“Sir, there is someone here!”
The knight of Sternheim reported to his superiors in a gasping voice.
The tension quickly grew as word spread that an outsider had sneaked into the unit.
“It looks like a foreign knight!”
It was the worst possible situation, with the opponent being a soldier. A spy? An enemy?
“Report to His Highness immediately!”
"Yes!"
The infantry formed a circle around the wagon.
As soon as the siege was complete, four knights of Sternheim leaped up onto the wagon and seized Sir Elko with the grain sack.
“Got you, you punk!”
“It might not be just one guy! Search thoroughly!”
Sir Manfredi and Prince Alfonso were dragged out of the carriage one after the other.
“Arrest him!”
Several knights rushed forward, holding ropes. Prince Alfonso closed his eyes.
Is this where my luck ends?
“What is this before we even set sail!”
A familiar voice reached his ears. It was the Prince of Sternheim, the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg, whom he had once met at a banquet.
And it was the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg who first pretended to know Prince Alfonso.
“You...? Your Highness Prince Alfonso...?”
It was the common language of rattan. Prince Alfonso, who was kneeling in the harbor, tied tightly with ropes, raised his head and looked up at the owner of the voice.
His tousled blond hair and deep blue-gray eyes met the gaze of the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg.
“His Excellency the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg.”
The always neat and tidy Grand Duke of Yuldenburg now looked quite embarrassed.
The heir to the Etruscan kingdom, an ally in the holy war against the barbarians, is kneeling on horseback, bound at his feet.
As he was the Prince of the alliance, he should have been released immediately.
However, he was a 'state guest' and a hostage of the Gallico Kingdom, the sponsor of this crusade.
And the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg and his army are still in the land of Gallico.
“Your Highness. What on earth are you doing here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg realized that he had asked a question that was not even remotely correct.
“This is not the time for this. We are about to set sail for the land of Yesak, and Your Highness the Prince must return to the palace of Montpellier.”
You can't go against your sponsor.
“Your Excellency.”
Alfonso opened his mouth in a broken voice.
“Please take me to Yesak.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was speechless.
“That is...”
“Let me go to Yesak and join the holy war to destroy the pagan barbarians.”
A tear flowed from the Prince's clear blue-gray eyes as he faced the bewildered Grand Duke.
“You came as a state guest of Gallico. You should return to the host who invited you. Your father would not want his son to run away to the battlefield, but to be in trustworthy hands.”
“My father!”
Prince Alfonso's voice, which had been broken into many parts, rose to a louder pitch like his faith being torn to pieces.
“He abandoned me for his concubine.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg, who had a rough idea of the circumstances surrounding the return, simply let out a sigh.
It seemed that the young Prince had finally come to realize that his father had abandoned him.
Leo III's refusal to pay the Etruscans' demands for reparation had several layers, but to summarize, it is true that he refused to send his mistress, Countess Rubina, to the kingdom of Gallico, and instead left his eldest son in Gallico.
That interpretation gained even more strength because even the concubine's son was recognized as having the right to succeed to the throne.
“My cousin, whom the Grand Duke calls a ‘trustworthy hand.’”
Prince Alfonso opened his mouth appropriately.
“They have lost their faith and are trying to take my life.”
“What did you say!”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was greatly surprised.
Prince Alfonso was a relative of Philip IV and was also the King who welcomed Prince Alfonso when he was sent as a diplomat.
The plot to murder Prince Alfonso was an absolute taboo for either of them.
“No way Philip IV would be so... He's one of those dignified Yeshiva monarchs.”
The knight of Sternheim reported to his superiors in a gasping voice.
The tension quickly grew as word spread that an outsider had sneaked into the unit.
“It looks like a foreign knight!”
It was the worst possible situation, with the opponent being a soldier. A spy? An enemy?
“Report to His Highness immediately!”
"Yes!"
The infantry formed a circle around the wagon.
As soon as the siege was complete, four knights of Sternheim leaped up onto the wagon and seized Sir Elko with the grain sack.
“Got you, you punk!”
“It might not be just one guy! Search thoroughly!”
Sir Manfredi and Prince Alfonso were dragged out of the carriage one after the other.
“Arrest him!”
Several knights rushed forward, holding ropes. Prince Alfonso closed his eyes.
Is this where my luck ends?
“What is this before we even set sail!”
A familiar voice reached his ears. It was the Prince of Sternheim, the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg, whom he had once met at a banquet.
And it was the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg who first pretended to know Prince Alfonso.
“You...? Your Highness Prince Alfonso...?”
It was the common language of rattan. Prince Alfonso, who was kneeling in the harbor, tied tightly with ropes, raised his head and looked up at the owner of the voice.
His tousled blond hair and deep blue-gray eyes met the gaze of the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg.
“His Excellency the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg.”
The always neat and tidy Grand Duke of Yuldenburg now looked quite embarrassed.
The heir to the Etruscan kingdom, an ally in the holy war against the barbarians, is kneeling on horseback, bound at his feet.
As he was the Prince of the alliance, he should have been released immediately.
However, he was a 'state guest' and a hostage of the Gallico Kingdom, the sponsor of this crusade.
And the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg and his army are still in the land of Gallico.
“Your Highness. What on earth are you doing here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg realized that he had asked a question that was not even remotely correct.
“This is not the time for this. We are about to set sail for the land of Yesak, and Your Highness the Prince must return to the palace of Montpellier.”
You can't go against your sponsor.
“Your Excellency.”
Alfonso opened his mouth in a broken voice.
“Please take me to Yesak.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was speechless.
“That is...”
“Let me go to Yesak and join the holy war to destroy the pagan barbarians.”
A tear flowed from the Prince's clear blue-gray eyes as he faced the bewildered Grand Duke.
“You came as a state guest of Gallico. You should return to the host who invited you. Your father would not want his son to run away to the battlefield, but to be in trustworthy hands.”
“My father!”
Prince Alfonso's voice, which had been broken into many parts, rose to a louder pitch like his faith being torn to pieces.
“He abandoned me for his concubine.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg, who had a rough idea of the circumstances surrounding the return, simply let out a sigh.
It seemed that the young Prince had finally come to realize that his father had abandoned him.
Leo III's refusal to pay the Etruscans' demands for reparation had several layers, but to summarize, it is true that he refused to send his mistress, Countess Rubina, to the kingdom of Gallico, and instead left his eldest son in Gallico.
That interpretation gained even more strength because even the concubine's son was recognized as having the right to succeed to the throne.
“My cousin, whom the Grand Duke calls a ‘trustworthy hand.’”
Prince Alfonso opened his mouth appropriately.
“They have lost their faith and are trying to take my life.”
“What did you say!”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was greatly surprised.
Prince Alfonso was a relative of Philip IV and was also the King who welcomed Prince Alfonso when he was sent as a diplomat.
The plot to murder Prince Alfonso was an absolute taboo for either of them.
“No way Philip IV would be so... He's one of those dignified Yeshiva monarchs.”
“Do you really think so?”
Alfonso said with a bitter smile.
“Haven’t you seen? My cousin is shameless in his sins, and as a great monarch of the sages he has no idea what he should and should not do.”
“...”
“I knew at that banquet that he had no fear of God.”
The Prince of Yuldenburg sighed as he recalled the image of Philip IV and Princess Auguste. They were certainly a shameless person.
Even to the Grand Duke's color-blind eyes, their relationship was clearly one step further than that of friendly siblings.
Prince Alfonso appealed to the Grand Duke.
“I have heard from credible sources that he is adding trace amounts of arsenic to my food.”
Although Lariesa was not a very trustworthy person by nature, she was a trustworthy source considering the amount of information available to him.
“Your Excellency, my world has fallen apart. Those I believed to be faithful have been enjoying the worst vices, and those I believed to love me have stabbed me in the back.”
There was an earnest appeal in the low, hoarse voice of Prince Alfonso as he appealed to the Grand Duke of Yuldenberg.
“Have I sinned against God?”
Under the gaze of the young Prince with watery eyes, the forty-year-old Grand Duke could not help but respond thoughtfully.
“Son of the noble one, sometimes the Gods give us trials that are beyond the understanding of human minds.”
The young Prince was facing too many trials at once.
Sometimes in life, bad things happen.
As a senior in life, the Grand Duke of Yuldenberg wanted to comfort the young Prince.
“Suffering is not necessarily the punishment for sins we have already committed, but is often part of God’s plan to use us in a greater way and make us into greater people.”
Although these were far too serious a situation to be lumped together as a 'bad thing', betrayal by humans was a fate that anyone in line for the throne would have to experience at some point, in one form or another.
“Recall the fable of Iyob the Hejazite, who had a humble beginning but a great ending. He had not sinned, but God demanded proof of his faithfulness. After losing all his wealth, his children were killed by illness, and he was in a desperate situation due to a fatal disease, Iyob never lost his faith. In any hardship that God sends down, there will be goodwill in it, so you must not give up until the end and wait for God’s salvation.”
Prince Alfonso answered the last words of the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg.
“Your Excellency, please allow me to turn the suffering of the Heavenly God into a trial that will allow me to grow into a greater vessel.”
“...”
The Prince's blue-gray eyes looked up at the Grand Duke earnestly.
“Please, give me a chance to go to the land of Yesak and serve and minister to the Gods by taking the lives of pagans.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was silent. Prince Alfonso appealed to the Grand Duke again.
“I have more than just my life to spare. My knights are with me.”
Behind Prince Alfonso were two of his knights, tied together. One of them was blind and had one arm missing.
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg recalled the advice he had given to his teenage son, whom he had left at home while he was on his campaign in Jesak.
'While your father is away, you will be the rudder of the Duchy of Sternheim.
Be responsible for your subjects and your country. Do not forget the disabled, the crippled, the widows, and the elderly, and always take care of them as if they were your own family.'
His twelve-year-old son, holding the Grand Duchess's hand tightly, nodded to his father's teachings with a solemn expression.
Could I be honest with my young son after sending the young Prince before my eyes back to the Kingdom of Gallico?
“Please, Your Excellency the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg. If this is suffering from the heavens, there must be salvation between the lines. Help me to find it in the land of your birth! Give me a helping hand so that my knights can devote themselves to their next goal without losing their lives!”
The Etruscan Prince had tears streaming from his blue eyes.
Objectively speaking, it was no exaggeration to say that it was begging. However, in the eyes of Grand Duke Yuldenberg, it did not seem mean.
The young Prince is doing his best to save himself and his men even in this desperate situation.
Before that, there was no pride, no stubbornness, no sense of superiority about status.
“...Commander of the Knights.”
The Grand Duke of Yuldenburg was curious and unwilling to know how his eldest son, whom he had left behind in his homeland, would fare in the face of adversity.
Will his child, like Prince Alfonso before his eyes, also beg the invaders?
Or will he be unable to let go of his lofty pride as a monarch's bloodline and endure to the end? Will his son also end up kneeling and wailing in front of others like this?
The Grand Duke left the Duchy of Sternheim defenseless and embarked on a fruitless expedition to glorify the God of heaven.
Because he thought it was his duty and the path to eternal happiness for future generations. But he also knew.
On a worldly level, the Duchy of Sternheim was in a state of great national weakness due to his campaign. He had exposed his son to danger.
“How many hours are left until departure?”
“It’s three hours long, two hours short!”
“Clear the area around here and load all the luggage as quickly as possible. We’ll set sail immediately.”
The Grand Duke would never allow his son to be in such a situation.
He prayed that the good deeds he did today would one day come back to his own blood relatives.
“...What should we do with these people?”
“Move to the mother ship. Give His Highness the first-class cabin and the knights the second-class cabin.”
The Grand Duke finished giving instructions in a language that Prince Alfonso could not understand, looked at the Prince, and spoke quietly.
“Prince, let us go and see. To Yesak, the land where the Prophet first descended.”
***
The Palais de Montpellier was engulfed in chaos by a fire at dawn.
Soon the news of Prince Alfonso's escape was discovered, and guards searched the palace in vain for them before it reached the ears of Philip IV.
Because Prince Alfonso was hiding in the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg's camp, out of the reach of the guards.
“How impertinent!”
After the morning parade, Philip was unable to hide his anger when he heard of Prince Alfonso's escape.
“You dare hide from me what happened in this palace?”
He shouted at the security guard in a high, thin voice, furious.
“That, that... His Majesty the King has an important event coming up, so I don’t want to upset you...”
The fire broke out around four in the morning. It was ten in the morning when the situation was reported to Philip IV.
It was only a six-hour delay, but Philip didn't think so.
“Captain of the Guard!”
“Yes! Your Majesty!”
“Do you think I should show mercy to your subordinates?”
The captain of the Montpellier Guard realized that his life depended on this answer.
He immediately fell to the floor and shouted loudly.
“No! Kill him! Even if he dies with his limbs torn off, I cannot escape the responsibility of management! I beg for forgiveness!”
Philip IV hardened his white, snake-like face and called out the next person.
“Captain.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The second in command of the stiffened guard answered. Philip gave dry instructions.
“The person in charge of the guard of the VIP quarters should be torn to pieces and the captain of the guard should be hanged.”
It was as the captain of the guard had requested. Everyone in the room held their breath, but no one was bold enough to show off.
“From now on, you are the captain of the guard. Do a good job.”
“Yes!”
***
The captain of the guard had been replaced this morning—his predecessor had been swiftly put to death by the dew of the executioner—and Grand Duke Odes was told that the reason had been the fire that had broken out in the palace at dawn and the escape of Prince Alfonso, and he felt uneasy.
“Honey, Bernadette. Is Lariesa well in her room?”
At the Palace of Montpellier, it seemed that the cause of the fire was thought to be the ingenuity of Prince Alfonso and his party, but Grand Duke Odes clearly felt that there must have been outside helpers.
“Lariesa? She must be sleeping in her room.”
At Grand Duchess Odes's calm answer, he suppressed his temper and decided to go to his daughter's room himself.
There was a need to check.
“The Princess has just finished bathing and gone to sleep.”
But the answer he received was extraordinary. Unable to bear it any longer, Grand Duke Odes asked his daughter's maid.
“Does Lariesa usually take a bath in the morning and take a nap at noon?”
“Even though the baby was lazy.”
It was the nanny, Mrs. Eugenie, who answered. She added sullenly.
“I didn’t raise her so badly that she had to take a bath in the morning and take a nap at this hour.”
Grand Duke Odes, feeling uneasy, cried out.
“Bring Lariesa here, now!”
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