A Forged Mandate
Yohanes had just received word that the mercenaries from the Babylon Empire had crossed the Nicaean border and were marching toward Byzantion. He stared down at the map, his face lost in thought. "Hmm..." He organized his thoughts as he studied the troop deployments in the Duopol Duchy, Epirus, and Egypt. First, I must secure Epirus and Egypt... Then, using the Babylonian mercenaries and our frontline forces, we will strike the Duopol Duchy and crush it swiftly.
Before Duopol's allies could even gather their forces to come to its rescue, the duchy would fall with ease. The forces stationed to guard against the mighty Babylon Empire might lack the legendary prestige of the Grand Duchy's Giant Legion or the Golden Knights, but they were by no means weak. In fact, in terms of sheer numbers, they vastly outnumbered both the Golden Knights and the Giant Legion. It was only natural; maintaining a border stretching over a thousand kilometers required an astronomical number of troops. He would use those forces to dismantle Duopol and the neighboring kingdoms that were utterly unprepared for war.
If the Babylon Empire chose to strike at this very moment, the Roman Empire might crumble, but the likelihood of that was extremely low. Babylon's eastern campaign had only recently concluded. Their main forces were still stationed in the east, and thanks to a secret pact Yohanes had previously forged with the Babylonian imperial family, they would not move.
He could start the war now and report it to the parliament later. There was nothing Roman could do immediately. Mobilizing troops required the command of Deviang Lion, but since he was currently in the Grand Duchy of Francesco, mounting a swift defense against them would be impossible. While the Lion was rendered helpless, speed was of the essence in tearing down the great nobles.
Annexing their territories without authorization would undoubtedly provoke a massive backlash. On a continent where noble fiefdoms were treated as sacred private property, what he was about to do would brand him a tyrant. Yet, he could not simply leave the lands of the great nobles untouched. The resources, the population—every single asset yielded by those lands was vital. Therefore, annexation was an absolute necessity, regardless of the condemnation he would face or the risks he must run.
If he could claim the domains of the five great noble families, it would be no different from swallowing half the Empire. It would not be a precarious position like the Emperor Faction, which could be ousted at any moment, but a true, sovereign grasp over half the realm. Though the outcry would be immense, there was very little those who opposed him could actually do. No, to be precise, they could do absolutely nothing. If he launched a surprise attack without a formal declaration of war on those who were entirely unprepared, they would fall into utter chaos and crumble.
However, the moment he swallowed such a massive territory, every noble in the land would turn hostile and uncooperative. He worried about how the young lion would exploit that friction, but he could not afford to let this golden opportunity slip away. Combining the Babylonian mercenaries with his own regular army would yield a force of one hundred and thirty thousand troops. Moreover, once the domains of the great nobles—the very pillars of the Empire—fell into his hands, the military force the Empire could mobilize would be cut in half.
Furthermore, time was on his side. As long as he secured those noble territories, he would possess a military force far exceeding anything Roman could muster. And if those lands stopped sending taxes to Roman, the Empire would inevitably wither away. If the board played out this way, the Empire would eventually fall right into his lap.
Yet, it was too early to celebrate. Looking at the map, it was clear that Deviang had also prepared some countermeasures. Only the gods knew how it would truly unfold. But he had already come too far to stop now. This was a war where the victor would take all—and he would do everything in his power to ensure that victor was him. "It must succeed."
If Roman and the Grand Duchy moved swiftly, he would find himself in a tight spot. If they deployed the Golden Knights, the Giant Legion, and the regular imperial army to buy time for the great nobles to rally their forces, it would spell the immediate doom of Nicaea—or, at best, a grueling stalemate.
He stared at the fortress on the map where the Golden Knights were stationed. It was quite a distance from Roman, but not very far from the Duopol Duchy. They had likely been positioned there so that the Golden Knights could move swiftly to intercept him the moment he made a move. If they intervened, it would prove highly troublesome.
There was only one reason the stubborn William would ever listen to Deviang: he believed the Empress was being held hostage. For generations, the Golden Knights had served as the sword that protected the Empire and the Emperor. Though the current ruler was an Empress, under imperial law, she was still the sovereign of the realm.
He looked down at the letter resting before him. According to the reports Savinelli had sent after arriving in Roman, Empress Theodora and William had rarely met. In fact, William blamed his own incompetence for failing to protect the late Emperor and the current Empress, and his hostility toward Deviang was known to be exceptionally high. "He must take the bait..."
The letter before him was forged to look like a secret imperial order written by the Empress herself.
March upon Roman immediately. Rescue Us from captivity, and execute the traitor, Deviang Lion, who holds the throne hostage.
Of course, an official decree would require the imperial seal, but from what he had heard, Deviang currently held it. Since the Empress could not use her seal anyway, forging the order was actually easier. After all, the imperial seal was an artifact that could never be replicated. "This will bind the very army the young lion relies on. And then..."
To prevent the Imperial Parliament from condemning him, he needed to trigger a massive distraction. He would throw a massive bait to keep the Empress from intervening directly. "Yes... I must expose the truth about Epirus and Egypt."
According to Savinelli, the current Empress was entirely unaware of the secret pact made between the Emperor Faction and the Anti-Emperor Faction. Once she learned of its contents, she would surely withdraw her strangely favorable attitude toward Deviang. Furthermore, the Imperial Parliament had no idea that Deviang had unilaterally ceded imperial territories, nor did they know of the betrothal agreement between Princess Joy and Yohanes's son. Once this came to light, the parliament's resentment toward Deviang would reach a boiling point.
They would find out eventually once the war broke out anyway. So, he would leak it first, utterly isolating Deviang within the Imperial Parliament. If Alexander and Savinelli moved quickly to seize control of the parliament, sway public opinion to their side, and block any attempts to condemn him or declare him an Enemy of the State, there would be very little Deviang could do.
The parliament would already be reeling from the shock of the Golden Knights marching on Roman, only to be thrown into absolute chaos by the revelation that Epirus and Egypt had been handed over to him. On top of that, the Empress, who had been covertly cooperating with Deviang, would have no choice but to suspect him. In other words, she would find it impossible to actively defend him.
How would Deviang move then? Most of his personal forces were back in the Grand Duchy. It would take them a considerable amount of time to mobilize and arrive. By then, the news that he held Epirus and Egypt would have spread, prompting the great nobles to realize the gravity of the situation and begin preparing for war. But in that brief window, Duopol would fall. And by the time he struck the Ern Kingdom and the Bohemi Kingdom, the great nobles would finally realize the truth. They could no longer control him.
Once things reached that point, there would be nothing the Imperial Parliament could do. Even if they declared him an Enemy of the State at that late stage, no force would remain capable of opposing him. In the ensuing political chaos, the Emperor Faction would desperately try to assassinate him, but they wouldn't be able to easily trust Deviang—the very man who had given Yohanes his wings in the first place—leaving them to run around like headless chickens. Even if they managed to unite and condemn him faster than expected, stopping him would be impossible once he subdued the Ern and Bohemi kingdoms. He would hold almost all of the Empire's most vital kingdoms.
Epirus, Egypt, Nicaea, Ern, and Bohemi. Once those five kingdoms fell into his hands, the only kingdom-tier titles remaining in the Empire would be the Grand Duchy of Francesco, Roman, and the Serin Kingdom. And among those, the Serin Kingdom was a kingdom in name only, barely matching the scale of a duchy, so it could be safely ignored. "The victor... takes it all." And he would be the one to win.
Duke Leopold Burg of Duopol was deeply anxious about the movements of the Nicaea Kingdom. A centuries-old feud with Nicaea had steadily chipped away at his family's territory over the generations. Now, as if preparing for war once again, Nicaea was reinforcing its troops along the border, while asserting an absurd claim that Duopol had been Nicaean territory five hundred years ago.
In truth, Duopol had once belonged to Nicaea, but during the reign of a cruel Nicaean tyrant, his ancestors had fought with iron and blood to win their independence. His ancestors had carved out their freedom through sheer grit and steel. Though the war had ended with a treaty guaranteeing absolute independence, five hundred years later, Nicaea was making the preposterous claim that the duchy must return to its fold. Watching the Nicaea Kingdom push this outrageous demand, Leopold fell deep into thought. They intend to finish us off once and for all this time.
He had already confirmed that numerous mercenary groups across the continent had been hired by Nicaea. Yet, Leopold was not afraid. Ever since the Empire had granted Nicaea the right to wage war, Leopold had anticipated that this day would come sooner or later. He had long prepared himself for this inevitable clash. "I must notify our allies immediately."
If Duopol fell, the surrounding territories, both large and small, would crumble in succession. Their pretext was reclaiming the lost lands of ancient Nicaea. He did not believe for a second that the hypocritical, greedy Yohanes would stop at Duopol. He would undoubtedly strike every single territory that had once gained independence from them.
Duke Leopold pulled a sheet of paper from his desk drawer. Uncapping his fountain pen and drawing his inkwell close, he began to write. There is still time. And if Nicaea's main force is composed of mercenaries... our chances are fifty-fifty.
Leopold reasoned that because Nicaea shared a border with the mighty Babylon Empire, they would not be able to spare many of their regular troops for the assault on Duopol. Their main force would have to be mercenaries. And when dealing with greedy sellswords, there were always options. They might drag their feet to avoid high-casualty siege warfare, or they could be bribed under the table to throw the battle. Tactics that would never work against a disciplined regular army were highly effective against mercenaries.
Scratch, scratch...
Leopold finished writing his letter. He had no way of knowing. He did not know that Yohanes had forged a secret pact with the Babylon Empire... nor did he know that the forces joining Nicaea were not some second-rate sellswords, but the absolute finest mercenaries the Babylon Empire had to offer.