What nation has never once harbored a grudge against another?
What nation has never once despised the sovereigns, the nobles, or even the very citizens of another country? On a continent where multiple nations jostled for survival, old grievances were nothing new.
The Frank Empire and the Kingdom of Bretagne had not merely exchanged a single grudge — they had built up enmity and resentment across generations until they became mortal enemies. Whenever the Frank Empire went to war with another nation, the Kingdom of Bretagne was invariably the one scheming behind the scenes. Frank despised Bretagne.
That was precisely why.
"Take a look at this, Saint Jacqueline. The Emperor sent me a love letter."
Henrietta, Queen of Bretagne, couldn't help but laugh.
Still mounted on her horse, she read the letter through and then burst into hearty laughter. Her hair, red as blood, shimmered with the motion. As queen, she expressed her emotions with remarkable candor, and the courtiers around her found this about Henrietta to be charming.
"Oh my. How interesting."
Jacqueline Longwy, the Goddess Athena's Saint, was handed the letter.
"Then allow me, Your Majesty, to read His Imperial Majesty's love letter aloud..."
The Saint casually twirled a neatly curled lock of her hair with her right hand as she read the letter out loud. In other words, Saint Jacqueline was holding a letter sent by the Empire's very Emperor with her left hand — a flagrant act of disrespect. Twelve high nobles on horseback surrounded them, yet not a single one pointed out the Saint's rudeness.
"Your Majesty! When those insolent troublemakers were stirring up foul chaos in both my Empire and your Kingdom recently — oh my. 'Insolent troublemakers,' he says. Heh heh, I wonder who's feeling awfully offended."
"Ha ha ha!"
Everyone roared with laughter. The "insolent troublemakers" the Frank Emperor referred to were none other than his own mother. Considering that this letter was meant to be a diplomatic and official document, the Emperor was effectively hurling abuse.
Saint Jacqueline cleared her throat and resumed reading the letter.
"...When they were stirring up foul chaos, Your Majesty sent me a letter. At that time, Your Majesty firmly took my side. Although those troublemakers spout all manner of lofty justifications, in the end they are nothing but parasites eroding my subjects and my imperial authority — and worse, they plunder and exploit my resources as if they were their own."
The Emperor's tone laid bare exactly what he thought of the so-called republicans. In short, they were utterly useless to imperial authority and were nothing more than petty thieves gnawing at the Empire's wealth.
"Now that these troublemakers have finally shown their true colors and are attempting to seize the Empire, it is truly the case of a hedgehog robbing a snake's den and a robber posing as the homeowner. In my anguish, I looked around and found nothing but traitors and sycophants — pouring darkness upon the darkness in my heart."
"Hmm. His Imperial Majesty would not make a particularly good writer."
Queen Henrietta smiled faintly. Saint Jacqueline nodded as well. The two women had been childhood friends since they were young, and setting aside their status and positions, they occasionally enjoyed pleasant times with men. If you were to count all the love letters they had received to date, it would easily surpass four hundred.
"…And so, under the heavens, only myself and the Queen remain as friends. Though in past history the Goddesses made the Empire and the Kingdom stand opposed to one another, if the Queen and I now work day and night for each other's reconciliation, how could even the Heavens disregard that? I eagerly await the touch of my friend…"
Saint Jacqueline folded the letter away.
Queen Henrietta took the letter back. She turned her mount around. Twelve high nobles clad in light armor surrounded the queen. This was the first wall — what could be called the inner citadel.
Beyond them, the knights of those same high nobles formed another ring. The knights gripped tall lances, and from each lance a banner bearing the sigil of its house fluttered proudly. This was the queen's second wall.
And beyond that, across the vast plain — a full ten thousand soldiers stood in formation. They lined up without a single inch of deviation, following their officers' commands to the letter. This was the queen's third wall, the outer citadel that would crush any foreign foe into dust.
"Children of Bretagne!"
Queen Henrietta de Bretagne looked down upon her three walls. A mage who had been standing by amplified the queen's voice. Henrietta's bold, spirited voice echoed thunderously across the plain.
"Today we cross the Empire. Not as invaders, not as looters, and certainly not as traitors. Here I hold a letter from the leader of the Frank Empire himself, granting us passage!"
The red-haired queen raised her hand high.
"There is nothing under the heavens that should give you pause. At times, hesitation may loosen your iron grip. Doubt may dampen your mighty war cry. And yet, children of Bretagne! I, Henrietta, personally guarantee that you are in the right! Strike down your enemies without hesitation. Obey your officers' commands without doubt. All we need is one thing — unity! Bretagne — unite!"
The soldiers roared their approval for their beautiful and powerful queen.
To ascend to the throne, Henrietta de Bretagne had been forced to compromise with countless nobles. But for those who stubbornly refused to compromise with her, she brought the blade down.
A great many among those ten thousand soldiers had witnessed with their own eyes how ruthlessly Henrietta trampled her enemies. More than a few believed she was the Goddess of War made flesh upon the earth. They revered the queen with her blazing red hair.
"Unite! Unite!"
"Long live Bretagne!"
"Long live Her Majesty the Queen—!"
No further words were needed.
Henrietta de Bretagne turned her mount to face forward.
The horse's hooves clacked as it stepped forward. The queen had crossed the border between the Kingdom of Bretagne and the Frank Empire. Though no boundary line was drawn upon the land, at this very moment the queen was treading upon Imperial soil. Everyone knew it.
Shortly after, the twelve great nobles, the knights, and then thousands more crossed the border. Saint Jacqueline Longwy sang a hymn.
"Ah——."
A beautiful melody flowed from the Saint's lips. It was sacred and elegant, yet resolute — like the bearing of a warrior maiden.
The hymn praising the Goddess Athena quickly became a martial anthem. Drawing on the power of magic, the song rang out over every soldier's head. The goddess was blessing them……
Nine thousand soldiers of the Kingdom of Bretagne.
Under the command of Henrietta de Bretagne — they marched.
After a tense verbal sparring match with Leraje, I returned and collapsed straight into sleep.
I was more exhausted than I'd realized. I ended up oversleeping. When I opened my eyes, I was alone in the carriage. No one had woken me up. Had they all been considerate enough to let me rest……?
Feeling a bit sheepish, I quietly crawled out of the carriage, only to find that new developments had arrived in the meantime.
"The Bretagne royal army has crossed the border."
Jacques reported with a thoroughly grave expression that roughly ten thousand Bretagne troops had begun their advance.
"They even have a Saint accompanying them. Jacqueline Longwy, the Saint of the Goddess Athena."
"To wade into this political quagmire — she's no ordinary Saint, is she……"
Saint Longwy had appeared on the enemy side in Dungeon Attack. The Kingdom of Bretagne had stood against the Habsburg Empire, where the Hero had taken up residence, so that was only natural. As if dealing with Laura's forces weren't troublesome enough, Saint Longwy kept showering buffs without pause, which was extraordinarily annoying.
I'd nearly bled myself dry grinding down the enemy units, only for her to cast a recovery spell and put them right back in fighting shape…… In any RPG, cleric units were the number one prey to rip apart. Things wouldn't be much different here. No — it would definitely be even more of a headache.
"Hah."
I rubbed my face with my palms. That helped shake off some of the sleepiness.
"Having a Saint with them is essentially broadcasting to the whole world that Bretagne has just cause."
"According to our intel, the Frank Emperor personally sent a letter of invitation."
"What an idiot — inviting foreign invaders on his own initiative, and he calls himself an emperor."
It was a matter of simply acknowledging the Republicans and being done with it. The Emperor's pride had ruined a great nation.
I sneered and took a sip of the vinegar water from the leather pouch.
"Even if they were to borrow Bretagne's strength to overpower the Republicans, what meaning would it hold? It would be an imperial authority propped up by foreign powers. No one would truly respect it. The Emperor has noosed his own neck..."
To make matters worse, the one shielding the Republicans was the Empress Dowager — his own mother. In the process of ruining his country, he was also committing an act of moral depravity. I supposed being an Emperor meant even his one-plus-ones were on a grander scale. Either way, the Emperor's name would go down in history as a tyrant for all eternity.
"We will proceed with our pilgrimage through northern Frank as planned."
"Yes."
Queen Henrietta probably wasn't hoping for the war to drag on.
She'd want to take her share of the spoils and slip away quietly. The Royalists would win, the Republicans would fall. With that contribution, she'd get a small piece of the Frank Empire's border territories — at most, that was the extent of Queen Henrietta's scheme.
But while you may come in as you please, you won't be leaving the same way... My plan was to turn Frank into a quagmire. Let's roll around in the mud together to our heart's content, Henrietta de Bretagne.
"Also, Your Highness, he's not ordinary."
"Who are you talking about?"
"The boy you entrusted to me, Your Highness."
Ah, right — there was also the matter of Luke.
My mind was still preoccupied with the matter of Leraje. I must not have fully shaken off the lingering drowsiness. I shook my head to chase away the remaining sleep. It probably didn't do much, but it was a matter of mindset. Bretagne's problems, the civil war, the Hero — each one had to be tackled methodically, step by step.
"What is Luke doing right now?"
"My subordinates have taken charge and are teaching him the sword."
"Hmm."
I stroked my cheek.
"Jacqui. A boy of eleven — that's when he'd be at the peak of his sexual appetite, wouldn't you say?"
"Pardon?"
Jacri's eyes widened.
"…You mean that? Of course. It's the age when even an oak tree would look like a woman's body."
"Good. Go fetch Jeremy for me."
Jacri left, and after a short while, Jeremy approached my carriage. Daisy followed at her side. Since establishing their master-disciple relationship, Daisy had become Jeremy's attendant. Daisy stared at me with an expressionless face. I wondered how long she could keep that up.
Jeremy said.
"Your Highness. I heard you summoned me."
"Ah, yes. Let's go ahead with what we discussed yesterday."
"My, my. How impatient you are."
She smiled sweetly. Even though it was a demure smile, the faint aura of wickedness it gave off was no trick of my imagination.
"Then I should take my leave now. Shall we carry it out today?"
"Of course. Tell Jacri it's my order, and then do as you please."
"Hehe, thanks to Your Highness, I'll get to nourish myself properly for the first time in a while."
Jeremy turned around with a smile. As Daisy moved to follow her master, Jeremy waved a hand.
"Ah, you don't need to follow me. Stick with His Highness for the day. He'll need you."
"…Yes. Understood."
Daisy's eyebrows furrowed slightly. But thinking it was an order, she nodded obediently. Once Jeremy departed gracefully, only Daisy and I remained.
I stroked Daisy's hair. Slowly. Savoring the feel of it. Her expression grew even more blank — as if she figured that even the slightest reaction would please me. What a cheeky little brat.
"I told you I'd never forgive you, didn't I?"
"……"
"Just wait. Something quite entertaining is about to happen."
I smiled gently.