Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 302: The Palatine Gets Played

"Traditionally, blood alliances forged through political marriage have been ironclad. Do both families have royals of marriageable age?"

"Elisabeth, whom we intended to marry off to Prince Louis, is here in this land."

"Is that so? I don’t know the details, but in any case, that works out well."

The proposal was to proceed with the political marriage between Louis and the princess as planned. But Grand Duke Karlus objected. In truth, his reason for objecting was obvious: Louis’s health was in terrible condition.

"Regrettably, my second son is unlikely to live long."

"His health must be poor, then. What about the crown prince?"

"There is only a crown princess. During the civil war, Sir Streit was the one protecting her."

Hey, why drag me into this? The gazes of the imperial crown prince and Grand Duke Konrad turned to me. Grand Duke Konrad smirked and sneered at Grand Duke Karlus.

"And what if that Gale Knight you’re so proud of laid hands on her?"

"Unlike your indiscriminate delinquent knights, Streit is a knight of noble character."

"How can you be so certain? In a world where even virtuous priests and nuns tumble into bed together!"

"I know him better than anyone."

At Grand Duke Karlus’s display of unshakable trust, Grand Duke Konrad shut his mouth. At the same time, I was a little moved by the grand duke’s faith in me, which had never once wavered in the face of any scandal.

"Hmm, if the crown princess and the second son are out, that leaves only the princess."

"Your Imperial Highness, our family has no more unmarried male royals."

The Wittelsbach side had no royal fit to marry Princess Evangeline either. After deliberating, Crown Prince Maximilian stared straight at Grand Duke Karlus.

...No way. It can’t be what I’m thinking, can it?

The crown prince opened his mouth, and the whole assembly was engulfed in shock.

Amid the uproar, Grand Duke Karlus replied that it seemed like a decent idea. Grand Duke Konrad, however, glared at the crown prince and Grand Duke Karlus with a look of utter disgust.

Grand Duke Konrad’s intimidating presence was no joke.

Even the imperial crown prince flinched.

"Your Imperial Highness! Are you in your right mind, saying such a thing?"

"Calm yourself. I believe it’s a proposal that benefits you as well."

Just as Grand Duke Konrad was about to explode further, the Marquis of Augsburg restrained him. He soothed the grand duke and calmly explained the benefits of the proposal.

"Your Highness, if this negotiation goes through, the terms are not bad for us."

"Even so, I cannot give my niece to that scheming Altringen!"

"Think of it as a political marriage with much to gain!"

The imperial crown prince had proposed a political marriage between the Bavarian princess, Elisabeth, and Grand Duke Karlus. It came with the precondition that Grand Duke Karlus divorce the queen, but that was already a foregone conclusion, so it posed no problem.

Divorce once carried heavy religious pressure, but that’s a thing of the past. These days, people divorce as casually as they eat breakfast whenever the need arises, and in Grand Duke Karlus’s case he had legitimate justification, so it was no great obstacle.

Elisabeth (15) and Evangeline (15) are the same age, which means Evangeline is suddenly getting a stepmother her own age. But plenty of nobles take young wives in their twilight years and pass away long before them, so as political marriages go, it was nothing special.

A book titled [A Patriarch’s Guide for the Young Wife He Leaves Behind] actually existed. It was supposedly a reference manual for disciplining(?) a young wife. Grand Duke Konrad’s anger was purely an emotional matter.

The two grand dukes stepped away from the negotiation table for a moment to confer with their people.

Shouting of every kind flew back and forth on Grand Duke Konrad’s side, while our side stayed calm.

"Sir Streit, what do you think of His Imperial Highness’s proposal?"

Calm, my foot. Grand Duke Karlus hit me with a sudden question.

I’d been trying to keep quiet, since a single slip of the tongue here could spell disaster.

"Your Highness, I don’t believe this is a question someone of my standing should answer."

"Are you not the one who set this stage? You’re more than qualified."

It’s true that I crushed the vanguard and created the occasion for the grand dukes to meet face to face, but even if I hadn’t stepped in, the two of them would have proceeded with negotiations regardless. The grand duke was saying this to give me the standing to speak.

I carefully weighed the gains and losses. Setting emotions aside, if the political marriage went through, what would the board look like? One thing was certain: Bavarian Wittelsbach and Altringen would become blood allies.

On the surface, a blood alliance between Bavaria and Altringen would be a slap in the face to Palatinate Wittelsbach, which had been making overtures to Altringen, but with the count palatine wasting away, they’d be hard-pressed to respond.

"Did you stall on the Palatinate’s proposal in order to draw in Bavaria?"

"Why do you think that? I merely used the Palatinate to counter Konrad’s schemes."

"That may be the surface reason, but it looks to me like your true aim is to keep the count palatine in check."

My gaze turned to Marquis Offenburg. The marquis was watching me with an intrigued look. He had not been summoned here as a representative of the princes—only now did I realize it.

"I never knew Your Highness had such a deep interest in the free imperial city."

The grand duke let out a small laugh but didn’t stop me, as if telling me to go on.

The grand duke’s objective had been Strasbourg from the very beginning. With the queen hailing from a prestigious Strasbourg family—the very thread that had led to the civil war—the grand duke had built a plan to use that as justification to swallow Strasbourg whole.

But Palatinate Wittelsbach, which rules Württemberg, was a troublesome power. If he joined hands with Bavarian Wittelsbach and pinned the Palatinate in place, the only remaining rival would be the Duchy of Roden.

Going from two rivals down to one makes an enormous difference.

When I laid out this analysis of mine, the grand duke said to my father-in-law,

"Count Steiner, your son-in-law possesses grand strategic insight as well."

"Ahem, I consider myself fortunate to have such a fine son-in-law, blessed by the Lord."

My father-in-law, itching to burst out laughing, exercised maximum restraint at this solemn occasion. The marquis glared with displeasure at my father-in-law, who was still clearing his throat.

"You have one right. Then what is the other?"

"Improving relations between Altringen and Habsburg."

I’d heard that Altringen and Habsburg weren’t on particularly good terms. Not hostile like the Wittelsbachs, but the two had maintained a cool neutrality, and Grand Duke Karlus seemed to be aiming to improve relations through the imperial crown prince.

Perhaps the grand duke was laying the groundwork to more effectively repel Burgundy’s invasion, which was bound to come someday? I thought that was the most plausible reasoning, but he shook his head.

"Half right, and half wrong."

Hm? Was there something I missed? But he didn’t tell me which half was wrong. Did the grand duke want me to figure it out on my own? He simply smiled meaningfully.

That smile deeply unsettled me. Instinctively, I suspected it had something to do with me. But what exactly it was, I couldn’t yet figure out.