A Surprise Encounter
Divine had already entered Jeanne's room among the countless chambers of Ileang Castle. That room was the same one Jeanne had used when she stayed at Ileang before, and it would be used once more.
Even though summer was still far away, Divine spread his fan and swayed it gently to create a breeze, waiting for Jeanne to arrive.
This time, he had obtained this fan somewhere—it was made of an extremely thin blue cloth rather than the black duke's feathers from before. The transparent ornaments carved from glass reflected the light and sparkled.
*Knock knock.* The door opened. Divine turned his head toward Jeanne as she entered the room.
“The meeting went well… didn’t it?”
Divine swiftly changed his words after seeing Jeanne's expression.
Jeanne herself probably thought she had mastered her emotions and suppressed her anger, but from the arched brows still pointing upward, one could tell she was seething with fury.
“Was there something else that happened at the ministerial conference?”
“There are forty names on the list of public servants. Among them, thirty are central ministers. Do you know what that means?”
“*Sigh*, His Highness has given many bonuses to the underlings.”
Divine grasped the core of Jeanne's words and summarized them lightly.
“…Underlings? Your tongue is getting more vulgar by the day.”
“What’s good about using nice words when there’s no good happening.”
Jeanne let out a soft laugh at Divine's nonsensical logic. Divine fanned his fan again, swaying it.
“It’s a shame. If I had known this would happen, I would have followed the princess instead of His Highness.”
Jeanne's astonishment was evident in her expression at Divine's cheerful attitude.
“Even now, would you go before the king and resign?”
“My place is already occupied by Raphael. He seems capable. I can’t flirt with the imperial army.”
Divine imagined Raphael dashing about on the battlefield like a lizard and chuckled. The more closely one knows a friend, the more one enjoys watching their hardships.
While talking with Divine, Jeanne's excitement subsided. Perhaps Divine had taken a light tone on purpose to observe her. She wondered how much was calculated design and how much was pure coincidence. She could not guess.
“Thanks to Simon, no major issues arose, but in the end, the princess gained nothing.”
“Of course I gave in first. But.”
“But His Highness will consider adding the names of those who earned merits to the list. That is what he said, right?”
“Yes.”
Divine inferred what conversation had occurred inside even without Jeanne telling him.
“He said he would add them without removing those already included. The ones to be added are undoubtedly those who died in battle. That would help the families of the dead, but it cannot strengthen the princess.”
“I did not ask for that for my own sake. But I understand what you are saying. So you accepted my request at the end.”
Divine nodded and continued.
“His Highness including many central ministers in the list is not simply because he values himself well. Not all those who followed His Highness are loyal to him.”
Some ministers who fled when they missed the opportunity and believed the king's side was safest had joined Philip VII in exile. The king had added even their names to the list of public servants.
“They are tied to His Highness by the nose. I gave you this honor and reward, so you must follow me. That is what it means. Therefore, if conflict arises between the princess and His Highness on the list, they will side with His Highness. When politics is seen as the skill to lead people in one's own will, His Highness's ability has not yet rusted.”
Even after fleeing to the northern Aquitaine and returning, the king's disposition remained the same. His exceptional political sense among the kings of the past had grown even more cunning and experienced with age.
“On the other hand, if I had a fight with the king, I would completely hate him, wouldn’t I?”
Jeanne nodded.
Divine's expression changed to a serious one as he spoke.
“You must be careful when the war ends. That is the most dangerous time. The sword that does not point at the enemy will be sheathed.”
“I know that too.”
Divine thought it was because they no longer needed to eat the hunting dog that had finished hunting, but it was because they feared the sword after the battle might harm themselves.
Jeanne had already sensed that the king was watching her. Divine himself was one of the reasons, so he could not be unaware.
Divine folded his fan and placed it in his pocket, then said,
“Because of this princess who stirs up trouble everywhere, I have had a hard time. Then I will go rest.”
Jeanne stared blankly at Divine leaving the room.
***
No one knew where the second knight order had gone. Heini, left alone, was extremely bored.
Heini, searching for a suitable sparring partner, spotted Samuel swinging his sword in the training ground and went over to him.
“Oh, really. You are perfect.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Let’s do a swordsmanship sparring match.”
Chastan was too dangerous, and the other knights did not have the courage to face her yet.
In that moment, Samuel, who caught her eye, seemed suitable to test his skills.
“I’m sorry, but it’s not possible right now.”
“Why? You were already swinging the sword, weren’t you?”
“I was praying.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“The Horde is the god of the sword. What I am doing now is not practicing martial arts but cultivating the mind and praying to the god.”
“Even so. Then we can pray together.”
Heini pestered Samuel. In the end, Samuel lost to the headstrong Heini.
Samuel, who had exchanged blows with Heini, pointed his sharp sword tip at her. A moment ago he had yielded, but he won the swordsmanship.
Heini backed away with a defiant expression.
“Hah, I lost to you too?”
She was not a knight but had lost to a priest. The swordsmanship she had learned so far seemed useless, and she was frustrated.
Fabian, who had witnessed this scene while moving with Jeanne, approached Heini after getting permission from his master.
“Isn’t that a natural result?”
“Eh? Uncle?”
“How long have you been learning swordsmanship?”
“Um, since Uncle, I met him last summer, so it’s not even a year yet.”
Fabian asked Samuel.
“Samuel, how long have you learned swordsmanship?”
“Me? Since I started wielding the sword back then, it’s been more than ten years.”
“One’s time wielding the sword differs, and the effort differs too, but in a short time to catch up, wouldn’t Samuel be upset?”
“That’s true, but what good is it if I can’t beat even this kid?” Heini grumbled. She was learning swordsmanship to seek revenge on the Rotinzel bastards, but she was still too slow, and it was frustrating.
Fabian understood his student’s feelings and comforted her.
“Still, you are advancing enough, Heini. You will soon reach the point where you can face the knights in swordsmanship. So don’t be impatient.”
“Okay. Then, Uncle Fabian, I will practice, so teach me now.”
Fabian looked troubled. He had to protect Jeanne, and being with Heini would take up too much time.
At that moment, a group of knights wearing armor of a different form from the Bluisol knight order entered the training ground.
They pointed at Heini with their fingers and chatted in words Heini could not understand.
“What are they saying?” Heini asked irritably.
Just then, a man blocked her path in front of her. It was Raphael.
“Hah. Please calm down. They say they are using this training ground, so could you yield?”
The words of the imperial army were never kind, but Raphael translated them as kindly as possible. Even so, Heini was dissatisfied with the fact that they themselves had to yield.
“We came first. Why do we have to yield?” Heini retorted.
“His Highness instructed that we must never do anything to upset the imperial army.”
“Hah.” The imperial knights started talking loudly and burst into laughter. Heini could not understand, but from the atmosphere she knew it was aimed at her.
“What is that? Are they mocking me right now? I will really show you!” Heini exclaimed.
“Ahhhhh! P-please calm down and endure. I will definitely make a place for you. Ahahaha.” Raphael pushed Heini from behind and expelled her from the training ground.
Heini, who was about to resist, saw Fabian and Samuel walking quietly and reluctantly moved.
From behind, the imperial army’s incomprehensible words continued to be heard.
***
Even though the war had entered a stalemate, it was not simply quiet.
Deep beneath the surface, preparations for the war to resume were fierce.
Especially, Duke Mathias, whose principle was “We will fight only the battles we must win,” had prepared information collection and readiness even more thoroughly than the battle itself.
Mathias had planned to preemptively strike the additional support forces and commanders from Rotinzel using his own reasoning and information obtained from Emma.
Leonard had said he would take Emma within ten days. Originally he said it was impossible because of Walter, but he had changed his mind, so that meant the commander had changed.
To prevent information from leaking, he had not informed even his aide and was looking at the map alone, contemplating and mentally drawing a virtual battle.
After the plan was complete, Mathias would personally command afterward, so the source of the information would exist only for him.
The ships from La Rochelle were patrolling around while pretending to train.
In Plamont, there was still no special movement. They had lost their will after consecutive defeats and were as quiet as mice hiding in their holes.
If successful, it would be the first time Bluisol would attack Rotinzel.
“We will gather in the distant sea, then attack at once and annihilate them.”
Ships disguised as fishing boats had been sent out to the distant sea in advance.
They had already been fishing large fish through deep-sea lines for a long time, so there was no particularly suspicious behavior. If they were seen from Rotinzel, they would just think they were ordinary fishing boats.
The only difference was that the ships that went out were not returning.
The closer the day he had planned approached, the more meticulously Mathias moved.
To eliminate the scout ships of the enemy, he had carefully surveyed and cleaned the surrounding waters.
Perhaps because they had suffered too much from Mathias, the Rotinzel navy no longer lost even a single ship and did not even send out scouts outside their base area. It was good for Mathias.
Time passed, and the date Mathias had inferred arrived.
Mathias secretly led the ship out to sea in the early dawn.
Dozens of large warships quietly moved, piercing the night darkness and slicing through the black waves.
***