Marriage is a Matter of Principle!
After wrapping up the meeting in the south, several marquis families reached out. Houses like the Columns held back without committing fully, but families distant from the Empire, like the Cadellas, agreed to open trade. Of course, they wouldn't hand over everything they had—and neither would we.
"What are you doing with that axe in here?"
The moment I stepped into Winter's Hall, I was utterly bewildered. The Grand Duke has returned! The cheers lasted only a moment. A strange tension hung in the air throughout the castle. From the gates to Winter's Hall, every servant and familiar minister had their foreheads pressed to the ground, lined up on either side.
"Your Grace! We pledge our unwavering loyalty!"
I couldn't quite grasp it even then, but once inside Winter's Hall, the atmosphere thickened into something almost excessively fervent. The Wintergard banner fluttered proudly in the center of the hall. I walked slowly past them to my seat. Even then, the ministers and nobles kept their heads bowed to the floor, unmoving. An eerie silence.
"Daniela, you didn't prepare some surprise event behind my back, did you?"
"....Of course not, Your Grace."
"I have no idea what's going on. Right now."
The instant I sat, one man shot to his feet. Alfredo, his white hair disheveled, gripped a massive axe and took position in the center of Winter's Hall. Kneeling, he pulled a scroll from his robes and unrolled it wide across the floor.
"I'm at a loss here—someone explain what this is about."
"Your Grace!"
Alfredo bellowed so loudly the hall nearly shook. I flinched—and Daniela, standing behind me, flinched too.
"Your Grace! Winter approaches the North!"
"It's already winter. I know."
"Not that winter, Your Grace! A moment of peril threatens the very existence of the North!"
The existence of the North? Had the nomads risen again?
"Have the nomads stirred in the north? This is the worst timing."
"No, Your Grace. The North crumbles from within!"
"From within?"
"Yes! The North teeters on collapse from internal rot!"
"Is someone plotting rebellion?"
Treason? Had I been too lenient lately? This wouldn't do. I needed to muster the Northern army immediately.
"No, Your Grace."
"Then what? If not treason, what could undermine us from inside?"
"It concerns the foundation of the North."
"The foundation? Me?"
Why me? I scanned the faces of the ministers. Every one burned with fierce resolve—stronger even than if nomads had invaded.
"If I may be so bold, Your Grace, you are the Grand Duke of the North, the very dignity of its people!"
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Yet with no heir to succeed you, we cannot deny that the realm's order hangs by a thread!"
"Haa..."
So that's it. I scratched my head. What a relief. The grave threats I'd imagined flashed through my mind, then vanished. My tension melted away.
"That matter is—"
"Your Grace! It is our disloyalty! We failed to resolve that the North demands an heir—and we confess our shame!"
"Hold on, just—why exactly have you all gathered here?"
Was it because of my marriage? At my question, the ministers erupted in near-unison chorus, their words blurring into a roar. Some even repeated pleas to cleave their heads with an axe.
"The North faces issues far graver than my marriage, yet here you are, ignoring your duties."
"No, Your Grace! Nothing surpasses the urgency of your heir!"
"I still don't get it."
I pointed at Hexon—a silent order to explain. Daniela, seated behind me, began glancing nervously. We had mountains of work: nomad threats, southern trade, improving Northern lives.
"Your Grace! Your heir is our deepest wish—and the North's most pressing crisis!"
"Hexon, what I want to know is—"
"Your Grace! We believe no one but the great Grand Duke can resolve the North's woes."
Hexon hemmed and hawed through a long preamble. But Alfredo's follow-up defied even my strictest taboos. Unyielding conviction.
"Your Grace has passed thirty. Your first duty now must be to secure an heir."
"I know I'm not young. But an heir is something that comes naturally—"
"If the Grand Duke were to pass suddenly, whom would we ministers and nobles revere as our lord?"
Murmurs rippled. Alfredo's words were explosive—potentially inflammatory—but no one objected. Instead, agreement swelled.
"So this is about the Wintergard house?"
"Your Grace, if these words offend, strike this Alfredo down with your axe this instant!"
"I explicitly forbade mention of the Wintergard troubles."
"Your Grace! If you would uphold order by slaying me, then take this axe to my neck!"
The Wintergard Rebellion. The nightmare I'd endured since age ten. My father died soon after it ended. Uncles and kin followed. The surviving Wintergards scraped by, maimed and scattered. Sane men were nearly gone.
To serve a true Wintergard meant, simply, me.
"Northern men rarely live past forty."
"Not anymore."
"Even so, if you perish at forty or fifty, Your Grace, an heir must exist now."
"That's for this Wintergard to handle."
"Yet with a legitimate Grand Duchess already named, there is no cause to delay the wedding!"
"Daniela was only named a couple months ago."
"That is no obstacle at all!"
I countered that little time had passed since naming Daniela Grand Duchess, but the ministers ignored it. Some even claimed it was ample. Delaying served no purpose. The Duke's age allowed ample preparation for imperial education. Conclusion: wed swiftly. Immediately.
"I understand your views. I'll handle it, so let's end this—"
"One moment!"
Daniela spoke up. All eyes turned to her. Time to show her Grand Duchess poise? But she glanced at me slyly first. Though I stood before them, her voice rang with resolve. She raised her hand boldly.
"Daniela?"
"I-I'll handle this myself!"
"You?"
You? What could you do? I stared at her. If I said I didn't want to, they'd riot. Probably sharpen blades right here.
"I know your resolve all too well."
"Grand Duchess! We offer our loyalty! Heed our plea!"
"I agree completely with you all!"
"Heed our plea!"
Daniela? She rose and descended to the steps before me. I watched her back. This was new. Truly new.
"I understand your concerns fully."
"Grand Duchess!"
"No heir means no successor for the North—and the crises that follow."
Stirs of excitement now, pleasant and eager. The ministers fell silent.
"This is largely my failing for not giving it due attention! My fault."
"No, Grand Duchess!"
"My inexperience in such matters means I cannot deny my fault."
Suddenly, I felt oddly sidelined. The first true Wintergard since the rebellion. The one filling the Grand Duchess's seat.
"So I will take charge and push this forward!"
Cheers erupted. Wait, am I irrelevant here? What if I refuse?
"And I will definitely bear you a son!"
I'm losing my mind.