256 – Anecdotes – Grand National Politics of the Kreutel Fathers and Sons (2)
Ciel von Kreutel, my father said this is the spirit needed when negotiating with an enemy country.
When negotiating with a neutral country, you must make concessions and find an agreement, but when negotiating with an enemy country, you said to use the brinkmanship tactic.
So when I asked him what the brinkmanship strategy was, he smiled and said, ‘It’s about putting the opponent on the edge of a cliff and pushing them away, creating a situation and giving them the fear of death.’
Then my father told me about a book he had not written himself, but about the Duke of Brussels, whom he had previously been close to rivaling.
‘The Duke of Brussels had many enemies because of the civil war caused by the competition for the throne within the empire, and I just had a lot of money and soldiers. So he threatened me and he could be a big threat to him if I used all the resources and circumstances I had. As a result, he got the county of Nantes in his hands.’
I understand the concept after listening to it explained so many times, but I’m at a loss when I think about how to apply it in practice.
Still, what seems to be a gap in the Britannia case that I have been assigned this time is that the Grand Dukes of Brittany and the King of the United Kingdom are maintaining a very uncomfortable symbiosis.
I was sure that if I took advantage of that gap, I would complete what my father had instructed.
As I was reading a book written by my father in the cabin while clearing my mind, Lincoln, the only son of the Earl of Baltic, came into the cabin.
“Soon we will arrive at Chainsport, the giant castle of Prince Chainz! Your Highness, Crown Prince, prepare to disembark.”
At that, I folded the book, put it in the treasure chest, locked the key, and went out.
At the same time, I felt the pressure of starting my first official duties as the Crown Prince, but on the other hand, I was also looking forward to being able to try politics with my own hands, which I had only learned through books and theories.
With those feelings in mind, I went out and looked at Lincoln as if nothing was wrong and asked.
“Okay, Lincoln. By the way, your father seems to have told you to prepare because you are old enough to go to the academy. Can I come with you?”
“Anyway, I’ve already passed the exam, so I’m going to be enrolled next spring, and I got permission from His Majesty without my father’s knowledge, so it’s okay, Your Highness. So my father won’t have to worry about finding my whereabouts. At most, it will end with a few blows to the calf.”
He’s a good guy with strong loyalty and his father’s trust.
Curiosity about new things always preceded study, so I couldn’t come to my senses, and finally persuaded my father.
“Bad b*tch, then, have you investigated the Grand Duke of Chains who rules this territory you will meet today? You may not even know that.”
“Of course. I’ve heard that she reveals women as much as the legendary Earl of Schwein, but she excels in commerce and politics, and was the first to introduce a factory in the United Kingdom. And he’s a very ambitious man.”
Considering that the boy’s father is the closest aide to the emperor and a count, he is just an ordinary boy who has not inherited the title yet.
So, the only information you can get about Prince Chains is probably the collection of rumors floating around.
Combining them all together, if you look at the fact that I have guessed a person similar to the information that the Imperial Intelligence Service has investigated, it is clear that I heard the news that I was going to Brittanya, and the four rulers, the core of Britannia, or to be precise, the three grand dukes and one king It must have been a thorough investigation into the Grand Duke.
“The determination of her ambition was based on four years ago when she asked Her Highness, Princess Victoria, to send her 10-year-old second son as her hostage and son-in-law. If that person had no interest in the throne, he would have taken a daughter-in-law from the King of Brittany, the King of the United Kingdom, or from another Grand Duchess.”
This is a legendary incident in the past, in a social church, in front of the messenger who brought the letter to his father, he personally burned the letter with a candle to make sure he refused.
It’s a story that everyone knows, but just the fact that you analyzed the opponent’s propensity through it.
He is also a pretty great guy.
“Okay. Because I won’t return it. Instead, don’t touch an aristocratic woman while being a b*tch. If you touch her wrongly and something happens that you need to take responsibility for, in the worst case, His Majesty the Father might hang you.”
“Is there anything, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
After reaching the port, we walked to the lodgings prepared by Archduke Chains.
**
As Lincoln said, the banquet hall of Archduke Chains was very luxurious.
A statue of himself made of marble imported from Creutel, a chandelier, a piano, and a velvet rug.
These things were luxuriously and harmoniously arranged, and the participants, even the servants, were dressed in clean, clean, new clothes.
In addition, all the food served in the banquet hall was not the traditional food of Brittany, but the banquet food of the Northern, French, Romanian, and Creutel empires.
As the crown prince of the Croytel Empire, said to be the richest on the European continent, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
I was slicing the steak with such a texture that it seemed like it would melt in my mouth while feeling astonished inside, when a trumpet sounded and a loud voice rang out.
“His Highness Grand von Chainz, the grand duke of the Principality of Chainz, has arrived. Please set an example!”
As the crown prince, I have a higher title than the grand duke, so I showed my respect by putting down the tableware and standing up.
Lincoln and other Imperial entourage and everyone in the banquet hall got down on one knee and bowed their heads.
The Grand Duke looked at me behind everyone’s eyes and came straight to me, saying hello.
“This is Prince Chains, Grand von Chainz. Your Highness the Crown Prince. I am sorry that I came to visit you suddenly and could only treat you so simple.”
“No. It is an honor to be treated beyond measure, Grand Duke. Each dish is especially delicious. How did you make it?”
All the furniture and clothes in the banquet hall seemed to be made from a mixture of styles from other empires and the Chains Empire.
But their cooking is famous for being the most tasteless in the world.
At the same time, those who know that their cuisine is the best in the world are the United Kingdom.
But it must have been a lot of agony and effort to put down that pride and serve such a delicious dish.
“hahahaha, thank you. In fact, it was difficult to recruit a chef who worked at the French Imperial Palace for 10 years.”
“I see. So what I ate was the famous French Empire style steak? Somehow, it was soft and tasty, as if it melted in your mouth. I can’t do this. Can I have one more?”
“If you wait while chatting with me, I will prepare it for you. And maybe you’re not interested in women?”
My father told me to refuse if I didn’t want to be responsible because the aristocrat who pushed a woman into me, who didn’t have a wife yet, was ‘a guy who pretends to make a mistake at night and puts his chaste daughter into the bedroom’.
“I have a fiancé, and I have sworn to be chaste until marriage.”
“I see, the beauties of the Empire are beautiful too… Chains… No, even the women of Brittanya are no less unfortunate.”
So we chatted about miscellaneous things while watching the other vassals and nobles read the mood and leave the table one by one.
And when, before we knew it, only the two of us were left at the table we were sitting at.
Duke Chains opened his mouth with a heavy voice unlike before.
“So why are you here, Your Highness? Honestly, it doesn’t seem necessary for the Crown Prince of the Creutel Empire to come to such a shabby place.”
Looking at him with a completely different atmosphere from a few minutes ago, I was also nervous.
I tried my best to calm myself down and answered with a smile.
“It’s simple. I came because I wanted to establish a good relationship with the United Kingdom, or rather, with the Grand Duke of Chainz, a key force in the United Kingdom.”
“If it’s a good relationship. What relationship do you mean specifically? Would you like to take my daughter here? All right, I’ll introduce you right now to Her Highness the Crown Prince. You can cuddle in your bedroom tonight if you like. Please don’t throw it away.”
If the father had a guy who said he would take Victoria into an arranged marriage, that person would dig her character from the ground up before making a decision.
That’s a peculiar thing about fathers. Most of the nobles don’t have any major flaws with men, but it’s common for them to do a rough investigation and hand over their daughters if they match their family status.
Anyway, isn’t it too harsh to say that it’s passed like this?
“No. Even if it’s not an arranged marriage, isn’t there a way for us to have a good relationship?”
Having said that, Archduke Chainz leaned over and further reduced the distance between me and me.
Seeing him like that, I quietly whispered.
“Actually, these days, there are so many iron weapons and armor left in our empire. I wonder if you would be willing to buy it for a bargain.”