Chapter 294
Chapter 294
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 294
Chapter Title: Divide and Conquer (4)
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Reich Empire Imperial Palace, Small Banquet Hall.
The diplomats, masters of soulless flattery, were the type who could pretend to be incredibly sociable. Gather five of them, and before any real conversation even started, they'd spend a full day and night showering each other with compliments—who looked the youngest for their age, what their secret was—and laughing uproariously at lame jokes like "when almonds die, they become diamonds," proclaiming them the funniest things on earth.
But with Ambassador Sendler from the Warsaw Grand Duchy having shattered their alliance with a backstab of epic proportions, there wasn't a peep as I walked up. Even pressing my ear to the banquet hall door yielded nothing.
The fact that they couldn't even muster that level of pretense meant their trust in each other had completely collapsed. For the Reich Empire, that was an excellent omen.
Just to be sure, I asked Lieutenant Vincent, my brother-in-law guarding the door.
"Brother-in-law, have those guys inside been like this the whole time?"
"Yes, sir. They've been filing in one by one since the ambassadors arrived an hour ago, and not a word out of any of them."
"That's great news for the Empire. How's the Imperial Guard duty treating you, by the way?"
"Colonel Max has been guiding us well, and we're all working hard. No one's giving me grief over being a commoner, and last week, His Majesty quietly sent this as a gift to celebrate my hundred days on Guard duty."
Vincent proudly drew the sword at his waist and showed it off to me.
It wasn't overly ornate, but the 'K' engraved on the hilt's pommel marked it as a high-quality piece from an imperial supplier workshop.
"All that's left is for you to get married before your promotion to captain next year or the year after. If you've found a girl you like, come to me regardless of her status. Commoner or noble, I'll handle the family issues somehow. Charlotte's been worrying about you."
Vincent blushed and bowed his head.
"Then, may I come ask for your help next week? The lady I'm seeing... her family's a bit tricky..."
"By then, I'll be on extended leave, so if needed, I'll go to your future in-laws myself and smooth things over. We'll go together. If it messes with your schedule, just say I approved it and file for leave. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some fireworks to set off."
With that, I finished chatting with Vincent and entered the banquet hall.
The ambassadors' faces soured completely when Peter Jaeger walked in, their diplomatic masks of fake smiles nowhere to be seen.
They'd apparently plotted to band together and torpedo the five-year peace treaty, which was disproportionately favorable to the Empire.
Of course they were pissed—the table was set, and Warsaw's ambassador had flipped it over.
No, anyone who could laugh in this situation was either stark raving mad or a political genius destined for the history books.
"It's only been three days, but I hope you've all been well? Thanks to your special consideration, I've been sleeping soundly and eating like a king. Louise—ah, the Reich Empire's Fourth Imperial Princess and my wife—insists I tell the Franco Republic's ambassador how delicious the Burgundy cheese you sent was."
It was tradition in formal diplomacy to exchange gifts at the end of meetings.
So, the polite opener was praising the previous gift received. That's what I did.
Sir Henri, the Franco Republic's ambassador, forced a smile, his mouth twitching.
"To think Her Highness Princess Louise enjoyed it so much. The Franco Republic is overjoyed. If the chance arises to host her, we'll prepare a full course of Burgundy cheese dishes."
"Can't wait. By the way, did you like the coat I gave you, made from bear fur from the Empire's northern frontiers?"
"...... It's not winter yet, so I haven't tried it on."
"The Empire's winters can be brutal. You'll need it someday."
I said that, but the Empire's winters were mild enough that rivers didn't always freeze.
An ambassador would know that, so my words were code for: "You tried to screw the Empire, so your country's future's going to be rough."
After a bit more small talk pleasantries, I told the gathered ambassadors that defying the Empire's proposal would forfeit the five-year peace guarantee.
Three days ago, it had fallen on deaf ears. But with Sendler from Warsaw delivering that brutal backstab, they could no longer trust each other.
On the battlefield, untrustworthy allies were far more terrifying than competent enemies.
These sharp minds wouldn't ally with unreliable foreigners now.
Which meant my proposal would stick this time.
The moment our peaceful chat wrapped up, I placed the five-year peace treaty I'd brought three days prior on the central banquet table.
"Allow me to propose once more. Does anyone support five years of peace?"
The ambassadors sighed and replied.
".... We accept Sir Jaeger's five-year peace treaty."
"We'll sign. Bring the sealing wax."
"...... You got us. Hands up."
With trust shattered, joining my peace treaty was their best bet. No choice.
While I pretended to be lost in thought, they affixed their signet rings to the five-year peace accord.
"With this, I declare peace treaties ratified between the Reich Empire and Switchland, Stockholm, the Franco Republic, Czechovia, and Austrica. The Reich Empire and these five nations hereby prohibit all hostile actions against one another. Any violator will be subdued by the remaining signatories to restore order."
As I quietly turned to leave, I "accidentally" dropped a few documents.
For reference, those papers contained Reich Empire Class 2 military secrets—packed with wild "fake intel" suggesting massive army expansions ahead.
Mixed with some real info, the ambassadors would go insane verifying it.
Or they already were—shouting erupted as I walked out.
The moment Peter Jaeger left, the Empire's small banquet hall erupted in blame aimed at Ambassador Henri.
"Ambassador Henri, how did your intelligence gather that nonsense? Claiming the Imperial Army is downsizing? Look—Manstein the lieutenant general pushed expansion, and yeah, they purged him and his faction. But this intel says they're not downsizing at all!"
"Halting war to build up the army—what's that if not that damned Peter Jaeger marching down with 200,000 troops?"
"Speak up if you've got a defense! Aren't we the ones played by that bastard Jaeger because of you?"
Sir Henri of the Franco Republic felt utterly wronged.
Watching Manstein and his clique purged root and branch, who'd think the Empire wasn't scaling back?
Who could've predicted Peter Jaeger would halt the war while expanding the army?
'I screwed up, sure, but you bastards jumped on my idea like it was gold!'
He wanted to scream it, but with the Republic's credibility already in the gutter...
Another outburst would drill it straight to hell. Better bow his head.
"...... As the Franco Republic's ambassador, I apologize for my misjudgment."
Far from appeased, the other ambassadors grew even angrier.
His apology reminded them they'd been outplayed by Peter Jaeger—a guy with zero diplomatic experience—by actual diplomats like themselves.
To counter the Empire, they needed ironclad trust to have each other's backs.
Now shattered, they couldn't unite against the Empire for years.
Their strategy of ganging up was sealed shut for the foreseeable future.
With the Franco ambassador stripped of speaking rights, Czechovia's Ambassador Ellensky spoke up.
"The Austrica ambassador who just railed at Henri—you whipped out your signet ring like a tail-wagging dog the second Jaeger proposed peace!"
"That's too harsh, Ellensky!"
"Everyone, stop. Fighting like this gains us nothing."
"Sir Zikofsky of Stockholm, you must sleep easy. Now the Reich Empire wields this damned peace treaty like a weapon, charging toward hegemony. Our nations will be ground to dust in the process."
It was a grim future, but what could they do?
From the moment Warsaw defected thanks to Jaeger's ploy, none here could fully trust the others.
And with betrayal in the air, if someone offered a margraviate to betray the rest... well, they'd jump at it.