Chapter 5 Your Majesty the Empress. Is a mere piece of paper the reward?
Chapter 5 Your Majesty the Empress. Is a mere piece of paper the reward?
Chapter 5
Two days passed.
However, Commander-in-Chief Walter von Clausen did not return.
On the first day, they waited.
Because if he was having a private audience with the Emperor at the imperial palace, it could take time.
Even more so if Duke Lorenzo Arteria, the Chairman of the Aristocratic Council, was involved.
But around the time the sun began to set on the second day, the atmosphere in the temporary camp shifted.
"Count-nim still hasn't returned?"
"No way. Is he being held captive in the imperial palace?"
"They wouldn't do that to the Commander-in-Chief, would they?"
The soldiers of the Northern Army buzzed with anxiety.
What arrived before anger was anxiety.
In the Northern Wall Territory, Commander-in-Chief Walter had always been there.
As long as that veteran general stood atop the fortress walls, the soldiers held out.
Even when the Black Rift tore open and demons swarmed, they moved as long as Walter gave the command.
Such a man had vanished.
Not a single word after entering the imperial palace.
The soldiers were not naive enough to fail to grasp what that implied.
Meanwhile.
"Young Grand Duke-nim!"
Adjutant Eileen entered the tent.
Her face was frozen stiff.
"Eileen. What is it?"
Ernst was sitting at his desk.
In front of him lay a copy of the imperial proclamation and the roster of the Northern Army.
Deceased.
Wounded.
Missing.
List of bereaved families.
The numbers were far higher than imagined.
Way, way too high.
Though he had said in words that he'd dump the grunt work on Eileen, Ernst had never intended to do so in the first place.
As a superior officer, paying proper respect to the fallen was a matter of duty.
"That is..."
"Tell me what happened. It's fine, Eileen."
Ernst, who had been somber, raised his head.
"A new proclamation was just handed down from the imperial palace."
"The contents?"
"Count Walter von Clausen-nim has reportedly been detained on charges of treason."
"....."
For a moment, the air inside the tent stood still.
The news brought by Eileen was just that shocking.
"Treason, huh..."
Ernst muttered softly.
The anxiety hovering around the temporary camp had turned into reality.
"Yes. That's right... The reason Commander-nim didn't return... was indeed detention..."
Eileen bit her lip tightly.
Then, as if vomiting blood, she began to explain the grounds for detention stated by the imperial family.
"The charge is... rejecting the imperial family's merciful compensation plan... and inciting the Northern Army to plot rebellion..."
Ernst stood up without a word.
The chair slid back.
"Phew..."
Screeech.
It was a quiet sound, but oddly, it sounded deafeningly loud.
It was proof of how coldly furious Ernst was.
"Where was the proclamation posted?"
"It's scheduled to be posted in front of the main gate of the temporary camp shortly."
"Haaah. What am I supposed to say to the soldiers?"
With a long sigh, Ernst immediately headed outside.
He had to calm down the soldiers, who were bound to be agitated.
In front of the main gate of the temporary camp.
Countless soldiers were already gathered in front of the proclamation bulletin board.
"Make way!"
"Young Grand Duke-nim is coming!"
The soldiers opened up a path all at once.
'To think I'd end up seeing such a bullshit fake proclamation with my own eyes.'
Ernst stood before the board with a devastated heart.
The Emperor's seal.
The signature of the Aristocratic Council.
And even bold red lettering.
This proclamation was by no means fake.
[Count Walter von Clausen]
Disobedience toward the imperial reward proposal.
Incitement of disgruntled elements within the military.
Attempt to subvert imperial order.
Detained on charges of treason.
Though it was painful, Ernst read the proclamation all the way to the end.
'In the end... it was coming to this.'
And slowly, he closed his eyes.
The Commander-in-Chief who had fought for eight years in the Northern Wall Territory.
The veteran general who had refused to flee until the very end atop the walls crumbling under demon attacks.
The man who cared for the soldiers' rations before his own.
The general who memorized every single name of the fallen soldiers.
The charge pinned on such a man was treason.
"That's fucking bullshit! How could the hero of the Northern Wall Territory plot treason?!"
One of the soldiers shouted out.
Soon, another soldier ground his teeth.
"If Count-nim is a traitor, then what the fuck are we?"
"Is defending the Empire a crime?"
"The demons should have burned the capital to the ground!"
"This means they're trying to frame all of us as traitors!"
Slowly, yet rapidly, anger ignited and spread.
"This is insane! We should've known the moment they treated us like criminals!"
"We aren't criminals! We aren't dangerous monsters!"
"Damn right! We fought to protect our families!"
The soldiers' hands gripped their scabbards, trembling.
Someone had already half-drawn his sword.
Someone was even weeping from the sheer injustice of it.
'The soldiers' rage is entirely justified.'
Ernst looked at them.
The soldiers who survived the Northern Wall Territory.
Men missing arms.
Men missing eyes.
Men limping on wounded legs.
Those who had waited only for the day they could return to their families.
Now, in front of the imperial court, they were being branded as traitors.
"I order you. Everyone, sheathe your weapons."
Ernst spoke.
His voice wasn't particularly loud.
Yet the soldiers froze instantly.
That was how absolute the trust the soldiers held in Ernst was.
"Young Grand Duke-nim! Please do something!"
"It's so unfair! Young Grand Duke-nim!"
Of course, several soldiers could not swallow their rage.
"If you draw your swords now, that proclamation becomes reality."
Ernst's eyes sank into cold stillness.
"They are waiting for us to make the first move. Then they'll say, 'Look. The Northern Army was indeed preparing a rebellion.' Am I wrong?"
Every single word from Ernst was spot-on.
"....."
Because of that, the soldiers gritted their teeth.
It was an undeniable, inescapable trap.
"But we can't just leave Count-nim like this!"
"I won't leave him like this. Never."
Ernst answered in a low, resolute voice.
"I am going to the imperial palace."
He then looked around at the soldiers and said.
"Young Grand Duke-nim is going?"
"Then maybe! Even the imperial family might clear up the misunderstanding!"
A ray of hope cast across the soldiers' exhausted faces.
A war hero and a Sword Master.
Surely even the imperial court wouldn't dare mistreat someone like him.
"I will accompany you as well."
Eileen immediately took a step forward.
"It's dangerous."
"I know."
"There's no telling what might happen inside the imperial palace."
"That's precisely why I'm going. Because I need to be by your side, Young Grand Duke-nim."
Eileen's eyes didn't waver for a moment.
"I cannot let you go alone, Young Grand Duke-nim."
Ernst stared at her for a moment.
Eileen was the comrade-in-arms who had crossed life and death together with him.
And she always reminded him of the right choice.
"Alright."
Ernst ultimately gave his permission.
Before long, Ernst shifted his gaze away from the proclamation.
"All troops standby. No one moves first. Anyone leaving the temporary camp without orders will be disciplined under military law."
"Yes! Young Grand Duke-nim! We will obey your orders!"
The soldiers replied in unison.
Not a single person doubted the war hero.
"Then, I shall be off."
Ernst turned around immediately.
His destination was the imperial palace, which meant the direction of the Platinum Palace.
The Platinum Palace was beautiful.
White walls.
Golden spires.
Corridors adorned with flowers.
A fragrant aroma drifted from the gardens.
It was different from the Northern Wall Territory.
There was no smell of blood here.
No corpses.
No crumbled walls.
That was why it was all the more disgusting.
This Platinum Palace was practically built upon the blood spilled by soldiers in the Northern Wall Territory.
"Young Grand Duke Eisenwald-nim. What brings you here?"
The imperial chamberlain bowed his head.
A polite smile hung on his face, but his eyes were already filled to the brim with vigilance.
'Everyone in the imperial court is already in on this together.'
Though bitter, Ernst did not let it show.
"I came to see His Imperial Majesty the Emperor."
Ernst said.
"You came for an audience with His Imperial Majesty?"
The chamberlain's smile froze for a split second.
"Regrettably, His Imperial Majesty is currently busy attending to state affairs."
"Then I shall wait here."
Ernst made a move to sit on a luxurious iron sofa.
"Instead, Her Imperial Majesty the Empress has stated she will receive you, Young Grand Duke-nim."
"Her Imperial Majesty the Empress receives the Young Grand Duke-nim?"
Eileen's eyes narrowed.
But Ernst was not surprised.
'Because I already expected as much.'
The real power in this Empire was not the Emperor.
It was the Empress.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, Young Grand Duke-nim."
The two walked down the long corridor following the chamberlain.
Portraits of past emperors hung on the walls.
Records of victory.
Founding myths.
Paintings of the emperor slaying demons.
Murals of knights fending off the Black Rift.
Every single piece of it was laughable.
Right now, their descendants were babbling about forging a treaty with demons.
And they were branding the very soldiers who fought off those demons as traitors.
"We have arrived."
Meanwhile, the chamberlain stopped in his tracks.
Then, he whispered something to the maids guarding the door studded with ornate jewels.
"You may enter."
As soon as the chamberlain turned around, the door opened.
A splendid reception room unfolded before them.
Red carpet, golden ornaments, and roses placed by the window.
And sitting underneath it all, dressed entirely in vibrant red, was Eleonora Arteria.
"Ern? You've come?"
The Empress gave a welcoming smile.
"Finally, you came to find me first."
Ernst bowed his head.
"I greet Her Imperial Majesty the Empress."
"That title again."
Eleonora let out a soft sigh.
"Do we really have to be like that between us?"
"As I have said, I am a subject."
"You were my friend."
"Please release Count Walter von Clausen."
Ernst got straight to the point.
He didn't want to continue that hypocritical conversation any further.
At that moment, Eleonora's smile froze.
"How utterly boring."
She put on a pouting expression and set down her cup.
"Did you come here to talk about that man, not to meet an old friend?"
"He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army."
"And he went against the will of the imperial family."
Eleonora's voice turned cold.
"He insulted the reward proposal handed down by the imperial family and the Aristocratic Council, and tried to incite the soldiers."
"That cannot be true."
"How would you know?"
Unwittingly, Ernst almost blurted out, 'Because you're a crazy bitch steeped in female chauvinism.'
"Count Walter is not such a man. He is a soldier more loyal to the Empire than anyone."
Fortunately, Ernst still possessed a thread of patience.
"People change, Ern."
Eleonora leaned back in her chair.
"Especially soldiers. Holding a sword for a long time makes one delusional about their own power."
Eileen's fingers twitched minutely.
Ernst didn't budge even a step.
"Your Imperial Majesty the Empress."
His voice was terribly low.
"The Count protected the Empire for eight years. No. Looking at his entire life, he has protected the Empire for his whole life from the very moment he held a sword until now. Claiming that such a man would plot rebellion makes zero sense."
"I know. That's why I tried to reward him."
"Is a mere piece of paper your idea of compensation?"
In the end, a subtle twitch ran across Ernst's lips.
Not only did she utter nonsense like 'soldiers are authoritarian and violent' at the victory celebration banquet...
Far from providing warm quarters to the soldiers who had fought for eight years in the Northern Wall Territory, she drove them out to the outskirts claiming fears of crimes like looting and rape.
Was that all?
The single scrap of paper presented as compensation was beyond absurd.
Laying full accountability on the soldiers of the Northern Wall Territory while giving zero shits about fulfilling obligations—a textbook modern female chauvinist attitude.
The so-called 'do it for me' mindset.
The Empress—no, this possessor bitch who took over the body of the original novel's Empress—was drowned in shallow idealism.
End of Chapter 5.