257 – A very obvious event (1)
“Baron Cologne, get a drink.”
With those words, I tilted my glass and accepted the drink.
It was nice to be free from Otto on Christmas, but instead, I had to fawn over the nobles belonging to Princess Maria’s faction…
There is really nothing in this world that is easy.
I feel like I want to rest at home and cook Christmas food with my wife, or invite everyone over for the first time in a while and have a big drink… What is this?
Still, I couldn’t show that kind of expression, so I forced a smile.
“Thank you, Excellency the Marquis of Schweig.”
The Marquis of Schweig also patted my shoulder with an awkward smile on his face when entertaining an outsider.
“hehehehe, why are you being so stiff? What are we doing, you man? “Aren’t you a noble who serves Her Highness Princess Maria with one mind?”
“I am honored.”
“Even though we are not one family, we follow the same cause with the same heart. “We are not related by blood, but in some ways, we can say that our relationship is closer than family.”
Awkward smiles, exaggerated gestures, acting as if you are welcoming a downpour, etc…
That guy absolutely doesn’t trust me right now.
“I’m honored that you think of me that way.”
“No, anyway, there’s something I want to ask you. “Are you okay?”
“Let’s ask. “I will answer anything.”
“Prince Otto, when are you going to betray him? “You have to let us know so we can move accordingly.”
Even now, I often think about hitting Prince Otto on the back of the head and really betraying him.
That damn human made me risk my life to carry out a fake traitor mission without even asking for my understanding…
In a feudal fantasy world, I was asked to do something that seemed to be a bit over the line.
‘Do I look like some kind of neighborhood drum?’
However, there is no guarantee that I will be able to cut off Otto’s head by betraying him this way.
And there is no guarantee that I, who betrayed Otto, will not stab Princess Maria in the back again.
So, if your numbers are a little off, you will not receive a reward but will simply die with the loss of everything.
‘Which one you choose is a thorny path.’
“That’s a bit of a difficult question.”
When Schweig heard those words, he completely hid the kind smile he had been showing just a moment ago.
Instead, it raised both eyes and showed caution towards me.
As expected, he said it was true that he approached me to find out if I was truly planning to betray him.
Well, if there’s someone who suddenly approaches me saying he’s going to betray my country, of course I won’t trust him.
After a moment of silence, Schweig shrugged his shoulders and asked again.
“So you’re saying you can’t answer? Then, I don’t know, but Her Majesty the Princess may be suspicious of you…”
Don’t sell Maria out, just speak obediently.
‘I can’t trust you if you can’t answer properly.’
I don’t know why nobles like to talk back and forth like this.
So, I will give you the very clear answer you want.
“His Excellency, Marquis of Schweig, if I betray you right now, I will only be able to benefit as much as the three territories I hold as Baron of Cologne.”
“Hmm, right. Still, isn’t the Lord’s Territory a place where more than 5,000 people can be conscripted if it is properly stabilized? “That alone will be of great help to Her Majesty the Princess.”
About 5,000 people are enough to change the course of the war depending on how you use them.
So, of course, I have no choice but to covet it.
“If you bring mercenaries, the number is up to 6,500. But if I were to betray you now, His Excellency the Marquis of Schweig, or rather, His Highness Princess Maria, would lose a great opportunity.”
Hearing those words, the Marquis of Schweig stroked his beard and asked.
“What opportunity are you losing?”
“This means I will lose the opportunity to stab Prince Otto in the back of the neck. But when Her Majesty’s army and Otto’s army clash, what will happen if I betray you?”
Last time, Baron Dilt betrayed the Second Prince Prime with great timing.
Thanks to this, the tide of the war, which had been quite tense, suddenly tilted towards our side, and we were able to win.
“…… Now that I think about it, that’s true. “Then, when will you betray?”
As soon as Schweig cut him off, he took it right back.
“It is either Otto leading a large army to attack Her Highness, or vice versa. So please understand that it is difficult to tell you the exact time right now.”
“I see. As expected, Kyeong had everything in mind.”
Have you finally cleared your doubts, you damn bastard?
Last time, he didn’t bring a single bodyguard, he pretended to trust me, but now he’s trying to trick me again.
If I get the chance, I will cut off your head someday.
“Thank you for trusting us.”
“Your situation and plan all make sense, so I will trust you now.”
No, that story is for Maria to talk about. That’s not your story?
I was in a situation where I couldn’t just spit out the words that were on my mind, so I barely held back.
Schweig poured me another glass of wine.
Then he brought his face very close and whispered in my ear.
“If you want to continue to gain trust not only now but also in the future, cut off Otto’s head to prove your loyalty to Her Majesty the Princess. “Do your best and work hard.”
I know that he is the person who holds the highest position as a subject in the first princess’s faction, but he is worried and sleepy as if he is the princess’s father.
While walking down the street, you accidentally step on a stone, fall, and break your leg.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
After Schweik left, another group of nobles approached me.
“Baron Cologne, I never thought you would come to the Christmas banquet. “How did you come here?”
Their extreme caution towards me was not visible on their faces.
“I have long since made up my mind to serve Her Highness Maria, not Prince Otto. So, I cheated and came here. “To show my loyalty to Your Majesty.”
“Is that so?”
I lied without even putting saliva in my mouth.
“Yes.”
Then one baron started the gossip.
“Well, Prince Otto only talks about women and has no dignity. And there were so many doubts.”
Someone said that it was as natural as breathing for nobles to gossip like women.
Given the opportunity to criticize Prince Otto, he begins to criticize him very viciously.
“When His Majesty the Elector was still alive, I offered fruit to Prince Otto. Why don’t you hand the fruit over to the taster? “Even though I picked up something and ate it first to prove that it wasn’t poisonous.”
When you become a member of the royal family, you are under 24-hour security because you never know when and where someone might try to kill you.
Of course, there is a possibility that the food may be poisoned, so a servant is also nearby to check for poison by eating it.
However, the person in question ate it in front of their eyes, so it is difficult to suspect whether it is poisonous…
‘A bastard who doesn’t trust people like a bandanna and a cow-bucket…’
Could it be that you sent me here because you don’t trust me, Baron Cologne, and are planning to deal with me?
“Oh my God, how could that be possible?”
The Baron who started the story got excited.
From Noble mtl dot com
“If such a narrow-minded person becomes emperor, he will undoubtedly persecute our nobles. That’s why I followed Her Highness the Princess.”
At those words, the nobles, including me, clapped their hands and pretended to like her to show her loyalty to the princess.
“Isn’t Baron Cologne also tired of seeing things like that?”
Otto doesn’t trust many people.
“There are many places where people are shameless when dealing with people. No, if I have made a contribution, I should be given preferential treatment in consideration of that contribution…”
I sighed.
“What is this? They blatantly kicked me out of the core of politics. “If this continues, you never know when you might be falsely accused.”
To be honest, no matter how much Otto exposes women, or whether Inseong is as crazy as Dong Tak from Romance of the Three Kingdoms…
The important thing is that that crazy guy’s knife doesn’t touch me.
But looking at what I’m doing now, I feel like they’re really going to purge me…
“I have not committed a crime, but I have to worry about being purged. “You made a good decision.”
“It is my wish to cut off Otto’s head.”
“Then today, let’s have a drink while praying for Otto’s overthrow.”
So, I drank about ten glasses of wine with them and headed to the balcony to get some fresh air.
The other nobles are all drunk and making jokes, but I, who have the trained body of an expert, cannot get this drunk.
No, actually, I don’t even feel uncomfortable.
In novels, he meets a beautiful woman by chance on a balcony like this, falls in love with her at first sight, and begins a passionate love affair… But this is a cruel reality, so of course there will be no such dramatic meeting.
“Ha, Otto you son of a b*tch.”
This is not a story that anyone told me to hear.
I just spit it out because I was curious to see what this trash was like.
And Maria, who suddenly appeared, answered those words.
“Auto is basically trash.”