Cornered Rat (8)
As Sierra blinked, unable to understand it, the bedroom door opened without warning.
Soon, about ten men burst into the bedroom. Judging by their attire, they were knights of the Imperial Order.
Sierra screamed.
"You broke into the bedroom of a noble lady without even knocking! What kind of rudeness is that!"
The royal knights suddenly surrounded Sierra.
"Sierra Coelho, you are hereby arrested by His Majesty's command. You are hereby reduced from a noble to a criminal, and stripped of all your privileges."
The news was like a bolt from the blue and froze Sierra.
Count Coelho rushed to protect his daughter.
"Wait, wait! Why is His Majesty arresting my daughter? What did she do wrong?"
"Circumstances have been confirmed in which the assassination of Lady Millenia Astrod was requested."
"What are you saying now? Sierra asked for the assassination? My daughter?"
"Yes."
"T, what is this... Ugh!"
Count Coelho's face turned pale, and he fell down, clutching the back of his neck.
"Count!"
While the servants supported Count Coelho, the imperial knights captured Sierra.
"Are you crazy? Where are you putting your hands! Nanny, help me! Nanny...!!!"
"Miss!"
Sierra, who had been crying like crazy and looking for her nanny, collapsed.
The royal knight struck her on the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious.
There was no mercy for the sinner, who was not even a noble.
She was dragged away like a piece of luggage, her hands held by the knights.
In this way, the Coelho family was torn apart overnight.
***
In her previous life, Oslo appointed Kalit as lord of Tragos as soon as he ascended the throne.
Even the nobles who were unable to stand up to Oslo's tyranny at the time expressed their opposition to this decision.
Tragos was a region where survival itself was difficult.
Crime was rampant, taxes were uncollected, and there was no land for farming, let alone mining.
It was a place where even the most powerful lords would likely starve to death without royal support.
Or get killed by criminals before that.
But in this life, Oslo was sent to Tragos. In effect, he was expelled from the royal family.
I felt strange at the switched fates of Oslo and Kalit.
'I guess there really is such a thing as karma.'
Despite the chaotic circumstances, the summit proceeded as scheduled.
Everyone wondered why Oslo's disposition had changed overnight, but there was no way to find out.
The attendees decided to put aside their unresolved questions and focus on electing the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces.
Shancrecia, the attendee who hosted the event, spoke on behalf of the event.
"The current candidates for Commander-in-Chief are Prince Kalit Visha Antiete and Prime Minister Hallstail. Can we proceed with the vote as is?"
At that moment, Prime Minister Hallstail raised his hand. Everyone's eyes were focused on him.
"Please speak, Prime Minister."
"I withdraw my candidacy."
The attendees were shocked.
Prime Minister Halstail already had a track record of leading the Allied Forces to victory in the Great Rift as the Commander-in-Chief.
Since there were quite a few people who supported him, he was not at a disadvantage compared to Kalit, who was skilled in swordsmanship and strategy.
But everyone was surprised that he suddenly resigned. The host asked awkwardly.
"Prime Minister Hallstail, is it really right to resign?"
"Exactly."
"Excuse me, but may I ask why?"
"The most important item in this Great Rift is the anti-monster herb. I think someone with experience using this should be the commander-in-chief."
"Well, I'll give you some time to think about it, so how about you think about it again?"
"There is no need for that."
Several attendees sighed at the firm answer of Prime Minister Halstail. They were those who had supported him.
In any case, It was impossible to force someone to resign. The host looked around the room.
"Since there has been a change to a single candidate, we will proceed with a vote for or against. I hope that the participants from each country will deliberate sufficiently before voting. The vote will be held after lunch."
Attendees began to murmur and leave the Grand Library.
I headed to Ian with Nadia.
"Your Highness, would you like to talk to me?"
lan looked at me quietly and then slowly stood up.
"Let's eat together."
"I'll eat later. For now, I'd like to go somewhere where we can be alone."
The surroundings became quiet. For a moment, Kjer and Rahon stared at us with their mouths shut.
Ian grabbed my hand in an almost tense atmosphere.
"Let's go out."
The place we found was the backyard behind the main library.
As we passed the colorful garden trees suited to autumn, we came across an old-fashioned bench.
Ian laid a handkerchief over it.
"Please sit down."
"I'll stand."
"Are you angry at me?"
I'm not angry yet. If my prediction is correct, I will be.
"Is that what Ian said?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the Third Prince being appointed as the Lord of Tragos."
"It has nothing to do with me."
The Emperor has a meticulous personality.
He made my decision after considering all the circumstances and did not change his mind easily.
Above all, the Emperor had subtly hinted that he would not abandon Oslo.
So, you must have sentenced Oslo to imprisonment in front of me.
'That guy changed his decision in just one day?'
And they even raised the level of punishment so much that they published it in the newspaper.
It was something that could not have happened without someone's intervention.
And that someone would be Ian.
"The Third Prince was sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, His Majesty changed his decision after meeting with Ian. Are you going to say that it doesn't matter?"
Unlike me, who was always shooting at him in a hurry, Ian was very relaxed.
He neatly folded the handkerchief he had spread on the bench and put it in his bosom.
"I did tell His Majesty that the punishment he gave to the Third Prince was insufficient."
My heart sank.
I knew this would happen. I clenched my fists without realizing it.
"His Majesty must have demanded a price."
"He didn't ask for anything."
"Ian and I both know that His Majesty is not the kind of person who would do that. What kind of price is he asking for?"
This is what I was worried about.
What would Ian have given up to send Oslo to Tragos?
"I'm not an idiot. Please tell me what you promised His Majesty."
"I have decided to take charge of recruiting the Allied Forces."
"Allied Forces?"
"Yes."
Ha! I was so shocked that I couldn't even laugh...
"There are 70,000 soldiers that need to be recruited within two months. If we fail to recruit the required number of soldiers, the responsibility will be entirely yours, lan. Why on earth did you make such a promise?"
lan chuckled and grabbed my hand.
"Are you worried about me?"
"Are you calling that a question?"
Anger came and I pushed his hand away.
"Why are you doing something I didn't ask you to do? I was planning on dealing with the Third Prince with my father's power anyway..."
"Was it so?"
"Yes, Ian, this was a problem you didn't have to get involved in! You should have discussed it with me before you did anything. What is this? You ended up taking on a job you didn't have to take responsibility for because of me."
"Why am I blaming Young Lady? I did it because I wanted to."
"Why on earth? Are you the type of person who gets anxious if you don't work?"
"Just as you care about me, so do I."
"..."
"I want you to be safe. For that, we need to recruit 700,000 people, not 70.000."
Ian pulled my hand again.
The distance between us became much closer. A soft voice flowed through my ear.
"It's not something that Young Lady should feel responsible or guilty about. So, just calm down."
"..."
"If you don't let go of your anger, I'll kiss you."
This guy is the real deal!
The first, I swung carelessly in a fit of anger and hit him squarely in the shoulder.
I had no intention of actually hitting him, so I just froze.
"Oh, are you right? Does it hurt a lot?"
"It doesn't even tickle."
Ian grabbed my flustered hand and kissed it.
"Let's go eat now."
"..."
Why am I so anxious?
'You didn't promise to go to war, did you?'
But I, being a coward, just nodded without even asking the question I really wanted to ask.
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