Chapter 233: Cielen Kingdom

The army led by the First Prince of Ernes Empire and Princess Elizabeth finally reached the border of the Cielen Kingdom.

Although it was a Kingdom that had been their Vassal State for a long time along with the Roverium Kingdom, the tightly closed castle gate was not opened in the slightest to welcome their arrival.

"That's strange. No matter how I look at it, it doesn't look like they have any intention of having a siege war."

Cielen Kingdom's soldiers that were lined up on the high walls seemed to be watching them rather than being tense and determined for the looming battle.

In the first place, there was nothing to ask about them in this war, but rather, the goal was to have a cooperation with them and have their combined might fight against the Elmark Empire and block their supply......

"Don't worry too much, Brother. You just have to meet with a commander who guards the border of the Cielen Kingdom."

"I see."

When someone was in the dark about the other party's intentions, all they had to do was to find out their intentions.

After ordering his soldiers to halt their advance and build a camp. The First Prince then sent a few messengers towards the large castle gate to invite their commander.

In a way, it was ridiculously rude to ask the commander guarding the border wall to meet them outside.

However, the commander had no choice but to accept. After all, if he did not comply with their request, a siege would soon take place.

If the commander had something else in mind aside from that, they would accept the invitation calmly.

This is ridiculous.

However, while waiting in the barracks for the Margrave of Cielen Kingdom, who was guarding this border, the First Prince burst into bewildered laughter.

There was no reason for them to take that stance. Even if there was one,

Isn't this clearly an act of slighting the Ernes Empire?

Step-!!

As the messengers that he sent towards the castle wall entered the barrack, the First Prince stood up as his brows creased deeply.

That's because the Margrave of the Cielen Kingdom that guarded this border did not come with the messenger.

"We are really in a hurry. Yet, they seem to feel that we have a lot of leeway."

"Older brother."

"......Elizabeth. Do you think I'm being too overly emotional?"

"That's not it, Elder Brother. The Margrave of the Cielen Kingdom has accepted our invitation."

"What did you say?"

As soon as the puzzled First Prince glanced at the returning messengers, a man walked away from the crowd, knelt down on one knee, and showed the utmost courtesy to him.

"......This humble servant has come to see His Highness, the Prince of Ernes Empire and Her Highness, the Princess of the Ernes Empire."

"There must be a reason why you used the clothes of the messenger I sent to avoid the eyes of others, Margrave Falkriel."

"That is indeed the case. If you don't mind, would you please listen to what this old margrave has to say?"

Step-!!

Since the commander of the army was her brother, the First Prince, Princess Elizabeth took a step back and left the choice fully in his hands.

"Do you want the people around me to step away first?"

"I would really appreciate it if you let that happen."

"Your Highness!"

"I will not accept any disagreement. This is an order from your commander, so you must wait outside the barrack."

The vassals, whose complexions went pale, begged him to reconsider his choice. However, when they saw the First Prince not heeding their words until the very end, they had no other choice but to leave the barracks one by one.

When the only people who were left inside the barracks were the First Prince and Princess Elizabeth, Margrave Falkriel raised his head and opened his mouth.

"I...... Falkriel, have no intention of blocking the path of the Ernes Empire."

"Then why is your gate closed?"

"Even though I have no intention of stopping you, I still cannot open the way."

"Margrave, I'm not free enough to play games with you."

"Your Highness."

The First Prince let out a faint sigh as he saw Margrave Falkriel facing him with an old and wrinkled face, not befitting the title he had been given.

"Do you do it in order to avoid any harm coming to you?"

"That is the case, your highness."

Even though the First Prince often let his emotions cloud his judgment, there was no doubt that he was indeed someone who was born from the Imperial Lineage.

Although he could not be compared to Princess Elizabeth, who was blessed by the God of Wisdom, he was able to easily guess what the Cielen Kingdom wanted through the words spoken by Margrave Falkriel.

"I am afraid I cannot grant you that request."

What they wanted was a confrontation that would keep going. In other words, they wanted their neutrality to be respected.

Although the First Prince received Margrave Falkriel's request as a 'plea', in truth, it was closer to a 'threat'.

His words had an underlying meaning that the Cielen Kingdom would side with the Elmark Empire if their neutral stance was not respected.

"Margrave."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Do you know that even if I were to cut off your head here, no one can say anything about it?"

"......Yes. I am fully aware of it."

"I'm not just saying that to threaten you."

After he said that, the First Prince drew his sword as he rose to his feet and plunged the razor-sharp tip of the sword into Margrave Falkriel's neck.

"If that's all you have to say after coming here, I will now cut off your head and climb over that wall."

While taking in the tense mood with all her being, Princess Elizabeth, who had taken a step behind, looked at Margrave Falkriel with a faint pity tinting her eyes, unlike her brother, the First Prince.

It seemed like the Elder Brother didn't notice......

When Margrave Falkriel opened his mouth, the subject of his sentence was not 'We' but 'I'.

That means that the root of this whole situation was his own decision.

In the meantime, Margrave Falkriel, who was looking at the sword that was thrust at his neck, lifted his old, wrinkled face and looked straight into the eyes of the First Prince.

The hand of the First Prince that was holding the sword could not help but tremble as he saw resignation on his face, as if he had prepared for his own death.

"Your Highness...... Do you know what it is like to be a vassal who serves a Lord who has lost everything he should have as a member of the Royal Family?"

"......"

"The only thing this humble servant can boast about is the fact that I had lived for a long time. But also because of that, I could not contain my sorrow because I had to watch the complete downfall of the Royal Family......"

"......"

"When war broke out, our King and the Princes that served under him did not even think deeply about it and thought that they should just have to rely on the Ernes Empire as usual."

"You had been our vassal nation for a long time, so that judgment cannot be said to be strange at all."

"Haha...... It's a strange thing, Your Majesty. It cannot be said that it was the choice of the weak to live as the weak."

If they were trying to live off the humiliating peace by licking the feet of the powerful.

Why did they already bow their heads when the loser of the war had not been decided yet?

"If they choose to do so and the winner of this war is the Elmark Empire...... They will demand unreasonable compensation and retribution from our Kingdom."

"What displeasing words......"

"Are you displeased, Your Highness? But this is the life of the weak."

"......"

"On top of that, our Royal Family...... have no sense of the history of sacrifice and humiliation that lies within the lives of a weakling. Like children who have not yet left their mother's arms, they believe that all they need to do is listen and everything will be fine."

"Margrave, you can't convince me by trying to invoke my sympathy."

"I am aware, Your Highness. Up to this point, what I said was just a rant from a humble old man...... As I said before, I have no intention of blocking the path of the Ernes Empire."

"But you said you can't open the road, didn't you?"

"The fact that I had said that I can't open the road should be enough, Your Highness."

"What do you mean?"

After hearing the First Prince's questions, Margrave Falkriel took out a document from his chest pocket and held it out to him.

When the First Prince opened the document and read it, he looked down at Margrave Falkriel without saying a word.

"That's the total amount of supplies I have on hand beyond those walls. It's probably more than three or four supply runs, if not more."

"......"

"In order to avoid the eyes of the Elmark Empire's spy, I will make a deal with the monsters of the Underworld through my vassal and transport His Highness's army inside. In the process, we will send the territory's citizens to disguise themselves as you to prevent the spy from noticing that your army has been reduced, so please don't worry. Therefore, the Elmark Empire will think that the Ernes Empire is still confronting us here, so it will be more effective to annihilate their supply troops."

"The packaging was done well, but did you know that there is an obvious loophole in it?"

It was simply impossible to rule out the possibility that the army of the Elmark Empire was stationed beyond that wall and they were trying to bring the Ernes Empire army to the inside to annihilate them.

After finishing his words, the First Prince signaled his sister, Princess Elizabeth, who was behind him with a glance.

Then Princess Elizabeth walked to the front and let her beautiful voice out of her mouth.

"Margrave, Your offer may seem attractive at first glance, but you should realize that it would mean that we would be taking an unnecessary risk."

"Yes, Your Highness. But please believe me. I am willing to swear an Oath with magic power in front of your other vassals. The people of the territory trust me and they are quite friendly towards the Ernes Empire, so any untoward incident will not happen. On top of that, regarding your concern about the possibility of the Elmark Empire army being inside the wall, you can check about the truth with the messenger that was left behind in my place."

......The voice that came from inside him and the words that came out of his mouth were not different in the slightest.

Therefore, Elizabeth told her brother he was telling the truth by winking her eyes. After that, she took another step back and bowed her head.

At that moment, her displeasure, along with her pity, could hardly be erased from her face.

Even if they win this war, they would have to completely seize the borders of the Cielen Kingdom—more precisely, the area under the jurisdiction of Margrave Falkriel.

Some people might wonder if it was a joint operation, why would they punish the other country for closing their border.

However, strictly speaking, what they did right now was not a 'joint operation' but a 'compromise plan'.

The best move was to pressure the Elmark Empire with the full cooperation of the Cielen Kingdom.

Since they failed to achieve that and were forced to take a detour because of the threat that they might side with the Elmark Empire, how can they not be held responsible?

Even if they overcame this wall by force, in the end, this whole situation was happening because of Margrave Falkriel's own decision.

It was obvious how the King of Cielen Kingdom, who should be in the Capital, would receive it.

If the Elmark Empire gave just a little wind to him, he would quickly turn his head towards them.

In addition, if the Elmark Empire was the one who came out victorious from this war, he would not escape death.

Unless the Elmark Empire was an Empire full of fools, if they saw them suddenly appear and cut their supply route off, they would definitely realize that he was collaborating with them.

However, as she had said before, all of this was happening because of his own decision.

So, for the Elmark Empire, the only one who would be held responsible was Margrave Falkriel.

That's right,

The old man, no, the loyal vassal in front of her.

Risking his life and his family's honor,

He wanted to tell his Lord and the Princes under him that they had lost all their conviction and dignity as King.

Peace where the weak cling to the strong and live as parasites was not the same as a child-like life where everything would be fine as long as they listened to their parents.

It was the result of paying a considerable amount of price and sacrifice.

The pity and displeasure that Princess Elizabeth felt toward Margrave Falkriel......

Was because the current situation made her think whether this was the end that the Brutein would face,

When their Empire was on the path of decline someday in the future.

When she thought about it again, the current situation was truly laughable.

The King of Roverium Kingdom had the conviction as well as dignity that a King should have, but he had no vassals to support him.

Meanwhile, the King of Cielen Kingdom had vassals to support him, but he had no conviction and dignity.

Even though the Emperor of their Empire had both qualities and had restored the authority of the Imperial Family, every time she saw the two Kingdoms that had become good case studies, the thought that it would not last forever was firmly stamped in her mind.

Therefore......

Even if she could not be the sun that never set.

Princess Elizabeth vowed that she would be the sun that burned the longest and raised her head.

Gone were the sympathy and displeasure that painted her face up until a few moments ago. Now, the only thing that was shown on her face was a subtle majesty and dignity that shone as brightly as her beautiful platinum hair.