Chapter 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Even If the Empire Falls
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Young Master Ernst is rushing his marriage to Her Highness the Princess."
It was straight to the point, no beating around the bush.
"What's your source?"
"It came up during the interrogation earlier. Once the marriage goes through, your position will be gone. We don't have time. You need to strike first."
"We might not need to strike first."
Her head tilted slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"I danced with the princess in the capital."
He reached out across the table. His hand stopped just short of the back of Lize's.
"I felt it then. The same fluctuations as you."
The silver-haired girl's eyes shifted faintly.
"You mean she's an Enhanced Human?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Mana flowing under her skin. The unique fluctuations of those artificially enhanced. It was the same as when I held your hand."
"You figured it out while dancing?"
"Yeah."
"Just from holding hands?"
"Yeah. So there's over a ninety percent chance the princess is a fake."
She didn't question his perceptual abilities.
Her expression was thoughtful. After a brief pause, she spoke.
"Of course, there's that ten percent possibility."
"What possibility?"
"The real princess could be sick. Or badly injured. They might have modified her forcibly to save her."
His head slowly lowered.
"You don't think so?"
"It's the Imperial family. They have the Empire's best healers. They can even call in saintess-level healers. Enhancement surgery is a last resort."
"But it's not impossible."
"The side effects are too severe."
"Side effects?"
Her hand moved.
Toward her eyepatch. Her fingertips brushed the black cloth. An unconscious gesture.
She quickly lowered her hand.
"They would have chosen proper treatment over constant pain."
Constant pain?
Were the side effects more than just losing sight in one eye?
He didn't ask about that.
But that hand touching the eyepatch just now. The motion lingered in his mind.
Lize spoke first.
"But where did the real princess go?"
"What?"
"If the Imperial family went so far as enhancement surgery, it means there was a reason to replace the real one."
"She's dead, or..."
"Or she ran away."
"That's too weak to assume she ran away."
"It is weak. But what if the Imperial family is hiding it?"
"Why hide it?"
"Face."
It made sense.
"The Imperial Princess ran away? It's a disgrace to the Empire. They can't make it public. If they do, the Imperial family's authority hits the dirt."
"So they put up a fake?"
"To buy time while they search. Or even if they never find her, a fake is better than nothing. The problem comes after."
"After?"
"What if the real princess turns up later?"
It was a question. But her eyes weren't waiting for an answer.
"Then?"
He gave a short reply.
"Young Master Ernst, married to the fake princess. What happens when the real one returns?"
"Marriage annulled?"
"Could be. But the real princess might side with Young Master Ernst. Either way, his hand strengthens."
"So we have to stop it?"
If the Empire's situation were normal, that would be the orthodox move.
But his memories from his past life. What he'd read in history books.
The Empire's rise and fall. Dynastic changes. How power crumbles.
Information from this life. What he'd seen with his own eyes.
Guard deployments mixed in with Imperial miscellaneous records. The Emperor's schedule. Secret meetings.
Information a lowly maid could touch.
Classified levels had collapsed.
The intelligence system was in ruins.
A few coins could put a hit on the Emperor's life.
That wasn't simple corruption.
It was systemic collapse.
The military was the same.
The southern rebellion. The capital forces took over ten thousand casualties and still failed to suppress it.
His father had crushed it. In an instant.
A single provincial warlord's forces had surpassed the central army.
Of course, it was premature to say the Imperial family was weaker than them.
The Imperial family had a lot on their plate.
Fronts were wide. Forces dispersed.
But one thing was clear.
Provincial power was starting to overtake the center.
Administrative power was worse.
You could tell just from the roads.
Even major cities nearby weren't properly managed.
In past life terms, it was like Seoul failing to manage Incheon.
If the capital's doorstep was like that, what about the frontiers?
He'd seen this pattern countless times in history books.
Late Han. Late Tang. Late Roman Empire.
Central authority crumbles, provincial warlords rise, the empire fractures.
Signs of collapse. Unmistakably strong.
Of course, his judgment could be wrong.
Just some book-smart punk getting ahead of himself.
Forcing past patterns onto the present.
But.
The chance he was wrong.
The risk of hesitating and taking damage.
Which was greater?
The latter.
"Listen up, Lize."
"Yes."
Their eyes met.
The silver-haired girl's red eye. The hidden one behind the patch unseen. A waiting expression.
He breathed in. Breathed out.
"The Empire is going to fall soon."
Lize's eyes widened slightly.
"Can I ask a question?"
"Go ahead."
"The Empire's central army is fifty thousand strong. You said so yourself. Just the capital garrison is fifty thousand. Plus the capital defense lines."
"Central army fifty thousand. How many have real combat experience?"
"That's..."
"Over ten thousand died in the southern rebellion. Half the survivors are injured. The rest were filled with green recruits. How long do you think those recruits trained?"
No answer.
"Capital defense lines. Where does the maintenance cost come from?"
"Taxes."
"Are those taxes coming in properly?"
"..."
"Three southern provinces were razed in the rebellion. East had crop failures. West is crawling with bandits. Tax revenue's halved."
"But the reserves..."
"Reserves. How much do you think is left?"
"...I don't know."
"I don't know exactly either. But you pulled that info earlier. Mueller warehouse reserves."
"Three thousand sacks."
"One count's house has three thousand. How much for the Imperial family? Ten times? Twenty? But the mouths to feed are ten, twenty times more."
Silence.
"Defense lines eat money. Armies eat more. When the money runs out, so do the lines and armies."
Lize's lips moved. Stopped. Tried again, stopped.
She was smarter than him.
But the difference was.
"I've seen it myself. How the central army operates. The state of the capital's roads. What the officials are doing. It's not from books. I saw it with my own eyes."
Silence settled.
Her head slowly lifted.
Their eyes met.
Lize's visible eye was trembling.
"Young master. Don't tell me..."
No need to answer.
Red flushed across Lize's cheeks.
Her lips parted. Her breathing quickened.
It wasn't fear.
That visible eye. What rose in it.
Excitement, not fear.
Lize exhaled. Her tone was composed.
"So Young Master Ernst's marriage doesn't matter."
"Princess of a doomed empire. Meaningless."
"You saw the candidate yourself."
"No reason to obsess."
Short answers. Lize understood.
"Then what about us?"
"When the Empire falls. We survive."
Lize's throat moved.
Swallowing.
Her head slowly lowered. Once.
But.
Something was off.
Lize's shoulders trembled faintly.
Her fingertips too. Her visible eye glistened moistly.
The corner of her mouth lifted. Just a fraction. Almost imperceptible.
A smile? Or something else?
He couldn't read her expression.
"Lize?"
"It's nothing."
Her voice trembled. Not her usual calm.
Head bowed, she wiped her eye corner with the back of her hand. Quickly. As if not to be caught.
Hmm... Side effects.
That hand touching the eyepatch earlier. "Constant pain." The price of enhancement surgery.
He needed to find a cure. Or at least something to alleviate the symptoms.
Was there a decent healer?
A priest? Or maybe a mage...
Bang.
The door flew open. No knock.
It was Sir Heinrich.
"Young master. Urgent news."
"What is it."
"Young Master Ernst has sent a formal accusation to the Imperial family."
"Accusation?"
"The charge is..."
His words trailed off.
"Treason."
"Treason?"
"Yes. Binding and detaining a regular legion commander without authority violates Imperial law."
"The Georg case?"
"Yes. He's filed a formal accusation with the Imperial family."
Lize cut in.
"They were the ones planning to strike first."
Calm tone. The earlier tremor gone. Back to normal Lize.
Heinrich turned to her.
"That's true, but..."
His words trailed.
"The evidence for a preemptive strike is only our side's testimony. No hard proof."
"What about the testimonies from the captured 6th Legion soldiers?"
"Will enemy POW testimonies be accepted in an Imperial court?"
Lize fell silent.
Heinrich continued.
"Even if accepted, they'll claim 'coerced false statements.' POWs are POWs. So we need proper evidence..."
"If we have evidence, we win, right? We're in the right."
"If the law operates fairly."
"It doesn't?"
"How many times in human history has the law been fair?"
No answer.
"There are more eras it didn't even come close. Law is a tool. Wielded by the powerful."
Lize's expression hardened.
Heinrich interjected.
"The young master is right. This isn't a legal issue."
"It's political."
Heads nodded.
"The ducal heir apparent accuses the second in line. Anyone can see it's a power struggle. What will the judge look at? Evidence? Statutes? No. They'll calculate who to side with for gain."
He spoke with a sneer.
Heinrich spoke gravely.
"Statutes can be interpreted as they please. Judges... can be bought."
"Evidence can be fabricated."
Them filing first meant they had something to rely on.
Ernst wasn't stupid.
He wouldn't open the board without confidence of winning.
Something was there.
Something he didn't know.
"Sir."
"Yes."
"Gather evidence carefully. Our records, soldier testimonies, timelines. Leave nothing out."
"Understood."
"But don't expect too much. Opening the board means they have a card to flip it entirely. Something evidence can't block."
Sir Heinrich's eyes narrowed.
"What could it be?"
"Don't know. Not yet. But we'll find out soon. My wise brother will show us himself."