248 – Aftercare (2)
Still, I thought there would be something bothering me because my brother died, but I didn’t feel any unpleasant feelings from Otto.
His face was full of smiles, and his shoulders and chest were very straight.
They say that a civil war is ultimately a war where you die and I live, but it makes me sick to my heart to see families with mixed blood fighting each other like that.
“Oh, Baron Cologne.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Otto patted my shoulder and smiled deeply.
“Your performance was truly impressive this time. “I never would have guessed that he contributed greatly to destroying the right wing and captured Count Hausen alive.”
If you say that you were lucky, His Royal Highness Prince Otto will feel embarrassed.
But if I say that I’m great, I’ll feel embarrassed and work will become a hassle…
In the end, all I can say is Prince Otto, praising you for being great.
“This is because His Majesty placed our nobles in appropriate places and trusted them. “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have had the chance to play.”
The Fourth Prince smiled after getting the answer he wanted.
“Is that so? Thank you for saying that. But all of this was possible because of great vassals like you.”
Then, the prince walked around, grabbed each of the nobles sitting in their seats, and praised each of their achievements.
The words that came were compliments, so the words that came back were more of an excessive praise for the prince.
Even when he was a mercenary leader, he had to take politics into consideration to some extent before taking action, but here, even just breathing contains political elements without any exaggeration.
“A person with the qualities of a hero like His Royal Highness needs a beautiful woman.”
“Hum hum. Exactly?”
“It just so happens that my daughter has admired you for a long time.”
Look at that. You’re not even putting saliva in your mouth and you’re saying things that won’t even work for a dog.
After exchanging flattery for quite some time, Otto sat down in his seat at the head of the table.
“Everyone had a hard time subduing Second Prince Franz, the leader of a group of traitors. Thanks to this, the order of the empire, which was in disarray due to the civil war, was somewhat restored.”
Everyone, including me, stood up and bowed our heads to show respect.
Then Estelle shouted hurray on behalf of us.
“Long live the Rhine-Palatinate Empire! Long live His Highness, Fourth Prince Otto!”
Otto, who must have practiced several times so far, held out his hand in a very dignified manner and stopped us from shouting hurrahs.
“All of this is thanks to the gentlemen. Therefore, as a monarch, I will generously reward those who punished those wicked people.”
I salivated at those words.
Honestly, all the nobles who participated in the civil war are silent and do not show any signs.
Everyone got rewarded and made a fortune, and among all the people here, I was the only one who didn’t make a fortune.
He entered the war with the intention of using this opportunity to expand his family’s wealth, territory, and influence.
“But before that, let us first announce the treatment of those who abandoned the traitors and came to the right monarch. “Baron Dilt and Viscount Prinz are guilty of serving a traitor so greatly that they should be beheaded to atone for it.”
After saying that, he smiled and continued talking.
“However, the situation is still too urgent to kill them like this, and I don’t think it is right to punish those who admitted to their grave mistake and returned. So, I will not cut off their heads or give them any disadvantages, but Baron Dilt and Viscount Prinz will have to fight as hard as they can, risking their lives, to wash away their dishonor.”
He had said long before the battle that he would take our side, and he couldn’t punish those who stabbed him in the back at the right time.
Rather, if you put them on the same side and give them a ‘new opportunity’, they can get good allies who will follow in their footsteps and attack the royal family they serve…
Well, a traitor in name is a traitor, so you have to pretend to severely reprimand him to save face.
“That’s a wise decision!”
“Even those who made wrong choices, including those two, will try to serve His Highness, the right monarch.”
“You must be a saint to be so generous!”
It’s even cute to see him play saba saba so well despite not being a noble.
What’s more, Prince Otto, who is receiving that flattery, look at his expression.
The shoulders and bridge of the nose became as high as Mt. Baekdu.
If you keep doing this, won’t your shoulders break but the bridge of your nose break like Pinocchio’s nose?
His Royal Highness opened the document and began to read it in a sonorous voice.
“Hmm, I will grant the County of Hausen to Margrave Estelle. And Count Frost was given the Viscounty of Werner…”
As expected, the Margrave is treated very generously.
No matter how much they belong to the Margrave’s faction, they give away a whole county.
Well, that nobleman has a lot of vassals to support, so does he need to receive that much to make ends meet?
“Finally, I will grant the Baron of Kreutz to the Baron of Cologne in consideration of his contribution in capturing Count Hausen, destroying his right wing, and defeating the large army of the Count Hanseatic.”
Although other barons and viscounts made great achievements this time, virtually no one received an entire barony.
At the most, I received about 2/3 of a barony, and at a minimum, about half a baronage. This is a lot for the size of the unit I lead.
“Also, I think we can start attacking the first princess faction now. “What do you think?”
The first princess is said to be popular among the people because of her beauty…
That doesn’t mean much when you’re dealing with an enemy.
What’s important is whether or not you can take off that princess’s head.
So, I decided to honestly present my opinion.
“Isn’t the First Princess fighting hard against other factions right now?”
“That’s not true.”
“Then you should aim for when both of you collapse from exhaustion. “If we invade first, the First Princess will join hands with her enemy just to survive.”
Our faction is gaining momentum at a rapid pace.
Even so, there is no need to jump into a dangerous situation and create more enemies.
Furthermore, time is needed to stabilize the territory and allow the soldiers to rest.
Everyone seemed to have similar thoughts and supported my opinion.
“I understand very well that His Highness the 4th Prince wants to end the civil war as quickly as possible. However, it is not yet time.”
Even Count Frost added his words.
“It’s good to be full of motivation, but we must stabilize the lives of the people who have been exploited by traitors in this land. “Please wait a moment.”
Margrave Estelle personally stepped forward and politely asked the prince.
“If we step forward now, it will be advantageous to First Princess Maria. To become emperor, show the virtue of waiting. And we have made appropriate arrangements for your Majesty.”
Otto clicked his tongue at those words.
“I can’t help it. Then, according to the words of the Lords, we will refrain from fighting wars for the time being.”
His opinion had been broken and he could have taken a bad attitude, but there was a gentle smile on Otto’s face.
I was planning to reveal his presence with just these words.
“If the Margrave says that, there is nothing we can do. Then, our military will take a break for the next half a year, no, a year, to stabilize the territory. However, we must be prepared to run out at any time if the First Princess faction is shaken. This is the end of this complicated meeting. “You all had a hard time.”
After Otto finished the meeting, the nobles dispersed in groups and started chatting.
“Hey, congratulations. “If the Count continues to act like this, he will soon become a marquis.”
Count Frost answered while fiddling with his beard.
“hehehehe, what are you talking about? “Marquis, marquis… it’s still a long way off.”
Nodding your head back and forth is telling you to do more.
Anyone who does not even know such basic principles is disqualified as a nobleman…
“May I ask your Excellency, the future Marquess, a favor?”
“Two is fine.”
“Actually, my son is about to get married, but I don’t have a suitable partner…”
“Uh huh, is that so?”
It is noble to talk about marriage as a human being who understands the duties of an aristocrat.
And then a baron approached me.
“Aren’t you Baron Dresden?”
“Baron Cologne, if you are going to live as an aristocrat of the empire from now on… Wouldn’t it be right to have ties to a noble family?”
……. Why? Should I?
Rather, it is too early to do such a thing.
Because the civil war is not over yet, and the nobles tend to be close to each other through strategic marriages.
But to put it bluntly, if we make a mistake in this type of political fight from now on…
After the civil war, they could be purged just like all the public figures were cut off…
Besides, I don’t want to do anything like an arranged marriage.
“Well, I’ll do it when I have children.”
From Noble mtl dot com