171 – Hero of the Nation’s Salvation (2)
Having finished his speech, His Majesty personally gave a few words of well-wishes to the battalion commander and higher rank officers of our division.
The officers and soldiers of the division who were seated drank at least 2 liters of wine each, thinking that it would be disloyal to leave even a drop of the liquor from this gracious banquet given by His Majesty the Emperor.
As the host of the banquet, I was captured by his men and forced to drink until I lost my sanity.
“These drunkards. Even if it is the highest quality wine of the imperial family that we have never even dreamed of, this is not drinking too much. sh*t, this is my first time going to see my son. “If I return home as a drunkard, I’ll be ripped off by Laura.”
“I’m sure your wife will understand, master.”
“I hope so, I’m serious.”
There are truly unavoidable circumstances that led to this, so I have plenty of excuses.
It was a banquet hosted by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and the soldiers of the 7th Division, who had performed heroically on the hellish battlefield with me, offered us drinks.
In addition, among other generals, there are many who do not return home immediately after the war, but rather gather their subordinates and go to touch women’s breasts before that.
Because I don’t like our division, Baron Werner, who is now a baron, will have to empty his wallet and shoot us.
Anyway, the banquet was over and I returned to the house of my dreams in the prepared carriage.
The inspiration is endless.
The fact that I came back alive and that I was able to hug my beloved Laura and my newborn son.
After getting off the carriage, I started walking with a little support from Charlotte and looked at the door of the mansion.
Laura and the Marquis Venner were standing in front of the door, and as soon as she saw me, she quickly ran over and hugged me.
“I missed you so much. I was so worried that I might never see the director again. I couldn’t sleep well and had a hard time getting food down my throat because I thought I might have to live without the director. I don’t want to live like a nightmare ever again. This time I knew for sure that I couldn’t live without you. I love you.”
When fighting at Lichen Hill, I was always in danger of not knowing when I would completely run out of stamina and die from exhaustion, or be killed by enemy soldiers while fighting.
So, if the worst happened, I even made a plan to secretly retreat Charlotte and a small number of soldiers.
Fortunately, the Duke of Switzerland was an idiot and incompetent, and thanks to the hard work of the 7th Division soldiers, he was able to come back alive.
“Thanks to the hard work of all the soldiers of the 7th Division and the blessings of Deus, he was able to return safely alive. “You must have been overworked giving birth to our baby, but are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. “His father sent him a nanny and continued to look after him with the utmost care.”
“Okay, if it’s okay with Laura…”
After saying that, she was about to say thank you to the Marquis.
My father-in-law shook his head as if to say no, and when he looked at Laura again, he noticed that she must have gained a little weight after giving birth to her child.
In fact, I noticed that I looked a little thinner than before.
“I’m sorry for making you worry. Are you this thin because of my worries? Seeing Laura with her body so weakened makes me feel even more sorry. I did it wrong. “I will do well in the future.”
“Thank you for coming back safely. And Kergit, no, Colonel, and Charlotte came with us. “I will come back and say thank you to those two for taking such good care of you.”
“If possible, I would like to have a meal with Anya and Charlotte.”
When he said that, Laura smiled brightly and nodded.
“Your father-in-law, no, Captain Benner. I returned safely. Thank you for taking such good care of her wife while I was away.”
Of course, if you become a captain in the imperial army, you have to deal with piles of documents that reach from the waist up to the shoulder every day.
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So, it must have been difficult to take care of your own family, and you must have put a huge strain on yourself to even take care of Laura, who married into our family.
“Laura is your wife, but before that she is my only daughter. So it’s only natural that she takes care of you while you’re out on the battlefield. “She finds it awkward to be thanked.”
“But since you had a lot of work to do, it must have been a bit difficult?”
After hearing those words, my father-in-law made a meaningful expression and answered.
“That’s right. The staff, including me, have not been able to sleep for a week since we heard that His Majesty the Crown Prince was in danger of being captured or killed in Switzerland. Because if they invaded the empire, we had to come up with all kinds of measures to figure out how much territory we would have to give up and how we would defend ourselves.”
“You must have had a hard time.”
“Compared to the 7th Division, it can be said to be a fresh start. Especially you! And you already know that. There has been a huge change in the generals in the General Staff. “Without exaggeration, there are 10 retirements of generals from the Chief of Staff scheduled for next month.”
The total number of generals belonging to the Chief of Staff is 40.
So, this means that about 25% of the generals will be discharged with direct or indirect responsibility.
“Honestly, in this case, no one other than the Ministry of Information was particularly negligent.”
“Well, being a general is like the life of a fly. “Lieutenant General Palen, who was my classmate, had a heated marital fight that turned into a family fight and was impeached by His Highness the 3rd Prince’s faction. As a result of that incident, his personnel evaluation was lowered and he was discharged.”
“Well, all the generals are so outstanding that they have to take great responsibility for even the slightest flaw.”
As the saying goes, there are almost no incompetent personnel at the level of a general in the imperial army, and it is as if everyone’s abilities have been leveled to the highest level.
So, in most cases, no matter who is promoted, it will not be a problem for the organization, so this is possible.
But there was a gentle smile on the face of my father-in-law who was telling this story.
“And this hasn’t been announced yet. Next year, His Excellency Otto, Minister of Military Affairs, will retire, and His Excellency Marshal Adelheit will also step down, taking indirect responsibility.”
“The leadership of the Imperial Army is completely overturned.”
“It’s too early to be surprised. Because Marshal Adelheit has a successor. And anyway, as a father-in-law, I cannot forgive you for daring to make my daughter cry. So, for the next few years, I’ll just work in the General Staff Department. Take the time and be nice to Laura. No, what are you doing? “I’m not going to see my grandson Frederick.”
At the same time as he said those words, my father-in-law slapped my back with a loud sound.
“It’s in the room just to the left of your bedroom, so go ahead and check it out. “If she wants to be a father, she should quickly hold the child and call him by his name.”
…… When I think about it, now is not the time to talk about politics or the future of the empire.
So I left all the needlessly heavy lieutenant general’s cloak and overcoat to Charlotte and ran to the room next to my bedroom.
I’m probably running at the fastest speed of my life, and it will only take less than a minute to get there.
To me, even that time felt too long.
“Viscount?”
The nanny who was taking care of her child made a startled voice when I suddenly appeared.
“I want to hug you myself, but how can I hug you?”
“You can first wash her hands and face and even brush her teeth before you can hold the child.”
“Oh, is that so? I forgot. “Thank you for teaching me.”
I took one look at the baby’s face in her nurse’s arms and went to wash it.
“Brace her bottom with her left hand, and support her child’s waist with her left arm. Then you must support her head with your right hand and eat it with care.”
“I understand.”
I took a deep breath and carefully picked up Friedrich as the nurse had told me to do.
Red eyes that resemble Laura, black hair that resembles mine, a tall nose and large round eyes, fluffy white and soft skin, and cheeks as flushed as a peach.
“Yes, Friedrich, thank you for coming to this world.”
As I was looking at this child, I realized why she was so constantly bragging about her child, from non-commissioned officers to officers.
Just looking at her is so cute and adorable, so how can she recognize me as her dad at first sight, reaching out for her hand and pursing her mouth?
It’s not because it’s my child, but objectively, isn’t this child a genius?
So, I think that if this child grows up and becomes a soldier later, he will definitely become a better commander than me.
“Yes, yes. As it is, he just needs to grow up healthy. I think you will become a better person than this dad. “Who do you resemble that makes you so handsome?”
In that way, I was able to spend a happy time while constantly receiving the gaze of the nanny who was worried that I might hold the child incorrectly.
Before we knew it, Laura had brought Captain Benner, Charlotte, and Anya into her room.
“Charlotte, no… No, Colonel Kergit. “Would you like to hug Friedrich?”
“Please just call me Anya, Countess.”
“Yes, no, Colonel. Now go ahead and hug me. “Isn’t he such a cute kid?”
“Can I do that? “If you allow it… we washed up a little while ago.”
In that way, Laura naturally took Friedrich from me and invited Anya and Charlotte to hug him as well.
The two looked at Laura with a mixture of admiration, jealousy, and gratitude, and accepted the child, hugging her as if she were a fragile and precious treasure.
When Laura encouraged those two to hold the child in person, she meant to maintain a close relationship like her family in the future.
As long as our earl family survives, we will be able to maintain a close relationship with those two in the future.
It feels great to see such a good relationship between the three women who help me.
So, I honestly told my father-in-law standing next to me what I was feeling.
“In the past, it seemed like those two and Laura kept each other in check and couldn’t get along comfortably. This time, the two of them saved me and my son was born, so our relationship became so good. “You see it that way in your father-in-law’s eyes, right?”
“Well, Laura, if she thought it was good, then that’s okay.”
…… Usually, giving a newborn child to an officer or noble family signifies alliance, so there is nothing wrong with that.
“By the way, my grandson looks equally like you and Laura. “Isn’t it as cute as a black rabbit?”
“Yes, father-in-law. But what was even more surprising was that as soon as he saw me, he recognized me as my father and made a gesture. I think he might be a genius. “I think he will definitely surpass me as a master someday.”
Then my father-in-law placed his right palm on his forehead and answered, as if his head had been hurting from the beginning.
“Do you really think that?”
“Of course, my child will not experience dangerous situations like me and will show off his abilities brilliantly.”
“Huh, okay. If that’s you, then that’s what happens. If that happens, the future of the Jaeger family, as well as our marquess family, will be very strong. “At this rate, thanks to your wealth, the Duke of Venner will be created.”