Chapter 79
While Ruan was initially wary due to Volker’s illustrious record and knowledge of his future underhanded actions, he also knew:
‘It’s difficult for Volker to do anything that would greatly harm Reinke officially right now.’
With his young niece, who had barely escaped with her life to her maternal relatives’ territory, now becoming the Empress of the Holy Empire, and with enemies abroad who had legitimate claims and grudges against him, it was important for Volker to prevent domestic forces from siding with Louise.
Reinke was one of the most important of these domestic forces. Even for someone like Volker, in this situation, he was more likely to prioritize winning over Reinke rather than oppressing it outright.
‘Of course, if he feels that’s not working or if something irritates him, there’s no telling what he might do afterward.’
He might set things up to force acceptance of his overtures… or even try to damage Reinke before it could fall into Louise’s hands… various such actions.
But for now, there was nothing to make Volker make such a judgment, so in fact, this imperial edict was unlikely to contain anything very disadvantageous to Reinke.
‘I know all this, but…’
Even knowing this, he couldn’t help but be anxious because…
He also knew that Volker had already committed terrible acts against Reinke and was a character well-versed in all sorts of trickery.
Ruan’s contemplative gaze turned to Marquis Elenroth, who was entering the audience chamber with neat and elegant steps.
‘Of all people, it had to be this deranged professional troublemaker bringing the imperial edict.’
When reading “Tales of the Sirah Empire,” there are parts that raise questions.
Even with help from her maternal side, how could Louise, who was just a child, have escaped alive from Volker’s grasp?
And how could Louise have drawn Reinke, which Emperor Volker was watching like a hawk, to her side?
The answer to this is revealed later.
Volker wanted alternatives for when things didn’t go his way. In the end, it was a certain mad scholar who became interested in Louise, who had grown up “splendidly” to the point where she could no longer be considered an alternative.
A character who was on no one’s side, fanatically focused only on his own theories, and who wouldn’t hesitate to cause an uproar that would shake the empire for the sake of those theories. That was Marquis Elenroth, who was now walking into the inner part of the audience chamber.
‘Practically half of the turmoil in “Tales of the Sirah Empire” originated from this man’s madness.’
A professional troublemaker carrying the imperial edict of a trickster.
How could one not be worried about this?
Ruan looked at the Marquis as if he were looking at a grenade with its safety pin removed.
In fact, it wasn’t just Ruan. Everyone in the audience chamber had their eyes fixed on the Marquis.
Despite the potentially burdensome gazes, the Marquis, who had spent a long time in court social circles, continued walking with the same stride as if he felt nothing.
Those calm and unwavering steps stopped when he reached a few steps away from the Grand Duke.
The Marquis, having stopped, gracefully knelt on one knee. With his head slightly bowed, a long greeting flowed from the Marquis’s lips.
“Marquis Elenroth greets Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Reinke, Guardian of the North, and Shield of the Empire. May Reinke always stand strong.”
It was a greeting that was customarily omitted in Reinke, where emergencies were frequent, and thus neither heard nor given.
‘Come to think of it… that is the formal greeting when facing the Grand Duke of Reinke.’
Listening to this unfamiliar and long greeting, Ruan suddenly felt strange, realizing how great a person the Grand Duke was.
Until now, he had been greeting the Grand Duke in a way that felt no different from saying “Naru, our cat! Big brother’s here!” just with a “Your Grace” added and some polite endings…
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ruan looked at the Grand Duke sitting there like ‘Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Reinke, Guardian of the North, and Shield of the Empire.’
‘I’ve been treating him so much like a cat because he’s so cat-like… but originally, he was this great Grand Duke, wasn’t he.’
But this peculiar feeling didn’t last long.
The Marquis, who didn’t seem to have lowered himself at all despite kneeling, opened his mouth.
“I am Hartmann Elenroth, come to deliver the edict of His Imperial Majesty, the ruler of Sirah and master of the two mountain ranges and three rivers.”
After introducing himself, the Marquis took out an envelope from his breast.
On the envelope was a seal depicting a double-headed eagle wearing a crown and holding a sword and an olive branch in its feet.
It was the imperial seal.
With the appearance of the envelope containing the imperial edict, the tension that had momentarily faded was revived.
What could be the contents of that envelope? How would it affect the Grand Duke and Reinke? And how should he protect the Grand Duke and Reinke?
Numerous thoughts passed through Ruan’s mind in a short time.
Meanwhile, the Marquis raised his arm to present the sealed envelope to the Grand Duke.
“I deliver His Imperial Majesty’s edict to Your Grace.”
Ruan anxiously watched as Hans approached to receive the envelope and opened it to hand it to the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, taking the paper with the imperial edict written on it, began to read.
And then.
‘Ah.’
The Grand Duke’s mood, which had been displeased from the start, clearly worsened.
Seeing this, all the ‘worst-case scenarios’ Ruan had considered on the way here came crashing down on his head.
As expected, that damned Volker…
‘No. I’m the fool for thinking even for a moment that Volker wouldn’t try something.’
Ruan bit the inside of his cheek. Various scenarios and how to deal with them began to rapidly simulate in his mind.
Meanwhile, the Grand Duke, who had been staring at the paper with the imperial edict with fierce golden eyes, slowly raised his head.
His piercing eyes, with pupils contracted to slits like a predator about to pounce on its prey, turned towards the kneeling Marquis before him.
The Marquis, who had maintained the same posture in silence while the Grand Duke read the edict, seemed to sense this and opened his mouth.
Just as Ruan’s gaze turned towards those smooth lips, wondering what nonsense he would spout…
In a voice as stiff as when he had recited the long greeting, the Marquis revealed Volker’s intentions that he had brought:
“His Majesty deeply appreciates Your Grace’s loyalty and dedication in fulfilling your duty as the Empire’s protector by stopping the southward advance of evil monsters, and wishes for Your Grace to attend and grace the upcoming birthday celebration.”
Unexpectedly…
It was a message saying, “I’d like the Grand Duke to come to my birthday party.”
* * *
‘Come to the birthday celebration, he says.’
In fact, if you think about it, this was a much more moderate order compared to the worst-case scenarios Ruan had imagined.
Considering that the thoughts that had passed through Ruan’s mind when he saw the fierce look on the Grand Duke’s face after reading the imperial edict were ideas that wouldn’t have been out of place even if a verdict of treason had been handed down.
‘But… that doesn’t mean it’s a welcome message at all.’
Originally, the Grand Duke of Reinke had the right to abstain from imperial events for generations. This was because the top priority for the lord of Reinke was to stop the southward advance of monsters.
As a result, the number of times the Grand Duke of Reinke left his territory to go to the capital was less than one hand’s count per generation.
And now, to summon such a Grand Duke to the capital under the pretext of his birthday, even issuing an imperial edict…
‘And…’
Ruan recalled the words Marquis Elenroth had left before concluding the audience.
‘I saw on my way here that the monster wave seems to have ended. There won’t be any monsters for a while now, so Reinke should be safe. As a citizen of the Empire, I’m just grateful for the hard work of the people of Reinke.’
Adding such words to block any escape routes.
‘And in fact, he probably already knew the situation through spies and came when it was about to end, so what’s with this “I saw on my way here” nonsense.’
Anyway, in “Tales of the Sirah Empire,” Volker was satisfied with just sending Marquis Elenroth to gauge the atmosphere and keep Louise in check, but if he’s going this far now, his intentions were quite clear.
Seeing that Reinke’s movements seem unusual, he wants to see and confirm with his own eyes, and in the process, show off that even ‘that Grand Duke of Reinke’ is under his influence.
He probably intends to see what kind of person Grand Duke Dietrich Reinke, whom he hasn’t seen since childhood, has become and decide on future policies.
‘If that’s the case… it’s difficult to refuse the order to come to the capital.’
The first problem was that there wasn’t enough justification to decline the trip to the capital, which was even an imperial edict, especially since Marquis Elenroth had personally confirmed that the monster wave had ended, which they probably already knew through spies.
The second problem was that if they did express refusal, it was uncertain how Volker, who was currently prioritizing recruitment and deciding how to proceed after observing the situation, might change his stance.
So in fact, going to the capital as Volker demanded was the right choice.
Moreover, if Ruan went along, since he already knew Volker’s tendencies, there was the advantage of being able to directly influence Volker’s impression of the Grand Duke, and consequently, his future policies.
But the reason why the trip to the capital was so unappealing was still…
‘The Grand Duke is… a territorial animal, after all.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
