Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Strengthening Imperial Authority (2)
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Immediately after awakening fifty Royal Guards in the sanctuary, Raymond returned to Count Danchi's lordly castle and decided to head back to the Imperial Capital.
"Your Majesty, Your body has not fully recovered yet."
The attending priest cautiously voiced his concerns, but Raymond firmly shook his head. He couldn't afford to stay away from the capital for long—not if he wanted to demonstrate that imperial authority remained unshaken.
"The palace staff should hurry preparations to return to the Imperial Capital."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He issued the order in a calm voice. Alex, who had been waiting at his side, bowed his head in acknowledgment before slowly withdrawing. Thanks to Raymond's directive, Alex had risen from an ordinary attendant to chamberlain, allowing him to assist the emperor directly.
"Your Majesty, however, you must not push yourself too hard."
As Raymond maintained his unyielding stance, the priest finally raised the white flag. Suppressing a sigh with effort, he repeated his warning not to overdo it before leaving the temporary office.
The return to the Imperial Capital—one of the plans to strengthen imperial authority—was underway. The palace staff rushed through their tasks, completing preparations to depart Count Danchi's territory in just two days.
"Your Majesty! Our Danchi territorial forces will escort you safely all the way to the border!"
As they left the central city, five hundred mounted knights from the Danchi territorial army appeared. The count himself was leading them.
It was an unexpected escort, but a natural one nonetheless. Raymond opened his mouth with a faint smile.
"I accept your goodwill."
"We shall serve you safely!"
Count Danchi shouted boldly, straightening his robe fluttering in the wind. He was an excellent lord and also an advanced mage of exceptional skill.
"From now on, we escort His Majesty to the territory's border! Territorial army, form up immediately!"
He was closer to a knight than a mage. Even without borrowing the power of mana, his voice boomed powerfully.
The territorial army's cavalry formed ranks in perfect unison. Just watching them revealed how rigorously they had been trained.
True to their initial promise, they escorted Raymond all the way to the border of Count Danchi's territory. Once they crossed it, the Northern Central Army's cavalry, waiting in advance, appeared.
"The Northern Central Army shall be His Majesty's shield! I declare that no enemies can pierce us!"
Declared the top commander of the Northern Central Army now in charge of the escort. They accompanied Raymond to the capital, and upon reaching its outskirts, the capital garrison and Imperial Army took over.
"Upon our return, convene the court council immediately. The palace staff should prepare for it."
They were entering the capital's border, heading toward the central district. Raymond ordered the convocation of the court council. Alex relayed this to the Imperial Army's top mage.
By the time Raymond reached the capital's vicinity, the court council had been convened. Nobles who received the summons gathered at the Imperial Capital.
They used villas prepared in the capital as temporary residences or stayed in guest quarters provided by the palace staff.
All the attending nobles had gathered, but with the key figure—the emperor—yet to arrive in the capital, the council was slightly postponed. The nobles with time on their hands met at various villas to spend time with acquaintances from social circles.
"With that wastrel on the throne, is the empire done for?"
"Indeed. The 1st Prince should have inherited the throne."
Where nobles gathered, words flowed freely. Especially in the villa where 1st Prince supporters convened, complaints erupted the most.
Even though Raymond had stopped the dark emperor in the banquet hall and performed heroically at the border, his past as a wastrel hadn't vanished.
To nobles who had already sworn loyalty to the 1st Prince, this succession was inevitably dissatisfying.
"If only the 1st Prince would awaken soon..."
Someone in a group of young nobles murmured softly. The others nodded. Aside from a few, they all shared the sentiment.
Perhaps because the 1st Prince still clung to life, however tenuously.
"How did the empire come to this..."
"Why did the late emperor choose such a wastrel..."
Complaints kept spilling out as the night deepened. Past midnight, it seemed the nobles would finally end their secret meeting after venting their grievances.
Just as they exchanged brief farewells before the court council, the drawing room door burst open without a knock, and an elderly knight rushed in with an urgent expression.
"What is this commotion!"
A man wearing the insignia of a viscount snapped sharply, but the old knight lifted his head. His face was as pale as a vampire's.
"The 1st Prince has passed away!"
It was shocking news. The nobles in the drawing room froze rigidly. Faces full of disbelief. They wanted to deny reality, but the old knight was solemn. His expression held no trace of falsehood.
"Is that true?!"
"Moments ago, a top mage from Count Danchi's territory sent us a magical communication. It's confirmed."
"This can't be..."
Had the 1st Prince lived, he could have challenged the declining imperial authority. But with his death, even that last hope vanished. As despair gripped everyone, one elderly noble regained his composure and spoke.
"Any last words? Did he leave any final message?"
The 1st Prince, Serak Philius, was a royal who had garnered military support through bold actions. Fiery-tempered yet often prudent, he surely left words for the supporters who believed in and followed him, even in his final moments.
"He said the empire is in peril, so do not pursue personal gain and rally under the emperor's banner."
The nobles' reactions varied wildly to the old knight's words.
"As the 1st Prince said, with the empire in danger, we must not chase self-interest."
"We should follow his last words."
Some declared they would heed the dying wish.
"Even so, I can't serve that wastrel emperor."
"We'll find our own path."
Others openly rebelled. The factions split precisely in half.
The rebels stormed out in anger, while those remaining couldn't overcome their gloom, sighing deeply. No one had expected opinions to divide here.
"Half have defected. Perhaps they are the wise ones."
"Baron! Why even you?!"
The elderly noble barked, but the baron called out didn't change his stance. With cold eyes, he spoke.
"I'm saying we need to be cautious, Viscount. We can't jump onto a sinking ship. Imperial authority is already crumbling, so we should see how His Majesty responds."
It was cold but sound logic. The old viscount fell silent, and the other nobles nodded in agreement.
"Serak has passed?"
Azure Tower Lord Risefield Dior slowly nodded at Raymond's question. He had just received word from Count Danchi's top mage that the 1st Prince had breathed his last and relayed it to Raymond.
"This is just..."
He exhaled a sigh laced with lament out the carriage window. Objectively, the 1st Prince's death— a potential obstacle to strengthening imperial authority—was good news, but it didn't feel that way.
Unlike Deneb or Aloken, he had no particular clashes with the 1st Prince, Serak.
In fact, even the setting collection in the novel [Empire of the Dead] noted that the 1st Prince and 4th Princess had looked after him well—until he became a wastrel.
Thus, profiting from his death felt unpalatable, despite the gains.
"Did he leave any words?"
"He said the empire is in peril, so do not pursue personal gain and rally under the emperor's banner."
This time, Count Potas answered. One of the nobles at the 1st Prince's side when he died was from the Central Intelligence Agency, providing precise information.
"Even to the end, he thought of the imperial family and the empire."
Raymond turned his gaze out the window. He cast a cold stare toward the distant mountains, facing the night breeze. To onlookers, he seemed deep in thought—but it was all an act.
He wasn't glad about the 1st Prince's death, but neither did he feel grief. At minimum, he had to pretend to mourn his brother's passing.
Sure enough, the carriage's atmosphere grew solemn under Raymond's performance.
"We have arrived in the capital."
A calm voice came from outside. It was Gestain. The carriage, which had been racing along, gradually slowed, and some of the escorting Imperial Army and capital garrison peeled off.
Once the carriage passed through the Imperial Capital and stopped at the palace, Raymond headed to a nearby empty room to change before attending the court council.
"Withdraw for now."
After changing, Raymond sensed a subtle presence and dismissed Chamberlain Alex and the maids. Now, only the taciturn Guard Captain Gestain and Raymond remained in the room.
"Reveal yourself, shadow."
The presence he'd felt earlier was undoubtedly a Shade. These eternal guardians of the imperial family and empire from the darkness had awakened from deep slumber under the Empire Reconstruction Plan and had been faithfully executing Emperor Raymond's orders.
"I see you, Your Majesty."
From a dim shadow in the room's corner emerged a pale-faced man in a black uniform.
He was a Shade leader. He approached, bowing politely to the emperor he served.
"Report everything you have seen and heard."
"The Valencia Ducal House is showing unusual movements."
The Shade spoke without hesitation, relaying all he had observed to Raymond.
"Are they making the first move?"
Raymond's brows furrowed involuntarily. At this point, rushing to convert the Valencia Duchy into direct imperial territory would inevitably cause discord.
"What to do?"
He muttered to himself. Gestain and the Shade merely kept silent.
"The court council is the priority, so I'll resolve that first and decide afterward."
"We await Your Majesty's command at your side always."
The Shade vanished back into the darkness. Soon after, a knock sounded, and Alex cautiously entered.
"Your Majesty, it is time for the court council."
"Let's go."
As he stepped into the corridor, Royal Guards fell in behind. After walking the wide passage for about ten minutes, the court council chamber appeared. Two palace knights guarding the entrance bowed and forcefully opened the doors. Alex rushed ahead and raised his voice powerfully.
"His Majesty the Emperor enters!"
Everyone rose from their seats. It was the proper etiquette for the emperor ruling the Philius Empire. But the gazes directed at the entering Raymond varied wildly. Some, saved in the banquet hall or sanctuary, looked on favorably; others eyed him with displeasure.
"Begin."
Raymond's calm voice echoed through the vast space, and the court council commenced. But the proceedings dragged without resolution.
"We must dispatch a large force immediately to seize the Black Mountains and pressure the Tripartite Alliance!"
"Indeed! Those responsible for the sanctuary massacre must be duly punished."
Some argued for retaliation against the Bloody Funeral, but they were a minority. Most opposed. Raymond had been a wastrel, inheriting the throne with scant noble support—it was inevitable.
Even nobles who received the 1st Prince's dying wish to rally under the emperor's banner adopted a wait-and-see attitude, making the council all the more frustrating for Raymond.
"The Black Mountains are certainly less dangerous than the Monster Forest. But even if we breach them, how do we face the Tripartite Alliance?"
"The count is right. We lack the strength to oppose their army."
Declaring defeat before battle was maddening. Raymond could barely hide his dismay.
With a short sigh, he shook his head. Feeling a gaze on his cheek, he turned. There sat the Mountain Duke.
smirk.
Lifting the corner of his mouth, he seemed to mock the emperor outright.
'This won't do.'
Staying passive would make strengthening imperial authority impossible—in fact, it would lead to decline. It was time to act decisively.
"Who dares speak of defeat!"
His mana-infused shout shook the council chamber. All eyes focused on him. Raymond opened his mouth with a composed expression.