Chapter 47
King Kalitz van Reinharts of the Lheinhatz Kingdom could not exactly be called a saintly ruler.
That did not mean he was an inadequate monarch, however.
He was neither dictatorial nor excessively ambitious, and his reasonable rationality earned him the quiet respect of his ministers.
The Lheinhatz Kingdom he governed stood as a great power second only to the four empires.
Thanks to the Noble Audit Bureau, the aristocracy refrained from blatant corruption, leaving few pressing troubles at home or abroad.
Yet lately one concern had begun to weigh heavily on King Kalitz.
Unlike their perfectly ordinary father, his children brimmed with both personality and power.
Crown Prince Michael will surely guide the nation well. There are moments when I cannot fathom his thoughts, but he is unmistakably brilliant.
Yet I cannot dismiss the Second Prince Luke’s talent either. An Aura Master born into the royal family is something unseen for nearly three hundred years. The knights’ absolute loyalty and the people’s genuine affection make him far too valuable to remain merely a prince.
The Lheinhatz Kingdom now stood divided by the intensifying rivalry between the two princes for the throne.
The younger brother challenging the elder who had already been named crown prince.
Such a contest should have been impossible, yet the existence of a young Aura Master made it real.
Had King Kalitz maintained balance and curbed the second prince’s faction from the start, matters would never have grown so dire.
But pity for Prince Luke had cost him precious time.
The fracturing of noble society could fairly be laid at the feet of a king who had failed to hold the center.
He needed to resolve the situation somehow, yet no clear solution presented itself.
If this continues, the kingdom may split in two.
The king sensed that the moment of fateful choice was drawing near.
The moment he would have to step forward, ally with one side, and cast the other prince aside.
A father forced to dispose of his own child.
The realization left King Kalitz so tormented that sleep had become nearly impossible.
As if the children’s problems alone were not headache enough…
His skull felt ready to split.
And yet, at this very moment, an entirely unforeseen new worry had arrived.
“I hereby declare territorial war upon the Doherty Viscount Family, the Parma Viscount Family, the Karma Viscount Family, and the Ronier Viscount Family.”
A new figure had appeared to fan the flames of an already burning realm and stir greater chaos.
Adrian Lawrence, the newly appointed marquis.
In a hall where everyone had been smiling and exchanging congratulations, Adrian—an important new player capable of shattering the political balance—suddenly declared territorial war against four domains.
The warm atmosphere of the venue froze instantly, as cold as the Brigham Empire’s absolute tundra.
“M-Marquis Lawrence. L-Let us speak for a moment.”
The thick-faced second prince actually stuttered as he seized the new marquis by the arm and pulled him aside.
Watching the scene, King Kalitz thought to himself:
A new madman had appeared in this country.
Dragged before both the king and the second prince because of the abrupt declaration, I received quite an earful.
Yet knowing a bestowed title could not be revoked, I made it clear I had no intention of retracting my words.
“It seems I misjudged your character, Marquis Lawrence. I took you for a typical scholarly sort, yet here you are—so belligerent.”
Second Prince Luke sighed, an uncharacteristic gesture for him.
“Are you aware that a newly appointed lord is forbidden from territorial expansion for one year?”
“Then after I crush those four families, I shall return their lands to the royal domain.”
“You truly have no plans to back down, do you?”
“None whatsoever.”
Having failed to persuade me, Prince Luke placed a hand on my shoulder, added one final remark, and withdrew.
“Your conduct today has left me disappointed. I will be watching.”
It was roughly the reaction I had expected.
Yet the afterword “I will be watching” revealed that he could never truly abandon me.
“I feel like I’ve become the family’s resident troublemaker.”
“You are the family’s resident troublemaker.”
Yet the person struck nearly as hard as the four targeted families was none other than my own parents.
Father approached with a furrowed brow. I met him with an apologetic expression.
“I didn’t originally intend to go this far, but I suppose I was angrier than I realized. I’m sorry.”
“Why in the world would you do such a thing?”
“Revenge.”
At the word revenge Father was rendered speechless.
Soon he rubbed his temples and asked, “Four families attacking at once will be dangerous. You declared war fully aware of that, didn’t you?”
“Of course. Please don’t worry.”
My confidence finally made him shake his head and step back.
“I will trust you, then.”
Together we strolled through the Great Hall, which had transformed from a victory commemoration into a full-fledged banquet.
In the blink of an eye the stage and seating had been cleared and food laid out everywhere.
Gentle classical music drifted across the entire hall, completing the festive atmosphere.
“Everyone seems reluctant to approach after your little stunt.”
“Haha, perfect. I find socializing uncomfortable anyway.”
Perhaps because of my sudden action, the same people who had greeted me warmly before the event now kept their distance.
It appeared I had been firmly labeled as a dangerous man.
“Since we’ve attended a royal-hosted banquet after so long, let’s enjoy ourselves.”
Though Father and I had returned to our usual rhythm, Mother could not easily relax; her face remained clouded with worry.
Father invited her to dance, urging her to trust their capable son.
She shot me a look asking if everything was truly all right. When I smiled and nodded, she finally relaxed and took his hand.
As the two of them headed toward the dance floor, I secretly gathered my mana.
“There they are.”
“I will accompany you.”
I had left magical traces on the people I had no desire to see.
So I approached the four who were no doubt still reeling.
“Is he insane? A territorial war needs proper justification!”
“Could our past actions count as justification?”
“We were just immature kids back then.”
The four young lords and ladies—Adrian’s former classmates and the designated targets of the territorial war—stamped their feet in open panic.
Their parents, the actual lords whose feet were truly to the fire, had not yet connected the declaration to their children.
Having slipped away from their parents’ gazes, the four put their heads together to find a way out.
“But… would we lose?”
“What?”
“Looking at his declaration, isn’t it allowed for our four families to form an alliance?”
“That’s true, but the opponent is a marquis!”
“Just calm down and listen. Even if we fall short of Isabella’s prestige, we are still viscount families with proper domains. If four such houses combine their strength, don’t you think we could handle a newly appointed marquis?”
The others, whose minds had been frozen with panic, unconsciously nodded at the Parma viscount’s son’s argument.
“But would someone that clever have overlooked even this?”
“Even if he has a hidden plan, the situation isn’t completely hopeless.”
“True. Four viscount families working together would possess power between a count and a margrave.”
The more calmly they organized their thoughts, the more their rigid expressions began to ease.
They had been frightened by Adrian’s sudden acquisition of a marquis title and equally sudden declaration of war, but they now realized how reckless his move truly was by any rational standard.
“It really does seem manageable, doesn’t it?”
“Does it really?”
“Huh? Gasp!”
At that exact moment—
“Hello.”
“A-Adrian?!”
Adrian had appeared behind them without warning. Every face twisted into an expression of pure terror, as though they had seen a ghost.
“Adrian? These people are casually calling the marquis by his first name?”
At Adrian’s cheeky tone, the Parma viscount’s son snapped back.
“Don’t make me laugh. After declaring territorial war on us, you expect respect now?”
They had momentarily forgotten one crucial fact.
The current Adrian was the sort of person who would declare territorial war in front of the king himself at a victory commemoration.
“Then I’ll just have to make you show respect.”
Adrian smiled, removed the glove from his hand, and hurled it into the Parma viscount’s son’s face.
“Parma viscount’s son, I cannot tolerate your rudeness. I challenge you to a duel.”
“What?”
“Wouldn’t it make perfect entertainment as a preliminary skirmish before the territorial war?”
The act went beyond shocking—it was completely outside common sense.
Yet with so many eyes already watching, the targeted family’s reinforcements arrived faster than Adrian had anticipated.
“That duel cannot be accepted, Your Excellency.”
The heads of the four families who had received his declaration had arrived.
They had been discussing countermeasures together when they coincidentally spotted Adrian and inserted themselves into the conversation.
“Didn’t Your Excellency provoke first? Moreover, given the vast difference in status, national law prohibits such a duel.”
Adrian feigned regret, as if he had been unaware of the law.
“What a pity. If I could cut off the Parma boy’s head, I might have been willing to exclude your family from this territorial war.”
“I do not know what grudge you hold against my child, but don’t you think this behavior crosses the line?”
At this point they could no longer fail to see that Adrian’s actions were connected to their children.
“Crosses the line? Nonsense. I am a man who keeps clear accounts of favors and grudges. If I’ve been wronged, I repay it without fail.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Ask your son for the details. The official territorial war documents should arrive within a week. If you don’t wish to experience ruin because of your worthless child, bind him and deliver him to me.”
“Are you telling me to sell my own child? You keep crossing every line imaginable.”
“Is that so? Then I suppose we’ll meet on the battlefield.”
Adrian’s gaze lingered for a moment on a woman quietly observing the situation behind Viscount Parma before he turned and left without hesitation.
“Ah, Father.”
“We will speak once we return to the territory.”
The four family heads huffed angrily, dragged their problem-causing children away, and fled the banquet hall as though escaping a disaster.
As the young lords and ladies were hauled off by their parents, they finally spotted the friend they had been desperately searching for and cried out.
“Isabella?”
“Isabella! Why are you only showing up now!”
“Isabella, please say something to our fathers…”
The woman Adrian had stared at so pointedly was none other than Isabella.
“Just what on earth is happening?”
She bit her lip, face clouded with confusion.
As expected, there are no secrets in the modern age.
Even without me feeding the story to the press, the hidden truth had been uncovered on its own.
The online public opinion I could call my own power rose up in response, perfectly supplying the justification needed for the territorial war.
So many people were cheering me on.
Even though I had orchestrated the situation myself, it was strangely moving.
“Marquis Lawrence?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
“I was explaining the specifications of the Sky Fortresses that can be deployed immediately. Here is the catalog for the relevant vessels.”
People call me reckless.
They say it’s absurd to declare a territorial war when I haven’t even properly established my military strength yet.
But it seems everyone is missing something important.
If military power is lacking, can’t you simply buy what you need?