The Empire's Intrusion (1)
The Empire's Intrusion (1)
A vast plain.
Across it, the forces of two nations faced one another.
They were the troops of the Epirus Kingdom and the Carlos Kingdom.
Thousands of soldiers had erected wooden barricades and leveled their spears at one another.
Yet, strangely enough, there was little bloodlust or tension in either camp.
Even from atop the hill overlooking both camps, their relaxed atmosphere was palpable.
The Princess watched the scene with a troubled expression.
"I've been watching them for a while, and it seems that prince's words were true."
I nodded at the Princess's words.
I recalled visiting the Epirus Kingdom's camp not long ago.
The Prince of Epirus, whom I had met before, readily granted me an audience when I visited as a messenger.
The Prince was waiting inside the tent where I was shown, and he remembered me.
Perhaps because of that, we ended up conversing far more comfortably than I had expected.
"Blessings upon the knight who has made quite a name for himself in such a short time. It has been a while."
"Thank you for remembering me."
"You've been making waves ever since. How could I possibly forget?"
Incredibly, word of my exploits in the eastern part of the Kingdom had reached even the neighboring country.
Or perhaps their spies were simply that active.
"Still, I am glad. I am glad it's someone I know—especially someone reasonable enough to negotiate with. Indeed, I must be quite lucky."
For reasons unknown, the young prince grinned at me.
He had me sit across from him and dismissed everyone else in the tent.
Talk about confidence.
I had surrendered my weapons before entering, of course, but as he said, I was now a fairly well-known knight.
In truth, with my artifact pouch tucked inside my chest, I was far from unarmed.
Unconcerned by such matters, he personally picked up the wine and filled the cup in front of me.
"Since it's obvious why you've come, I'll tell you why we invaded the Carlos Kingdom."
There was no need to ask.
"Our invasion of the Carlos Kingdom was meant to tie down the Royal Army—or rather, the forces of the Princess and the Duke of Gracia. I can't say for certain, but it's likely because those up high believe the First Prince can't afford to lose just yet."
His words aligned perfectly with our expectations. "Those up high" undoubtedly referred to the Empire.
He had invaded our kingdom on the orders of Epirus—no, on the orders of the Empire.
Since he brought it up so casually, I couldn't help but ask.
"Are you sure it's wise to speak of such things so openly?"
The Prince shrugged.
"Well, they told me to keep it a secret, but if a real battle breaks out because of that, who's going to take responsibility?"
The Prince pointed a finger at himself.
"It's a hundred times better to lay everything out and coordinate with each other before any blood is shed."
This prince hadn't changed a bit.
He did as he was told, but he would never let himself suffer a personal loss in the process.
He had secured gains through negotiations back at Soroka Fortress, and now he was doing exactly the same thing.
Perhaps that was why the Prince's standing had visibly risen since I first met him at Soroka Fortress.
"So, you're saying you'll simply hold your ground like this?"
"As long as the Princess's forces remain right here! But if the Carlos Kingdom withdraws its troops, we'll have no choice but to advance further."
Since their forces had been deployed specifically to tie down our troops, I understood that they couldn't simply let our army move freely.
"We just need to wait out this standoff. It might be disappointing to miss your chance, but surely you can't afford to lose troops fighting us in the middle of a civil war."
The Prince was right. We would have to fight the other princes in the future, so we couldn't afford to suffer casualties here.
But being pushed around like this didn't sit well with me.
It was our kingdom that had been invaded, and our troops that were being tied down.
If I had been alone, I might have raised absolute hell.
But right now, I was here merely as a messenger.
"It'll be two weeks at most. Just think of it as a cooling-off period."
The Prince's parting words as he saw me off stung my pride quite a bit.
I kept the Second Prince of Epirus in the back of my mind.
For the past week, no battle had taken place.
Although we stayed on guard just in case, the Epirus army did nothing but continue reinforcing its camp.
In the meantime, we received news that the Second Prince had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the First Prince.
We had thought it would take some time before they engaged in a proper battle, but the outcome was incredibly swift and one-sided.
On top of that, reports continued to arrive that the Second Prince was being pushed back farther and farther.
At this unexpected news, our once-relaxed command center suddenly found itself backed into a corner.
Some argued that we should end the standoff and settle things with the Epirus army, while others insisted we should ignore them and march straight to the capital.
But neither option was acceptable.
The forces gathered here had, after all, been raised by various nobles.
We couldn't waste them in a pointless battle, nor could we abandon our territories to a foreign army.
And amid all this, news arrived that the Grand Prince was marching toward the capital.
The command and the strategists could do nothing but clutch their heads in frustration.
It was this very frustration that had driven the Princess to climb this hill today.
Yet there was nothing she or I could do at this moment.
Regrettably, in a large-scale civil war like this, there was nothing a single individual could accomplish alone. Perhaps now was simply a time to wait.
As we gazed down at the encamped soldiers with gloomy expressions, we spotted someone running toward us from the bottom of the hill.
It was Lesty.
Something was definitely afoot.
It had been a long time since I had last seen Lesty running with such urgency.
As we watched him with puzzled expressions, Lesty managed to reach us.
"Gasp, gasp... Urgent news... Urgent... Gasp."
"Catch your breath before you speak."
"Gasp, gasp, ah... Yes... Hooo..."
Taking a deep breath, as the Princess had suggested, he spoke again.
"Just a moment ago, a believer... no, a mercenary I know brought me crucial news."
It seemed Lesty had received the news from a member of the Celine Cult.
What could have happened to make him rush over like this? The Princess and I listened intently to Lesty.
"The Empire has attacked the Duchy."
Wait, what?
"I was told it was a large-scale assault. The capital of the Duchy, which borders the Empire, fell immediately, and the people are fleeing south."
At Lesty's words, the Princess and I looked at each other.
To be honest, after we were tied down like this, we had expected the Empire to impose some sort of sanction on the Duchy as well.
Yet as time passed without any news, all we heard were reports of the Duchy's soldiers approaching the capital.
So we had never imagined they would do something like this...
At this point?
The Empire had acted far too late to stop the Duchy's advance.
They would surely earn nothing but infamy for interfering in another kingdom's civil war.
"I wonder if Lady Frida is safe?"
At the Princess's words, the image of the Grand Archduchess flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, the Empire had targeted the Grand Archduchess before.
'Surely, that can't be it, right?'
Invading the Duchy just to obtain the Grand Archduchess's ability...
No matter how I looked at it, that seemed like a bit of a stretch.
"The Grand Prince must have heard the news as well... Did you hear anything about what he plans to do?"
Upon hearing that the First Prince had left the capital, the Grand Prince had personally led his remaining forces into battle.
As a result, the interior of the Duchy was completely empty.
The fact that the Grand Prince had taken action personally must have meant the Empire had given him some sort of guarantee... Yet that very Empire had struck while his back was turned?
No matter how much I thought about it, the Empire's actions made no sense.
Lesty answered my question.
"The Grand Prince..."
"We are turning back."
Despite his words, the Grand Prince was glaring at the distant walls of the Carlos Kingdom's capital.
It looked as though flames were flickering in the Grand Prince's eyes.
"I cannot allow myself to become the same kind of man as Prince Sergi—no, the First Prince."
He forced the words out, chewing on each syllable.
His goal was right before his eyes.
Only a single step remained before he could reach it.
Even after seizing it, there would be much left to do, but how much time and effort had he poured into preparing to take this city?
There was no one left to defend the Kingdom's capital.
The Royal Knights, reduced to half strength and tasked with maintaining public order, had declared neutrality.
The few nobles who belonged to the First Prince's faction had already fled before he even arrived.
It was a situation in which he could simply walk right in. Yet he couldn't take another step forward.
His country had been attacked, and its capital had fallen.
He was the ruler of that country, the Grand Prince of the Duchy.
The nation he had built and nurtured.
While his dream lay in the Carlos Kingdom, his family was in the Julian Duchy.
What use was a king who couldn't protect his own kingdom?
Though it was maddeningly regrettable, he had to return now.
With the Carlos Kingdom's capital right before his nose, the Grand Prince turned his forces around.
The Grand Prince spurred his horse toward his own kingdom, which had been invaded by the Empire.
Abandoning all the territories he had occupied, the Grand Prince drove his army along the highway connecting the capital and the Duchy.
The army advanced rapidly.
However fast they marched, they could never be faster than a single rider.
They were too late.
By the time the Duchy's forces returned to their homeland, the imperial army had already retreated to its own country.
Villages had been destroyed, and people had been left destitute in the streets.
All their food and wealth had been plundered, and those who resisted had been slaughtered.
And countless people had been dragged away by the imperial army.
It was like the passing of a swarm of locusts. Such behavior was utterly unbefitting of the imperial army.
"They are telling us not to even think about fighting anymore."
The Grand Prince muttered as he looked over the ruined village.
Seeing the dark expressions of his soldiers, his knights, and even his son, it seemed the Empire had already achieved its objective.
The capital of the Duchy was no different.
The half-collapsed walls seemed to consist of nothing but rubble.
The shopping district had been reduced to ruins, and the roadsides were littered with corpses and the wounded.
Seeing the capital turned into a wasteland, both the Grand Prince and the Crown Prince had almost given up.
With the city in such a state, the palace visible in the distance couldn't possibly be intact.
Yet when they arrived at the palace, it was surprisingly intact.
Though many were wounded, many of the stewards and maids in the palace had survived.
"You have returned."
When the Grand Prince arrived in front of the palace, the wounded Chief Steward came out to greet him.
"You did well. Did you manage to defend the palace?"
Though it was hard to understand, seeing the relatively intact palace gave him cause for hope.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The Chief Steward shook his head.
"The palace was also occupied. Many have been dragged away."
The Grand Prince scanned the gathered crowd. One person who absolutely should have been there was nowhere to be seen.
"Was Frida dragged away as well?"
"...Yes."
The Grand Prince let out a sigh.
Once again, he had failed to protect her.
The Grand Prince shook his head and asked again.
They had been occupied, yet everyone was so safe. He needed to know why.
"But why?"
The Chief Steward understood the Grand Prince's brief question.
"When the imperial army was withdrawing from the capital, they slaughtered people as they went, but there was someone who saved us here at the palace."
"Someone who saved you?"
"It was the knight, Alex de Gracia."