EP.301
The day after finishing my long journey with the Crown Prince, I immediately walked to the Imperial Palace to report on His Highness’s mental growth and achievements.
People like me and the Commander-in-Chief of the Knights Guard regiment have already submitted written reports, so I wonder if there is any need for me to report face-to-face as well.
Currently, I have 4 stars, but I am on standby with no proper position, and the northerners sent me huge gifts without being able to read the mood, so I need to confront His Majesty and explain the matter.
These days, I have an audience with the Emperor almost once a month, and His Excellency, the Grand Chamberlain, even said that, except for the court nobles who work at the palace and the immediate imperial family who live in the imperial palace, I am the one who sees His Majesty the most.
It is quite a burden to face someone who has the authority to change 4 stars at any time.
“I handed over everything to Your Majesty immediately after receiving the gift, but I still have to explain myself because of this. And has His Majesty’s credit and evaluation of the North, which is the real purpose for which the Northern guys offered me goods, improved a bit?”
It is said that when His Excellency, on behalf of the Treasury, converted the bribes paid to me by about 200 tribes in the north into money, the amount amounted to 30,000 gold.
I was worried that my relationship with His Majesty would worsen if I ate the money they gave me carelessly, so I did not do anything, but I ended up having to explain this to His Majesty.
As I swallowed my resentful feelings and walked forward, I arrived in front of the Emperor’s office where His Majesty was waiting.
When I knocked on the door, I heard the servant’s voice coming from inside.
“who are you?”
“This is Captain Peter Yeager. “I have come at your Majesty’s call.”
About 30 seconds later, the door opened and His Majesty was doing some errands with a smile on his face, as if he was happy to see his son who had gone a long way back after a long time.
No matter how good it feels to meet my son after being away for so long, I can’t believe he’s so happy that he smiles while doing his work…
“Welcome back, Captain Jaeger. “The deacon is a precious person who brought out a chair for Captain Jaeger to sit on. Wouldn’t your legs hurt if you stand for a long time?”
After a while, the deacon brought a chair for me to sit on and placed it in front of the desk in the office.
“Come on, sit down. “There are many things I want to talk to you about today.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“So, how is your physical condition? “I took the crown prince all the way to the north, but aren’t you tired?”
To conclude, this trip was not that tiring.
His Highness the Crown Prince was not someone who used his position to abuse me like the rude royal family members in novels and comics, and I don’t know what His Majesty said, but from the second month of the trip, he called me ‘Boss, boss, boss,’ in private settings. He followed me like a nephew following his uncle.
On the contrary, if there is something you want to look around or try during the trip, don’t feel pressured and tell me. Even though I told you that I will agree on most things with the Chamberlain, I often made surprise visits to military bases along the way and got a glimpse of the soldiers’ training. .
The soldiers under the division commander or regiment commander who were suddenly hit by the Crown Prince bomb may have died, but I did not suffer.
Louise could not participate in this trip due to postpartum care, but we were able to travel comfortably to Laura Charlotte and Friedrich without spending a dime of our own money and eating delicious food at the royal family’s expense.
Of course, in the process, I and His Majesty the Crown Prince’s Chamberlain and Commander of the Knights Guard Regiment, who were responsible for leading this trip, had to perform quite a few duties. It was a refreshing experience compared to usual work.
“Your Majesty has never been pampered or forced. And considering His Majesty’s young age, we moved slowly and without overdoing it, so there wasn’t anything particularly difficult.”
“According to the report, I heard that you had a hard time because a banquet was held every time the crown prince stopped by the county capital.”
My title is Marquess, so I have a high rank among nobles, so I can count them from the top quickly, but when it comes to nobles, I am so inexperienced that I can’t even compare them to other nobles.
So even now, when a banquet is held, while everyone else is dancing well, I am the only one who dances awkwardly, giving off a creaky feeling, even if I am not at the top of my lungs.
I don’t know much about art and culture, so I sometimes feel like I’m a fool.
At this banquet, Laura and Anya blended in well with the atmosphere, showing off their innate aristocratic dignity, but I stayed next to the Crown Prince and refused all the women’s requests to dance, using the importance of leading His Highness as an excuse…
“I am embarrassed to say this, but I am a bit lacking in dancing and culture, so this time I ran away under the pretext of being led by His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“I can’t imagine you fighting so fiercely on the battlefield, but then hiding behind the crown prince at the banquet hall.”
After saying that, His Majesty laughed for a moment as if bursting into laughter.
“Okay, all that small talk aside, what was the result of this trip to the north? It is clear that it was a great success, just looking at the fact that over 30,000 gold items worth of valuables were sent to you. “You were actually the leader of this journey, so the scope of what you could see must have been different.”
“Then, first, let me tell you about His Majesty the Crown Prince’s achievements during this expedition.”
His Majesty nodded as if telling him to speak quickly.
“Your Majesty has succeeded in showing numerous imperial nobles and northern chieftains a dignity befitting a 10-year-old. Although it is said that due to His Highness’s age, no conversations or audiences lasted for a long time and only conversations took place in a set manner. “He showed the majesty of the next supreme ruler of the empire without any awkwardness or interruption.”
“is it? “It was worth the effort to educate that child.”
“A few months later, nobles scattered throughout the empire will gather in Reichburg for the harvest festival, and those who met His Majesty at that time will tell ‘without any pretense’ the stories that impressed them.”
When nobles usually have a conversation, six out of ten are pretense bordering on lies and three are extremely exaggerated stories, while only one tells the truth.
To explain briefly what this means, it is normal for nobles to naturally make a fuss when they meet a girl with average looks in their class, as if they had met a girl as beautiful as Miku from Deserapi.
However, when they talk about people who are overwhelmingly beautiful or talented, if they show ‘pretense’, they end up talking nonsense and pouting like the bards, so they only tell the ‘truth’.
In this case, it would be said that His Majesty the Crown Prince’s dignified appearance was absolutely perfect.
“And the way he showed himself when he had an audience with the tribal leaders in the north was so impressive that it reminded me of the proverb that even a lion’s cub is a lion.”
His Majesty opened his eyes wide and showed interest at those words.
“After speaking with each of the tribal leaders, he personally stood up and helped us up. And he always thanked me and gave me sincere words of encouragement. “The tribal leaders were so impressed by His Majesty’s appearance that some of them even had tears in their eyes.”
“He was doing his job by just giving a proper audience to the tribal chiefs, but I can’t believe he would even give such encouragement. “It’s so special.”
“In addition, following my recommendation, he ate foods that northerners usually eat and even showed his approval of the unique culture of northern tribal leaders. “It can be said that the signal of reconciliation and harmony that His Majesty entrusted to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been conveyed very well.”
According to imperial law, northern tribal leaders and tribesmen are treated equally as imperial subjects.
However, even though they are legally equal, there are many idiots within the empire who have a low opinion of the culture and level of northerners.
And if nothing else, the northerners, who were almost like barbarians, were far behind in terms of culture, so all northern residents had a strong tendency to admire and envy the culture of the empire.
No, there are also people who abandon their own culture with a kind of inferiority complex?
What if the crown prince, the next emperor of the empire, goes and eats the food that northerners eat and says that it is delicious, and that he also likes the northern culture because it is so different…?
Won’t the sense of inferiority you’ve had so far disappear completely?
His Majesty seemed to understand why I said this as he nodded and said.
“The crown prince has grown a lot through this trip. This is all thanks to you. “If you think about it, wouldn’t you be unemployed once your role as leader for this trip is over?”
“Yes that’s right.”
The emperor took out a map from his desk drawer and pointed toward the Faroesia City Federation.
“According to your advice, for the next five years, the empire will not start a war unless it is attacked first. But in five years, we will have to flap our wings again to stand above everyone to seize future hegemony, right?”
As His Majesty said, if you rest for too long, you will be seen as a slob and could be threatened.
Therefore, an empire can stop war, but it cannot stop it.
“Yes that’s right.”
“According to an investigation by the Imperial Intelligence Department, I heard that the Farosian City Federation is a mess. “It looks like there will be a big fight this time.”
“May I ask why?”
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