Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 55. Incurring a Debt of Gratitude (2)
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The midday sun shone warmly.
Beneath that sunlight stood a girl in a black dress.
She leaned on the railing, lost in thought.
Even though spring had arrived and the weather had warmed, her fingers were trembling.
‘She must have been nervous herself when she was threatening the grand dukes.’
No matter that she was the ruler of the East.
Even the daughter of a tiger was still just a nineteen-year-old girl.
I approached her leisurely.
And quietly opened my mouth.
“It’ll probably be hard to persuade the Northern or Western Grand Duke.”
“Yeah, they’re already clinging to Leon and Lea, who are first and second in the line of succession.”
The youngest imperial princess, already aware of their backers.
She looked down at her city with eyes weary from fatigue.
“Then why go out of your way to threaten them when you already knew?”
I was curious.
Why she had called in people who had already turned against her and provoked them.
“I thought you had no interest in me at all….”
Lydia clasped her hands behind her back, interlocking her fingers.
She gazed at me intently and smiled.
“You sure seem interested in this kind of thing?”
“I’m worried, that’s why.”
Worried.
At my words—that I, who had avoided the princess, was thinking of her—Lydia narrowed her eyes.
“You’re… worried about me?”
‘You have to stay safe if we’re going to block the crown prince.’
In terms of forces, Lydia was third in the empire.
If something happened to her, half the troops we could use to fight the crown prince would collapse.
That was why we absolutely had to bring her into the alliance.
“We’re acquaintances now, aren’t we?”
It might sound like I wanted to be recruited by her….
So I tried to phrase it as indirectly as possible.
“When your acquaintances do well, it puts me in a good mood too.”
A vague answer.
At that, Lydia tilted her head like a doll.
“Acquaintances, huh….”
Lydia narrowed her eyes like a little devil.
And stared at me with a strange look.
“So, if we get even closer than mere acquaintances, you’ll do even more than this?”
The princess lightly poked my left chest with her finger.
Then, with the beautiful face of someone who had just come of age, she said,
“I guess I’ll have to work hard too, for that day to come.”
‘I can’t let my guard down around her at all….’
The princess brushed past me.
“Well, if it’s worry, you don’t need to. This was all part of my plan.”
And she looked toward the distant southern mountains faintly visible on the horizon.
“As you can see, the southern territories have treacherous roads, and they’ve always been focused on guarding the border, so they’ve had little interest in the intrigues of the imperial palace.”
I nodded in agreement.
“That’s why I told her directly. That all the grand dukes except Rosetta have already latched onto other imperial royals.”
Lydia placed a finger on her chin.
With an intellectual gaze, she said matter-of-factly,
“She probably acted all leisurely on the surface, demanding compensation from me. But now that she knows those two grand dukes betrayed me, she must be anxious all alone.”
Lydia pointed alternately at herself and me, as if we were on the same side.
“Because among the grand dukes, she’s the only one without a backer.”
Rosetta had always been the epitome of a righteous general focused on border defense.
Because of that image, other nobles probably hadn’t dared to propose alliances with imperial royals to her.
Yet the princess had summoned all three grand dukes.
To expose the other two’s disgrace to Rosetta while persuading her to follow her.
In other words, this whole thing had been a show for that one southern grand duke.
“So that’s why you came on so strong during the meeting.”
“Exactly. You saw right through it.”
Lydia smiled at the corners of her mouth like a girl again.
However, the dark circles under her eyes were still heavy.
Out of anxiety that the southern grand duke might not follow her.
Indeed, with her current stance, it would be hard to pull Rosetta to her side.
From Rosetta’s perspective, rather than joining Lydia to balance the power….
It would be much easier to side with the crown prince and gain the upper hand.
No matter how righteous she was, she couldn’t help it for the sake of her territories and the survival of her people.
“Now all that’s left is to wait and see….”
Lydia took a deep breath and clasped her hands together.
Her hands were subtly trembling.
However, it was a spring day in May.
The middle of the day, no less—the warmest time of the day.
Thanks to that, I realized she wasn’t shivering from the cold.
The tension from threatening the grand dukes must have finally released.
“You seem a bit cold….”
Lydia whipped her head away, not wanting to show me this side of her.
She pressed her lips together tightly, enduring the chill washing over her alone.
She had always wanted to become a charismatic conquering ruler like her father.
“It must be from the rain a few days ago.”
I took off my uniform jacket.
And gently draped it over her slender shoulders.
Her dress already looked thin and short.
She turned her head toward my jacket enveloping her.
When our faces met, an awkwardness settled in.
“Thank you….”
However, I didn’t respond to her gratitude.
Now that I understood the princess’s intentions.
I thought of suitable advice to give her.
“So, what do you plan to do from here?”
The unfocused red eyes that had been staring at me regained their spark.
“Well, I don’t have any clever ideas. All I can do is wait for Rosetta’s decision.”
“The grand duke already knows Your Highness’s power well. But this level of intimidation won’t be enough to recruit her.”
At the serious talk of the grand dukes, Lydia pouted her lips.
“Like you, you mean?”
“This isn’t the time for jokes….”
“Fine, I get it—.”
Lydia covered her mouth with her fist and giggled.
Then she patted my shoulder.
“Anyway, you’re saying it’s hard to win Rosetta over with my current power alone?”
Well, it could come across that way.
If Baudouin IV had intimidated them like that, everyone would have bowed immediately.
But even that wouldn’t count as perfect conquest.
That’s why this crisis hit the moment he lay down.
“You can’t get what you want with overwhelming power alone.”
True conquest required conquering not just bodies, but hearts as well.
Like the knight order subordinates who believed in and followed me even in the crisis of my past life’s death.
“Suppose the grand dukes defect to Your Highness now.”
I crossed my arms alone.
“But they won’t have any confidence that the Third Princess will protect them after they’ve already betrayed once.”
And like conducting, I raised my finger toward the air.
“From Your Highness’s perspective, they’re like bats now.”
Lydia snickered in agreement.
“So you need to highly value Rosetta, who isn’t a ‘bat’ yet and has been steadfastly holding her position alone.”
I looked toward the rugged mountain path Rosetta would take back and said,
“Call her aside separately and promise her solid trust if she joins your side.”
“Are you telling me right now to go beg my subordinate directly?”
Lydia made a prim face, clearly displeased.
“I’m not some weakling or child.”
“Of course. In my eyes, Your Highness is still a fearsome and cool-headed sovereign.”
Lydia snorted in disbelief.
“I already knew you weren’t afraid of me, so drop the act.”
She, wrapped in my uniform jacket like a cape.
Narrowed her eyes and whipped her head away.
“I’m not saying to appeal to your subordinate.”
I approached the youngest princess like that.
And whispered like offering a sweet scheme.
“Isn’t Your Highness’s goal to become a great sovereign like His Imperial Majesty the Emperor?”
Like her father.
At those words, Lydia’s ears perked up.
“A great sovereign wields not just the whip, but the carrot as well.”
I persuaded her with a serious gaze.
“In fact, Baudouin IV recognized the territories of the conquered regions and only demanded tribute.”
“Yeah, he always bestowed more wealth than the tribute he received.”
The Third Princess added to my words in agreement.
“So, we need to provide direct assistance to the southern grand duke as well.”
“Assistance… Do you have a good way?”
At her question, I gazed intently at the rugged mountains.
That area was infamous for bandits, so people avoided passing through.
It was a route hardly ever used.
However, the grand duke had to return to the southern territories immediately after today’s schedule.
From my memories of my past life, around this time, immigrants were flooding the empire’s southern border, causing headaches.
To resolve such troublesome issues, she had to take the shortcut.
And the bandits wouldn’t miss her flashy carriage.
‘They’ll definitely attack.’
However, Rosetta was a highly capable southern commander.
Normally, a mere band of bandits wouldn’t even annoy her.
But from my past life’s memories….
She had a hard time against a strong fighter hidden among the bandits.
Those strong ones were probably soldiers discharged in dishonor.
Abandoned by the nation without even a pension.
If a group of regular troops filled with hatred for the empire attacked, even Rosetta would struggle.
If we hid until that moment and then helped, it would be the perfect timing to make her indebted to Lydia.
“Yes, I do.”
“What is it?”
“To put it simply, forcibly ‘incurring a debt of gratitude.’”
Lydia tilted her head, wondering what that meant.
Her parted hair swayed on both sides.
“First, I’ll need a little help from Your Highness.”
“Tell me anything.”
I looked at the eastern knights standing in front of the corridor.
And pointed to Batsch among them, who had just returned from closed-door training.
“Tonight, lend me Batsch and Tau for a bit.”
At my request to borrow her two top fighters, Lydia looked skeptical.
However, clutching my uniform wrapped around her tightly, she ultimately gave permission.
“I’ll make sure the grand duke owes Your Highness a great debt.”
At the same time, make Lydia owe me a great debt too.
So we could recruit her into the alliance.
* * * *
The meeting had now ended.
The Northern and Western Grand Dukes, who already had backers, ultimately rejected the princess’s proposal.
Only the southern grand duke remained neutral, saying she’d think about it, and boarded her carriage.
“It was a pleasant luncheon, Your Highness Lydia.”
“Yes, thanks to you, I enjoyed it too.”
Lydia approached the female grand duke leisurely.
And asked with a seductive smile.
“By the way, which route are you taking back?”
“I plan to cross the southern mountains.”
“Ah— that way?”
Lydia opened her lips in mock familiarity with a sly look.
“There are a lot of bandits there, so it might be dangerous—.”
“Ahaha… Your Highness, this is Rosetta. Do I have any reason to delay over mere bandits?”
Lydia maintained her smile, as if she had anticipated the reaction.
And retorted in a sly tone.
“Yes, then go in ‘safely.’”
Rosetta lightly bowed her head and hid in her carriage.
The huge wheels painted in gold began to roll.
Lydia, hands behind her back, watched the departing southern grand duke’s carriage intently.
It sped unhesitatingly toward the notorious treacherous southern mountains.
“Really, just as Veil said.”
The princess leisurely returned to the palace.
And sat alone on the living room sofa.
On the sofa’s armrest was the uniform jacket Veil had left behind.
Lydia draped that jacket over her thighs like a blanket.
“An operation, huh….”
And she thought that when Veil succeeded in that operation, she would bestow a great reward.
One that he could no longer avoid.