542 – Purple Coronet, Blue Blood – 1

About a month has passed since I got married to Rize.

Rize, who had declared war majestically for a month, was quickly defeated, Peddie started to turn over three months after being born, and the mansion was filled with cheers, and the triplets in Trixie’s arms were already exercising. I kicked him often.

In addition, she no longer has to go to the academy to manage a bunch of novice members, and her only younger brother now has a decent job that he can talk about wherever he goes.

That’s why this year is a beautiful year that has been blessed from the beginning. It was a time when if someone asked me if I was happy, I could confidently answer yes.

Just until today.

‘…I should have lasted this long.’

She sighed as she checked the text message that came through her communication port. Finally, a storm came that would shatter the peace.

[Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Leon dies. ]

It was a short sentence, but its meaning was not short.

In the first place, it was a text message sent to all high-ranking government officials at once. It’s even weirder if it’s a letter that doesn’t mean anything.

‘It’s really early this year.’

In the meantime, it was revealed that the emperor’s words were true, and he burst into laughter.

When the emperor first mentioned dispatching to the Kingdom of Leon, he said it would be early this year, but the crown prince actually died in February. I felt like I was amazed by the empire’s information power, which was so accurate that it gave me goosebumps.

‘It would have been better in April.’

I am truly sorry. April is the time to enjoy your honeymoon with Rize for about 3 months, and there are 4 months left until your wedding with Rin. The perfect time to go on dispatch─

“No shit.”

I hurriedly slapped my cheek to calm myself at the terrible idea.

There is no such thing as a good time for dispatch in this world. Could it be that I gritted my teeth and changed the dispatch to the Kingdom of Leon into a commute format?

‘This is how you compromise with reality.’

Soon, a subtle bitterness came along with the tingling pain. At one time, I was crazy about being dispatched and on a business trip, but I ended up using mental victory by talking about ‘good times’. This probably means that they have begun to kneel and compromise in front of the high and thick wall of government officials.

It was truly sad, but there was no time to even feel those emotions comfortably.

[Come straight to Taeyangjeon. ]

The emperor issued an individual summons separately from the group message.

I wasn’t the only one who was summoned to the Taeyangjeon.

‘Wow.’

As soon as I entered the emperor’s office, I saw Zhen Chenggong, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Chairman of the Imperial Assembly.

The lineup was so dizzying just to look at it that I was speechless for a moment. Even if the Chairman is the Emperor’s hand in hand, the fact that the top officer of the Imperial Army and the head of diplomacy are side by side does not mean that the Kingdom of Leon will respond with all its might.

‘A few legions will go.’

And it seems that the emperor does not intend to mobilize just one corps if he calls Jeon Seung-gong as a staff member. Even if I can’t do it, I’m thinking of moving 4.

That is almost enough power to wage war. After all, the Empire has a history of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to fight the North, and the rule is that wars are fought with only a few legions.

“The minister is here too. The conversation will be long, so please sit down instead of standing.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After hearing the words of the emperor who was sitting at the head table, I carefully found a seat and sat down.

‘It’s been a while since I sat in the last seat.’

I feel strange. I am now the minister who is ranked 7th in the executive department, so I am in a position to sit at the head of the table wherever I go, but the people in this position are the emperor, the duke, the minister who is 3rd in the hierarchy in the executive department, and the head of the legislative body. Places such as 7th place were filled with big names who could easily be sent to the bottom of the pile.

But I wasn’t upset. The fact that there are many people higher than me in this position means that my stake in this Leon incident is small. The more people there are to take responsibility for me, the better.

“Everyone who is coming has gathered, so let’s get started.”

Just when my mind was about to become calm, the emperor opened his mouth.

“Chairman.”

“Your Majesty’s loyal members have no intention of sitting idly by and watching the tragedy in the Kingdom of Leon. An hour ago, a temporary law for the expedition to the Kingdom of Leon was proposed and passed unanimously.”

“Thanks to the council’s astuteness, the groans of Leon’s subjects will be reduced a little.”

“These are great words, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor nodded with satisfaction at the Chairman’s report that the Empire had already prepared a justification for intervening in Leon.

Of course, even if it is a justification, it is a hastily created justification, and there is no person on the continent who does not know that the Imperial Council that created the justification is the emperor’s hand and limb. It’s just that ‘the empire does not sit idly by and watch the suffering of other countries according to its laws.’ The important thing is to have good decency.

“Gong Seung-gong. How is the formation of the expeditionary force going?”

“A total of four expedition corps were organized as anary force, centered on the 6th corps of the Eastern Army.”

“I will appoint the 6th Corps commander as Marshal. During the Leon expedition, the 6th Corps commander will be able to report directly to Jim, not the eastern sector army commander.”

“This is indeed a wise judgment, Your Majesty.”

The exact figure that was expected came out of Jeon Seung-gong’s mouth, and the emperor seemed to think it was appropriate and calmly appointed the commander of the 6th corps as marshal.

‘He is the commander of the 6th Corps.’

It was a familiar name, so I quickly turned my head and looked up information about the 6th Corps commander.

And soon, information that had been dormant came to mind. He was unable to attend my wedding because he was in a position to protect the border, but he always sent letters of congratulations and understanding faster than anyone else. He wanted to meet me in person sometime and say hello, but I never thought we would meet like this.

‘I’ll be promoted soon.’

Still, from the perspective of the commander of the 6th Corps, I am glad that we are meeting on a good note. If a corps commander receives the title of marshal and gains experience in overseas expeditions, promotion to commander of the local forces is almost guaranteed.

“Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

In any case, the emperor was satisfied with the report that the empire had a justification and was ready to move, and looked at the Minister of Foreign Affairs with a somewhat soft gaze.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

However, the expression on the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ face when he received the emperor’s gaze was not very good.

It’s strange. He doesn’t act like a minister for a day or two, so he probably doesn’t do it because he’s nervous, and he’s a good guy, so he doesn’t get upset about most things. At best, it’s just a matter of complaining in private.

‘A person like that would act like that in front of the emperor?’

Even from the minister’s perspective, ‘Oh, this is such a hassle.’ The same thing happened.

“…What are the trends in other countries?”

The emperor also seemed to have noticed the incident and opened his mouth with a somewhat shocked expression.

“Your Majesty, the atmosphere in Quironos is unusual.”

Of course, even though the emperor changed his expression, there was no change.

***

Quironos Kingdom. A kingdom located to the east of the Kingdom of Leon, with a miraculous location bordering Armain to the northwest and Juven to the southeast.

Moreover, just 30 years ago, Leon was evaluated as a military powerhouse that could threaten Armaine’s position, so in the past, Quoronos was an unlucky country surrounded by three powerful countries. A country where even the slightest mistake will tear the country apart in an instant.

However, desperation makes humans stronger. Quironos, caught between powerful nations, was able to preserve the national structure by displaying rare diplomatic skills.

Even beyond the preservation of the national polity, the Kingdom of Leon took advantage of the faltering situation to emerge as a new powerhouse in the central part of the continent. At one time, continental diplomats said, ‘Life is like quoronos.’ It is said that the same thing was said around.

‘Is it really them?’

And that diplomatic genius and rising power emerged as an obstacle to the empire’s progress.

It was expected. If Armain puts forward a big name as the commander of the Southern Army, he is conscious of Quoronos, and he mentioned this to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and told him to pay special attention to Quoronos’ movements.

Nevertheless, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that quoronos were not unusual. If such a statement is made even though their intervention has already been acknowledged as a fait accompli…

“Hardliners are gaining ground within Quoronos.”

They are aiming for more than simple intervention.

“Hardliner?”

“It’s a strange thing. I heard that Quironos is wasting a lot of national power just by assimilating the occupied territories.”

My father-in-law and the chairman expressed their surprise at the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ words.

Quironos made a surprise attack on Leon 30 years ago and absorbed a large amount of territory. However, managing the territory, which had nearly doubled in size, was impossible with any amount of effort, and as the chairman said, considerable national power was devoted to the assimilation of the occupied territories, leading to silence in continental diplomatic circles. First of all, you have to sort things out from the inside before you can raise your voice outside.

However, hardliners are gaining ground in Quoronos?

‘Did you decide to throw up what you ate?’

Can not understand. Since about half of the country is part of Quoronos, the former territory of Leon, it is natural that they will grit their teeth and attack the rare situation of the replacement of the Leon royal family. They probably wanted to ask the new royal family to ‘permanently give up ownership of the territory they lost 30 years ago’, so they planned to irritate Quironos a bit and then accept it in exchange for compensation.

However, if hardliners go beyond that and become more powerful, wouldn’t they be looking to expand their territory again? You can’t do something like that without going crazy. When your stomach is already full, you should be careful about drinking water.

“Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

While frowning at the phenomenon that deviated from common sense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke carefully.

“The officials who supported Quoronos in the past retired or died during the 30 years of silence. Those who succeeded them were those who lacked international experience…”

“Has there been a generational change of children with no sense of reality?”

“…Yes. That’s what we’re judging at the moment.”

The words “What kind of bullshit” Were rising to the top of my throat, but I swallowed them back. Although I wonder if it makes sense for a country’s diplomatic policy to fail in such a way, it is a possibility considering the behavior of Quironos right now.

“Perhaps Quoronos is trying to get concessions from our country and Armain by showing that they are willing to go to war.”

“Huh.”

My father-in-law let out a soft sigh at the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ guess.

I feel the same way as my father-in-law. Such threats only work for those who want to avoid war, so we organized an expeditionary force on the premise of military activity. If Quoronos says he wants to go to war, just beat him up on the spot.

‘Is this the Quironos I know?’

Confusing. Who would have thought that the diplomatic powerhouse seen in history books, and the victor who coined the phrase ‘life is like quoronos’, would become so proficient in just 30 years.

‘…Even the empire has changed in 30 years.’

Seeing the two countries changing in different directions makes me laugh out loud.