Chapter 139
The nobles who had joined the Gull Pact received Father's reply and secretly formed an organization called the White Gull Alliance. Laurenz became its leader.
In short, it's an alliance against the Dull Prince. If they're challenging me to eliminate them, all the better. They're clearly determined to eliminate me.
Father doesn't say anything in response. He's planning to leave this matter to me. Since he was the one who set it in motion in the first place, I need him to do at least that much.
"The White Gull Alliance, huh?"
The fact that they used "White" was probably meant as a jab at me. I couldn't help being appalled by their simplistic naming sense.
"What do you make of it, Sebas?"
"What do you want me to say? Since young nobles are at its core, all I can say is that they don't know fear."
"Well, that's true. They probably can't control those around them, either."
Some are already heads of their houses, while others are considered likely heirs. Those around them must surely have warned them. Despite that, they'd gotten this far, so they must be running wild.
"They even seem to be thinking about rescuing Fiene from me."
"A self-righteous idea on the part of young men."
"The problem is that quite a few people have that self-righteous idea."
"Prince Arnold is already their enemy. What do you intend to do? Persuasion is useless against people acting on emotion, isn't it?"
"I know. Of course, I'll crush them."
As I said that, I finished writing two letters.
The situation was becoming troublesome. It wasn't something that could be resolved by my stepping aside, nor was it something someone could end by intervening with force.
The reason, once again, was that they were acting on emotion.
For now, I suppose I'll get these men, all fired up as they were, to cool their heads.
With that in mind, I sealed the two letters.
■■■
"I am Wutz von Lehrman. By order of Prince Leonart, I have come to assist Prince Arnold."
"Not necessary. Go home."
The man who came to me looking somewhat displeased was the son of Marquis Lehrman. He was one of Leo's close confidants and had recently returned to the Imperial Capital. He had originally been responsible for winning over the provincial nobles, but someone else was handling that now, and he had been assigned to support Leo, whose workload had grown.
He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was handsome, but his gaze was somewhat severe. That probably had something to do with his resentment toward me, too.
"I cannot do that."
Those were merely words for appearances' sake. His true feelings were probably that he wanted to go home. For someone who had served as a negotiator, though, allowing his thoughts to show on his face was hardly appropriate.
"I don't need your help. Sebas is enough."
"I doubt your prized butler has enough hands to handle everything alone."
"You consider yourself useful?"
"As useful as anyone else."
Confidence was evident on Wutz's face as he said that. He must have taken pride in having done a decent job of winning over the provincial nobles.
Well, if he was that confident, I might as well put him to the test.
"Then answer my question."
"By all means."
"Who will make the first move?"
It was a very simple question.
Precisely because it was so simple, it tested the respondent's judgment and knowledge.
But.
"I would ask that you refrain from asking questions with no answer. There is no way I could know that."
"Hah... Go home after all. I don't need you."
"It's outrageous to judge me on the basis of such a question!"
He must have felt that I was looking down on him.
Wutz stepped forward, but I silenced him with a look.
"It seems you've misunderstood something."
"What!?"
"This question isn't particularly difficult. Several radical nobles are close to Laurenz, the alliance leader. Among them, Count Fauner is the one who makes no secret of his hatred for me. Barring something exceptional, Count Fauner will be the first to move. Anyone with even a minimum of knowledge about the opposition's internal situation could have answered that."
"Th-that..."
"You came here smugly offering your help, but if you don't even know the opposition's internal situation, you're useless. Go home."
Saying that, I sent Wutz away again. I felt bad for Leo, but having someone beside me who couldn't grasp my intentions would cause problems with our coordination.
I had no intention of cleaning up after dead weight.
"I'll come again tomorrow. I respectfully ask that you make your decision then."
"Don't come. If you truly intended to carry out Leo's orders faithfully, you should have obtained the minimum necessary information by today. Since helping me wasn't really what you wanted, you neglected that effort. That's why I don't need you. Go home."
"I'll come again."
Gnashing his teeth in frustration, Wutz bowed once and left the room.
He needn't come back, but what a troublesome fellow.
"Quite an interesting young man."
"He's stubborn, as befits one of Leo's trusted aides. He needn't imitate that part of him, though."
"They say birds of a feather flock together. What will you do if he comes tomorrow?"
"I'll send him back."
"That would be a waste of time. Why not give him one more chance? Even if you turn him away, he'll come back the next day. That's the type he is."
"Why should I give him a chance? If he can't do the minimum required of him, I don't need him."
"Forgiving people and making use of them are things someone who stands above others must do."
"Unfortunately, I'm not someone who stands above others."
"I believe you were instructed to maintain your dignity."
"..."
Even now, Sebas was invoking that order.
This was troublesome beyond belief.
It was a devil's order that forbade me from acting like myself at every turn.
If I didn't forgive Wutz here, I'd be called a narrow-minded man. I didn't care; it wasn't my fault. However, a rumor to that effect would violate the order to maintain my dignity.
I didn't care what reputation I earned among my enemies, but it would be bad if such a rumor arose among my allies.
"Given what I'm about to do, I should improve my reputation at least a little."
"That would barely make a difference, though, wouldn't it?"
"It may be better than doing nothing."
Hearing Sebas's words, I reluctantly accepted his proposal.
He wasn't needed, but I'd keep him on hand for the sake of my reputation.
"How is the groundwork coming along?"
"Yes, smoothly. We've spent quite a lot of money, though."
"Don't worry. Money isn't meant to be saved. It's meant to be spent when necessary. Spend as much as you need. Don't grant the White Gull Alliance even the smallest victory. Despair is all they deserve."
It was both necessary stagecraft for what was to come and an expression of my personal feelings.
I didn't like them. That was my honest assessment.
Not because they opposed me. It was because they had tried to drive me away from Fiene's side and saw her as nothing more than a tool for increasing their own worth.
Those things amplified my irritation.
Some of them probably genuinely loved her, but even so, they were going about it the wrong way. I couldn't understand why Leo was acceptable and I wasn't.
They were free to believe Fiene would be unhappy if she married me, but as things stood, there was more than an eighty percent chance that Leo would be Fiene's partner. I didn't need them making a fuss just to eliminate a possibility of twenty percent or less.
They probably think I'm unworthy of being by her side. That must be the gist of their argument. But then, who is worthy?
"What a ridiculous notion."
If Fiene couldn't even freely choose who she wanted at her side, she'd be a bird in a cage. I didn't want that for her.
Birds are beautiful because they can fly freely through the sky.
They probably hadn't realized that.
"But are you really sure this is wise? If we proceed as planned, it may damage your standing among the nobles and even among the people."
"It's fine. There's no other way to resolve this. It will make them distrust the nobility—including me—and worsen the problem. If we don't do this, they'll never give up."
"What a troublesome business."
"In other words, dealing with idiots is a pain."
While thoroughly ruining their reputation, I continued to work out our strategy with Sebas.