Chapter 195

Translator: Willia

Having work was better than having none. If a person could support himself and even feed his family, there was little more he could ask for.

The people employed by the King of Adeloron lived such lives. They rose at dawn, slaughtered chickens and prepared meals, tended the gardens, fed the livestock and cleaned up their manure, swept and mopped every corner, and maintained the weapons.

Cooks, gardeners, stable hands, male and female servants, and Bremen, the Chief Steward who oversaw them all, each went busily about their work.

Then there were those who assisted the king, such as the Court Physician, the Master of Horse, and the Almoner, as well as the Military Officer, Treasurer, Chancellor, and all those who worked under them. Hundreds of people lived in Adeloron's royal castle, and each of them had work to do. Their families lived near the castle as well.

Like a shining star drawing planets and asteroids to itself through gravity, so many people had gathered around the king.

They were the heart of the kingdom, and the fact that they were all busily working meant that heart was beating strong.

A king, by nature, should be the heart rather than the head. He had to serve as the bridge connecting the head to the hands and feet.

Yet the person who was supposed to serve as that bridge was absent from the royal castle. His wife had taken his place instead.

"It's really starting to get hot now. Shouldn't there be a separate summer residence or something? If only for the baby's sake."

Beka, Roy's sister, said as she drew back the curtains. In a sense, the siblings were the ones who attended most closely to the king and queen.

The morning sunlight reached the foot of the bed. Even though it was not shining directly on her, Marie, who was sitting upright, frowned at the light. The baby in her belly stirred slightly in response. She was near full term.

"It's not as simple as just me moving somewhere. A lot of people would have to come with me, and that would only make things more complicated. More importantly, do you really have to open the curtains?"

"It can't be helped. You need a reasonable amount of sunlight to keep your strength up. Sunlight has the power of life in it, you know."

"So you believe in things like that too......"

"It's not belief. It's wisdom, wisdom. You hardly go outside these days and do nothing but work. You haven't been yourself lately. I have to look after both of you. And make sure you listen to the doctor."

"......"

She was a nag if ever there was one. She fussed even more than Marie herself, despite Marie being the one who was pregnant. And Beka was hardly the only one. The nurse and the other maids were much the same.

The retainers worried about Marie's condition, but they seemed to place greater importance on work. They wanted her to hurry up and sign off on things.

Royal authority was relatively strong in Adeloron. But strong royal authority also meant that the king had that much more work to handle.

Even when Ricardt had been there, he had only dealt with the major matters while Marie took care of all the miscellaneous work, so her workload was really no different now than it had been before.

What wore Marie down was simply that all of it was boring. Boredom was not something to underestimate.

Little by little, it gnawed away at a person from the inside until, eventually, they were swallowed by depression or emptiness.

Marie had not reached that point yet, but it was gradually wearing her down.

Then Beka, who had opened the window and was looking outside, suddenly widened her eyes.

"Huh? It's the king."

Marie, who had been sitting on the bed reading documents, whipped her head around. Despite her heavy body, she sprang to her feet and went to the window to look outside.

Far in the distance, a rider on a red horse was racing across the fields toward the royal castle.

Before long, the watchtower spotted the king as well and sounded a loud trumpet blast.

Bwa-ba-baaam-!

The tremendous sound rang throughout the entire royal castle. Unlike drums or bells, the sound of a trumpet meant that the master of the castle had returned. The people busily working throughout the castle all turned toward the watchtower.

"The king has returned!"

The trumpeter shouted.

Ricardt, having raced across fields and farm roads, charged through the castle gates, which had already been opened after he was spotted from afar.

When he reached the courtyard and pulled on the reins, hundreds of people had gathered to await him. Ricardt had washed, but after spending so long traveling from place to place, his cloak and clothes were somewhat worn. He looked around at the assembled crowd.

The Master of Horse approached in a deferential posture, and Ricardt dismounted and handed him the reins. By then, Marie had pushed her way through the crowd.

"You didn't have to come out. Everyone, get back to your work. What's all this fuss about?"

Ricardt had little interest in ceremony or empty formalities, so he was not pleased to see everyone swarming out when nothing in particular had happened.

The people knew Ricardt well enough that they offered no reply and simply dispersed back to their respective posts. In truth, even if the king told them not to do such things, a subordinate was still expected to know when such courtesies were called for.

Ricardt naturally took Marie's hand.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, except I haven't had much energy lately."

"I see......"

Ricardt had actually returned because of work, but seeing how happy Marie was to see him made it difficult to bring up the matter right away.

For the moment, he went to his room, put down his travel gear, washed up briefly, and then received a short report concerning public order, security, and national defense. He simply stood in the corridor listening to Raimund speak.

These were sensitive matters that were not even fully reported to Marie, including affairs concerning the gold mine and reports on Duke Frederia's movements.

Their hushed conversation, too quiet for anyone else to make out clearly, echoed through the castle corridor. Ricardt nodded at times and shook his head at others.

"Winning a fight is easy. The hard part is dealing with what comes after. You don't put something in your mouth if you can't swallow it. Take action if he crosses the line. Until then, don't provoke him unnecessarily. From what I can see, Duke Frederia is the kind of man who'll destroy himself. We might be able to provide the spark, but if we do, we'll be the ones doing the work while someone else reaps the benefit."

"Understood."

Ricardt nodded and gave Raimund a couple of pats on the shoulder.

Other retainers had been waiting some distance away. When it seemed their conversation was over, they approached as well, hoping to discuss with the king matters they had not dared report to the queen.

The matters they had not dared report to the queen concerned assassination, threats, and schemes.

It was not that Ricardt did no work. He handled all the dirty work that went unseen. Marie, on the other hand, dealt with the public business of the kingdom.

But Ricardt shook his head and raised a hand to refuse them. He would hear their reports later, not now.

As if they understood, they bowed to him from a distance.

There was nothing the king dealt with that could be called unimportant. But even among important matters, there were priorities. National defense and diplomacy always came first, while other matters could be put off for a while.

Then how important were matters concerning the Master Alliance? Judging by what Ricardt had just done, he apparently considered them second only to national defense and diplomacy.

Because the moment he finished speaking with Raimund, the place he went was the bedroom.

Marie was sitting at a table in something resembling a loose nightgown. The bed stood right beside the table, and Ricardt sat down on its edge and silently watched her work for some time.

"What? If you have something to say, say it."

Without even looking away from the documents, Marie spoke to her husband, who had been staring at her.

"You know what's going on with the Alliance, right?"

"You and I drafted the charter together. Of course I know. Why? Are things not going well?"

"No, things are going well. The problem is that they're starting to get a little precarious."

"What is?"

"The nobles seem to be starting to push back. They're happy that we're maintaining public order, but they've realized my influence keeps growing. That makes them uncomfortable."

"Really......? But didn't we agree not to infringe on the lords' rights?"

"We haven't. It's just that things are getting ambiguous. If we've signed membership agreements with the villages or cities in a territory, we can't exactly withdraw a branch just because the lord doesn't like it."

"So what are you going to do?"

Marie put down her pen and turned to Ricardt.

"I want to step down as Chairman and have you take over, Marie. You're a member of the Imperial Family, so that would give us greater legitimacy, and it would also show that I'm not pursuing this out of personal ambition. That's why I came to ask what you think. It's not something we can decide among ourselves. The person actually taking the position needs to know."

Ricardt carefully broached the real subject. Marie did not seem to take the matter all that seriously. She merely tilted her head slightly and appeared to think it over for a moment.

Ricardt added,

"Things are already on track. You'd only have to hold the position. The others will take care of pretty much everything."

"But then it wouldn't be any fun."

"Huh?"

"It'd be boring if all I did was sit there. I want to move around a little."

At Marie's words, Ricardt slowly lowered his gaze to her swollen belly.

"Couldn't you wait about half a year before moving around?"

"Ricky, are you nagging me too?"

"You call that nagging?"

"Who's more important to you, me or the baby?"

"......What are you talking about?"

Ricardt's eyes widened in incomprehension.

"The baby is important. But I've been hearing the same thing over and over for months now, and it's starting to feel like my own existence is fading. Bearing descendants and helping the family prosper is an important duty of mine. But I matter too."

"No one said you weren't important."

"But everyone only pays attention to the baby. Or else they only talk to me about work."

Ricardt looked slightly surprised, then his expression shifted into bafflement, as though wondering what in the world had gotten into her. He had never experienced what she was going through, so he could not empathize with it.

"What did the others say? You must've talked to them first."

"They weren't against it."

"I figured. But what did they say? Tell me exactly."

"......Ice said we should probably decide once and for all which direction we're taking."

"What direction?"

Ricardt found it difficult to get the words out. It was that serious and consequential a matter.

"Either go after the Imperial Throne, or stop here. If we want to expand the enterprise any further, we'll need the authority of an Emperor."

Marie broke into a grin.

"Didn't I tell you? That I might become Empress someday. That sounds fun."

"What are you planning to do? You need to discuss it with me first. Don't forget there's a war going on. Two Imperial Princes are fighting each other, and if we get dragged in carelessly, we might not even be able to hold on to Adeloron."

"Who said otherwise? Ricky, don't you trust me?"

"What have you been talking about this whole time? Of course I trust you. But with something like this, we need to be thorough......"

"Do you trust me or not? Just answer that. Don't change the subject."

Ricardt gave her a look that plainly asked what had gotten into her. He did not understand the stress of pregnancy, so he likewise could not understand Marie, who seemed to be acting somewhat recklessly.

"I trust you...... You followed me and spent four years living as a shepherd. How could I not trust you?"

"And besides, when you were sick, I spent my money buying medicine for you. You know that's why I couldn't save a single coin, right?"

"Uh......"

"I'm not asking you to pay me back. I'm asking you to trust me."

"No, then let me ask you one thing. Marie, are you saying you don't just want to become Chairman, but that you actually want to become Empress?"

"Why couldn't I? You're not the only one who can come up with strategies. I can too."

Marie was the only person in the world who could push Ricardt like this. She had once been rather compliant, but apparently that was no longer the case.

Because becoming a mother meant transcending womanhood. Perhaps this was a sign of what was to come.

"Then I'll help too. But in return, you have to listen to me as well."

"Fine. Can we go right now?"

Marie sprang to her feet as though she had finally been set free from this stifling place. Then she walked over to the stand and picked up her sword, the one named Ricky.

"My baby, you must have been so bored. It's time for you to see the light of day."

Marie drew the sword in a single motion and examined it in her hand. Beka had painstakingly tended to it every single day without fail, and the blade gleamed as though it were new.

Marie swept the blade downward, and the light coming through the window struck it. The sword, forged with True Silver mixed into the metal, flashed brilliantly. Marie did not even squint at the glare. Instead, she smiled in delight.

Ricardt had no idea what to say. A creeping worry began to rise inside him. Was this really all right? Had he made a mistake bringing it up?

In any case, by decision of the Council of Six, Ricardt stepped down as Chairman of the Master Alliance and Marie took the position. Marie then expanded the Alliance's operations far more aggressively than Ricardt ever had.

Naturally, the War of Imperial Succession began to take shape as a three-way struggle.

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