Vol 2 – Chapter 23: The mad King Albert de la Marche III
Translated by XianPiete
The King paced around in his private chamber looking unhinged. "Kill them, kill them all, keep killing them until none of them are left. I can find a younger wife and make new princes for the Kingdom, there is still plenty of time. Cecil! I want them dead, I don't care how it's done, burn the city down, poison all the wells, I don't care. Kill as many as it takes to kill all of them. If we don't kill them, they'll steal the crown!"
He looked around and said, "The Queen, yes, kill that backstabbing woman too, I want anyone connected to them dead. Kill the people who work at that Academy. Kill the people who make their food, anyone and everyone who makes life comfortable for them. Poison all the food for a hundred miles around the capital. Kill and keep killing until they can't survive here."
Cecil looked at Norris who shook his head. She looked around at the other Black Knights and then made a killing motion and one of the men stepped forward taking the life of the King. Norris asked, "What will we do now?"
Cecil shrugged and said, "Serve the Montfort King. For now, I will report what I have done to her Majesty and hope she'll understand my reason."
Cecil walked down the hall to the Queen's room and knocked softly. The Queen said, "Come in."
Cecil kneeled down and lowered her head, "I have killed his Majesty, as you said I would."
The Queen took a sip from her tea and then asked, "Are you here to kill me as well?"
Cecil shook her head and said, "No your Majesty, I am just here to report that as you expected he went mad and started to ask us to kill the people. He wanted everyone within a hundred miles of the capital to be put to death in the chance we might make their lives slightly uncomfortable."
The Queen took a sip of her tea and then said, "I see, regrettable. Do you believe that I should follow my husband's last wish and place the crown on Olivier?"
Cecil said, "The three princes are in agreement that the Montfort's should regain the throne."
The Queen nodded, "And then what becomes of the old Queen I wonder? Will I be sent to a home in the pasture to retire? Will I survive this transition of power?"
Prince Albert entered the room and said, "You will mother because you will return to your rightful place as the Dowager Duchess of House la Marche."
The Queen looked at Albert and asked, "Why would you choose the lesser role of Duke, Albert?"
Prince Albert smiled and said, "Because I was shown a glimpse of the future by my brother, and power in the future won't be from birthrights, it will come entirely from Gold. The Days when the King was decided by men and swords have come to an end. The Future will be decided by those who control the money to pay Magicians."
The Queen smiled and said, "You noticed so quick? I thought you were just emulating Duke Harcourt."
Prince Albert smiled and said, "Duke Harcourt buys men with his bordellos, I intend to control not just their lust, but their greed and their gluttony as well. A Duke's House has more freedom than even the King when it comes to making money on his own territory. The King can require taxes, but the Duke can determine the businesses allowed to run."
The Queen smiled and said, "You are very smart, Albert, just be clear who is your family and who is not. Your brother Olivier is not someone you should ever consider an enemy. The day you do is the day you end up like your father. Killed by those closest to him."
Albert said to Cecil, "Leave us, I wish to have a moment alone with mother."
Cecil curtsied and said, "Yes, your highness."
After she left the room he said softly, "Olivier told me. I know that the Black Knights are not truly under our control. Can we really trust Duke Montfort, or should I say, King Montfort?"
The Queen replied just as softly, "More than you can trust our own people."
*****
Madeline pouted at Guy and asked, "Am I ever going to get my airship?"
Guy frowned and asked, "What more do you want, you're going to be the Queen of Pays Des Abrutis?"
Madeline thought about it for a moment and then said, "An Airship!"
Guy sighed and said, "I'm building them, I'm building them!"
"I don't want an ugly Dreadnaught, I want a beautiful, sleek Montfort." She frowned.
"As the King and Queen of the nation, I will build us the finest Airship I have ever designed. It will be more than a dreadnaught. I think you'll like it. It's kind of a vanity project I have always wanted to build." He cackled madly.
Madeline looked unimpressed and then she asked, "Is this that Enema thing Claude was interested in when we went to Tokyo?"
"Anime, and yes." He sighed, "Just trust me, it'll be incredible. When we come sailing over the skies in our ship, no one will be able to look away."
"I won't have to wear another one of those awful costumes with a skirt that is too short again, will I?" Madeline looked at him emotionlessly.
"What? No, don't be ridiculous, you can't wear a skirt in space." Guy made a sound like, "Pfft. There's no gravity."
"How are we going to pay for this grand ship? We can't overtax the people to pay for it." Madeline frowned at Guy.
Guy nodded and said, "I already set up a company with Olivier that's going to release a few products that will make us rich."
"We won't create another Ito Conglomerate though, will we?" Madeline looked concerned.
Guy smiled and shook his head, "No, I think this time, we managed to keep it small enough to just make money and improve the lives of the people."
Madeline frowned and said, "Alright, but I want my airship, I don't want to have to keep redoing our lives every time you guys let things get out of control. What if we had children, like Alicia?"
Guy grinned and said, "Don't worry, what could possibly go wrong this time? We already have experience at this!"
Claude said, "That's a death flag."
Guy frowned and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Claude said, "No, over there. That's a death flag those men are carrying." They all turned and watched as a group of men holding a banner walked past. Claude said, "You just have to be silent when it passes, sorry, please carry on."
Guy shook his fist at Claude and said, "Don't just interrupt people with things like that, people will get the wrong impression."
Claude frowned and said, "I was just pointing it out because it looked like you two didn't notice it. Anyway, I've taken too much of your time, carry on with your lover's quarrel."
Olivier walked up and said, "Hey Guy, some of our people from the project site are having problems with your design. They are saying it's going to be too complex for them. They want to make it more like the dreadnaught plans that Wolter and Alicia gave us. They sent over new plans and said that this would allow you to have a similar look but allow them to use the tools they are creating for the other ships."
Guy frowned and said, "I understand, this looks good too, we'll go with this, only Renée and I would have seen it for what it was anyway."
Madeline peeked over at the plans, "Oooh, I like this, can we have it like this?"
Olivier grinned, "It's settled then. Our first battleship, Tomato, will look splendid."
Guy frowned and said, "Yamato, you know what, damn it, we'll just let Madeline name it."
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