Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: How a Sheep Lives in a Lion's Den #1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
〈 Chapter 15 〉 How a Sheep Lives in a Lion's Den #1
016 ? How a Sheep Lives in a Lion's Den #1
Reinhardt.
Duke Reinhardt von Lioness.
He was a man who never smiled.
Not even when he beheaded the enemy general and earned his first military merit.
Not when he returned as a triumphant hero amid the people's cheers.
Not even when he married his wife, Pasha.
Not when she gave birth to their daughter, nor when she bore their son. He had never once cracked a smile. It suited him that way.
Like all the fathers of the Lioness family before him, he believed that smiling made a man weak.
So Reinhardt never smiled, to protect himself and his family.
But now.
Reinhardt couldn't stop the laughter bursting from deep in his belly.
“Crack-hahaha!”
“…….”
“House head, what in the world…?”
It caused an unwelcome guest to furrow his brow, and even the old butler, who had poked his head through the door to check what was happening, to stare in confusion.
“Hahahaha!”
Reinhardt simply couldn't stop laughing.
“Sir Gospel, what did you just say? The academy? The academy? Hahaha!”
“Is it that funny?”
“Of course it is! In my life, I've never heard anything so ridiculous. Listen, Sir Gospel. Do you really think that mad queen could learn anything under someone at this point?”
“Mad queen? Even for you, Sir Reinhardt, that's outrageous….”
Reinhardt wiped the tears from his eyes with a thick index finger and waved his other hand dismissively.
“Spare me the pointless loyalty. You, of all people, know best that Aira is broken.”
“If your father hadn't been a war hero of the July War, Duke Reinhardt, that blasphemy could have gotten you the death penalty without question.”
“I know. My father. He was a man who knew how to bow his head to a true lord. So am I. That's why I don't bow to a mad queen like the others.”
“…….”
The guest fell silent. But Reinhardt could almost hear the gears turning in his head.
The type who schemes only for personal gain without acting on it. The kind Reinhardt despised most.
He wanted to kick the man out right then, but he was too curious about the story this fellow had spilled.
“Tell me more, court gardener, Sir Gospel. You're sending that woman to the academy? It's absurd. She's a typhoon.”
“A typhoon?”
“Yes. A typhoon. No one tries to teach a typhoon. You just smash your head to the ground, tremble as it passes, and pray. That's how you deal with a typhoon.”
“A typhoon….”
Aira was indeed a typhoon, just as he'd likened her.
If that typhoon Aira enrolled in the academy, who among the people would object? Some might, but most would welcome it.
Everyone knew her absence would actually benefit the kingdom.
Reinhardt wiped the grin from his face and spoke.
“Fine. Suppose you park that typhoon at the academy. And suppose I take the prime minister position in the empty capital, as you suggest. What's to stop me from rebelling?”
A fox struts into a lion's den only if it has a plan to leave alive.
Reinhardt wondered what nonsense the man before him would spout next.
Amusement, at best. If the answer didn't please him, he'd toss him out on the spot.
As Reinhardt stroked his cleanly shaven chin, Theo Gospel glanced around and began.
“Even Angmar's bravest army could easily seize a palace without its queen.”
“We could take the court in under a week if we wanted, even with her here.”
“…Do you really believe that?”
“Yes. The queen is a brilliant mage, but she's alone. Our army is legions. That's war.”
“But there's a reason you haven't, isn't there? You know what happened when your house usurped the throne from the Angmar family.”
Theo Gospel's calm voice conjured images in Reinhardt's mind of blazing flames and the furious cries of enraged people.
The days of revolution, when the four houses, including Lioness, killed the demon king Angmar and hacked his corpse to pieces. Stories from his father and grandfather.
Even then, surprisingly many citizens and nobles hadn't supported the rebellion, despite suffering under Angmar's tyranny.
The notion that Angmar was solely the Angmar family's kingdom was too deeply rooted.
To win their hearts, the new ruler, King Tarantara, had worked tirelessly.
Yet even now, the church's papacy refused to recognize the Tarantara family as Angmar's legitimate rulers.
And if another house seized the throne by coup?
It wasn't so simple.
Reinhardt knew from personal experience that seizing the throne didn't mean gaining the kingdom.
“But it's only a matter of time. The people can't choose their king. Eventually, they adapt. The Tarantara family did just that.”
“But what if the Lioness family could inherit the throne in a more convenient, legitimate way…?”
“Such a method doesn't exi—.”
Ahem.
Such a method existed?
Reinhardt nearly fell for it for a moment.
He knew better than anyone that no such convenient path existed—at least not within his reach.
But Theo pressed on without hesitation.
“Queen Aira currently has no fiancé, and naturally no children. If something sudden—and forgive the impiety—were to happen to her….”
“Chaos would ensue.”
“Exactly. That's why Her Majesty intends to name her closest kin, the Lioness family—and specifically, your youngest son, Young Lord Richard—as heir.”
“That queen?”
“Yes. Once she steps down, Young Lord Richard could naturally ascend. Why bother with a messy rebellion?”
A serpent's tongue.
Reinhardt could feel the story flowing too perfectly in his favor.
No downside.
Of course, this assumed Aira never produced an heir. But that mad queen?
The idea of her marrying and bearing a child was unimaginable.
Calling her a typhoon wasn't hyperbole.
Typhoons can't love anyone.
Anyway.
It was hard to believe she'd approve, but on reflection, it was likely her best option.
Ironically, the Lioness family would now prioritize Queen Aira's safety.
If she fell to poison or an assassin, they'd be the first blamed as the prime beneficiaries.
Clever. Theo Gospel, the former slave.
He was undeniably capable.
The problem was his methods were too radical, making unnecessary enemies.
Then the court gardener drove the nail home.
“So, please position the army training in Barza in the west along the borders properly. I hear it's nearly 20,000 strong.”
How did he know that?
Reinhardt wondered if the rumors of prophecy or divination were true. He quickly dismissed it.
No such convenient magic existed in this world. If it did, barriers like the Great Wall wouldn't be needed.
So what was this man?
Reinhardt rubbed his mouth to erase the lingering smile and decided to end it.
“So, Sir Gospel. Did Aira—that queen—say with her own mouth that she'd enroll in the academy?”
“Well… she'll have to, right? The fact that I'm still alive after suggesting it means I've won more than half the battle.”
“Then all this talk could be for nothing.”
“No, it won't. We can't eliminate the typhoon, but we can predict where it'll go.”
“You can do that?”
“I've lived in such a world. Yes.”
“Ridiculous. You've wasted my time with nonsense. Rest in the guest quarters and leave when you're ready.”
“Very well.” The slender man stepped out. Watching his back, Reinhardt had to admit it honestly.
What a shame.
If only the man had a sturdier build.
If only his status were proper—or better yet, if he had talent in magic or swordsmanship, he'd make a fine son-in-law.
Of course, his tomboy daughter, utterly uninterested in men or society, would recoil at marriage no matter her age….
Thinking of his marriageable daughter darkened Reinhardt's vision.
* * *
“Phew.”
When I left the house head's room, my body was drenched in sweat like I'd been dunked in the sea.
Like a cat fished out by the scruff? Who knows. I've never seen one.
Terrifying time.
Good thing it landed well. One slip, and Theo Gospel would've been rolling on the floor or wall by now.
“Those eyes could kill. Do you hate me that much?”
Still, I had some confidence.
Reinhardt wanted the prime minister position, from what I knew.
In the novel, right after the witch queen Aira was executed by the raging mob at the gallows.
It was Reinhardt, seating himself as prime minister, who stabilized Angmar's politics.
And he tried to put his son Richard on the throne.
I just twisted it a bit and accelerated it.
But Aira being alive was a fatal story deviation.
How's that, world—.
I flipped off the invisible powers in my mind.
I win—!
I wanted to declare it, but issues remained.
“Hey, Theo. As a guest, is it okay to wander like this? Huh?”
Like him.
“What? Why are your eyes so wide? Want a scolding?”
Elga growled like an angry beast, then kicked my butt with her pointed shoe.
Ow.
Critical turning points ahead.
If Elga kept interfering like this, it'd be a hassle.
“Answer me, Theo. What, feeling wronged by a little kick? Huh?”
Smack, smack.
As she kicked my rear, I realized this wild villainess noble lady needed taming into a meek lamb too.
“This face pisses me off. This is my house. Here, I'm the princess, the queen.”
“Of course. So, Lady Elga. Could we talk alone, somewhere quiet?”
“Huh? Alone…?”