novelraw Chapter 124: Revolution Defense War - Truce (1)
Chapter 124: Revolution Defense War - Truce (1)
Rhineland, West Germania Empire – Francia Revolutionary Army occupied territory.
With both the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army, Marquis Lafayette, and the diplomat in charge, Director Talleyrand, absent, a notice arrived from the Krafte Kingdom, declaring war after a two-year truce.
Francia, naturally, was in an uproar.
Fortunately, the news that the Great King of Krafte was coming here with Marquis Lafayette to arrange a truce with the Empire arrived simultaneously, so it was decided to postpone judgment until then. However, most people couldn't hide their anxiety and unease.
Especially Count Damien De Millbeau, who was making a fuss and proclaiming the end.
Erisliste Lilianne De Francia, Queen Eris, hurried through the chaotic Revolutionary Army and let out a deep sigh.
“……Are you alright?”
At the cautious question from behind, Eris turned to Frederic De Beaumont, who was always protecting her as usual, and gave a bitter smile.
“Uncle Frank.”
“It has been a long time since you called me that.”“Aah~ This is hard. I thought it was finally over with a victory, but to fight again after a two-year truce……”
And the opponent is that Krafte Kingdom.
They must face the army of a living legend, who, when his territory was only half its current size, that of a small to medium nation, won a war against the Empire, expanded his lands, and came to be called Great King.
“Everyone tries to reassure me, but they can’t even hide their own agitation. Ah, Marquis Lafayette is a fool.”
Lord Beaumont opened his mouth with an ambiguous expression.
“Marquis Lafayette must have done his best.”
To think that a straightforward knight with no interest in politics would defend Pierre, Eris smiled faintly and replied.
Though some members of the National Assembly were already bringing up Marquis Lafayette’s responsibility, Eris didn’t think so.
“Of course. I believe that. There must be a reason why Krafte, for whom fighting immediately would be advantageous, proposed a two-year truce. Whatever the Assembly says, I’m just eagerly waiting for the Marquis to return.”
However, Lord Beaumont’s expression became even more complicated upon hearing Eris’s words.
Looking like a father worried about his daughter who had given her heart to a man already betrothed, Eris chuckled.
“Your Highness, perhaps……”
The man who had given up everything as a royal guard to protect her until now, the man who had loved her mother.
‘Is that why he naturally thinks that way?’
Perhaps she felt sorry for her uncle, who regarded her like a daughter, but, finding it rather cute, Eris grinned playfully and said.
“But since he’s not here now, it can’t be helped. I just have to try harder.”
And she raised both hands, slapped her cheeks resoundingly, and said with determination.
“Because I am the Queen of Francia.”
Then she proceeded to her destination.
At the Emissary delegation's lodging, an Attendant announced her from within. Eris, turning to Lord Beaumont with a Smile to reassure him, stepped inside.
“……Welcome, 3rd Princess. The Great King of Krafte offered to arrange a Meeting, and I was bored waiting, having stopped by another place, so I requested a Meeting to have a Conversation between kin.”
Facing her half-sister for the second time, Eris replied with a bright Smile.
“It is Queen now, Your Highness Cecilia.”
*
In the winter of her 20th year, a year and a half had passed since the two had faced each other in the Kingdom of Alps.
However, the situation of the two sisters, whose age difference was so great they could be mother and daughter, had reversed.
Back then, it was a meeting arranged by them, as the Empire held the advantage and sought to wage War. Now, it was the defeated Empire being summoned to a meeting arranged by Krafte.
However, contrary to Eris’s bold reply, Cecilia did not show an angry reaction.
Cecilia, biting her lip and silent for a moment, offered Eris a seat and replied.
“……It would be right to show respect, but the Empire has not yet recognized your accession as Queen.”
“I am aware, Your Highness.”
After a moment of looking at each other, Cecilia spoke.
“Well, you have won. Are you pleased?”
Unlike their first meeting, neither of them had brought anyone along from the start.
Nevertheless, Cecilia was treating her with courtesy. Eris, realizing this anew, replied.
“We have not yet won, Your Highness. ……We are in a position where we must prepare for War with the nation Your Highness has summoned.”
Eris paused for a moment, then spoke again.
“I am the one who wishes to ask. So many people died or were injured for Your Highness’s sake, yet was that not enough? Did this War have to continue?”
Cecilia silently lifted her teacup, drank from it, and slowly set it down.
As Eris stared intently at her during that slow, deliberate action, Cecilia spoke.
“Was it your idea to treat the Imperial Army generously and provide them with medical care?”
It was not an answer to Eris’s question.
Still, Eris, after a moment’s pause, replied.
“……Yes. With the consent of the National Assembly.”
“And to liberate them, to shake the morale of the Imperial Army and cause its collapse?”
“I only proposed liberation. Collapsing it wasn’t my idea, but I agreed. ……Because it could reduce unnecessary bloodshed.”
Cecilia replied with a faint Smile.
“Yes, I see.”
It felt like a cheap comedy that such pure goodwill had dealt a more fatal blow to the Empire than anything else.
After a rather long silence, Cecilia spoke.
“I envy you.”
Eris’s face became puzzled.
“……What do you mean?”
“The puppet of the National Assembly.”
-No matter how plausibly you wrap it in words, no matter how noble your hypocrisy may seem. You are, after all, just a puppet of the National Assembly, created by others.
“Marquis Lafayette’s pawn.”
-Did you think the Marquis who made you a Saintess and placed you on the throne did so without any selfish motives?
Watching the quiet Eris, Cecilia, who had mulled over her own words from Alps, said with a bitter smile.
“……I admit it. I misjudged you.”
If she had truly been a puppet queen installed to prevent war, if she had been a pawn for Marquis Lafayette to use and discard to seize power, such an idea would never have been permitted.
Even if her actions in the Battle against the Storm Witch could be seen as a pretext to announce her existence as a Saintess and be enthroned, Eris’s presence in this war had far surpassed that.
Now, no one in Francia would dare to rashly try to control their half-sister, who had not only earned the praise of the entire nation but had also widely established her name as the Saintess Queen throughout the central continent.
……Perhaps, she had vaguely realized this even at the moment they met in the Kingdom of Alps.
-At least my position is one I have earned with my own hands. My destiny is mine, and I will continue to move forward.
It was just that Cecilia hadn't wanted to admit it.
-You, who have never even seized anything for yourself, will have your destiny swayed by others. In this war, by me. Or, even if not, by that man who seeks to place you on a hollow throne for his own ambition.
Why didn't she realize then that the words she had spoken to her half-sister, whom she had thought merely kind but ignorant of the world, applied just as much to herself, who had started a war but had not been permitted to end it?
Cecilia smiled self-deprecatingly and spoke.
“……Do you truly think I summoned the Krafte Kingdom because I wanted to?”
Having been defeated in a war started by the Empire, she reached out to the Great King of a nation treated as the leader of the anti-Emperor Faction.
No feudal lords would fail to understand what that meant.
Yet she had to.
Because Otto II, the Emperor, could not accept defeat in war.
He would rather sell his common people to borrow the power of demons, but Cecilia could not tolerate that.
So she endured the humiliation and knelt, abandoning the crown that should have been promised to her child.
Only by doing so.
Even if she became a foolish empress who lost her child’s throne by coveting the throne of Francia, she would not remain an empress who shirked responsibility and brought ruin to the Empire.
“If that is the case, then you could simply end the war.”
However, the Saintess Queen, who fought alongside those who were upright and helped her realize her will, spoke as if it were only natural.
That pure white light hurt her eyes, so Cecilia lowered her Gaze and replied.
“That is why I envy you.”
Silence fell again, and Eris spoke.
“May I hear the reason you requested this Meeting?”
Cecilia slowly opened her eyes, smiled, and spoke.
“……Firstly, to congratulate you on your Victory.”
“Thank you.”
Eris replied with a Face that didn't look particularly grateful, and the Smile on Cecilia’s Face deepened.
“Secondly, shall I call it a request?”
“A request?”
“……Since you have defeated the Empire, win this time as well.”
Eris’s violet eyes widened and blinked, and only then did Cecilia feel a little cheerful.
“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“I said, win. Were my words difficult?”
Seeing Eris’s expression become even more confused, Cecilia chuckled lowly and said.
“You still have a long way to go.”
Though Eris openly scowled, Cecilia, still smiling, spoke again.
“If the Krafte Kingdom single-handedly defeats Francia, which the Empire lost to, the Empire’s prestige will be completely shattered. However, if you fight against the Krafte Kingdom and win while the Empire nurses its Wounds.”
“……Then, it means there will somehow be a chance for recovery.”
Cecilia smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
“Yes.”
Eris stared intently at Cecilia for a while, then spoke.
“Are you giving up the throne of Francia?”
“Even if the Krafte Kingdom wins, would they hand over the throne of Francia to the Empire? Even if they did, it would be a hollow gesture, or they would demand an even greater price from the Empire.”
Hearing the calm words, Eris pressed her Lips together firmly, then spoke in a slightly suppressed Tone.
“If you could give it up like that, then why.”
“……Erisliste Lilianne De Francia.”
Cecilia called her sister’s name.
Feeling a sense of unfamiliarity at uttering the name of her half-blood kin for the first time, Cecilia let out a hollow laugh and spoke.
“Yes, as you said, by yearning only for what I had lost, I lost even what remained, and only greater suffering was left.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Regret, regret you say……”
Cecilia rolled the word in her Mouth as if savoring it, then spoke.
“It would be a lie to say I don’t. Much of what I built has been destroyed by this War, and the Blood and Tears of the Imperial Citizens shed because of the War I started will surely turn into resentment and pour down on me.”
Cecilia looked into the transparent violet eyes as if to pierce through them, and a sneer played on her Lips.
“I shall pay due respect to the struggles of you and your Motherland. However, if I had given up this War, I would have had to live in a void of vengeance and deprivation. In the end, this was the only Path for me.”
Eris said nothing.
-Your Highness. How is such an act any different from Father, who ignored Your Highness’s sorrow and suffering and sent you away to the Empire?
However, the words that had pierced her Heart in the Kingdom of Alps still stung painfully, and Cecilia’s Lips trembled.
“However, yes. That’s right.”
Cecilia murmured as if lamenting.
“It is only regrettable that I did not realize sooner that everything I possessed was not mine originally, and that for me, the Empire was far more important than the throne of Francia.”
There was no one by her side to tell her that, nor to stop her.
-If possible, I just Wish that none of us lose anything more.
Only a deep regret remains that The One who recognized it and confessed was her half-sister, whom she met as an Enemy.
The conversation ended there.
In the ensuing Silence, Eris spoke.
“Since I understand Your Highness’s intentions, I shall take my leave now.”
No answer.
Eris slowly rose from her seat and declared..
“I resent Your Highness. Perhaps the Imperial Citizens do too. If you will regret but not repent, then please offer that anguish at least for the sake of those who have lost much because of Your Highness.”
Finishing her words, Eris turned her Back.
Just before she left the Room, Cecilia’s voice reached her.
“I have failed. ……You, must win.”
Eris asked without looking back.
“For all of us?”
“……Yes.”
Eris slowly turned her Body, gave Cecilia a slight nod, and replied.
“I will do my Best. Not for us, but as one of the people of Francia, for them.”