The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

It’s been a month since Gordon got the letter.

Finally, Gordon has reached out to us.

“He sure took his time.”

“Thanks to that, our preparation is almost ready.”

“Well, there’s still a lot of work to do though.”

Our preparation is almost ready.

However, the negotiation with the Narbe Ritter is still hasn’t completed yet. They have been out on a secret exercise so we couldn’t reach them.

After this, I will ask for Elna’s help to set up a meeting with them. But before that, we have to negotiate with Gordon first.

“I will leave that to you, Nii-san.”

“I think that Leo would be more suited to such a thing though……think about it, who would follow someone like me?”

“Elna thinks that you are more suitable than me right? I’m sure that will definitely be the case.”

I sometimes don’t understand what Elna is thinking.

However, Elna’s intuition is reliable.

“I will do what I can…….don’t expect too much alright?”

“No no, I expect a lot from you here.”

“And I just told you not to.”

With such an exchange, we arrived at Gordon’s room.

He is waiting for us inside.

It’s him after all, there shouldn’t be any pointless talk here.

“According to Sebas, it seems that the strategist called Sonia has been arrested.”

“Asking for someone’s help then arresting them, that’s so like Aniue.”

“Yeah, he probably didn’t like her proposal.”

Among Eric, Gordon, and Zandra, the one who least listens to the advice from people around them is Gordon.

It’s not that Gordon is stupid. He is simply the most idealist out of all of them.

The problem with that is the fact that his ideal is so far removed from others. If you want to support Gordon then you have to grasp his ideal first.

No matter how excellent a person is, it is impossible for them to read Gordon’s intention the first time they meet. After all, even us, his own brothers still don’t know what he is thinking.

“Alright, shall we.”

“Yeah.”

Leo knocks at the door and enters the room.

Inside, Gordon is waiting in his chair.

On the table in front of him is a letter.

“Finally huh.”

“……Let’s get straight to the point. Can we have that letter back?”

Gordon silently nods to Leo’s question.

He then states his condition.

“I don’t mind returning it but there is one condition. Don’t interfere with my business.”

“We can’t possibly agree to such a vague condition right, Aniue.”

Gordon stares at me when I opened my mouth.

I confidently look back at him.

We need it to be more specific. If we make such a broad promise to not interfere with him, he will bring it up over and over again as an excuse.

“Then what kind of condition would you be satisfied with?”

“Right. Please set a period for it.”

“Hou.”

Gordon grins.

Perhaps he finds my proposal to be convenient.

When we are talking about the time period, people would think about a day or a month but what’s currently on Gordon’s mind right now is probably different.

“Then [Never interfere with me during the war]. How about that?”

“….it seems you are not willing to compromise any more than this right.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Gordon nods to Leo’s words.

From Gordon’s tone, he thinks that it is natural that a war will happen. An already decided outcome.

He probably judges that it would be fine as long as we do not interfere with him during that time.

“There’s no other way. We will comply with that condition.”

“Then just take the letter. If you break your promise, no one will negotiate with you ever again. Don’t do anything stupid now.”

“I understand.”

“Let’s properly record this in a document then.”

Gordon quickly wrote down the condition and signed on a paper. He then urges Leo to sign it as well.

Leo gives his signature and picks up the letter on the table.

Seeing that, Gordon looked at me.

“Arnold. You sign it too.”

“Me too?”

“Of course. There’s no point if he’s the only one who signs this. You two are one and the same after all.”

“I don’t think that there will be any meaning to it though.”

Saying so, I grabbed a pen and quickly signed it.

With both our signature, we can no longer interfere with Gordon during the war.

A question suddenly came to me so I asked Gordon.

“Aniue. By war do you only mean the next one?”

“Of course.”

“Is that so. I will write it down then.”

“Hmph, do whatever you want.”

I add to the condition that it only applies to the next war.

As I planned.

We left Gordon’s room without saying a single word.

“It went well somehow huh.”

“He wasn’t cautious about it after all.”

Gordon simply didn’t care because he thought that it would be useless no matter what we do.

Does he think that everything will be fine as long as the war happens or perhaps he is confident that he can crush any petty tricks that we throw at him?

Well, it’s fine either way.

“Now the condition is met.”

The rest will depend on my effort.

————————————–

“My sincere apologies for being late.”

“Seriously.”

Leo lowers his head as he gives his apologies.

Father received the letter in a somewhat displeased manner.

As the Emperor, Father has many works to do. That’s why he never interfered with the task he gave to Leo.

He doesn’t have time to do such a thing. The large monster outbreak has affected the entire empire and the East is still under reconstruction. To add to that, demons appeared in the South and the earl house of Sitterheim has disappeared. 

There were many things for the Emperor to do that’s why Father entrusted Leo with such a task. And the result of the said task was delayed.

“…….Curse you, Duke Kruger.”

After reading the letter, Father passes it to Franz as if he wants to throw it away right then and there.

Receiving it, Franz also looks over its contents.

The letter is the accusation from Earl Sitterheim. Centered around Duke Kruger, the most powerful noble in the South, the Southern Nobles were connected to the kidnapping organization and committed a lot of crimes. The same was true of Earl Sitterheim.

Even if he was being threatened, it doesn’t change what he did.

Still, he tried to correct his mistake. His courage is something to be celebrated.

“Regarding Earl Sitterheim, should we strip him of his title because he couldn’t protect Your Majesty’s decree to protect the immigrants……..”

“That’s right. The fact that he lent his hand to commit such a crime will not disappear. I will deprive Earl Sitterheim of his title.”

Well, that’s natural I guess.

Courage should be celebrated but the sin he committed will not disappear.

I take a look behind me.

The face of Rebecca who was kneeling behind us turned blue.

Perhaps she was already prepared for this. Earl Sitterheim threw away his honor to do the right thing. There’s no restoration for that this late in the game.

However, such Rebecca is still pitiful.

While I was thinking so, Leo started talking to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty. May I say something?”

“What?”

“I would like to reward Sir Rebecca. It was her achievement that the letter was able to be delivered to Your Majesty’s hand.”

“Hm, that’s right.”

Saying so, Father nodded.

It seems that Leo promised one of the knights of Earl Sitterheim to restore his honor but it would be difficult to do that.

Still, there’s a way.

“Then I, the Eighth Prince, Leonard Lakes Adler, will nominate Sir Rebecca to receive a noble title. Please bestow her a peerage.”

“……Alright.”

I guess he understands what Leo wanted to say.

“Sir Rebecca. Which title do you want?”

“Y, Your Majesty……I, I don’t need any title…..s, so please…..”

“Don’t say anything more than that. Dennis has committed a crime. No matter what reason he had, there must be punishment.”

“H, he wasn’t such a criminal Your Majesty! He was a proud imperial noble! Stripping him off his title is too much!”

“I can not praise the wrongdoer for doing a good deed at the end of his life. The crime he committed preceded that.”

Getting told by Father, tear spilled from Rebecca’s eyes.

Looking at such Rebecca, Father continues.

“Sir Rebecca. I will bestow a title upon you.”

“…..yes.”

“—-Sir Rebecca will receive the noble title of Viscount Sitterheim. Viscount Sitterheim will also receive the imperial bronze cross medal for her achievement. [You did good].”

The imperial bronze medal can only be given to those who made a great contribution to the Empire.

Although there are silver crosses and gold crosses as well, it is still rare for a bronze cross to be rewarded.

This is the sign of Father’s gratitude.

He can’t give praise to Earl Sitterheim who committed a crime so he transferred his name to Rebecca and praised her.

That’s why Leo nominated her for a noble title. There are several such examples in the past.

If the Emperor was prevented from giving honest praise, it can be accomplished by using an indirect means like this.

“Viscount Rebecca von Sitterheim. Give your thanks to His Majesty.”

“…..,Thank you for your kindness…..Your Majesty.”

The meaning of the tears she spilled changed.

Father’s word at the end was not to only praise Rebecca for her accomplishment but for Earl Sitterheim as well.

Rebecca understands that.

She kept crying like that for a while.

“…..the Southern problems are deep-rooted. I will not forgive them. Franz, you understand right?’

“If we show them a strong attitude, they will also respond in kind though?”

“You think I will tolerate being looked down upon by my own vassals? I am the Emperor of this country. The people and nobles of this country are parts of me. I am the only one who can do whatever I like to them. I will personally investigate the South. Tell that to all the Southern Nobles.”

Saying so, Father shows his stance.

It means that even if it comes to a civil war he will not back down. Even if the country will be weakened in the process, the wrongdoings of his vassals will not be overlooked. He intends to show that to all his subjects.

The situation proceeded according to Gordon’s expectations. Still, I will not let him do whatever he wants.

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