123 – Banquet of the Stars 4
Sofia, the second city of the Dragona Empire.
Estelle, who had come here at the invitation of the emperor, was feeling deep tension and excitement at the same time.
‘Emperor Roseveta… I never thought I would be able to meet him this way…’
A person who turned a small country into an empire, and a being called a saint who is praised by countless people even at this moment.
Although they had exchanged stories through correspondence several times, it was the first time they had met her in person, and Estelle began to have deep personal expectations for meeting her goal in person.
‘What do you really look like? From what I’ve heard, even at the age of nearly 200, she has great beauty..’
Basically, those who handle magical powers can stay young forever without aging if they wish.
Of course, there were quite a few among them who rejected such a life and grew old with loved ones, but there were also many who did not.
In the case of Emperor Rosebeta, she, her husband, and even her children were all magical users,
In particular, the emperor himself was the strongest witch in existence.
He is a person who has even been rumored by some to be something other than a human being, and is already far from the concept of death and aging.
Recalling that fact once again, Estelle suddenly began to recall the fact that Santana, her fiancé and the man she was in love with, was also a wizard… in other words, a magic user.
‘Unlike me, who has no talent for magic, Santana-sama is a wizard. He too can choose eternal life if he wants..’
Of course, it was a little too early for them, who were only in their 20s, to think about it, but Estelle nevertheless began to think about it quite seriously.
‘If Santana truly loves me… will he grow old with me? Otherwise..’
Estelle was thinking of a thought she wouldn’t have to worry about..
Then, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice in her ears.
“You are here.”
“ah..”
Estelle got up from her seat as soon as she heard the attendant’s words.
Then, she politely bowed her head toward the man entering the room.
“nice to see you. Estelle Bertina Fernandez, sister of Lord Rhapsody, meets His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Dragona Empire.”
I couldn’t look at the opponent’s appearance exactly, but nevertheless, I felt the unusual aura instinctively.
While bowing to the person radiating it, Estelle waited in intense tension for the other person to speak.
“Raise your head.”
A voice that seems to contain calm and irresistible power.
At this, Estelle carefully raised her head and looked at her figure in front of her eyes.
A woman dressed in a dark red dress that is not flashy, but neat, and at the same time seems to have a sense of deep dignity.
Unfortunately, her face was covered with a sword veil, but her rough shape, seen through the black veil, allowed Estelle to feel the fact that her opponent was a great beauty.
‘This person is the emperor of Mina Roseveta Dragona.
It wasn’t simply because he knew that the opponent was a person in the position of emperor.
Even though I’m just standing in front of it, I feel a tingling sensation on my skin, and…
From accepting one’s greetings and sitting down, to the appearance of a monarch.
Estelle began to feel a strong sense of pressure and admiration at the same time at the appearance that she could have because she literally knew who she was so clearly.
“I am very happy that you responded to my invitation like this.
“Ah… no. I am truly grateful to Soin, the lord of a small province in Japan, for giving me the honor of meeting the great Emperor.”
Uncharacteristically like her usual woman, Estelle spoke with deep tension, and while watching her, the emperor maintained a consistent attitude without losing his calm and dignity.
“If that’s the case, I’d like to say goodbye and get straight to the point. Are you okay?”
“yes! Of course, Your Majesty.”
“great. Then.. I would like to hear more details about the future work.”
“What about the future?”
“How the heretic alliance will work, and what and how we would like to help in the process.”
The words of the emperor who asks a question quite straightforwardly.
Regarding this, Estelle forgot the pressure of facing the emperor for a while and began to try to analyze the situation as calmly as possible.
The emperor asks himself what the heretic alliance is doing.
Simply put, this was similar to the meaning of telling an investor about a future business plan.
Of course, this was about politics, with much more at stake than the commercial side.
It’s a secret that’s more important than a simple business plan, and if the story goes wrong, not only the Rhapsody region but also the entire cult alliance could be in danger.
However, Estelle had already taken this into consideration to some extent.
Issues related to confidentiality have already been approved by Santana, who can be said to be the de facto leader of the heretical alliance.
In addition, at this point in time, the possibility that the emperor of the Dragona Empire had reached an agreement with the Holy Empire, the enemy of the Empire, was just nonexistent, so the possibility of this information leaking out was also very small.
On the other hand, the means to benefit from the Dragona Empire by conveying specific information would be very large.
Like that, immediately after organizing the overall thoughts.
Estelle began to speak in a tense voice to the emperor sitting in front of her.
About the flow of the war ahead and the preparations for it, as she heard from Santana, her beloved fiancée.
“All right. If not… I’ll tell you.”
*
The Heretic Alliance, a coalition of rebel factions within the Holy Empire.
Even though this force was on a scale approaching 1/4 of the mainland of the Empire, nevertheless, as someone who knew the original work, I was clearly aware of our limits.
Through a single victory at Baeksan, they revived the spark of hope, and by using the uncontrollable forces of Mansfeld and his gang, they succeeded in draining the power of the emperor’s army and bringing the war to a lull for a while.
but nonetheless
There was definitely a limit to the time we could endure like now.
With the enormous economic power of Bohemia and the cooperation of the lords, we managed to repair the damage.
However, the 40,000-strong force of General Tilly and Spinola, who were crouching down in the Palatinate region and preparing for the actual third battle, was still a formidable enemy that we could not deal with with our own strength alone.
In the Battle of Baeksan, we were able to achieve victory while making the most of our various strengths against the carelessness of the enemy, but it is unreasonable to hope for such a good luck again.
In response, I made use of Friedrich as much as possible to promote alliances with neighboring countries, and actually achieved some results in this regard. Even so, it was still not enough to reverse the unfavorable situation.
There is a limit to requesting assistance from other countries.
Although, as a result of a strong appeal by slightly exaggerating the exact cause and realistic danger, we were able to rip off a lot more than the original.
With this alone, it was not enough to take on the risk of Spinola, Tilly, and, crucially, ‘that person’ who would appear sooner or later.
In the end, what is needed is to squeeze out our own strength as much as possible and gather it in one place.
To do this, it was necessary to gather the maximum amount of resources, regardless of the enemy, in a different way than before.
I knew of one tool that was very useful in this situation.
In modern society, there are many people who have been disgraced for doing this wrong.
If you succeed, you can see benefits beyond imagination, but if you fail, you can suffer a huge blow that you can’t handle.
But… fortunately in my current situation, I didn’t have to worry about that risk.
The reason was simple.
Unlike those who gamble when they don’t even know if the stock price will go up or down tomorrow, I knew very well how the whole situation was going to play out.