Chapter 182: This Is What You Should Do, Prince.
Chapter 182: This Is What You Should Do, Prince.
"And among you, who is the son of an official royal wife, and me, who was just the son of a random woman he slept with..." Roderick smirked darkly. "The choice was unfortunately obvious for the crown."
Roderick leaned forward, but his gaze lever left the emperor.
"I made a mistake by not killing you too." Roderick said slowly. "But do not try to act like you are better than me. You never won the throne, Max. I gave it to you."
Maximillian’s face went completely pale.
"The only reason why this kingdom is even standing right now is because I have been managing it well." Roderick reminded him. "Where do you think all of the gold in the treasury comes from? How do you expect the treasury to even survive? You literally spend gold like a complete idiot."
Maximillian turned bright red from pure embarrassment.
"Then what do you suggest we do?!" the Emperor yelled across the table. "This man... this Baron. He is openly going against our family! We cannot just let him do whatever he wants!"
Roderick just sighed.
"Well, since you are already preparing and training your son to be the next Emperor," Roderick said. "Let’s ask him instead."
Roderick shifted his gaze toward the First Prince.
"Aurelius." Roderick said as he looked at him. "Tell me. What should we do as our next step?"
Aurelius immediately tensed up, getting incredibly nervous.
Because Aurelius knew exactly how the real power dynamics in this room worked. Even though his father was the one actually sitting on the golden throne, when it came to actual succession and military backing, his uncle’s words mattered the most.
Every single person in this room, the generals, the high nobles, and the ministers were secretly on his uncle’s side. The only reason they even remained loyal to the royal family was because of Roderick, not his father.
So Aurelius knew that in the long run, it was just better to please both of them somehow.
"Uncle Roderick." Aurelius started politely.
"No." Roderick cut him off instantly. "Not ’Uncle Roderick’. It is Financial Minister to you."
Aurelius froze.
"Are we not in an official meeting?" Roderick asked coldly. "You are the sole heir to the throne. Your brothers can easily take your place, and it is the exact same with your sisters. So you must set a proper example. Where is your formality and professionalism?"
Roderick gestured to himself and then to the Emperor.
"Me and your father, we already secured our posts." Roderick explained. "We do not have the threat of anyone replacing us. But you? You should be calling me the Financial Minister and your father the Emperor. This is an official meeting. We are not at home playing family."
Aurelius quickly bowed his head.
"I apologize, Sir Financial Minister." Aurelius corrected himself immediately.
He inhaled a lot of air and let it all come out slowly, which helped with calming himself down.
"I say we march in and raid his town to take the whole territory by force." Aurelius proposed. "For opposing our royal orders and for tricking us."
Roderick just let out a heavy, tired sigh.
"Well, you got two massive things wrong." Roderick corrected him bluntly. "He has not opposed our orders. And he also never tricked us."
Roderick tapped the tax reports sitting on the table.
"He is following the law perfectly." Roderick stated. "He also followed your orders even though you taxed him fifty percent, which is an incredibly high, crippling rate. So exactly where is he in the wrong?"
Aurelius started stammering, looking completely lost.
"I mean... what else can we do?" Aurelius asked weakly. "Father says that we must suppress him."
"Father." Roderick mocked softly. "What did I just tell you about formalities?"
Aurelius panicked even more. He bowed frantically again.
"I apologize again!" Aurelius backpedaled. "His Majesty has just told us that we must suppress him somehow!"
"The Emperor did say that." Roderick acknowledged. "But is the Emperor right?"
Maximillian just clenched his fists in silence. Because he knew his own power was basically just a joke to everyone in this room. Roderick was the one who actually made the real decisions. and everyone here knew that. So Maximillian just swallowed his pride. He took a heavy breath and totally ignored the blatant disrespect.
Aurelius slowly sat back down.
"I apologize for my incapability." Aurelius admitted humbly. "Could you tell me how to actually handle this mess then?"
"Good." Roderick gave a slow nod. "You should always be willing to learn."
Roderick looked around the room.
He saw the two main wives of the Emperor sitting quietly. He saw the two Captains of the Royal Knight Order standing at attention near the doors. He saw a few other extended family members who took up some of the higher administrative positions.
And then there were Maximillian’s kids.
Every single royal child was gathered in the room, which totaled up to about thirty two kids. But most of them were actually completely insignificant. They had already given up on fighting for the throne.
Roderick actually felt like that was a good thing. Because back in his generation, everyone desperately wanted the throne. The whole race for the crown was a total bloodbath.
But Roderick handled it perfectly. He never dragged the military or the commoners into it. He just killed off his siblings one by one in secret and left Maximillian as the last man standing. Because it was literally a kill or be killed situation for him.
Roderick let out a quiet sigh and dropped the memories.
"Well, first you need to check the facts." Roderick instructed the Prince. "We need to see if he is actually tricking us or not."
Roderick began to count his fingers.
"Because firstly, he is following the law." Roderick explained. "And he is technically following your orders. He is not directly going against you. He never brought his army out to attack us, and when you asked him to pay taxes, he provided a highly detailed, legally sound reason why he is not paying them."