The new year of 1513 had dawned.
It had been eight years since I fell into this world. Sometimes it felt like an eternity had passed, and other times, surprisingly little. Perhaps it was because I'd spent every one of those days in a whirlwind of busyness……
"Godfather. Your tea."
"Ah. Thank you, Luke."
Luke set the cup of tea down on the table. He was a touch less polished than Daisy, but still had a certain sharpness to him.
Luke had resigned from his position as vice-captain of the vigilante group. Since Jeremy was the one leading the group, it was only natural for Luke to step aside. In place of the vigilantes, a new role had been bestowed upon Luke: head butler.
"Have you gotten used to the butler duties yet?"
"I'm still green, but thanks to the head maid, I'm managing somehow."
Luke gave an awkward smile.
Dressed in his black butler's uniform, Luke looked like a completely different person. Before, he had been a bright and innocent pretty boy, but now, deep sorrow and regret had soaked into his eyes. Every inch of him was perpetually shrouded in melancholy.
The maidens of the estate had gone wild over the transformed Luke. Some preferred the fresh and lively Luke, while others swooned over the deeper, more mature aura he now exuded—like aged wine. But despite the fervent adoration of our people, Luke had cut off his promiscuous love life cold turkey.
I nodded.
"Generally speaking, the head butler holds a higher rank than the head maid. But for a while now, Daisy has been handling both roles, so in many ways, she's your senior and your superior. Learn well from her. I have high expectations for you two."
"……Yes, Godfather."
Luke gave a smile tinged with sadness.
Ah, it felt good. I deliberately brought up Daisy in front of Luke whenever I could. Each time, the pain was plain on his face, though he tried his hardest to keep his composure so I wouldn't see his feelings. That only made him more pathetic, and I relished it.
They say speak of the tiger and it comes.
"Father."
Daisy entered the office and bowed respectfully at the waist. She glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye, then turned her gaze away as naturally as if she hadn't seen anything at all. That cold, expressionless look made Luke flinch.
Ah, What a Splendid Sight Indeed.
Recently, I had found the will to live thanks to these two siblings. Daisy being unnecessarily cold to Luke, and Luke watching his sister with despair yet unable to say a word. It was truly worth watching. It would be even better if the two of them were nurturing a forbidden love.
"What is it, my lovely daughter?"
I flashed Daisy a genuinely bright smile. Daisy's expression soured for an instant. But she quickly returned to her indifferent face and handed me a letter.
"...It's a letter from southern Frank."
"Hmm. From Duke Marsalia, I presume."
I broke the seal and read the letter.
The letter was written in neat handwriting with an exceedingly polite tone. From the very first sentence, it began, "Humbly addressed to His Grace Duke Custos, the mighty pillar of the Empire, the most powerful Court Count of the Empire, and the sole and steadfast bridge between humankind and demonkind." The flattery was so over the top that my behind would have been rubbed raw from all the brown-nosing if they'd laid it on any thicker.
"It seems they're struggling to suppress the rebellion."
I smiled.
Frank had descended into chaos, just as planned.
Minister of Justice Count Versailles had demanded that every city in the nation agree to "voluntary nation-building." It was a policy rooted in a kind of social contract theory, where each city would decide entirely of its own free will whether to be part of the state of Frank or not.
This was quite meaningful.
"Hmm."
I folded the letter and looked at the two siblings.
Perhaps I should test their abilities.
Daisy would overwhelmingly outshine him, no doubt, but it would be a bit of entertainment.
"Luke. You're aware that Minister of Justice Versailles in Frank has demanded voluntary loyalty from the cities?"
"Yes, Father."
Luke's tension was palpable.
"Why do you think Minister of Justice Versailles demanded loyalty only now?"
"Well… in Frank, there are currently many cities that aren't paying taxes. I think he wanted to create a formal pretext to reprimand those cities…"
Luke picked his words haltingly as he answered.
I smiled gently. It was a response fit for a child. Being a deputy captain of the militia was one thing, but my chief butler needed to have a political eye. If he couldn't even pass a test like this, he was unfit for the role.
"Daisy. What do you think?"
"It's a procedure to tacitly acknowledge the birth of a republic."
Daisy answered without hesitation.
Luke's eyes widened as he stared at her—clearly he hadn't expected that answer at all. Then he quickly turned his head away, flustered.
"Oh? Then explain why that is."
"First, the existing noble houses and cities never swore loyalty to the Frank government. They swore loyalty to the Emperor. Therefore, when they lent taxes or troops to the state, they weren't giving them to the 'government'—they were giving them to the 'Emperor' of Frank."
Daisy spoke fluently without stumbling once.
"To swear loyalty to the government in the current situation, where the Emperor is absent… that is no different from tacitly acknowledging the fact that 'Frank no longer needs an Emperor.' In other words, it is the founding of a republic."
I nodded.
"Well put, Daisy. As you said, this is about establishing a new form of government."
"……"
When I praised Daisy, Luke hung his head low.
Since becoming chief butler, Luke had been growing ever more aware of just how extraordinary his younger sister was. Daisy not only handled all the miscellaneous affairs of the Demon Lord's Castle but also frequently participated in the territory's administration. Luke, who had done nothing more than sword practice in the militia, felt almost embarrassed to be compared to her.
"In the vast majority of cities, they willingly accepted Count Versailles's policy. Frank has already seen three incompetent emperors in a row. They're sick of the Emperor himself."
The fact that there was realistically no noble capable of fulfilling the role of Emperor was also a problem.
Queen Henrietta had exterminated the imperial family so thoroughly that not a single bastard—not even a collateral bastard—remained. Even the great noble houses with any blood ties to the imperial family had been wiped out entirely. As things stood, there wasn't a single house left that could claim the throne.
Of course, if you traced the family tree through maternal lines and followed the genealogy here and there, quite a few families technically qualified—but their power was far too weak.
This was only natural. The reason they had survived was that Henrietta had deemed them beneath her notice—"Surely I don't need to trample these ones too." Cases like the son-in-law of the daughter of the fourth son of an imperial concubine from seven generations ago, and so on. That sort of thing. The claim held no water.
"The person who holds the greatest authority in this situation is the Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager was the sole remaining member of the imperial family, and she had maintained her dignity and pride throughout the entire civil war. When the Emperor ordered the massacre, the Empress Dowager had rushed to the palace in her nightclothes, weeping and begging him to please spare the people. The subjects held her in deep reverence for that.
"And the Empress Dowager is a fervent supporter of Count Versailles's policies. The Lord Justice Minister has thrown his lot in with a gamble he's most likely to win. Well, in the end the southern cities didn't participate, but still..."
Now, then—this is where the second test begins.
Daisy, above all. Please, do not disappoint me. You declared with such supreme confidence that you would kill me. If you cannot even pass a test of this magnitude, killing me is out of the question.
You'll need to demonstrate at least better political insight than Elizabeth. That is, if someone like you is even capable of it.
"As you all know, the great nobles of southern Frank have been defying Lord Versailles, the Justice Minister. They refused to join the new government. Thanks to that, they now enjoy autonomy tantamount to independence."
The problem was that, in exchange for that autonomy, they received none of the benefits of the slave emancipation.
Slaves who had been held by the Habsburg Empire and the Demon Realm were freed in large numbers. They returned to their homeland without any conditions attached. However, the south, which had not officially joined the Frankish government, was excluded from these benefits.
As a result, unrest broke out in the Sardinian territories that the southern great nobles had seized in the last war.
The Sardinians' families and neighbors had been captured as slaves in droves during the war. Naturally, they rejoiced at the news that their loved ones might return. The southern great nobles then poured cold water on that atmosphere.
Give us back our families. Let our villagers return. The Sardinians chanted these slogans and protested against the great nobles.
However, during the protests, three of the Sardinian representatives were assassinated.
The perpetrators were never identified, but the Sardinians, needless to say, were outraged, declaring it the work of the Frankish great nobles. They already harbored resentment against foreign rule. The Sardinians launched a rebellion in the blink of an eye…
It really is quite the coincidence, isn't it? Why three Sardinian representatives at that exact moment?
As it happened, my assassination unit under Jeremy's command had conveniently vanished for a time—but the truth would likely never come to light.
"And then there is this letter."
I held up the letter for all to see.
"The southern grand nobles are reaching the limits of their ability to suppress the rebellion on their own. They only recently defied the Frankish government, so they can hardly go back now and brazenly ask for assistance. In the end, they've turned to me—the de facto master of the Farnese Duchy—requesting military aid."
I looked over at Luke first.
"Luke. What do you think we should do? Should we accept the nobles' request and put down the rebellion? Or should we simply stand by and watch?"
"We should obviously side with the Sardinians."
This time, Luke answered without hesitation.
"The Sardinians are being subjected to unreasonable foreign rule. I believe it's a legitimate rebellion. We should provide them with ample aid so they can achieve independence and enjoy self-governance."
"Mm."
I nodded.
As expected, Luke was hopeless. There was no saving him.
"Daisy. What do you think?"
"We should stay out of it."
"Daisy...!"
Luke looked at Daisy in shock. But Daisy didn't meet his eyes.
"If Father moves troops here, it will breed excessive suspicion toward him. Father already accumulated more than enough military merits during the last war. It hasn't even been a year since the war ended. If he departs for another campaign, the other princes and ministers will start questioning his true intentions."
"So you think we should stand by?"
"It doesn't matter to us what happens to the Sardinians one way or another."
Luke looked visibly shaken by Daisy's blunt answer. "That's absurd," he muttered under his breath.
I smiled and issued Luke a polite dismissal.
"I'd like to have a private conversation with Daisy for a moment. Luke, would you excuse us?"
"...Of course, Your Grace."
Luke bowed deeply and left the office.
The moment I confirmed the door had closed, I wiped the smile from my face. I spoke in a cold tone.
"Remove your top and turn around."
"......"
Daisy silently undressed and bared her back to me.
I pulled a whip from the desk drawer. It was a leather riding crop. Without hesitation, I lashed it across Daisy's back.
"Nn...!"
Daisy stifled a groan and bent her upper body slightly forward.
"Fool. What would have happened if you simply stood by and the Sardinians actually succeeded in their rebellion? The war we bled for would have been rendered completely meaningless. And this is the answer you squeezed out of that head of yours?"
Crack — the whip carved a red welt into her flesh.
"If we cannot move our own forces, then move Bretagne's army! Bretagne's forces have no reputation left to ruin at this point. Could you not even think of something like this?"
"But... if Bretagne's forces, a national enemy, were to cause chaos, the people of southern Franc would grow resentful..."
"That is precisely why we must make use of Bretagne's forces!"
I struck her a third time without mercy. This time, Daisy could not hold back her groan.
"The Sardinians will have their own grievances, and the Franc people will have theirs! In the end, the great southern nobles will lose their authority. On the other hand, Justice Minister Versailles's authority will only grow stronger."
I swung my arm one final time, then hurled the whip to the floor. Daisy's body trembled violently from the sudden shock.
"All flash and no substance — your actual judgment falls far short. How could I ever place any hope in you. Pathetic creature. Get out of my sight."
"......Yes, Father."
Daisy put her top back on with trembling hands. She bowed to me, then left the office.
"Phew......"
I took the pipe from inside my coat, lit the ember, and drew a long puff.
How could I kill anyone looking like that? Daisy was still a long way off.