I Became the Master of the Empress

9 – Episode 9

He left the dinner with Theodora.

As he retraced his steps, he thought.

He expected it wouldn’t be easy to accept…

But seeing her strong determination, it tasted bitter in his mouth.

“Sigh…”

Theodora has just turned twenty.

Perhaps I might be making unreasonable demands of her.

To her, I am the son of an enemy.

The son of a usurper who kills beloved family members and seeks to steal the empire.

It might be hard for her to accept marrying someone like me, especially when the situation clearly reveals that I, the son of a usurper, intend to marry her and freely control the empire, as the descendant of a family that has ruled the empire for generations.

So, it might be a natural reaction.

-Creak

She opens the door to my room and enters.

Dragging my tired body, I forcefully lie down on the sofa.

“Sigh… Will she hate me even more when she sees what I’m about to do in the future?”

Because I will do things that will make her resent me in the future.

I intentionally undermine the authority of the emperor.

That’s how the bureaucrats will pledge loyalty to me.

And then…

Once the situation stabilizes, and someday… perhaps when a child is born between us…

Theodora might spare no means to eliminate me.

At least she will mistakenly believe that my child will become the grand duke.

Not today, but someday… she might try to assassinate me.

Sigh… I’ll deal with that later.

Right now, I’m really tired.

The profound exhaustion weighs heavily on my body.

My head is pounding.

It feels like a fever is rising from my head, so I press the back of my hand against my forehead.

The scorching heat transfers through my hand.

Is it a cold…?

I should just check today’s tasks and go to bed early.

With that thought, I get up and head towards my desk.

“Huh…?”

A report that seems to have just arrived.

Enclosed in a paper envelope as if it’s confidential, sealed with the stamp indicating urgency.

I tear it open roughly.

-Crackle.

And then, I start reading the report carefully.

“Now… are we going to war?”

The report contains information about the preparation of the Imperial Army and the movement of troops.

On one side is the capital of the Empire, Roman.

Of course, the army heading to Roman is not a massive one, less than 150,000, but with three layers of fortifications, it won’t be easily conquered. Perhaps the goal is not a direct siege but an attempt to surround. However, the problem is…

“Not an easy situation…”

The army moving in the other direction.

The target is the Grand Duchy of Francesco. In other words, the army heading towards my territory.

With the current military force of the Grand Duchy of Francesco, it would be challenging to stop an army of nearly 50,000.

The elite army of the Grand Kingdom and the renowned Geosin Corps, the pride of the Grand Kingdom, are here in Roman.

No matter how famous the fierce general Mary is, it will be difficult to stop them.

“Ah…”

Today, it seems like it will be tough to get enough rest.

With that thought in mind, he unfolds a military map on the desk.

***

– Chirp chirp!

The sound of birds chirping comes through the window.

He feels the bright sunlight and the scent of the morning breeze announcing the day.

“Phew… I stayed up all night.”

Seeing that the number of the Emperor Faction’s army far exceeds his expectations, he couldn’t sleep well out of worry.

He reviews the stockpiling of supplies, army deployment, and initial strategies in preparation for the possible siege of Roman, and thinks about negotiating cards.

The formidable Grand Kingdom and my younger sister, Mary.

“Mary…”

If they attack my territory, the Francesco Grand Kingdom, no matter how much she is called Mary, it will be difficult to stop them.

But I worry that Mary, who has a strong sense of pride, might be willing to protect it even at the cost of her own life.

At that moment.

– Knock knock!

“Come in.”

The door opens at my words, and Agrippa enters.

“Did Your Grace sleep well?”

Agrippa’s hair, slightly disheveled, catches my eye, indicating that he too had trouble sleeping.

“No. I couldn’t even sigh.”

He says so, pushing the report he received last night toward Agrippa.

“Take a look at this.”

Agrippa’s face freezes as he scans the report I hand him.

“Faster than I thought…”

“Yeah, I wish we had bought more time.”

I expected the members of the Senate I saw last time to inform the Imperial Faction that I intend to marry Theodora, but they are moving faster than expected.

“Still, we haven’t gathered our forces yet.”

I chuckle at Agrippa’s words.

“That’s true.”

Even so, it’s a big difference in numbers to fight with 30,000 troops in Rome and 20,000 in the Principality of Francesco.

“Shall we call Lady Mary to Rome?”

“Give up the Principality of Francesco?”

Agrippa tilts his head at my words.

“Yes. If the negotiation goes well, there won’t be any problems, but you need to prepare for when the negotiation fails.”

He’s right. But…

“Mary won’t leave the Principality of Francesco, will she?”

She is a true noble.

A genuine noble, not one who cowardly flees from her people.

Agrifa, who understood the meaning of my words, smiles and speaks.

“But wouldn’t you follow the Duke’s orders?”

I ponder for a moment at her words.

If the Duchy of Francesco remains intact, it will greatly benefit my future plans.

Abundant mines and labor.

A sturdy guild and market where exceptional artisans gather.

Rich harvests based on fertile lands.

And the greatest asset of the Duchy, its officers and staff.

The main reason the Duchy can exist as a victor in the north is because it has the Empire’s only military academy and graduates outstanding officers from there.

Losing all of that would be a serious blow to me.

Thinking about the impending Demon King, I feel a lot of lingering attachment.

No… if it’s going to disappear anyway, it’s right to save even Mary…

After a long thought, I speak.

“Send a letter to Mary.”

An order from the Duke.

Perhaps this will make Mary pay more attention to my words.

“Observe as much as possible, and if it seems impossible, wait for the right moment and hide… Think of safety as the top priority…”

Even an exceptional knight and commander must be saved.

With that difficult decision behind me, a sigh escapes.

“Haah…”

I let out a sigh and ask Agrippa.

“But what’s the matter?”

Agrippa makes a startled expression and hands me a paper from his sleeve.

“Today, the Supreme Court ruled.”

I take the several pages and quickly skim through the lengthy contents.

The result is more important than the details, anyway.

[Therefore, the argument of the petitioner that the succession right is maintained even if a collateral lineage (傍系) is established by the members of the Augustus family, is considered to be in line with the purpose of the law.

Thus, the petitioner’s argument that this law violates the law related to the establishment of a collateral lineage is considered to be in line with the purpose of the law.

Therefore, the 6 judges consider it illegal, and 3 judges consider it legal. Accordingly, the judgment is pronounced.

The provision of Article 12, Paragraph 2 of the Imperial Law is invalid from this moment as it violates the Imperial Law.]

“Not bad.”

It was a rushed trial, but I obtained a means to pressure the assembly and Theodora with the ruling of the Supreme Court, which has the right to judge the law.

Of course, if the process goes smoothly, it would have taken quite a while.

Normally, it would have taken months to three years for the Supreme Court to conduct an illegal examination and hear the opinions of the relevant parties.

During that time, the Imperial faction’s army would have arrived in Rome.

And there’s no guarantee that the ruling I want will be made, so I made sure to bribe for the ruling I want as quickly as possible.

Since I had already bribed Valerian, it was processed more easily than I thought.

“If we do this, most of the cleanup will be done.”

Of course, there are a lot of issues in terms of procedures… no, there are a whole lot, but I can push through them with my power, so it’s not a big problem.

After all, it’s all for the sake of gaining a plausible excuse.

The difference between having a plausible excuse and not having one is like night and day.

Now, I can turn a blind eye to this matter.

The biggest issue right now is the impending arrival of the Imperial Faction’s army.

I plan to negotiate with them, but if things go awry, we need to firmly imprint our military strength on their minds.

That way… they won’t bring up unreasonable demands in the upcoming negotiations.

So…

I say to Agrippa,

“If we deploy the Divine Corps in the first battle… it should be quite impressive, right?”

She brightens at my words and nods.

***

The day of the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Late lunchtime.

I check things that could be used for negotiations while eating a sandwich.

“Agrippa, wouldn’t they retreat if we reach this point?”

I point to the purple areas symbolizing the Imperial Decree on the empire map.

Once we pass these two areas, the Imperial Decree will only remain around the vicinity of Rome.

“With Epirus and Aetius, it will be a tremendous condition.”

Agrippa nods his head.

The Kingdom of Epirus and Ezhib.

Both of these kingdoms are the personal territories of the emperor.

Epirus is a kingdom responsible for 20% of the empire’s overall taxes, as it serves as a center of trade and holds many resources.

On the other hand, Ezhib is known as the empire’s breadbasket, being the foremost grain-producing region in the empire.

During times of famine in the empire, Ezhib plays a crucial role in stabilizing the empire by releasing its grain at low prices.

I am considering handing over these two places to the leader of the Imperial Faction, King Ioannes of Nikea.

Anyway, if a civil war breaks out now, it’s over.

Whether we win or lose, it will deal a massive blow to the empire’s administrative capacity.

And the aftermath of the civil war will make it even harder to stop the Great Demon…

That’s why I am planning to hand over these two places and focus on my own territory.

“Well… If we negotiate like this, things should work out well. It would be foolish to refuse.”

I nod in response to his words.

“That’s right. I should gradually propose the idea to Ioannes.”

Saying this, I hastily turn to Agrippa with a thought that just came to mind.

“Oh right! Is what I mentioned last time being prepared well?”

In response to my question, Agrippa nods and says, “We have already gathered the bards and are spreading the song.”

Lately, one of the things I’ve been doing is working to gain the support of the Roman Empire’s people.

One of those efforts involves gathering bards to sing romantic songs about me and Theodora.

I secretly admired the beautiful Theodora, but the vile father Valoran harassed and tried to take her away. I killed Valoran in place of the heavens and confessed my love to Theodora through a frivolous song… But now, this is an essential task.

It may seem a bit childish, but we have to clean up the image somehow.

The current public opinion within the empire is at its worst.

The Grand Duke, driven to power to the extent of killing the usurper father.

If the image is not good like this, there will be misunderstandings in the future.

But I’m actually doing this work with the thought that spreading the song about my love for Theodora, not as a usurper, but as a young Grand Duke, could help dispel the empire’s doubts.

Efforts to win the hearts of the empire’s people with beautiful lyrics and melodies.

-Pisik.

They are the essence of the empire.

“How’s the reaction?”

Agrippa smiles at my words and responds.

“Young children and young people seem to like it. But it doesn’t seem to appeal to the older ones.”

Well… they are more interested in politics.

They won’t easily believe it.

“But still… it’s better to be liked by young people than by the elderly.”

Just the fact that they feel favorably towards me will be a great source of strength for me.