I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

130 – Conflict (2)

“Of course, before that, we need to be clear about the treatment of them.”

“…You mean those who rose up to give me the crown?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Do you know why they want to give you the throne of Carolingian?”

What Leclerc wants to say is simple.

They are not truly loyal to me. What they want is something else.

Of course. In the first place, he is a casual man with no contact points, and there is no way he will suddenly become loyal to the king of an enemy country who has gone to war several times and take the throne of his own country.

“Lotharing, no, like the Duchy of Burgon, they want independence from Caroling… Or they want to enjoy a position comparable to that. I guess that’s roughly it.”

Other than this, there is no reason for me to be crowned king.

In a nutshell, I want to make myself a puppet.

There were probably a lot of nobles who suddenly became kings or emperors on Earth for this reason, right? If you look at Korean history, there is King Jungjong, who was suddenly supported by the gentry and became king overnight.

‘It’s not that I don’t know how you feel, but… You’re pretty good.’

If they really want to take the crown and throne and offer it to me, I can’t help but grant their wish.

Isn’t that the king? How great is the position of a king, and if you give something like that, he can give you autonomy that is almost equivalent to independence, no, of course you should, many nobles at home and abroad will say.

Of course, I can ignore such opinions as much as I want, but if I do, my already bad reputation will get worse.

‘…Come to think of it, I still don’t understand. Why is it that only bad words are circulating?’

I was just curious and asked Jeanne to secretly collect words about me among her students, but she only returned shocking words within less than a day.

Very spectacle rumors, such as seeing the lives of nobles the same as commoners, openly coveting other women even though there is already a queen, threatening Seonghwang to pardon my crimes, etc. Was floating in

What’s even more troubling is that the rumors aren’t entirely false. If you break the law, aristocrats will be punished equally with commoners, or coveting other women… Uh… Anyway, rumors can be regarded as fact to some extent, so they are very reliable rumors to people, but they look like information. See.

Someone said that adding 10% truth to 90% lies rather than 100% lies makes people believe more.

Anyway, that’s why I can’t wait to see any further decline in reputation. Even a king wielding an iron fist cannot completely disregard his reputation and just walk away. Even if you’re a dictator who has purged all the opposition, isn’t there a way to at least idolize yourself?

I feel it’s too late, but I still have to pay attention to my reputation from now on.

“Leclerc will participate in the civil war in Carolingian. However, I will not receive help from those who want to lead me.”

Of course, giving the nobles what they want and reputation work are two different things, strictly speaking.

If the premise is that the nobles should grant me the throne if they give me the throne… If I fight and get the throne myself, wouldn’t that mean they don’t have to listen?

Originally, I was going to just watch an exorcism and eat rice cakes, but I can’t just sit back and watch those who try to use me.

“I will prepare the army.”

And Leclerc, as always, calmly bowed his head as if he knew how to do that, taking my orders.

…Tsk, why is Leclerc like that the more I see him? It’s like you’re testing me when you already know what to do and don’t talk.

…………

“What?! That’s different!”

“Ha-ha-ona…”

“Kuh…! Come here!”

The Duke of Akitan is frightened as if he can’t believe the messenger’s words, snatches the letter from his hand and reads it himself.

But, of course, even if I read it myself, there was nothing to change or do.

“Why the hell…?”

I can’t quite understand the situation.

Wouldn’t Rotaling be able to eat the throne of Caroling at minimal cost if it stayed as it is?

Wouldn’t it be over just sitting quietly in Dijon and receiving the crown we’re taking away?

‘By the way… Did you participate in the war?’

Well, it’s not a mercenary or something like that, it’s a direct participation in the battle of Rotaring.

It will make it easier to win the civil war than anything else, but the rewards to our faction will decrease in inverse proportion to it.

No matter how much you try to speak out before and after the war, you need to have that much stake to speak out, and that stake will be taken away by a huge group called the Rotaring Kingdom.

‘…Are you really aiming for that?’

It’s a realistic enough story.

As agreed with King Lotharing in advance, we have won this throne fight with the support of Rotharing and have been guaranteed benefits in various ways in exchange for dedicating the throne to Lotharing.

However, if Rotaring intervenes directly in the middle, rather than indirectly, there is bound to be a problem in guaranteeing the benefits. Because we’re not the only ones who bleed.

Damn it… Didn’t I say that we would simply support weapons, and only send mercenaries if it goes back a little disadvantageous? After all, I didn’t believe the words of an illegitimate child with no roots.

“Treasurer, turn your troops into defense right now! Rotaring’s participation in the war has been decided, so first of all, we must preserve the army as much as possible until the Rotaring’s army arrives!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The Duke curses at Claude in his heart, but he does his job thoroughly.

As long as Rotaring’s participation in the war has been decided, the strategy of gaining an advantage in the civil war by rushing quickly in the beginning and then solidifying the charter based on that is no longer useful. There is an easier way, but if you do that, you will only increase unnecessary consumption.

“Did you tell the faction’s other nobles?”

“If you’re not in a remote area, everyone should have been contacted by now.”

“Okay, if you’re a clumsy person who can’t read the situation, you won’t do anything stupid since before you joined the faction, or you wouldn’t have received the Rotharing offer.”

There is no need to shed more blood than this.

Bleeding to ask for stakes before and after? If it was possible to obtain a share just by shedding blood, there is no way that countless countries that existed in history would have collapsed so futilely.

The most important thing to ask for the price of blood shed is not how fiercely they fought, but that they are maintaining their power despite shedding so much blood.

In order to prevent the Rotarings from saying strange things after the war, we must preserve the army we have now as much as possible.

…………

“War again…”

“Hmm… I was wondering, but it turns out like this.”

“What is it? Aren’t you guys happy? I’m so glad I can pursue my major again.”

“Whew.”

Reactions from the Rotaring Army have been mixed.

Some are happy to think that they can make a major out of the fact that war has happened again, but most of them are not.

They are not conscripts, they are professional soldiers who have been professionally paid and entered the military service.

There are literally dozens of battles they have participated in over the past few years. No matter how much a warlike fanatic likes to fight, if there are so many battles, he will change his mind a little.

“One thing, you have to move quickly!”

“Yes, I understand.”

But what can I do? Being a soldier who needs to be removed from above.

Soldiers move their legs vigorously while sighing at the inexperienced officer’s remarks.

This war will be useful as practice at the military academy that was established not long ago, and these soldiers will be the training material for the trainees.

The soldiers are also very aware of that fact, so this war is even more reluctant. There is nothing more terrifying than taking orders from an inexperienced superior. I’d rather have a strong enemy.

“I see a supply depot over there!”

After marching for such a long time, about a year ago, the army reached Baron Barden, a stronghold in Carolingian.

There are rumors that the King of Lotharing sent bandits to kill Barden Barden and usurp the barony, and the King of Caroling was too weak to respond to it, and the rebels of Caroling He was afraid of the King of the Ring and said nothing.

Of course, most of the soldiers here know very well that it is a rumor, but they cannot deny that the rumor is extremely reliable.

Because the king has done so many things.

It is said that this war also started because the king did some tricks behind the scenes to get the throne of Carolingian. Didn’t the robbed baronies even help in the war?

Even if it’s not a band of real bandits, it’s probably a soldier disguised as a gang of bandits.

From nob le mtl dot com

Most of the soldiers, knights, and even nobles in the army entered Barden’s territory thinking that way.