Marquis Zweigs territory is located near the center of the Empires northern region.
Since Gordon has taken control over the eastern side, this place is now rather close to the frontline.
The capital of Marquis Zweigs territory is Deuce.
That is our destination.
Speaking of Lord Zweig, I heard that he is an elderly noble of the pro-imperial family faction but does he have any tie with you, Young Master?
Lars raised that question as we are approaching the city of Deuce.
I have to wonder how to answer that question.
After all, the basis of that question was wrong in the first place.
To begin with..Marquis Zweig does not belong to a pro-imperial family faction.
Yes?
After the death of the Crown Prince, he was the one who kept attending ceremonies and festivals at the Imperial Capital as the representative of the Northern Nobles. That might be why he is seen as a royalist but that is actually not the case.
His actions were nothing but loyal though?
His actions, yes.
After the death of the Crown Prince, people began to treat the Northern Nobles coldly.
At first, they were only cold but it continues to accelerate as the Northern Nobles who felt that his death was not their fault couldnt forgive such treatnts.
At the ti, the relationship between us and them wouldnt be so cold if the Northern Nobles were more understanding of the feelings of the people in the Imperial Capital. On the contrary, if the people in the Imperial Capital could control their emotions better then..
However, the relationship between the two has beco colder and colder.
One after another, the Northern Nobles moved away from the central part of the Empire. As they kept moving away to the north the Northern Nobles beca stronger.
Even so, Marquis Zweig did not stop his interaction with the central.
However, he didnt do it out of his loyalty toward the Imperial Family.
That person was thinking of the Empire as a whole. If the Imperial Family and the Northern Nobles continue to grow more estranged, the country would eventually break. Because of that, he continued to appear as the representative of the Northern Nobles. He was showered with curses. No matter how unreasonable they treated him, he never spoke out. He thought that if by doing such a thing can alleviate the sadness of losing the Crown Prince. He thought, if he can take it all himself instead of letting the whole Northern Nobles beco subjected to it, it will be fine.
He didnt visit the Imperial Capital because he liked it. Of course, he would hate such a thing.
Even so, he always ca.
The Empire beca unstable after the loss of the Crown Prince. However, Father could not use the simplest thod to restabilize the Empire by invading the Dominion.
If you have no outlet for their emotions, their anger will only smolder.
The sadness of losing the Crown Prince and the anger they have toward the Dominion were directed toward the Northern Nobles. They were used as that outlet.
I can understand their feelings that such a thing is unreasonable. Father knew about it but he did nothing. If we are to stop the cold treatnt toward the Northern Nobles, we need to find another outlet.
And Father couldnt find any. After all, he already had his hands full with just himself.
To my father, Marquis Zweig was like a savior.
For the sake of our country, Marquis Zweig beca the vessel of everyones grudges.
Malicious gossip alone is not enough. The peoples anger was so great that they needed to let it out directly. Thats why Marquis Zweig always attended the events.
That person has always been enduring. He had been the subject of the unreasonable grudges that the people in the capital hold toward the Northern Nobles alone. He didnt willingly attend the events in the Imperial Capital because he is loyal. He ca for the sake of our country. Without any complaints, just taking in the grudges of the people. Everything.for the country, for our people.
That was supposed to be what the Imperial Family should do.
If we lost the Crown Prince, it is our job to raise up a new beacon of hope and rule the country well.
Since we couldnt do that, we pushed everything to one old man.
I see.is that why you respect him?
Well, yeah.
I cut the conversation short.
The rest of the story is not sothing that I should just tell people.
Its an important mory in my heart.
When I was young, when the Crown Prince was still alive.
I was being bullied by Gied and his gang.
They have done it until it beca a habit. And the troubleso thing was that it was not only Gied who got so used to bullying but his entourage as well.
I knew it since I was a kid. If I use my status as a royal, I can hurt others.
Thats why I didnt use it. I couldnt.
I was scared.
After all, I was bullied.
If I tell Father about it, how much punishnt will befall them?
The more I thought about it, the more I couldnt bring myself to tell him. Over ti, they beca addicted to bullying and their sins just beco heavier and heavier. All the more reason why I couldnt say anything.
I was being a coward and it was stupid of .
Because I didnt say it right away, things got bigger until I could not do anything about it.
If it was Gied alone then I might be able to. Gied is the eldest son of a powerful noble. The most he will receive is a heavy rebuke. But what of his entourage?
There were also young nobles from less powerful houses that reluctantly went along with Gied because they were worried about their relationship with Duke Horsvath. They had no choice but to follow Gieds orders.
Im sure that their houses will be destroyed.
It was Gied who involved them. However, it was who continued to be Gieds outlet of stress until the problem beca too big.
That way, more and more noble children were involved. Eventually, I was labeled as the Dull Prince and beca a target of ridicule.
When it beca like that, I couldnt tell it anymore.
I know my fathers personality well. As long as I dont tell, he wont do anything. So I didnt. I thought it would be fine if I just put up with it.
And eventually, I got used to it too.
Around that ti, I t Marquis Zweig.
He yelled at Gied and his entourage and helped .
At the ti, I must have an annoying look on my face. Most nobles do not try to help . After all, to them, the eldest son of Horsvath house is much scarier than a prince who cant even stand up for himself.
Still, its not that there were no nobles who tried to help . The first ti that happened, I only thought that it was troubleso to cover up for them.
Still, Marquis Zweig did not help out of his kindness alone.
I can still rember what he said to back then.
It is my pleasure to et you, Your Highness. I am Marquis Zweig, a noble from the North. You aretruly splendid, Your Highness. Your Highnesss conduct touched to the depth of my heart.
I had been comforted.
I had been scolded.
But this is the first ti that soone praised .
Marquis Zweig noticed the reason why I chose to stay silent.
Your Highness is kind and strong. I shall strive to be like you.
Saying so, Marquis Zweig walked away.
To convey his feelings, the Marquis chose to yell at Gied and knelt down for .
Surely, it was because he did that for that I didnt think that what I have been doing was wrong.
It was easy to improve my situation but that would require a lot of blood to be shed.
Laurenz was a good example. No matter how well I try to handle it, it will still result in death. After all, thats how you treat a rebel.
If I had cried to my father when I was a kid who couldnt intervene with the situation, it would probably have resulted in an undesired outco.
Thats why I felt gratitude toward him. Thats why he has my respect.
I want to repay that favor soday.
For the last three years, I couldnt do anything to Marquis Zweig. And the Marquis didnt ask to be helped either.
All I could do was solve the Empires problems as Silver. But it is different now.
I start to act like a prince.
I will take this opportunity to fix the relationship between the Northern Nobles and the Imperial Family. After all, if we cant do that, we wont be able to win.
How nice would it be if we could do it together.
Even if it is a little, I might be able to show him that I have grown.
At that ti, I wanted Marquis Zweig to think that it was not a mistake to kneel to back then.
Young Master, Deuce will be within our sight soon.
I see. Then I will leave it to you alright?
Along the way, we hashed out the details for our cover.
Unless the Narbe Ritter does not take down their hood, my identity wont be leaked.
The Northern Nobles have little to do with the central.
In other words, they hardly know the face of the Imperial Family.
They might know our characteristics but only knowing that I have black hair and eyes would be too little to find out. Moreover, I am supposed to be sleeping in the Imperial Capital.
Anyone that can notice my identity now must be quite a praiseworthy individual.
When I was thinking so, the city of Deuce ca into sight.
However,
Young Master! Smoke is rising from the city! Sothing seems to be happening!
I know! Hurry!
I kick the belly of my horse and start rushing toward the city.
Seeing that, the Narbe Ritter followed .
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