The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 222: Wings of the Crown Prince

Finne greeted me when I returned to the Imperial Capital.

Continuous use of transfer magic. Considering that I dont know how the situation will develop it was a necessary expense despite how costly it was. With this, even if Sokal moves, there should be no problem and I also managed to secure a force that can move to our aid in case of emergency.

Welcome back. Al-sama.

Yeah, Im back. That being said, I still cant rest yet.

Saying so, I picked up a brush and spread a piece of paper on the table.

Even if we have more force to move at our disposal from Trau-niisans help, we must protect Rupert.

If its my eldest brothers aides then it should be [Those Two]. Christa should be in safe hands.

Those two?

Yeah, Trau-niisan summoned my eldest brothers aides to protect Christa. My eldest brother did have many subordinates that he could call his close aides but there are only a few people who swear their loyalty to Trau-niisan as well.

Truthfully speaking, the subordinates of the Crown Prince Wilhelm were fascinated by the Crown Prince himself, they didnt care about his blood or his family. That thought was shared among many of his subordinates. That was why many of them chose to retire.

Among them, there were two that swore their loyalty not only to the Crown Prince but to Trau-niisan as well.

The two were brothers, the sons of the Empresss cousin. That makes them the Crown Prince and Trau-niisans second cousins

As the Empresss cousin, their mother, passed away earlier on in her life, the Empress summoned the two to the castle to act as the Crown Princes playmates.

Thus, the two who grew up together like a family with the Empress, the Crown Prince, and Trau-niisan became the Crown Princes first subordinates and have never left his side.

Except for the time the Crown Prince headed out for his last campaign.

The two who were in service of the Crown Prince for many years heard the news of his passing together with the Empress. Before the Crown Prince left for the north, the Empress had fallen ill and he left the two with the Empress to look after her.

The two who regretted not being able to protect the Crown Prince, their important lord, and brother, refused to serve under Father and disappeared.

The only ones who knew where they went were probably the Empress and Trau-niisan.

Their name was,

The Raiffeisen brothers. They are the Crown Princes second cousins, his closest aides. The older brother was a brave general while the younger brother was a brilliant staff officer. The Crown Prince had many military exploits in his days but every single one of them involved these two. For the Crown Prince and Trau-niisan, they are more like a family rather than a subordinate. They are kind of like step-brothers to them.

I have heard their names before. They were called the Wings of the Crown Prince right?

Yeah, if those two were by his side, the Crown Prince would still be alive. They were both loyal and clever after all.

If those people come to help us then we can rest easy right!

It is certainly encouraging but we can not be at ease yet.

The two have once refused to serve under Father.

I dont think that they can immediately come running to Trau-niisans aid whenever he asked them to.

Trau-niisan is probably thinking the same thing. Im sure that they just happened to be in the capital for the festival so they lend Trau-niisan their help. That should be how it went.

But in that case, their actions will be a step behind.

If they can make it, Christas safety can be guaranteed but until they arrive, we have to count on Trau-niisan alone.

Uhhwill that really be alright?

Even if he looks like that he is pretty good with the sword and is very quick-witted. He has the same education as my eldest brother after all. Im sure that he can keep up with your average soldiers. The problem is when will Gordon start to move and how many generals will be on his side.

The Imperial Army is being led by three Marshals.

Two are stationed at the East and the West border respectively while the last one is in charge of assisting the Emperor and acts as the Commanding General at the Imperial Capital.

Below them are the Generals who act as field commanders.

There are various types of generals such as honorary generals who dont have their own army and generals who lead elite troops but basically speaking, there is always one army under each general that will mobilize at their order.

In other words, the more generals participating in Gordons plot, the greater the power Gordon has.

It would be too much to ask your average soldiers to judge whether their action is right or wrong. After all, they were trained to treat their superiors command as absolute.

If the generals order them to attack the Imperial Capital, albeit confused, most of them will obey.

Moreover, many generals are participating in the ceremony.

As a matter of course, those who managed to climb up to the rank of General all have strong subordinates at their side.

Trau-niisan would have a hard time facing such opponents.

How many generals does Al-sama think will cooperate with His Highness Gordon?

In the worst case, all the generals in the Capital will turn into our enemy.

All of them!?

Its a matter of possibility. The Imperial Army is a gathering of low-ranking people who cant become heir to the noble houses. Their wish is to be successful in their career so they want the Emperor to give them preferential treatment.

Are they saying that His Majesty has been neglecting the army?

Its not that he has been neglecting them. Its just that they want to be treated better. Currently, the job of the Imperial Army is to guard the border. Nobles territories have their own Knights to take care of their business while the adventurers are taking care of whats left. That being the case, war is needed for them to achieve something. However, in recent years, my father is reluctant to go to war. Its nothing strange. He did lose his eldest son in a war with another country after all.

Father is also a human being.

If it was due to the succession war he would have made peace with it. After all, it is a tradition of the Empire.

That was how Father became the Emperor in the first place. Even so, losing his son in a war with another country is a different matter.

An emperor is not allowed to wage war in anger.

My father has spent the last few years trapping his anger and sadness inside his heart.

He would look soft in the eyes of the extremists in the Imperial Army.

He isnt even allowed to be sad.? His Majesty.

He is. It is just difficult to keep everyone satisfied. Civilians who think that war is only a waste of money would appreciate Fathers recent stance but the Imperial Army is on the opposite end. An emperor is someone who can balance those with different ideas to coexist. Ever since the death of my eldest brother, Father has been acting off balance.

It was necessary to find some way to resolve the dissatisfaction of the army.

In the vampire case in the east, it was possible for him to mobilize the army instead of the Imperial Knights. However, Father found the Imperial Knights more useful.

It is only natural in terms of ability but from the Armys perspective, that only caused them to be more dissatisfied.

Thats why it is possible that all of the generals might turn into our enemy. I can hardly trust anyone from the imperial Army anymore.

B, But! If all the Generals inside the Capital turned into our enemy then!

We will be outnumbered. The Imperial Capital Garrison under Leos jurisdiction and the Imperial Knights. Together with them, a small number of forces will be on Fathers side. The Imperial Capital Garrisons duty is to maintain the security in the Imperial Capital during peacetime. Even then, that jurisdiction is shared with the City Guards under the Minister of Justice. Thats why there are quite a few divisions of the army stationed inside the Capital. They were gathered in the case of an emergency.

The swords that are supposed to point toward our enemy are pointing at ourselves

Thats right. But their eyes will surely be focused on Father. They are probably ordered to capture him at any cost. And Father will resist. We are the force that moves behind the scene in their conflict.

If the other side devotes their all to crush us we wouldnt have enough power to deal with them. But that development is impossible.

After all, their first and foremost goal is Father.

Al-samasomehow, it sounds like you are using His Majesty as a decoy though..?

Obviously. Thats exactly what I am saying.

Wont His Majesty be angry at you..?

He wont complain as long as I can save his life in the end. It is not my job to protect Father in the first place.

The Prime Minister is by His Majestys side so I think it will be okay but.

Finne worriedly whispered so.

It cant be helped.

The scale of the problem this time is different than before.

This is not a matter of our faction alone but the fate of the entire Empire, the Emperors life is betting on it after all.

Still,

Theres no use worrying. We will move from inside the castle while Father will deal with the problems outside. As long as that is all we can do, we only need to do what we can. When Gordon starts his revolt, he will try to seal the Imperial Capital. Our role is to break that seal.

Then what will happen after the seal is broken?

I am counting on Leo for that. If I can move freely as Silver, I can bring Duke Kleinerts army to the Capital but Leos force will be important in this.

You are expecting Leo-sama to rescue Leticia-sama and come back to help us at the Imperial Capital? I do not doubt his success but would the problems on his end be resolved so quickly?

I dont know that. But we can do nothing but believe and wait for him. We are already surrounded by our enemy after all. Even if we can manage to break their encirclement, nothing will change. Our ultimate solution is to wait for outside help.

While saying so, I write down my future plans on paper.

There is nothing I can do but to think up as many patterns as possible.

While I was doing so, Finne offered me tea.

Lets do our best together!

Yeah, Im counting on you.

Saying so, I continue moving my pen.