Episode 89. Defeat
Duke Kreuz took a sip of tea and looked at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince still wore a gentle expression. That face gradually broke down the Duke's defenses.
"Your Highness said you have come to our side."
"That is true, Uncle."
"Does my decision need to be made?"
Duke Kreuz paused for a moment and gazed at the Crown Prince.
"What if this Golden Lion Merchant Guild became my backer, rather than Mother's?"
Upon hearing those words, Duke Kreuz looked at the Crown Prince for a second. My backer. Rather, those words completely shattered the Duke's guard. Had the Crown Prince said it was for the Empress's sake, the Duke would have remained cautious to the very end. But he spoke of it as his own backer.
At those words, the Duke felt relieved. I can see it now, greed. The Duke said as he set down his teacup.
"It seems we can finally have a conversation, Nephew. You know how to look out for your own interests."
Duke Kreuz changed the way he addressed Pierre. From Your Highness to Nephew. Pierre recognized the difference. Duke Kreuz felt that Pierre was needed, and the arrogance stemming from that, or perhaps the conceit of willingly becoming a backer for Pierre, who did not yet have a firm position of his own within the Imperial Palace. Pierre thought. His uncle was indeed like his mother.
"Uncle, I have come here not as your nephew, but as the Crown Prince."
Duke Kreuz understood the intention behind Pierre's words. The title 'Nephew' had actually made both Pierre and himself uncomfortable.
"Mother's backing is merely the backing of the Imperial Empress, nothing more and nothing less. However, the Crown Prince's backing can later become the backing of the Emperor. Then, shall we resume our conversation?"
How arrogant. How could he even be in that position right now? Duke Kreuz's heart boiled as he looked at this arrogant fellow standing before him, his sister's son, with the blood of the Kreuz ducal family flowing through his veins. Yet, he had no choice but to agree with Pierre's words. For the future Emperor is not his sister, but the Crown Prince sitting before him right now
"...Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
"Then, let us begin with a story that will not reach His Majesty the Emperor. A story known only to Mother and Uncle. The dark side of this merchant guild."
Pierre unhesitatingly got straight to the point. It began with the story of the Golden Lion Merchant Guild. Duke Kreuz spoke without hesitation about how his family had built the Empire's largest guild, how they had operated it, and what they had done to solidify the Empress's position
The Crown Prince listened in silence. He merely nodded or asked short questions occasionally. That attitude made the Duke feel at ease. Strangely enough. Then, the Duke's words deepened.
"In fact, the reason we were able to grow the guild to this scale is that our financial structure was different from the very beginning."
The Crown Prince said.
"A financial structure?"
"We started by renting out people to manage the estate income of noble families. At first, it was a structure where we received a legitimate commission. But..."
The Duke paused briefly.
"Those commissions gradually grew larger."
The Crown Prince looked at the Duke. The Duke continued.
"The Marquisate of Muller, the Count House of Hausmann, and the Duke of Liechten. These were the families that started trading with us first. I told them that if they entrusted me with managing their estate income, I would run it more efficiently. They trusted me and gave me the responsibility. That was the beginning."
The Crown Prince remained silent.
"I kept duplicate ledgers. One ledger was shown to the families, and the actual ledger. The difference between those figures came into the merchant guild over several years. Because when multiple families join, even if it's just a little bit from one, the scale changes."
The Duke spoke slowly.
"The Duke of Valois was one of them. The Viscount House of Werner and the Count House of Strauss, too. Those families joined relatively late. Much later than the Marquisate of Muller or the Count House of Hausmann."
The Crown Prince quietly asked.
"How many families are there?"
Duke Kreuz was silent for a moment.
"So far, a total of thirteen families."
The reception room fell silent. Thirteen families. Hearing that number, the Crown Prince thought to himself. Thirteen. That is two more families than he had identified. Outwardly, nothing was revealed. The Duke continued speaking.
"Some of those funds flowed toward Her Majesty the Empress. After all, there were things Her Majesty the Empress needed within the palace. Guards, intelligence, and personnel. Such things were only possible with money."
"Is gunpowder one of those things?"
"How could you..."
The Duke looked at the Crown Prince with surprised eyes. The Crown Prince spoke calmly.
"I know to some extent, Uncle. I did not come looking for you without knowing anything."
The Duke looked at the Crown Prince for a moment, then nodded.
"Gunpowder is one of them. We were able to stockpile it thanks to those funds. The swords of Her Majesty the Empress's guards. It was not Her Majesty the Empress who ordered it. It was something I did for Her Majesty."
"Haha. To think a mere ducal family would bring gunpowder into the palace... You are quite something, Uncle."
"The late Duke, and the Duke before him. In the Kreuz ducal family, there is a saying that has always been passed down from grandfather to father, and from father to son."
Duke Kreuz cleared his throat and resumed his speech.
"The Empire is not steadfast. What is steadfast within it is the ducal family that supports it. If the Empire falls, the King may change, but the prestige of the ducal family within it will never waver."
"That is an arrogant remark. And to make such a statement right now in front of the Crown Prince of this Empire."
"Your Highness is the Crown Prince and a descendant of Kreuz."
Duke Kreuz's words lingered in Pierre's ears. However, his expression remained composed. Soon, the Crown Prince's gaze changed.
"Uncle."
His voice lowered.
"Then, how far are you willing to go for me?"
Duke Kreuz looked at the Crown Prince. He tried to grasp the intention behind the question, but he could not quite understand it.
"For example, like the ambush attack on a Viscount and a Count's estate last night."
A vile smile was rising on the Crown Prince's face. Slowly. It appeared as though he was trying to suppress it, yet it seemed as though it could not be held back.
"Your Highness, that was something the Empress acted on her own initiative."
"No. Raiding that place was on my orders."
Duke Kreuz could hardly believe his ears. Duke Kreuz had heard the news that two families had been suddenly attacked last night, suffering heavy damage, just a few days after returning from meeting the Empress. The Duke believed that the Empress, having lost her captain of the guard, had unilaterally unleashed soldiers and recklessly launched an operation to retrieve evidence and witnesses to avoid another purge.
"People have died, Your Highness. Two private soldiers from the Count Strauss family have been killed. You are saying that is what Your Highness orchestrated?"
"It was my uncle who ordered this."
The Duke looked at the Crown Prince.
"And Mother is behind it all. Even if Mother didn't know, she was the one who started all of this."
The Duke remained silent. The Crown Prince lowered his eyes. A moment of silence followed. Then, Duke Kreuz raised his head and spoke.
"What exactly are Your Highness's intentions?"
The Duke looked at the Crown Prince. Pierre, who had been keeping his mouth tightly shut, finally opened it.
"The ability to control everything with a single gesture. A person who can possess everything in this Empire."
Duke Kreuz gazed at Pierre silently.
It was less than two hours after the Crown Prince had left Duke Kreuz's residence. The door to the Emperor's office opened quietly. Karl, the Chief Chamberlain and the Emperor's closest aide, entered and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
The Emperor lifted his eyes from the documents.
"Speak."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince visited Duke Kreuz's residence this afternoon. He stayed for about an hour."
The Emperor looked at Karl. It was brief. Really brief. The Emperor's eyes wavered slightly. He was surprised. Karl caught it. Having served by the Emperor's side for twenty years, Karl had never missed a change in his expression. That wavering subsided quickly. The Emperor closed the documents and leaned back against the chair.
"He met Duke Kreuz in person."
He muttered to himself. The Emperor looked out the window. The sun was setting. The trees in the palace garden were casting long shadows.
"How long were the two of you?"
"About an hour"
"An hour."
The Emperor repeated the number once. It was not a short time. It meant it was not a perfunctory visit. What was the intention behind going ahead before the inspector entered? The Emperor looked at Karl again.
"Anything else?"
"They say His Highness's expression was no different from usual when he left. He didn't say anything special even as he boarded the carriage."
The Emperor nodded. Karl quietly asked.
"Do you have any further instructions, Your Majesty?"
The Emperor remained silent for a moment.
"It is fine."
Karl bowed his head and stepped back. The door closed. The Emperor was left alone in the office. Pierre. He called his son's name inwardly. The face he saw when he entered the office that morning came to mind. That look in his eyes when he asked him to entrust the Golden Lion Merchant Guild matter to him. It hadn't wavered. It hadn't been afraid. Yet, it was hiding something. The Emperor had sensed that. That is why he hadn't given his permission immediately. But here he went to Duke Kreuz right away this afternoon.
The Emperor tapped the armrest slowly with his finger. What was his intention? Was he trying to protect his mother? To protect his maternal family? Or to use Duke Kreuz? Or to abandon both? The Emperor paused in his thoughts. Where exactly were you heading?
It was his son. The son born of him and the Empress. His son, whom he had established as Crown Prince with his own hands. That son was now single-handedly forging something out of this situation.
Thinking of Pierre, the Emperor summoned the Chamberlain again. Karl entered the office quickly at the Emperor's call. Seeing the Emperor's expression now compared to when he had just left, Karl thought, 'He must have come up with another interesting idea.'
"Karl, appoint an inspector for the Golden Lion Merchant Guild case immediately. "
"Do you have someone in mind?"
"Yes. Leon Ashford. He would be the right person."
Karl flinched at the word Leon coming from the Emperor's lips. Refusing the Crown Prince's request and using the Ashford family, his own retainers, was tantamount to declaring war on the Empress.
Karl nodded and left the office.
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