The terms “meritorious retainer who helped found the nation” and “discarding a loyal subject after achieving one’s goal” were often treated as a set.

Indeed, a core talent who contributed to establishing a nation would naturally possess outstanding abilities, high reputation, and intense drive. While these elements were reassuring in the process of founding a nation, they often became obstacles in the process of strengthening royal authority.

Of course, not all founding monarchs simply struck down their meritorious subjects. Some rulers took good care of their meritorious subjects, saying they wouldn’t discard them after use.

However, many of these rulers often met the end of being devoured by meritorious forces that had strengthened to the point of threatening royal authority within a few generations.

As if to prove that this was the nature of power.

In this sense, the relationship between the Arcturus Imperial Family and the Lennart Ducal Family could be evaluated as quite the rare case.

The Imperial Family did not purge the Ducal Family, and the Ducal Family did not rebel against the Imperial Family.

The reason this was possible… to put it extremely, could only be described as luck.

There were plausible reasons, such as the strong loyalty between the first Emperor and the Lion Duke not wavering during their lifetimes, or the common recognition that there were still plenty of foreign enemies after the Empire’s establishment, so causing internal strife would only lead to mutual destruction. However, even these couldn’t be called fundamental reasons.

If there had been even one emperor among the successive emperors who fell into suspicion and inferiority complex, if there had been even one duke among the successive dukes who harbored excessive ambition, the relationship between the two families would have broken down regardless of such safety measures.

The fact that such misfortune never occurred even once and the two forces were able to coexist for nearly 200 years was indeed difficult to describe as anything other than “luck”.

However, unless one tampered with the dice itself, good rolls couldn’t continue forever.

The early death of the Iron Blood Emperor was truly a fumble of the dice itself.

He was a wise ruler, and while keeping in check the excessive influence of the Lennart family on the military, he was politically adept enough to harmonize the stick and carrot approach appropriately, such as absorbing them into commercial interests or civil official forces instead of simply taking away their power.

Fortunately, Duke Lennart was also well aware of how fatal it was for a nation’s military power to be controlled by a single family, and agreed with the Emperor’s intention to reform this.

After all, it was far more beneficial for the Imperial Family and the Ducal Family to make appropriate concessions to each other rather than fighting to the death.

But the Emperor died, and the Emperor’s children who should have succeeded him died in successive accidents, leaving only the young Crown Prince.

The Empress, sensitized by the successive challenges from imperial family members and internal strife, bristled like a hedgehog, and this display of hostility provoked a backlash from the Ducal Family.

The Guardian Duke, Duke Lennart, knew this political situation very well, and thus understood the dissatisfaction felt by his bloodline members.

Still, this instance clearly crossed the line.

“—Are you in your right mind saying that? Independence as a principality?”

Clear disrespect.

When the Duke, who had been treating the head of the Council of Elders as a family elder with respect, blatantly spoke informally, the bloodline members gathered in the office involuntarily shuddered.

That wasn’t all.

When the Duke released the pressure he usually suppressed, the weak-hearted couldn’t even look him in the eye properly.

This was a different concept from the physical force he possessed.

Even the head of a mere company naturally developed a certain dignity and presence from commanding hundreds of subordinates like his own body, but Duke Lennart was a figure who had led the Empire’s prosperity by commanding numerous imperial officials as the prime minister—second only to the Emperor.

The spirit of the renowned minister who supported the Empire from collapsing even in the situation where the throne was empty after the Iron Blood Emperor’s death was truly terrifying, to the extent that even the head of the Council of Elders, who had been denouncing Duke Lennart with a brazen face, involuntarily stiffened his expression.

But that was only for a moment.

Looking at the signature documents on the desk, the head of the Council of Elders regained his composure.

After all, the representative of a group should prioritize the group’s interests and safety over the rightness or wrongness of an action.

As long as he tried to simultaneously perform the roles of “the Empire’s prime minister” and “the family’s representative”, no matter how excellent the Duke’s abilities were, he could never win against the head of the Council of Elders.

After all, the voice of the head of the Council of Elders was not just an individual opinion, but the will of the majority of the family.

“Is there anything we can’t do?”

“What?”

A sneer appeared on the lips of the head of the Council of Elders, “Our secession from the Empire doesn’t just mean one ducal territory leaving. It means the territories of families directly and indirectly under our command, overseas branch families, talents nurtured through our dojo, merchant groups we’ve sponsored. Above all, the military. All of these would instantly detach from the Empire. I’d say we could carve out about 30% of the national power.

“The reduction in military power would be especially harmful. 30% is especially generous if we include all the staff officers, generals, and elite soldiers leaving. Now tell me, do you think hastily arming farmers with spears would be enough to contend with the Magic State?

“Court mages? The Empress’ personal forces? Those things hardly even have fifty years of history—they can’t fill the void we’d leave.

“Chaos would break out everywhere, public safety would be endangered, and as each domain locks its doors, the economy would also collapse. Wouldn’t that be quite a sight?”

The Duke’s eyes sharpened even more, as if to tear the head of the Council of Elders apart with just his gaze.

“It’s natural for people to gather around those with high authority, and it’s also natural for people to scatter when that authority shows signs of shaking. Do you think they would hurriedly follow if the Lennart Ducal Family declares independence?”

“That’s something we won’t know unless we try. Even our family, which has served the Imperial Family for hundreds of years, has been pushed away like this, do you think other families wouldn’t feel anxious? They might laugh at us now, but if they think about it coolly, they’ll know… There’s no guarantee it won’t be their turn next.”

“So you’re saying we should plunge the Empire into a pit of chaos for the sake of the family’s safety?”

“Why shouldn’t we?” intense emotion filled the voice of the head of the Council of Elders. “Rather, this old man wants to ask. Why should only our bloodline sacrifice? When the Imperial Family’s woman recklessly brandishes her sword at us without knowing better, why are you meekly offering your neck without even sternly rebuking her? Is your loyalty to the dead Emperor so precious? Enough to unilaterally demand sacrifice from all of the bloodline?”

“Lennart is also part of the Empire.”

“No, it’s because of Lennart that the Empire exists.”

“Even if we suffer losses in the short term, the Empire’s well-being in the long term is beneficial to us as well.”

“Isn’t that long-term benefit only possible on the premise that the Imperial Family keeps its faith? This old man simply can’t believe it.”

“If you can’t believe, we’ll only perish together.”

“No, there’s an easier and more certain way,” the eyes of the head of the Council of Elders burned wetly. “—Lennart and the Imperial Family should become one. Then there’d be no need to waste energy on independence or whatnot.”

Bang!!

“Are you discussing treason in front of the Empire’s prime minister right now!!”

“I merely urged a wise choice to the head of the family. But it seems there’s no head of the family representing the bloodline here.”

Clang! Clash!

As if that was the signal, the outside immediately began to become noisy.

Shouts, sword sounds, screams.

The office door suddenly opened, and a blood-covered guard shouted in an urgent tone, “Y-Your Excellency! Please esca—“

Thud!

But before those words could properly finish, a blade that pounced from behind pierced the guard’s chest.

As that corpse fell to the side, armed young men poured into the room en masse.

The other guards inside the office drew their swords a beat late, but the number of enemies was too great.

At the moment when a sense of crisis settled on the guards and certainty of victory on the rebels.

Slash!

Without any warning, the head of one of the rebels flew into the air.

The rebels looked around in terror, but nothing was visible.

The next moment, someone else’s neck was severed from their body.

No figure was seen, no sound was heard, and not even a presence was felt.

Yet the strange phenomenon of people dying one after another occured all the same.

With fear, a certain name leaked from the rebels’ mouths.

“Conrad…!”

The Guardian Duke’s hidden dagger.

The head of the guard.

A warrior who received the title of one of the strongest solely for his surprise attacks, stealth, and assassination techniques.

His existence alone could be described as a deterrent protecting the Duke.

What use was having dozens of elites? If they couldn’t detect him, they would only be one-sidedly slaughtered.

In an instant, the office turned into a sea of blood, and finally, as the assassin’s dagger was about to reach the head of the Council of Elders.

“—Yoohoo.”

Along with a rather playful voice, a small shadow jumped in and blocked Conrad’s sagger.

Conrad quickly tried to distance himself and hide in the blind spot again, but Hilda’s eyes didn’t miss his figure.

Clang clang clang!

As Conrad’s sinister blade and Hilda’s wild horse-like blade clashed, brilliant sword energy bloomed.

The duel between the two warriors was so fierce that it was impossible to say who had the upper hand, but unlike Hilda, who was smiling, Conrad’s face was tinged with impatience.

In a situation overwhelmed by numbers, with even Conrad, who could be called the last bastion, tied up, it was obvious how things would turn out.

Just as the guards swallowed, prepared for death.

The Duke stepped forward and stopped them.

“That’s enough.”

“Your Excellency.”

Stepping forward as if to protect the guards who had lowered their heads, the Duke examined the faces of the rebels one by one.

Among them were those who glared at the Duke with venomous eyes, but there were also not a few who had somewhat desperate looks in their eyes.

Humiliation and rebellion against the world’s criticism and mockery.

Fear that they might lose everything if things continued like this.

There was no way those who were cornered, or thought they were cornered, would listen if told about a “big picture perspective”.

The cracks at their feet that he hadn’t been able to pay attention to, or rather, thought he had paid attention to but it wasn’t enough, while coordinating the affairs of the entire Empire as prime minister.

The Duke acknowledged his mistake and failure.

However, he still couldn’t help but speak.

“Everyone, stop. If you go any further, it will truly be irreversible.”

The eyes of some of the young men pointing swords at the Duke wavered.

Conversely, there were also those who didn’t waver.

“Isn’t it too brazen to pretend to care about us now?”

Swoosh!

Shaking off the blood of the fallen Conrad from her sword, Hilda said.

The girl’s body was full of various wounds, but her violet eyes were shining more clearly than ever.

That nature of becoming stronger and surpassing limits in the midst of battle was surprisingly similar to a certain collateral line girl from the kingdom.

“Grandfather,” as if asking for permission, Hilda asked.

The head of the Council of Elders answered, “Leave them alive.”

“Okay.”

The sword was swung, and silence fell.

With the sight of the prime minister, Conrad, and their subordinates being dragged away behind them, the head of the Council of Elders and his colleagues began to give orders in unison.

“Be careful not to let the Duke’s confinement leak outside. There are not a few among the officials who follow the Guardian Duke personally rather than Lennart. Also, order the military to seize command. We need to bring as many major units under our command as possible before the Empress’ side responds. However, delay contacting the Nemea army commanded by Werner. Only by creating a situation where the family will be finished unless we win, will that person reluctantly join our cause.”

“The Empress! We must capture that wicked woman first!”

“Secure the two princesses first. Their guards are relatively lax, and if the Crown Prince dies, the princesses’ children will become the Empire’s only successors.”

“Hurry! We must capture the imperial family members and declare the Witch of the South and court magicians as traitors in their name!”

“Now is the chance while their capabilities are focused elsewhere with tests and whatnot!!”

In the midst of greed and madness, the second act of the banquet began.

***

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