Chapter 172 : Chapter 172

Chapter : 172

It had been a sudden audience and an absurd request, but there had been a reason for Lord Gertman’s behavior.

Not long before now.

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“Hoho. Well, well.”

The Duke of Bourgogne was not a little shocked. He had thought he had taken advantage of the king of the Elang Kingdom’s blunder, seized control of the board, and gained profits, but that was not the case.

Instead, that agreement back then had ended up helping the king of the Elang Kingdom.

The target had been the Crusader Knight Order!

It was something he had never even imagined. He had thought it had only been to gain the support of internal nobles and commoners….

If he had known it would be like this, he would not have supported it.

“I got hit hard in the back of the head. The king has a trick or two, and I thought it would be too easy.”

“Just petty tricks. Tricks that deceive everyone. The king is clearly a man who does not know honor. To do it like this!”

“Still, it was certainly a meticulously planned stratagem. We should take note of this part and use it ourselves next time….”

“What, you bastard? You are praising the king who insulted Father? And you are telling us to copy him?”

“Ah, no, big brother. That is not what I meant….”

In an instant, the council chamber became a mess.

Duke Charles, thinking this was his moment, was chewing out the second son, Gertman, like he was crushing a rat. Of course, the Duke of Bourgogne was the one allowing it.

“Hmm….”

He merely narrowed his eyes and watched the two in silence for a moment.

“Enough. What are you doing right now?”

“Ah, Father.”

“That is not what matters, and both of you still do not know what matters!”

“Th, that is not it.”

“What?”

“It is nothing. I am sorry.”

“Tsk. The situation has already happened, so the past is not important. And there is no reason to praise them, either. Now is not the time to think about that. Charles!”

“Y-yes? Father.”

“What is the most important thing right now?”

“That is….”

Whenever the Duke of Bourgogne came in like this and scolded him, Duke Charles suffered. A life where he was expected to give an immediate answer and got viciously shouted at if it was not satisfactory. Was it not the kind of thing that dried your blood and churned your stomach?

The Duke of Bourgogne, watching his firstborn like that, soon turned his gaze to his secondborn.

“And you, Gertman?”

“Yes? Me?”

Caught by the arrow suddenly redirected at him, Gertman flinched.

This kind of thing had originally been reserved only for his older brother, Charles. Lately, these arrows kept turning toward him, too.

“I am asking what you think.”

“I, I do not know either. I am sorry, Father, no, Your Grace.”

Gertman hurriedly lowered his head. Nothing good came from standing out. If Duke Charles misunderstood, it would be truly chilling. Because of that, Gertman felt cold sweat trickle down his back.

“Tsk.”

Pathetic, truly pathetic.

One was still too stupid to understand his role and was thinking only foolish thoughts, and the other was living while only watching his high-spirited brother’s mood.

How could they be like that.

At that age, he had neither been stupid nor watched others’ moods like that. The thought that his children were still showing such childish sides weighed heavily on his heart.

“How we will handle what has happened. That is what matters. The past is already the past. If you cling to the past, you cannot respond to the reality right in front of you, and if you cannot respond, you will ultimately decline and collapse.”

With that shout, the Duke of Bourgogne swept his two children with a cold gaze.

It seemed he could not leave things like this. He began to think he might finally have to make the decision he had postponed and postponed for so long.

The Duke of Bourgogne, feeling intense fatigue, waved his hand dismissively.

“Enough. What more is there for me to say? Leave now. And as you go, bring in the Count of Schwaben.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, before you go. The second can wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“I have something to say. Why? Were you just planning to follow your brother out?”

“No, I was not.”

“Yes, that is right. Charles. Why are you still standing there? I told you to bring in the Count of Schwaben.”

“I, I will carry it out at once.”

At the Duke of Bourgogne’s shout that erupted again, Duke Charles dashed out in a hurry.

A moment later.

The Count of Schwaben, a court minister of the Duchy of Bourgogne, entered.

He was one of the key vassals who, together with the Duke of Bourgogne, had guided the rise and fall of today’s Duchy of Bourgogne.

“You called for me, Your Grace.”

“Yes. I have something to ask.”

“Ask anything.”

“No matter how I think about it, it does not seem like the king’s movement was made by his judgment alone. Is he moving together with the Holy See, perhaps?”

The Crusader Knight Order was, undeniably, an organization under the Holy See.

A direct organization at that.

It wielded powerful influence even inside the Holy See, so it was not something they could attack just because it had violated some trivial kingdom law.

Was it not a sensitive matter that could even be regarded as an attack on the Holy See?

That meant he had coordinated words with the Holy See to some degree, or joined hands with it. The only problem was that it was hard to believe the fact that the king and the Holy See, who were practically in an adversarial relationship, had joined hands.

“As it happens, I heard from an internal spy in the Holy See. The story is that the Poverty Faction, centered around Cardinal Adriano, joined hands with the king. They say they will even issue an excommunication soon, Your Grace.”

“Cardinal Adriano? An excommunication?”

“Yes. It is being kept quiet, but inside the Holy See, they say the current Pope’s condition has worsened. I heard Cardinal Adriano and the head of the Crusader Knight Order are fighting each other for the next Pope’s seat.”

“Hmmm…. It does look like part of a common power struggle, but…. Even so, is not what the king stands to gain too great? If the king swallows the Crusader Knight Order whole, the Holy See will not be able to ignore the king, will it?”

“Th, that is….”

Then the Count of Schwaben spoke carefully.

“It seems they found a champion in the south to stand in for the Holy See’s interests.”

“Surely, you mean the Margrave of Bellua?”

“Yes. The Holy See, especially the Poverty Faction forces led by Cardinal Adriano, have very high expectations for the Margrave of Bellua.”

“Hohohoho. Well, he is sly, but there is no one who looks that pious. This time, too, some holy sword shone and protected the Margrave, they said? They called it a manifestation of a miracle.”

“How could that be. Nobles’ bluster is famous, is it not. Surely it was something trivial, and the clergy and his vassals exaggerated it.”

“But even if you try to belittle him, is it not true that he is showing truly tremendous power? If even half of the rumors, no, if even a quarter of half is true, then he is truly a walking performer of miracles.”

“Th, that is true.”

Curing a curse with a miracle, strangling an ogre to death, purifying a river turned red by divine punishment, subjugating cursed undead and repelling cultists’ possession, being chosen by a shining holy sword….

The Margrave of Bellua was the one who had accomplished deeds that sounded closer to a hero tale from mythology.

And his expansion was astonishing, too. He crushed an internal rebellion, swallowed Count Bozen’s county whole, and now he was trying to devour the kingdom’s south under the name of a customs union.

“If I had known it would be like this, I would have supported Count Bozen more. Hohoho. To fall that easily.”

“He was more incompetent than expected. Considering the territory and force he had, he should not have collapsed like that. Tsk tsk tsk.”

This was why people must not become arrogant. You never knew when, or through what crack, you would lose everything you had achieved so far.

“Our power could end up like Count Bozen’s. What do you think? So that we do not end up like that.”

Pulling his gaze away from the Count of Schwaben, the Duke of Bourgogne looked at Gertman.

“A leader who can judge the market early, wisely, and make decisions that can go down the right path is needed. Do you think such a leader is prepared in our Duchy of Bourgogne right now?”

“Yes? How could I dare say such a thing….”

“Yes. You are always like that.”

At Gertman’s response as he bowed his head, the Duke of Bourgogne let out a faint chuckle.

The Duke of Bourgogne turned his gaze back to the Count of Schwaben.

“I am worried about the king’s actions this time, but what truly worries me is something else. His speed of growth is no joke.”

“You mean the Margrave of Bellua? He does look like Your Grace in your youth. Hahaha.”

“Hmph. Is that flattery, or are you mocking me?”

“Is it not flattery? After all, you were the one who raised him that much.”

“Good grief.”

At the Count of Schwaben’s shameless words, the Duke of Bourgogne chuckled.

“If we leave him alone, I do not know where the kingdom’s direction will go. If it becomes that way, our long-cherished wish will not be easy to achieve, either.”

“Are you seeing it to that extent? Your Grace is here, are you not.”

“And after I die? I am old, but that young Margrave is still in his twenties, is he not. God is truly merciful, so He gave humans time, the years, equally.”

“Mm….”

At the Duke of Bourgogne’s words, the Count of Schwaben let out a faint groan.

He had never imagined his lord was thinking this seriously.

And at the same time, since he was bringing up age, he realized he had fallen into a sensitive situation to some extent.

‘Hohoho. Well, well.’

The first son, Duke Charles, was nowhere to be seen, and only the second son, Duke Gertman, was here.

“I have been thinking deeply lately. I have begun to doubt that even if we somehow achieve our family’s long-cherished wish, it might become foam in the water again once I die.”

“How could that be. We are here. We can serve you well.”

“I know. I am not doubting your loyalty. However…. Lately, I have been seriously contemplating the importance of a successor more and more.”

“…….”

“…….”

At the Duke of Bourgogne’s words, Gertman and Schwaben fell into silence.

Was that not doubt about the first son, Duke Charles?

But both of them knew well. The Duke of Bourgogne did not change things on a whim, and he did not push matters rashly.

Everything was competition.

He liked what survived out of competition. And sure enough.

“Until now, I thought I could just pour everything into the first. But thinking deeply now, it seems best to pass it on to the one who does well.”

“Then…?”

“You. Train him a little. Take him and teach him properly. He still has not escaped his brother’s shadow. Make him able to be a proper person.”

At the Duke of Bourgogne’s bombshell declaration, Duke Gertman was startled.

That he was being put on the succession race—he had never even thought of such a thing in his entire life.

However, the Count of Schwaben merely nodded with a hardened expression, because it was exactly what he had expected.

“You mean, so he can compete with Duke Charles, Your Grace?”

“That is right. They must compete, striking and counterstriking and building merits. And then, I will grasp the successor more accurately when the time comes. I have a request for you. Can you do it?”

“…….”

Was he trying to cast him out?

Or was he truly doing this out of concern for the future of the Duchy of Bourgogne?

If he was simply trying to use this as a means to make the first son, Duke Charles, tense up and improve, then his own future would be horrific.

It would mean he had raised a blade from the opposite side.

He could not tell at all, but the Count of Schwaben decided to take this task.

“Just give the order. Have I not always followed Your Grace?”

“As expected. It is you. I trusted you.”

“Understood. Then I will take my leave with Duke Gertman.”

“Yes, then I am counting on you.”

Waves were rising.

Somewhere, a small pebble had fallen into a calm lake.

However, the Count of Schwaben did not dislike this chaos.

In chaos, there was opportunity.

Like when he first met the Duke of Bourgogne, perhaps this would be another time of leaping forward.

If not.

‘Then I will have to make it myself.’

Because of that….

The Count of Schwaben, leaving the council chamber with Duke Gertman, was excited for the first time in a long while.