marquis Providence was set.
Crush them before they grow.
The empire must never revive.
After the meeting, the king headed to a detached palace.
The royal castle, squeezed from the people, was needlessly vast.
Not just the main palace, but even the detached ones surpassed the mansions of moderately luxurious lords.
King Eschric crossed the enormous castle and stopped before one room in the detached palace.
"I shall enter."
The king opened the door without waiting for the owner's permission.
Upon entering, a young woman greeted him with a bright smile.
"Father!"
"Arabella. Have you been well?"
"Yes, Father. No training today, so I'm fine."
The king looked fondly at the woman with white hair and black-rimmed glasses, smiling warmly.
Princess Arabella.
The king's most favored daughter.
Unlike his other children, who were desperate to surpass their father, she was content with her life, training only moderately.
Thus she remained at 3rd rank, but the king was pleased by this.
Because, unlike the others, he could truly love her.
As the saying goes, a good-looking rice cake tastes good too—she was pretty, which pleased him even more.
Of course, whether this affection toward his child was truly paternal was ambiguous.
But for the king and princess, it didn't matter.
The father and daughter shared their daily lives in a warm atmosphere.
It was the only moment of solace for the king amid his precarious political tightrope.
During their talk, when the king mentioned today's events, the princess cautiously asked.
"Father... what about Isabella?"
"That fake has become Marquis Providence's concubine."
"Father..."
"Don't worry. I will erase that wench from this world."
What wouldn't a father do for his lovely daughter?
He had heard Rex and Duke were variables, but King Eschric believed he couldn't lose to them.
"Just trust this father."
Princess Arabella trembled faintly.
The king looked down at his princess's crown with poignant eyes.
'Tsk tsk. How heartbroken my poor child must have been.'
His one and only princess, born to his beloved third queen.
The princess's life had been turbulent from birth.
She had nearly been swapped by midwives right after birth.
By filthy beastkin and demonkin who worshipped the Demon King.
Fortunately, the knight order commander noticed their sorcery, and the princess was recovered.
Even now, recalling that moment sent chills down his spine.
The royal mage dispelling the spell on the baby's ear, and the white tiger ears perking up.
'Animal ears on my daughter...'
His queen had clearly been human.
How could her daughter be a filthy beastkin?
The Demon King worshippers had clearly sought to taint the pure royal blood with their dirty lineage.
Regrettably, they couldn't kill the beastkin baby.
A knight who had been the queen's retainer turned out to be a Demon King worshipper and fled with the fake baby.
Fortuitously, they succeeded in slaying the worshippers in the process and recovering the real baby.
However, the swapping trauma left deep scars on the young princess, making her avoid public appearances.
She only conversed with the king and select servants.
Afterward, the royals covered up the incident and spent decades tracking the fake baby's traces.
'We finally found her. The filthy bloodline.'
Finding her hadn't been hard.
White tiger beastkin were rare, and her face was a spitting image of Princess Arabella's.
No one knew what sorcery the worshippers used, but had they not detected the ear-concealing spell, they would have raised the fake as the real daughter.
The escaped fake shamelessly used the name Arabella and was in Providence territory.
The world saw it as a mere coincidence of names, but those in the know called her Isabella, not Arabella.
Isabella the Doppelganger, history's worst villainess.
They drew the name from that motif.
'I will surely eliminate that villainess.'
Of course, the woman called Isabella might be innocent.
She may have merely been born and had her fate decided by evil Demon King worshippers.
But reality was cruel.
Impersonating royalty was a crime that didn't vanish even unknowingly.
Marquis Rex, who had taken in such an Isabella, was pitiable but not blameless.
He had killed the doctor who had provided various conveniences to the royals,
and word came that he was contacting a former imperial duke in his territory's mountains.
Thus, the king ordered Rex's purge to his ministers, citing those reasons.
But the king's inner circle knew.
The true goal was eliminating the wicked woman, Isabella.
The king ceased his thoughts and looked at his daughter.
He pitied how she trembled at the name Isabella.
The king left to give his most beloved daughter some alone time.
"See you tomorrow, my princess."
"I'm sorry, Father, for taking your time."
"No. If you need anything, tell me directly anytime."
With that, the king left the princess's room.
Filled with resolve to do anything for his daughter.