Episode 144 35. War of the Crown (3)
When the church expressed support for the second prince who participated in the War of the Crown, the entire empire was in shock.
In the meantime, the denomination that had treated the Ismail family as a pagan group and secretly oppressed them suddenly changed its attitude.
Also, when the papal army was formed to support the second prince, there was an uproar in the camp of the two princes who participated in the war for the crown.
The second prince Jinyoung, who had previously thought nothing of it, suddenly rose to prominence.
In addition, the Lyon Guild, which had left the second prince unattended, hired a large-scale mercenary unit to support the second prince, and the situation became even worse.
The first prince, who had already reached the limit due to the extreme confrontation with the third prince’s camp, could not hide his sorrow as he watched the exhausted and wretched staff.
‘How did this happen… … .’
“Why did you change your position now?”
The thing I didn’t understand the most was the church.
Lyon Guild, since they have already expressed their position for a long time, there was no big surprise.
The sudden change of attitude in the denomination that had been oppressing Ismail as if to death could not help but question the first prince and others.
“What the hell did you do… … .”
Then one of the staff members with me told me about what I had heard here and there.
It was about the Lyon Guild, which was closely related to the denomination.
“By the way, I know that the Lyon Guild was the force that supported the extension of the Lyon Cathedral. At the time, it was in Lyon, so I thought it was just a guild force supporting their local parish. Looking at the Holy Father who was elected this time, it seems that this was all a big picture of the head of that guild.”
When I heard it, it was true, but the first prince still didn’t seem to believe it.
“how… … .”
Had I known that things were going to be like this, I wouldn’t have been in such a confrontation with Kalman.
The second prince, who was just in a hurry to hide, came out like this… … .
Wouldn’t this be as if two prey were fighting and only the hunter who suddenly appeared would benefit?
‘What should I do?’
It was a serious situation, as if a fire had gone out in the foot.
If it stays like this, it was a plate that would give the second prince a victory in the crown war with the papal army and mercenary troops at the fore.
“What are you going to do?”
Trinity was also extremely fatigued from frequent battles.
It was also due to the fact that he had a fierce battle with several generals located in the opposing camp, but the biggest reason was that he used a lot of energy in the battle with Isabella, a wizard from Sinclair a few days ago.
The first prince, who could not immediately answer Trinity’s question, raised his head and glanced at the staff, who were only staring at him.
They, too, were not faces with the right solution.
‘Even if we were to unite with Kalman now, Kalman might respond. If you think about the relationship in the past… … .’
The picture was probably not good.
In this war for the crown, which I thought would be a battle between myself and Kalman, I would feel this sense of defeat with an unexpected twist.
But I couldn’t lose like this.
Losing here means death, so the First Prince was desperately thinking about how to get out of this difficult situation.
‘If you want to turn the situation around, you have to change the position of the denomination that suddenly changed its attitude.’
“First, I will truce with Kalman and then I will personally meet with the Holy Father.”
That was the best solution the 1st Prince could offer.
The staff seemed to have agreed, but no one spoke out.
Everything was affirmed in silence.
Then one voice spoke up.
“If that is His Majesty’s will, I will immediately propose a temporary truce to the third prince camp. Perhaps the 2nd Prince Jinyoung, who has suddenly emerged from the scene, is also concerned and will unconditionally accept our request for a ceasefire.”
“It should be like that. And if the denomination changes its position… … .”
Still, it seemed obvious that it was going to be a rip off.
First of all, he and Kalman’s camp were in a state of exhaustion, and the Lyon Guild, which had abundant financial power for the second prince, was holding on to it, so if he went to a long-term battle, he had no choice but to give strength to the second prince.
“And you should meet the guild leader instead of me.”
Trinity gave a negative reaction to the words of the 1st prince.
“Will meeting you make a difference? Have you already met that guild leader?”
“Are you going to be like this? We should meet and do something.”
“What are you going to do when we meet?”
Dealing with the guild leader was the best picture, but it seemed impossible because he was already under the protection of Lee Han and Ismail.
‘What should I do with that guild leader? It’s hard to deal with him physically. Assassination is probably difficult.’
“Isn’t it difficult to kill?”
When asked openly, Trinity shook her head in a negative way.
“It will be difficult. you know That’s when I called Lee Han.”
“He’s a pain in the ass. But I have to deal with it somehow. If you can’t cook it, you can do it in any way.”
Then one of the staff members who were watching raised a voice.
“If the guild leader himself is having a hard time, why not take family members or other people hostage? I heard you got married recently.”
“marriage? Is the guild leader married?”
The news of the guild chief’s marriage was not the first prince’s interest.
So, when I asked about something I didn’t know, the staff who informed the news immediately answered.
“Yes, I know that.”
“That’s good. If it’s difficult for you, you can take that wife hostage.”
Then Trinity, who had been listening quietly, showed his dislike.
“Do you really have to do that?”
It was not desirable from her point of view, but from the perspective of the first prince, the situation was so desperate that she had to do such a frivolous thing.
“If I lose here, I am dead. If you go later, you may be criticized for that.”
If you kidnap the guild chief’s wife, the relationship with the guild chief after the Crown War will be in trouble.
But what was more important to him was to win this war in the first place.
“But to me, winning this crown war is more important.”
Just in case, she asked her staff about the woman the guild leader was married to.
If you were a wife or child of a famous family, you would have problems.
“Where did you come from and where did you get married?”
“As far as I know… … I know you are a commoner.”
“commons? Are you married to a common man?”
“yes.”
She made an incomprehensible expression.
Although the guild leader was from commoners, there was no reason for a person with so much money to refuse a noble wife and wife.
“Are you really a commoner?”
The 1st Prince asked again to confirm that he had doubts about this part.
“Yes, I am from common people. That’s what I heard.”
“okay? I’m really surprised. Still, I would have been able to get married enough to come from a family that is comparable to a self-writer.”
“Oh, now I remember, it’s the secretary I worked with.”
“secretary?”
Trinity said something.
“I guess we met each other while we were working.”
It was not important to them who the guild leader married.
“Perhaps Ismail doesn’t even care about the guild leader’s wife. So I’ll leave that to you.”
It was absurd, but it was unavoidable for her, who still hoped for a victory in the War of the Crown.
‘I don’t really like it, but… … .’
“okay. I’ll do that. Instead, you can’t just kill them for the sake of the future.”
The first prince agreed with that statement.
“I’m just trying to scare you, I don’t want to become an enemy of the guild leader.”
“Then I will take responsibility for this.”
The first prince, who shook his head, thought that he had found his own breakthrough, so he drew a picture of his meeting with the pope in his mind.
‘If these two things go well, the second prince will go back to the way it was before.’
a day later.
Due to the sudden rise of the second prince camp, a temporary truce was signed between the first and third prince camps.
When news of the ceasefire was heard, the first prince hurriedly went to the Imperial Palace and asked for a meeting with the Pope, but somehow the new pope continued to refuse to meet with the first prince, and he stayed near the Imperial Palace for a few days, wishing to meet with the Pope. In the end, the first prince had no choice but to return empty-handed.
‘If you don’t even want to meet, you probably don’t want to change your mind.’
According to rumors, the third prince, like himself, sent a person to ask for an interview with the pope, but he continued to be rejected like himself.
‘I went to see him in person, but he didn’t meet me. Would you like to meet him just because he sent his subordinates? It’s a no-brainer.’
Anyway, the first prince, who returned without results, put his hopes on the last card, the guild chief’s wife.
‘It’s a pain in the ass to have the Pope. If you look at it, the reason that the denomination’s position changed was all the work of the guild leader.’
He couldn’t change the position of the denomination because he could not meet the pope, but if he could kidnap the guild leader’s wife and threaten the guild leader, it seemed possible to change the position of the denomination.
‘Please be like that.’
a few days later.
The news delivered to him was shocking and terrifying.
She is her sister who left to kidnap the guild leader’s wife and who will later become his wife.
He kidnapped the guild leader’s wife in the world, and was rather taken hostage there.
The first prince who received the report had an expression that he did not understand at all.
“that is… … what are you talking about? Trinity has been caught.”
Trinity Tepez.
She inherited the same blood as herself from the Tepez family, and was also an extremely powerful person with the nickname Queen of Blades.
But it was not that such a sister came back after failing at work, but rather was caught!
Unless even the head of Ismail came forward, such a thing would not have been possible.
“that is… … A person called the guild chief’s wife… … .”
The general reporting to the 1st Prince was one of those who followed Trinity to Lyon to kidnap the guild chief’s wife.
“It was Ismail.”
“Well, what did you say now?”
“The guild leader’s wife was Ismail. Whether it’s a direct line of the family or not, Princess Trinity suffered a hardship and was eventually defeated by the guild leader’s wife.”
It couldn’t have been a shock.
When he heard that he was married to a commoner, who would have known that his wife was from Ismail?
“Is that true?”
“Yes, and the guild leader’s wife freed me and told me to tell my majesty this way.”
A general who wanted to report something was about to die.
Even if you bring the guild leader’s wife to him and give it to him, he’ll send a threatening message to the country where he’s wearing the hat.
“If you don’t give up on the Crown War, I will kill Princess Trinity… … .”
“… … .”
It was the sound of the sky falling.
Fortunately, both of the things that I thought were a breakthrough have failed.
“… … .”
The first prince stood silent for a while in front of the general reporting the events in Lyon.
Then, unconsciously, he swallowed saliva through his throat and then lowered his head.
Looking at his expression, he seemed to have given up on everything beyond being serious.
‘how… … .’
As my head turns white, the only feeling I get is a deep sense of defeat.
It was the first defeat of my life.