The Reason They Kept Me Alive
The Reason They Kept Me Alive
Two days since that day.
Fortunately, the Empress didn't hold me responsible for my impulsive actions.
We just spent about two hours enjoying tea time like usual, getting to know each other.
Of course, if there was one difference from before, it was that she asked more questions.
Anyway, having safely finished tea time with Belletria again today, I returned to my room and was in the middle of finalizing preparations for the war against the Dharon Kingdom.
——
[Unit Composition]
Imperial Knights 4th and 5th Divisions, totaling 75,000 troops.
4th Division Commander Gerbern Ataolf, 5th Division Commander Chern Oldea.
Mobile Strike Battalion under Marquis Rosian Azlo.
Imperial 2nd Heavy Cavalry Regiment and 3 Northern Conscript Infantry Brigades.
3rd Magic Artillery Battalion and Special Siege Regiment combined.
Total: 120,000.
——
"...... Damn, it's no joke even looking at it again."
I stared blankly at the massive number written at the bottom of the document for a moment before dropping the pen I was holding onto the desk.
I rubbed my face with both hands, and a hollow laugh escaped me.
'It's honestly absurd. Back in the Kingdom, I never even had a single personal bodyguard.'
The days I spent digging through dusty military strategy books in a corner of the Rehentra Kingdom's detached palace flashed before my eyes.
I, who never even had a proper servant, let alone a bodyguard, when going out, was now sitting in the position of Commander-in-Chief, wielding 120,000 of the Empire's elite troops.
'To think I'm commanding such a massive army just because I have a good connection. It's quite a surreal feeling.'
Of course, the fatal flaw was that the "connection" was a tyrant Empress who was like a ticking time bomb, ready to cut my head off at any moment.
I lightly shrugged my shoulders and started organizing the scattered documents.
The big picture regarding the overall war was almost complete.
That was when it happened.
Tap, tap.
My hands stopped at the sound of something lightly tapping on the window.
I turned my head to see a pure white pigeon outside the tightly closed window, pecking at the glass with its small beak.
I was scared for a second, thinking it was an assassin.
I got up from my chair and approached the window.
I unlocked it and pushed the window up; the pigeon, as if it were used to this, flapped its wings and landed lightly in the middle of the desk.
A small leather tube, about the size of a pinky finger joint, was tied to its red ankle.
It seemed to be a carrier pigeon.
'A carrier pigeon all of a sudden? Doesn't look like Belletria sent it.'
Whenever she had something to say, she always came to tell me in person.
I carefully untied the leather tube and pulled out a thin piece of parchment that was tightly rolled inside.
As I unfolded the crumpled paper, the sender's red seal stamped below a short, concise sentence caught my eye.
"Volkan... Desmond?"
It was definitely a name I was hearing for the first time, but it felt somewhat familiar, so I retraced my memory.
⋯⋯ Ah, I remembered who it was.
Unlike Olden or the other officers who had openly shown hostility toward me in the conference room last time.
The man who had silently kept his mouth shut until the end and quietly avoided my gaze.
It was the name of the man with four stars on his epaulets, a key figure in the Imperial military.
'But why is he suddenly looking for me with a carrier pigeon out of nowhere?'
Does he have something secret to say regarding the Dharon Kingdom?
Or is he just annoyed by something?
The highest-ranking figure in the military had sent a personal message to a parachute commander who had risen to success overnight, riding on the Empress's favor.
It was too unsettling in many ways to just ignore it.
In a situation where dissatisfaction within the military was rampant after Olden's execution.
Whether he was trying to seize the initiative or test me.
Whatever it was, it would be better to face him directly and figure out his intentions.
The destination written on the note was the Imperial military headquarters located on the outskirts of the Imperial Palace, specifically the Chief of Staff's private office on the highest floor.
I picked up the black jacket I had draped over the back of the chair and lightly threw it over my shoulders.
After giving the carrier pigeon some cookie crumbs and leaving the window half-open so it could fly away at any time, I shoved the documents into a drawer, turned around, and left the room.
I arrived in front of the Chief of Staff's office door, having asked for directions from the servants, maids, and attendants I met along the way.
Before entering, I listened for a moment to see if there was anyone else inside besides the Chief of Staff, and I could faintly hear the sound of at least two men talking.
I hesitated for a moment before giving a light knock.
Knock, knock!
"Who is it?"
"It is the 3rd Prince, Idelon Halden Rehentra."
"Ah, come on in."
After receiving permission, I carefully opened the door and entered, and the first thing I saw was...
Volkan, whose body seemed even more massive than when I saw him three days ago, as if he had just finished working out.
And next to him....
"Oh, huh?"
"It's been ten days, Prince of Rehentra."
The man who had humiliated that jerk of a King and trampled the Rehentra Kingdom to a state of near-total ruin in just three months, one of the three Great Dukes.
The Red Wolf, Grand Duke Xenos Kroichen, was there with him.
I was slightly flustered by the sudden reunion and couldn't answer his greeting, only rolling my eyes.
As I stood there stiffly, just rolling my eyes, Grand Duke Xenos also gave an awkward smile, looking embarrassed.
"My apologies, I just returned from the front lines, so I made a mistake without realizing it."
The man, with his rough scars and hair redder than blood, immediately bowed deeply from his straight posture.
"I greet the one who will become the Imperial Consort of the Empire."
"⋯⋯."
Seeing the Grand Duke so polite, incomparable to our first meeting, I was finally able to come to my senses.
'Ah. Right, I'm actually in a much higher position than him right now.'
I had just momentarily forgotten because my life was hanging by a thread, but nominally, I was the only man who would stand by the Empress's side.
There was no need to tremble like a loser here too.
That didn't mean I should act too arrogantly, though.
Anyway, I relaxed my stiff shoulders and gave a light nod in return, following Imperial etiquette.
After finishing my greeting with the Grand Duke, I immediately turned my gaze toward Volkan.
"So, what is the reason you went out of your way to call someone as lacking as me here?"
At my question, Volkan raised his massive frame, which had been leaning against the office desk.
He strode over, stopped right in front of me, and suddenly held out his rough, thick hand.
"I was sorry about the other day."
"......?"
I tilted my head slightly at the out-of-the-blue apology.
Volkan scratched the back of his head and made an embarrassed face.
"Back in the conference room. I could have explained the situation a bit more, but because of the Empress's strict order not to intervene as she intended to catch the rat, I had to ignore you too firmly. You must have had a hard time, and I'm sorry."
"Ah...."
Only then did I realize what he wanted to say.
That suffocating conference room where they had thrown me as a meat shield to catch the spy named Olden.
Volkan had known the Empress's plan in advance, so he had to pretend not to see my gaze.
I burst into a small laugh and shook his rough hand.
"You don't need to worry about it. I already heard everything about that day from Her Highness Belletria. Besides, wasn't that silence only natural for the sake of the Empire?"
At my calm reply, Volkan burst into a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! As expected of the gutsy man who handed our Empress a marriage proposal instead of a surrender document. I like that you don't hold grudges."
Volkan, who patted my shoulder with his pot-lid-sized hand, soon wiped away the playfulness and continued in a serious tone.
"Of course, I didn't send a carrier pigeon just to say this apology. I called you because I wanted to seriously finalize the plan with you, the Commander-in-Chief, before starting the war with Dharon."
"It would be my honor to hear advice from an undefeated master general."
"I will also listen from the side."
Grand Duke Xenos, who had been watching silently from the side, joined in, and we naturally gathered around the large strategy map placed in the center of the office.
Grand Duke Xenos pointed to Kalpen, the 3rd fortress of Dharon, with a stick.
"I heard the intelligence; the main point is to advance by bypassing through the currently subverted Kalpen fortress. The problem is the supply line..."
"There is no need to stretch the supply line."
Before the Grand Duke could even finish his sentence, I boldly pushed the Imperial army pieces on the map forward.
"In the narrow gorge leading from the 3rd fortress to the 4th fortress, Basern, mobility is life. If we drag wagons, we'll be caught by the enemy's mountain guerrillas. Therefore, I intend to have them cross the mountain range in light gear, carrying only 3 days' worth of combat rations."
"Only 3 days' worth...?"
Volkan's eyebrows twitched.
"What do you intend to do when the food runs out? Do you plan to starve the soldiers to death in the mountains?"
"We can just raid Basern's food warehouse."
I immediately refuted his question.
"In recent years, grain production in the southern part of the continent, including Dharon, has increased by nearly three times. And that place is the intermediate collection point for this year's harvested military provisions."
"Certainly... the military provisions supported by Marquis Selte were all from the south."
"Correct. So, before we starve, we just need to smash their rice bowls and take them. If the Magic Artillery Battalion smashes the walls from the front, and the Mobile Strike Battalion under the Marquis advances to target the food warehouse first... they will have no choice but to come running out one way or another."
Starting with the food issue, the timing of the Mobile Strike Battalion tearing through the enemy's subsequent defensive lines.
Fire attacks using the terrain, and even psychological warfare utilizing the enemy's desperation.
As my briefing continued, the gazes of the two men, who had been through all sorts of trials, changed moment by moment.
At first it was interest, then surprise, and finally, it was colored with astonishment and admiration.
"It's a crazy tactic. It's a level of seasoned experience that's hard to believe for a 24-year-old."
Volkan muttered with a hollow laugh.
Grand Duke Xenos also stroked his chin, looking at me with a strange gaze.
And even if I didn't understand Volkan, I understood the Grand Duke's reaction.
The image of me in his memory.
No, the image of the Rehentra royals must have been incompetent, greedy, and idiotic people.
It must be quite interesting to hear me recite a vicious yet perfect strategy that even the continent's greatest warmongers would click their tongues at.
"The war will begin in two weeks."
Volkan nodded, taking his eyes off the map.
There was no longer a shred of doubt left on his face.
"I saw something very good today. I have a scheduled military meeting, so I must excuse myself first. Grand Duke, please see the Commander-in-Chief out."
"Take care."
Leaving a short greeting, Volkan grabbed his outer coat and walked out of the office.
Watching the door close, I also straightened my clothes.
The Grand Duke reached toward the door to see me out, opening the way.
"Let's go. Prince."
"Understood."
Just as I thought that all I had to do now was start the war and was about to return to my room to rest for the day, suddenly, a question flashed through my mind.
The most fundamental mystery directly linked to my survival, which I might never be able to ask if not for this situation.
The day the Rehentra Kingdom was thoroughly trampled under the Empire's hooves.
When Leoser Halden Rehentra, that incompetent and selfish father, threw me away as a hostage and begged for his life.
Why did this cruel Red Wolf, who had originally drawn his sword with the plan to slaughter all the royals, why on earth did he readily accept that out-of-the-blue hostage proposal and keep me alive?
'It doesn't make sense to call it a simple whim. Even if Rehentra were to continue existing, it was a kingdom with nothing to gain.'
I hesitated for a moment before slowly opening my mouth.
"Grand Duke Xenos Kroichen."
"......?"
He turned around at my call.
"Before I leave the Imperial Palace, could you answer one thing for me?"
"If it is an answer I can give, I will answer everything."
"Ten days ago, the day the Kingdom fell... why did you, Grand Duke, accept my father's hostage proposal and keep me alive?"