322 – Philolence Salvation Operation (5)
The little duke and the girl knight listened to me and made a questioning look, not knowing what I was talking about.
“……”
This is a phenomenon that occurred because I cut out all the context, so I should explain it in more detail.
“I don’t know what your Majesty the Duke may think, but Her Majesty the Empress of the Reich Empire is truly worried about you. She is worried that she must be lonely and have a hard time because she lost both her parents at a young age and was left alone. But wouldn’t you be happy and less anxious if you knew that such a trustworthy guard was by your side?”
Of course, everything I find out will be reported to both His Majesty and the Empress.
Her Majesty will use this to think about how she can gain real power over the Duchy of Phil Lawrence and take the lead in the Faroeian Federation.
I don’t know if the Empress will care, but what the young duke needs right now is someone he can rely on emotionally, who will embrace him in his big arms and say, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
So, if I succeed properly by showing him that I will accept him as he is and protect him, rather than his uncle, who is a regent who is trying to lead him as if he were just leading him, the duke will feel more favorable towards the Reich Empire.
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No, if I approach the duke, who has been suffering from loneliness because he has no one to rely on due to lack of affection, with a one-sided favor, he will fall in love like a son trusting and relying on his father.
If you’re going to make them dependent on the empire, it makes sense to pour them in a lot.
“The driver behind there, could you come here for a moment?”
After hearing those words, the girl asked the duke for silent permission, and the duke nodded his head.
Then the girl standing behind me came in front of me.
There is only one diamond on her shoulder, symbolizing the ensign, so it would be no problem to speak informally to her without hesitation, even if she were a knight from a foreign country.
It’s not because the young duke doesn’t yet know the love of the opposite s*x, but because she is a girl who will become Duke Phil Lawrence’s favorite in the future, he decided to treat her as politely as possible.
“Looking at her gait, I could tell that she came to the castle at a young age as a maid. I could already tell when I looked at her posture from afar, but even her everyday movements still had a maid-like movement. On the other hand, looking at the posture in which he wore the sword and the muscles connected to his hands and wrists, I could see that he had accumulated great training over several years and had developed his skills to the level of a full-fledged knight. “It is truly wonderful.”
Those two people looked surprised at how I guessed the girl’s past, and to answer their questions, I unwrapped one of the medals I was wearing on my uniform and showed them to them.
The duke looked like he didn’t know what that was, but the girl who had been trained as a knight for several years seemed to realize what this meant.
He couldn’t hide his expression and showed a look of surprise.
“Are you a sword master? And this is not a medal of honor that generals in the military or nobles can buy with money, but rather a medal of honor that proves one’s skills and qualifications to run as an official guild master.”
The Honorary Sword Master Medal is something that even people like my father-in-law, Count Patton, can buy by paying a huge amount of money for honor when they become lieutenant generals.
An official medal is a token that proves true skill, something that His Majesty the Reich Empire cannot buy even if he tries to buy it.
So, the only people who have earned this medal through skill are crazy people who have been swinging a sword for at least 30 years.
So, even if you were a former serf, if you wear that medal, you are known to the extent that if you go to any country on the European continent and request a commission, you will be granted a knighthood that can only be used in that era.
“After fighting in Switzerland before, I received a formal medal from the swordsmanship guild called Blood Brothers. As a result, he was able to tell how much training the driver had accumulated just by looking at his steps and appearance. “At your current level, you will be able to fight on equal footing with formally trained knights.”
The girl who was the guard knight was also happy, but the Duke behind her asked with an expression of more joy than his own work.
“Is that really true? “Chloe has knight-level strength?”
When an ordinary knight says something like this, it is normal to suspect that it is nonsense, but in the world of swordsmanship, the status of an official sword master medal is the same as that of a professor at a prestigious university.
So, if you speak carelessly without any basis, you will face a protest at the guild level, and you will have to pay a huge amount of compensation and an apology, so no matter how anxious you are to win the favor of the duke and the girl, you must not lie about such things. Can not be done.
Therefore, my assessment of the girl’s powerlessness is based on extremely factual facts.
And this time, I decided to try a sincere flattery.
“My wives were armed, but at the age of 15, they would not have been armed to this extent. If I tell the Empress the story of the trustworthy girl knight who serves Her Majesty the Duke right next to her, I think she will be relieved and intrigued. “Can you tell me?”
Just looking at it, there is something between the two that goes beyond a simple master-slave relationship, and delving into that would be rude and could lead to hostility.
If they feel like they are close and comfortable with me, they will enjoy talking about how they met and what happened, and our relationship will deepen.
And I asked because the duke seemed eager to tell me something that would only happen between close friends.
“Chloe, this is going to be a long story. “Please bring me a chair for Captain Jaeger to sit on.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Duke.”
The girl named Chloe brought me a chair, and with a twinkle in her eye, the duke began to share one by one her memories of her time with this girl.
She said she first met Chloe when she was five years old. She was sold when she was only nine years old, and when she made a mistake and was about to be kicked out of her castle, she decided to take care of herself. I wrapped it up myself.
There were very few people around the duke who could be considered friends of similar age, so he and the girl were like friends, and they often shared snacks or delicious food with each other.
If you did something like that to a male servant, Duke Philolence would have been incredibly angry, but no matter how noble your son is and even the next Duke, it is an acknowledgment that ‘a being who can love with an open heart’ is necessary.
From what I heard about her, it seems that she thought of her as a future concubine, trained her as her maid, and kept her by her side so as not to cross the line of status that must be maintained.
Then, after Duke Phil Laurence’s death, his uncle, the regent, who took power, tried to get Chloe out of the way because he thought she was interfering with his plot to make the boy rely solely on him.
The story goes that there is no one other than a guard knight who can stick with something like that, and that Chloe was trained as a knight beyond her limits, but she somehow persevered and is now able to always be by the duke’s side as a guard knight. .
It was an obvious story that you often see in novels, but it seemed like it was such a precious memory to the duke who was involved that he just looked happy without any pretense on his face as he told this story.
I also had no political purpose here other than gaining this person’s favor, so I was comfortable hanging out with the child, thinking I was playing with him.
“So Chloe never learned anything about the military, but as a special privilege, she was able to stay by my side as a second lieutenant. “Isn’t it amazing?”
“My eldest son is now 11 years old, and like Sir Chloe, I hope that he will be strong enough to win a fight with a full-fledged knight by the time he is 15.”
“Captain Jaeger’s son, what is his name? “When this war is over, I will continue to reward him!”
“This is Friedrich. Friedrich von Jaeger. “The child’s mother, my wife Laura, is also here as a volunteer officer this time, so I might get to meet her sometime.”
The duke got up from his chair and patted me on the shoulder as if congratulating me.
“I would like to tell you a little more about Chloe, but Captain Jaeger is probably busy with his duties, so I’ll just go into it now. “Please tell the Empress, or rather, your sister, that I, Antonio von Philolence, have received great consolation.”
“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
At the same time as I said that, I took a step out of the duke’s room.
**
Three days later, I had a discussion with the Regent of the Duchy of Philolence and Captain Giuseppe and decided on a general course of action on what to do.
There were times when opinions clashed, but they were able to easily reach an agreement on regaining the territory of the Duchy of Philollens, which had been conquered by the allied forces of the Veneta faction.
And when reporting this fact to the duke before the expedition, the regent standing behind the duke revealed his favoritism toward Giuseppe like last time.
“Captain Giuseppe, I am sorry to ask you a burdensome request, but please be kind to me. Please find the lost land of our Principality of Philorence.”
“hahahaha, of course. Aren’t we an alliance that has lasted for hundreds of years?”
“Instead, the reward for your efforts this time will be paid immediately as soon as the principality is rebuilt.”
“Rather than that, isn’t it more important for trust and friendship to become stronger between the two countries?”
Just like that, they started making me an uninvited guest again, but the duke who had been sitting up until now got up from his seat.
The regent was filled with surprise and anticipation, and seemed to dream that now even the duke would support Giuseppe.
“……Your Highness?”
Captain Giuseppe also drank about 100 bowls of kimchi soup, but he was unable to control his facial expression because he thought he would personally praise and encourage him.
I laughed inwardly when I saw that.
I gained a lot of personal favor from the Duke a few days ago, so there was a very high probability that I would be the one that the young Duke said he would support.
And as expected, the duke pulled out the sword from his waist, handed it to me, and said,
“The Union of Milan and the Reich Empire are both equal allies of our Duchy of Philollens. Therefore, I look forward to Captain Jaeger’s performance, and out of gratitude to His Imperial Majesty, I will bestow the sword I am wearing. Would you accept it, Captain?”
I held out both hands and received the sword.
“Of course, Your Majesty. “I will make sure to live up to your expectations.”
Now that we have gained the support of the duke, the head of the principality, from now on we have no trouble diplomatically with Giuseppe, who boasts of an alliance that goes back hundreds of years.
Captain Giuseppe seemed to have figured it out as well, his face hardening as he gritted his teeth next to me… Anyway, we can cooperate for now in military matters.
Later, we will fight over each other’s interests. It felt really good to get f*cked by that guy.
I’m sure His Majesty will be happy if I tell him this news.