The Emperor's Abandoned Army
I sat at the dining table, watching Leon eat with an intensity that made my eyes burn.
Even I, with my own gaze locked on him, saw that he ate in perfect calm, as if nothing in the world could disturb his peace.
He never once looked at me.
“Um… Leon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t you feel like talking to me?”
“How could that be? I am merely upholding the proper etiquette required of an imperial servant.”
He was still polite. Still kind. But the warmth in that kindness had vanished, replaced by something colder, more distant.
“Chef Maribel, the stir-fried frog tongues.”
“Thank you, Maribel.”
Maribel, the cheerful cook, placed the dish in front of him. Leon savored it as if it were the finest delicacy in the empire, chewing with obvious enjoyment.
I might as well have been invisible.
“…”
“Is there anything amiss, Your Majesty? Natalia, Celine—please bring Her Majesty fresh utensils.”
“Yes!”
The woman in the crisp butler suit and the maid in her uniform moved like extensions of his will. Even the former lieutenant in her neat uniform obeyed without hesitation.
I forced a smile and watched him.
“Ah, no. It’s fine.”
“Very good.”
Every single movement of the room halted the instant Leon lifted his fork.
I stared blankly at the stir-fried frog tongues in my hand, lost in thought.
It seemed my place here no longer existed.
Leon had truly succeeded in forgetting me.
No. I couldn’t allow that.
Only by convincing him could I save the empire.
Only by saving the empire could I save the man I loved—Ulyssian.
I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms and looked him straight in the eye.
And smiled brightly.
“Do you remember? When we were children, you and I… sneaking into the kitchen to make food together. We burned the pot and got spanked by our mom. Hehe.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, but I am afraid that is a private memory I can no longer share with Your Majesty.”
“Too cruel.”
“Yet it is the truth.”
Every memory of childhood with Leon was burned into my heart—warm, golden, unforgettable.
Yet he had decided those memories no longer belonged to him.
No matter what I said, he would never listen.
I swallowed hard.
I had heard rumors that famous nobles and generals came and went from his estate every day.
But Leon did nothing. It was as if he had completely washed his hands of the empire’s affairs.
To me, though, Leon had simply become angry.
The Leon I knew was like that.
So if I asked him…
If I persuaded him, he would move.
I stared at him with fierce determination.
“Leon. Save the empire.”
The answer came immediately, cold as ice.
“Does Your Majesty wish me to save the empire, or does the Emperor wish it?”
I couldn’t answer.
Ulyssian had never apologized to Leon directly. Had never issued a command as Emperor.
He had simply used me to protect his pride.
Leon’s lips curved into a cold smile.
“It seems the Emperor has no further need of me.”
My face flushed hot with shame.
A maid in a crisp uniform placed an ice glass of water in front of me without a word.
If Ulyssian had come himself, I wouldn’t have had to hear such things.
I looked at him with desperate eyes.
When I looked at him that way, his chest would ache and he would glance at me.
But his expression never softened.
“Leon, even if it’s just for me… can’t you save the empire?”
“Even if it is for Your Majesty, I am unable to move.”
I asked in bewilderment.
“Why…?”
Leon’s smile was mocking.
“Because Your Majesty abandoned me once before.”
An arrow struck my heart.
“Your Majesty has already chosen the Emperor. So you should look at him, not at me.”
Another arrow pierced deeper.
My chest burned with pain.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
“If you were the Leon I knew… you wouldn’t have been like this.”
“This Leon died in the North, Your Majesty.”
Truly, ever since he returned from the North, Leon had become someone else entirely.
Perhaps my choice of Ulyssian had been the final straw.
My heart ached physically.
How many wounds had I inflicted upon him?
The meal continued in silence. We no longer spoke to each other.
On the long road back to the imperial palace, I kept seeing the words Leon had spoken last.
“If you wish to save the empire, tell His Majesty to come himself.”
Men said the real face of a man emerges when he is cornered.
Ulyssian, who had seemed so strong, now looked pitiful. In contrast, Leon looked every inch the adult.
If I had chosen Leon instead…
Would things have turned out differently?
I cried until I had no tears left.
* * *
Back at my seat, I sat and ate steamed eggs.
They were delicious.
“Mm.”
Theresia approached cautiously and asked, “Are you truly all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Speaking to Her Majesty like that…”
“What’s the matter? She’s my childhood friend.”
“No, that’s not—”
“Theresia.”
I smiled sweetly at her. “How many years have you known me? You still don’t understand me?”
“Um…”
“Do I look like an irresponsible person?”
“Yes. Honestly.”
“That’s true, but the others can’t do anything without me.”
In truth, there were still competent generals in the empire. The real problem was that five hundred thousand standing troops had been wasted on the Emperor’s private expedition.
The empire’s war machine had been idle for ten years and was now thoroughly rusted.
Even if we conscripted new soldiers, we wouldn’t regain the strength of ten years ago.
Of course, in time we could overwhelm the five other kingdoms. But the best option the imperial army could manage right now was to hole up in Hargen Pass Fortress and refuse to come out.
And if it was Ulyssian I knew…
“That bastard is probably slapping his desk and cursing my name right now.”
“Where did the etiquette guy go?”
“He’s dead.”
“Hah…”
“No, really.”
Theresia sighed, but she knew I was right. The real Leon Eisen had vanished long ago. All that remained in this body was the soul of an invader from another world.
So I returned to my leisurely life.
A few days later, Natalia returned from the capital.
She found me at the top of the estate, lazily smoking a pipe, and said, “My lord, news from the imperial palace.”
“Mm. Natalia.”
She stood neatly in her butler suit beside me and began to speak.
“The Emperor publicly humiliated you, saying you are a man who knows no gratitude.”
“I see. And?”
“He shouted that a soldier is meant to protect the nation, yet you turn your back on the empire’s crisis.”
“I see.”
I looked at her and asked, “Any news on Kasandrov?”
“What about him?”
She smiled faintly. “Whenever the empire’s war machine starts working properly again, it will collapse like a candle in the wind, won’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“That’s why I’m standing beside you.”
“Good thinking.”
I emptied the pipe into the ashtray, added fresh tobacco, and relit it.
“Better still, Ulyssian, you bastard.”
Natalia looked puzzled. “What do you mean, my lord?”
“He was the one who made my name echo through the entire palace.”
Ulyssian probably only meant to insult me. The rest of the imperial court would probably join in.
But would they really act as he expects?
I didn’t think so.
The whole capital would start remembering me.
The fact that the empire needed me.
Slowly, the signs began to appear.
Near my estate, soldiers—not generals—began gathering. They pitched tents in a circle around my estate, each flying their own unit’s banner, and slept there.
I asked Maribel to provide food for them. The ingredient prices had already skyrocketed and they were miserable, but now they looked at me as if I were a god.
I hadn’t done anything. Maribel had just stockpiled everything in advance.
Days passed like that.
From the soldiers I heard all kinds of ugly rumors.
“They’re trying to execute the surviving soldiers as scapegoats for the defeat.”
“They’re abandoning the noble officers and planning to punish the lowly NCOs and privates for disobedience…”
“They haven’t even paid the minimum wages!”
“That’s why we’ve come to beg you, General…”
“Hah.”
I looked at them with a helpless expression and said, “I’m not a general.”
Their representative answered, “But you are still our general.”
After hearing that, I led them into the makeshift office.
Theresia was there. I told her, “They’re finally here.”
“What do you mean, my lord?”
“The army the Emperor abandoned.”
That night the number of soldiers kept growing until we could form a full regiment.
My estate grounds were completely filled with soldiers.
The defeated soldiers from every corner of the empire and even the capital returned to Anhelm, their homes.
And they all came to see me.
To save themselves.