"Peace truly is a wonderful thing."
Elisabeth had been spending some exceedingly peaceful days lately.
The kind of peace that forced roughly seventeen hours of work and four hours of sleep upon a person — which would feel anything but peaceful to an ordinary human, bordering on outright cruelty — but for Elisabeth, it didn't matter in the slightest.
"Is that so."
Kurz Schleiermacher, who had stopped by the Consul's office on official business, wore a strained expression. The Consul's desk was piled high with documents like a mountain. To talk of peace while looking at that — truly, the Consul was a pervert.
"Ah. Dantalion isn't making a move. That alone makes the world a more beautiful place."
Elisabeth gazed into the empty air with a sentimental look. Kurz muttered to himself that it looked exactly like a middle-aged man sinking into a hot spring with his face going slack with bliss.
"Perhaps Dantalion's very existence isn't such a bad thing after all."
"…I'm sorry? Did I hear that correctly?"
"Think about it, Schleiermacher. Every bad thing that happens on the continent is caused by Dantalion. Put differently, that means as long as you watch out for Dantalion, the continent stays peaceful and secure."
Elisabeth appeared to be quite pleased with her own line of reasoning, puffing up with self-satisfaction.
"A rebellion breaks out somewhere on the continent. Then you look into Dantalion. A war breaks out somewhere. You look into Dantalion for that too. Everything in this world truly becomes simple. Is it Dantalion, or is it not? Every problem boils down to that."
"Hah, yes…"
"Life always looks far more splendid when viewed through a single window. Dantalion might just be my personal window."
She's lost it.
Kurz Schleiermacher felt a deep sense of pity for the Consul from the bottom of his heart. He had recommended reducing her workload and taking rest hundreds, even thousands of times, but she insisted that working was her form of rest, shouldered an inhumane workload, and had finally gone mad.
"I am being quite generous to life right now. Even Dantalion cannot topple the Anatolia Empire overnight. There will be at least several decades of peace and stability. Heh heh. I've taken the lead on this one."
Kurz shook his head vigorously.
At the tail end of the Second Chrysanthemum War, the Consul had attended the armistice commemorative ball. To everyone's astonishment, she danced with Dantalion the Court Count. From that day on, Elisabeth the Consul would constantly bring up Dantalion — saying things like "He dances rather well," or chuckling with a "heh heh" every chance she got.
"Dantalion knows that too. But he surrendered to the allure of romance. The irresistible charm of plotting something together with me — that bent his knees for him."
"Is that so—?"
"In other words, this means Dantalion is quite obsessed with me."
Not merely lost it — her brain had completely rotted away.
Why was this happening? Kurz asked himself gravely. It wasn't summer but winter. The season wasn't right for brains to rot, and yet Consul Elisabeth was rotting in real time… What was the problem? Was it truly overwork after all?
"The reason Dantalion is obsessed with me is simple. I am the only person on the entire continent who can stand across from him as an equal."
Kurz stared at the Consul with the dead-fish eyes of a decomposing man.
"Why not just marry the Court Count and be done with it?"
"Hah?"
Consul Elisabeth furrowed her brow. Her look clearly said, What sort of nonsense is this fool spouting?
"Why would I marry Dantalion? Has your brain rotted, Schleiermacher? It's winter, not summer, yet you've gone mad it seems."
"…No. It's just that you bring up the Court Count every single day, so I couldn't help but suggest it. After all, one side is the head of the Habsburg Republic, and the other is the true power behind the Habsburg Empire. Why not just merge them back into a single Habsburg?"
Consul Elisabeth snorted.
"Nonsense. My nation upholds a republican system. If the other side abandons monarchy, perhaps, but from the start, the Empire and the Republic are far too different."
"Rudolf has no heir. If Rudolf dies, won't a republic be established on that side as well?"
Elisabeth shook her head. Then she gazed upon Kurz Schleiermacher with warm eyes, much like a teacher looking at a hopeless but endearing student.
"The true power behind the Habsburg Empire is not human — it is the Demon Lords. Yet the Empire is still recognized in the continent's international diplomacy because, at least outwardly, the Demon Lords submit to an Emperor who is human."
"I see."
"Why do you think Dantalion appointed Laura de Farnese as the Empire's Grand General for no reason? It's because Duke Farnese is human. The Emperor and the Grand General — they put forward humans as the faces of the Empire."
Therefore, the Empire abandoning monarchy for a republic was diplomatically impossible.
Elisabeth declared as much.
"Furthermore, most critically, Dantalion is not particularly sympathetic to republicanism. Just look at how he quashed the republican representative assembly last time. Wasn't the Demon Lord Paimon purged not long ago? I don't know the exact details, but Dantalion was certainly involved in something of that magnitude."
"Indeed. Dantalion would never go so far as to advocate for a republic…"
Elisabeth nodded.
"Dantalion only uses republicanism insofar as it's useful for inciting unrest. Nothing more, nothing less. Ideology is completely worthless to Dantalion."
Well then, Elisabeth said.
"If we on this side gave up the republic, the story might come together."
"Yes?"
"Our Republic surrenders to the Empire, and in exchange, I ascend to the throne as co-emperor alongside Dantalion. That possibility does exist."
Kurz Schleiermacher's eyes went wide as he stared at the Consul. She paid him no mind and continued.
"However, surrendering too abruptly wouldn't convince the people. Several conditions would be necessary. The Empire would need an overwhelming military advantage over us. It would need to be absolutely clear that in a full-scale war, we would have no chance of victory. Then I could 'humbly request mercy' and surrender."
"Ugh…"
"Of course, it's the kind of talk you'd hear in a midsummer night's dream."
Even as she said it herself, Elisabeth gave a slightly embarrassed grin.
"First of all, no matter how much Dantalion may be the true power behind the Empire, he has no right to claim the throne. It's a matter not of ability but of right. Besides, I'm not selfish enough to hand over my nation to someone who has no interest in republicanism…"
Still, if things truly worked out that way, the loss of life would certainly be minimized.
Consul Elisabeth sank into thought for a moment.
"But this would be a union between a Demon Lord and a human. The justification of inter-species reconciliation would be established. It could even take the form of a coalition between the monarchists and the republicans. A constitutional monarchy would be appropriate. I'd leave the head of parliament to Laura de Farnese…"
Laura de Farnese was a Duke. Her ability was proven. There was no more fitting candidate to represent parliament. Her greatest asset was being Dantalion's trusted right hand, which meant that even if a constitutional monarchy came into being, Dantalion could still exercise absolute power.
The picture was roughly coming together.
"…Well, I suppose it's impossible after all."
There was no way the Demon Lord Barbatos would accept such a plan. Judging by how Demon Lord Paimon had been purged, Dantalion had clearly tilted toward Barbatos's camp. Barbatos wanted conquest by Demon Lords. A constitutional monarchy was nothing but heresy to him.
"In the end, it's nothing but a fantasy, Schleiermacher."
Elisabeth shot Kurz a half-lidded glare.
"If you have the leisure to waste my time for nothing, you'd do better to help me process these documents instead."
"I—I only came to report on the rebellion that broke out in the Frank territories in Sardinia!"
"I already know. Those foolish Frankish aristocrats requested reinforcements from Bretagne, didn't they? It'll end with the great nobles losing authority and governance falling to Minister Versi, as usual. One more nation moving closer to republicanism — that's not bad news for us at all."
Here, Elisabeth stood up and handed the entire stack of documents to Kurz herself. By rough count, it was well over three hundred pages. Kurz's face crumpled.
"Your Excellency. You know full well that documents are my poison…"
"When you slack off, a hundred citizens suffer. When you run away, a thousand citizens are burdened. For a leader responsible to the people, laziness is a luxury that cannot be afforded."
And so, on that day, Kurz Schleiermacher — as punishment for casually bringing up the topic of marriage — was held captive by the Consul from dawn to dusk.
— At this point, no one besides the parties involved realized that the chain of events unfolding in Frank was part of a plan orchestrated by Dantalion.
The world does not change all at once.
Revolutions and transformations, no matter how sudden they appear to explode on the surface, have in truth been preparing for change over an impossibly long span of time. I was now forcing that process to its end — deliberately, intentionally, in the shortest time possible.
The cost of shortening time is always blood. The more blood that flows, the faster history accelerates.
— I've followed your instructions as directed. The rebellion is growing larger.
Saint Longwy spoke from the projection cast by the crystal orb.
The great nobles of southern Frank had requested my aid in suppressing the popular uprising. Rather than helping them directly, I connected them with the Bretagne forces. When you lack teeth, you use your gums. The great nobles brought in reinforcements from Bretagne, paying an enormous sum in mercenary fees.
But at this point, I employed a little trick.
'Comply with the great nobles' request to suppress the Sardinian rebellion, but do not suppress it vigorously.'
That was the gist of it. Queen Henrietta threw herself into crushing the rebellion with full force. Meanwhile, Saint Longwy repeatedly rebuked the queen for recklessly putting foreign civilians in harm's way.
As a result, the Bretagne army was hamstrung by the clash between Queen Henrietta and Saint Longwy, unable to move effectively.
A rebellion, if not crushed in the initial engagement and left unchecked, inevitably spirals out of control. The Bretagne army had finally deployed but dragged its feet on suppression, so the Sardinians took up arms en masse, declaring this was the moment to rise against foreign rule.
— But, Court Count, what profit do we gain from this?
"You gain the hearts of the Sardinian people, Saint Longwy. You saved the citizens of Genoa last time. This time, you'll have saved the people of yet another region."
I said.
"Trust me. Once the rebellion succeeds, the Sardinians will willingly offer their territory to you. It will all be for Bretagne, Saint Longwy."
— So, I was asking what profit we gain. I understand well enough what I'll get out of this. But I have absolutely no idea what you, the Court Count, stand to gain. You're not the type to involve yourself in something with no benefit, are you?
I smiled.
"The weaker Frank becomes, the better it is for me."
The Saint's observation was correct. I never moved without profit. I intended to take down three birds with one stone this time — the Frank Empire, the Kingdom of Bretagne, and the Kingdom of Sardinia.
But I certainly didn't owe her an honest answer. Bretagne needed to grow a little fatter. She would only realize much later that she had overindulged — but let's save that pleasure for when the time comes…