Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 311: The Animal Kingdom Made Flesh

From there came the incident where I saved the crown prince from the French assassin (Klugen, the Rose Knight), and my account of my first campaign against Burgundy’s invasion at Épinay after becoming the War Minister’s son-in-law.

And so the long tale, through the civil war and up to the present, stretched on until Eos of the dawn came calling. The imperial crown prince and the crown prince were completely absorbed in my story without a trace of boredom.

No, more than absorbed. They’d drunk so much wine they were half gone.

Their eyes had glazed over. You can drink wine like water all you like, but no one outmuscles alcohol.

I wondered if they would even remember the story I’d told them.

In the end, I called the attendants to carry the imperial crown prince and the crown prince away. Strangely, though, no matter how much wine I drank, I didn’t get drunk. I was never a heavyweight drinker before, so is this body of mine the heavyweight?

Truthfully, I never much liked alcohol and had only ever drunk wine to wet my throat, so I had no idea what my capacity was. But I’d deliberately put away about ten bottles, and not a hint of tipsiness rose in me.

For the record, the banquet hall had privies, so relieving oneself was no trouble.

The fact that the privy drains emptied into the ornamental moat surrounding the hall was a bit much, but the channel connected to a stream, so the water didn’t sit stagnant and the smell didn’t overwhelm. Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

"You seem to have grown rather close with the imperial crown prince, Baron."

"Goodness, Your Highness is still here?"

The grand duke sat down beside me as if it were nothing and, slouching at an angle, poured wine into my cup. Was this man drunk, by chance? The Bavarian princess was nowhere to be seen. Dawn had come, so the young ladies must have returned to their rooms.

"Baron, the truth is, I despise banquets."

"Do you? You seemed to be enjoying yourself quite well with the princess."

"Not at all. When Richard was alive—now those were good times. But you know, ever since then, no matter how much I drink, I can’t get drunk. No matter how much."

Did the grand duke still long for Baron Constance?

Could the Bavarian princess, the queen-to-be, fill that void?

I’d say it was unlikely. But I thought the princess was a rather decent person herself. She was skilled at wearing masks, but that was an unavoidable necessity for a foreign princess.

I’d received her apology, so I doubted she’d try to seduce me again. In that light, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to help a princess bound to be isolated in the royal palace. Though truthfully, pity was the biggest reason.

The grand duke and I traded cups in silence for a while.

It was hardly proper decorum, but so what?

I seemed to be the only noble in this banquet hall still in possession of his senses. Michael had apparently turned into a dog, because he was genuinely acting like one, and my father-in-law and the princes were nowhere to be seen.

Hmm, I recalled seeing them with the heavily made-up madams brought in for the banquet tucked under each arm. Not my business. Nobles bedding other women despite having wives was all too common.

That’s also why so many nobles suffer from venereal disease. And passing it on to their wives on top of that? The absolute worst. But the wives have affairs every bit as much as the patriarchs do.

Which is to say, they’re not one-sided victims.

The noble world, I tell you, is the animal kingdom made flesh.

"You seem to have befriended a few court nobles. Do you intend to start building a faction in earnest?"

"Nothing so grand. I was scouting for capable managers for Rosenheim."

"A fine idea. There are far too many court nobles for the posts available."

I understood a considerable number had died in the interception battle, but their numbers were still large. The reason Beren has so many nobles with nothing left but bloodline is that Altringen handed out far too many appointments as favors.

It was the result of drawing in droves of nobles some two hundred years ago during the separation from Lothringen, so any complaint from the grand duke would amount to criticizing his own house. With fiefs and offices limited, no wonder they’d caused such a frenzy.

"Don’t fight the lower nobles yourself. Set them fighting each other."

"In Your Highness’s favorite style, you mean?"

"It’s true there’s entertainment in watching, but it’s also the surest way to redirect their attention."

"Hmm, I’ll keep it in mind. You’re saying I should set the ones I’ve recruited to fighting for me?"

"Even nobles with nothing but bloodline become a proper political force the moment a prince backs them. Every landless noble in this world hates and fears the princes who hold fiefs."

The grand duke was teaching me that if I drew in not just Beort, Drek, and Ferke but also a portion of the court nobles around them, with those three as the core, I could wield them as a political force.

He was absolutely right. Hadn’t the opposition, centered on Marquis Offenburg, objected that my honors were excessive? Yet the moment I reached an accord with Marquis Offenburg, all talk of opposition vanished.

There will always be an opposing faction in any endeavor, so one needs champions to fight them on one’s behalf. My network of connections was rich, but my weakness was having no faction to do the fighting for me directly.

"For something heard over drinks, that is truly valuable advice."

"You have always performed well, Baron, so I trust you’ll manage on your own."

The grand duke’s trust weighed heavily on me. I had carried out every mission he’d given me thus far and never once disappointed him. But he surely wasn’t backing me for that reason alone.

His goodwill cannot last forever.

That’s why I fear the grand duke more than anyone.

It’s no exaggeration to say this entire civil war danced in the palm of his hand. He is meticulous, without a single opening, and sees several moves ahead. How could anyone not fear such a man?

People with conspiracy dispositions are, without exception, never to be taken lightly.

"As you recommended, I’ve decided to name Sir Steinhof as Imperial Knights commander and Steiner as Guard commander. But do you know what’s amusing? Count Steiner actually tried to talk me out of it."

"He likely doesn’t want the influence of the War Minister’s family growing larger than necessary."

"He’d rather not collect pointless enemies, I’m sure. But it’s also true there are no fitter candidates. Steinhof in particular came with the family head’s (Adolf’s) recommendation, and above all, didn’t he grow up well under you, Baron? With that caliber, he’s more than equal to commanding the Imperial Knights."

If Fiel became Imperial Knights commander and my younger brother-in-law became the Grand Duke’s Guard commander, then the Beren Lance Cavalry, friendly to my father-in-law, and the Gale Knights under my command would all gather into a single force.

Once that happened, it was obvious the Judicial Department, which currently dominated court politics, would join hands with the Administrative and Finance Departments to relentlessly check the Military Department. Politics is as dank and slithering as a living serpent, after all.

Tsk. Collecting pointless political enemies is a nuisance.

Then again, from our enemies’ perspective, we’re the nightmare.

"You need not attend the triumphal procession in Breisburg, Baron."

"Is that allowed? If I’m absent, won’t it look rather odd?"

"It’s a small consideration I can extend you. You want to return to Feuzen, don’t you?"

"If I could, I’d return this very moment."

The grand duke gave a wry chuckle and handed me a necklace.

It was an old, worn necklace with ornate gold fittings.

"When you return to Rosenheim, leave it at Richard’s grave."

"Does this necklace share a deep history with Baron Constance?"

"The court clergy would faint to hear it, but it’s something like my talisman. Yet I no longer need it, so isn’t it only right to return it to its original owner?"

So it was Baron Constance’s necklace.

I’d been dying of curiosity about their history for a long time.

"What exactly were you and Baron Constance to each other, Your Highness?"

I had a premonition that it was anything but an ordinary relationship.

"Baron, Richard was my everything. That’s all."

"...I see."

"Tell my friend this. I did my utmost."

So that was why he regarded the crown prince as his own son even though the boy was Baron Constance’s child. Why he hated the queen, why he went out of his way to bring Lily, who carried Altringen blood, from the marquis’s house—all of it...

That was the end of my conversation with the grand duke.

I promised him I would deliver it without fail and withdrew. Barely acknowledging my farewell, the grand duke simply went on drinking his wine, lost in memories. On and on, endlessly, until morning came.

Perhaps the reason the grand duke asked me, of all people, to deliver it was that he saw me as Baron Constance’s successor. I couldn’t read the grand duke’s heart, but I had a feeling that might be so.