Chapter 147
"I'm sorry to have called you all here when you're busy."
With that, Edmund bowed to the ten nobles gathered at the upscale inn.
There were no young people among them. They were all around the same age as the current Emperor, or close to it.
Quite a few, like Edmund, had handed their titles over to their children and were living out their retirement in comfort. Even so, every one of them had risen to the occasion and come here in this grave emergency.
"You must be the busiest of us all, Elder Weitling."
"This is all because I failed to educate him properly. I should have taught my son much more before handing over the title."
Edmund said this with a somber expression.
As his illness worsened, he had handed his title to his son, who was still in his teens. He had thought the boy would manage just fine. He had been that talented.
But talent alone was not enough to serve as the head of a noble house.
"It is a cruel thing to have one's own son's foolishness laid bare."
"Indeed it is."
The attendees sighed in agreement.
The younger nobles' growing arrogance could be called the cause of this whole incident.
"The Dregs Prince... We made a mistake by leaving it unchecked."
"Yes, we did. Since neither he nor His Majesty said anything, we said nothing either, but it has led to the worst possible situation..."
Al had done nothing when mocked or looked down on. He let gossip and insults wash over him and endured physical abuse. When Elna was around, she kept his peers in line with a glare, but after she became a knight of the Imperial Guard and left Al's side, no one was left to stop them.
And so it became the norm. He became someone it was only natural to mock: royalty, yet at the very bottom. The image of the Dregs Prince had taken shape.
But that image was an illusion as well. No matter how much people mocked him, royalty was still royalty.
"They had merely been overlooked, yet they mistook that for being forgiven... We cannot blame the children alone. We should have been the ones to stop them first. We should have told them that royalty was royalty, regardless of how they behaved, and that they must not be discourteous."
"There is a difference between commoners mocking him and nobles doing so. I thought they would realize that eventually, but... for this generation, looking down on Prince Arnold had apparently become common sense."
"There is no point saying that now. Even some serving ministers mock Prince Arnold. That was what he had become. Telling the children to stop would not make them listen. To be honest, Prince Arnold is partly at fault as well. He had at least been capable of trapping the children, yet he behaved lazily instead. It could even be called a trap years in the making."
Everyone nodded at one noble's words.
But they all knew that, even so, the children were the ones at fault.
That was why they had gathered here.
"I believe Prince Arnold will not stop. He intends to crush all those who joined the White Gull Alliance. We must prevent that. Quite apart from preserving our own houses, the Empire will fall into great turmoil if it happens. With the struggle for the throne already underway, the imperial family and the nobility must not throw the country into chaos over one girl."
When Edmund said this, everyone grew solemn.
The nobles gathered here had all served the Empire for many years and earned great merit. To them, throwing the Empire into chaos was tantamount to denying the path they had followed.
But one noble muttered,
"None of this would have happened if that one girl had never come to the Imperial capital..."
"Stop that. Fiene-jou bears no responsibility."
"You say that, Elder Weitling, but that girl is the most beautiful woman in the Empire. The day she received the Blue Gull hair ornament, every young man in the Imperial capital lost his heart to her. Wasn't your son one of them?"
"It is true that Laurenz fell for Fiene-jou. If she had not been involved, he would have shown Prince Arnold the proper respect. But how important are a vassal's romantic feelings? A lord-vassal relationship must not be allowed to fall apart over something like that. If Fiene-jou is at Prince Arnold's side, he must give up—even if Prince Arnold and Fiene-jou are to marry."
"Young people find that difficult. She is the Empire's greatest beauty, and her beauty is almost bewitching. If it were Prince Leonart, with his fame and reputation, he might be able to give up, but he cannot suppress his jealousy when it is Prince Arnold, whom he has always looked down on."
Edmund closed his eyes and endured those words.
He could not bear how pathetic it was that his son needed such defenses.
If Laurenz could not yield Fiene to anyone—not even Leo—Edmund could understand such feelings. But if those feelings were only strong enough for him to give up because his rival was Leo, he ought to swallow them.
Everyone defended Laurenz in turn. That alone showed how talented and promising he appeared to those around him.
But perhaps because he had gained a title while still young and was blessed with ability, Laurenz had never known the hardships of ordinary life. That was Edmund's miscalculation.
Because he knew nothing of hardship, his thinking was naive, and he did not know how to put himself in another person's place.
He had become small-minded.
"...Was the Crown Prince simply too great?"
Edmund murmured softly.
The Emperor's eldest son had been the ideal heir—so outstanding that his siblings could not compete. Every noble acknowledged it. That was why the Empire had been at peace. As long as the Crown Prince existed, there could be no struggle for the throne.
And because there was peace, young people had fewer opportunities to gain experience.
Edmund had thought that was fine. Once the Crown Prince became Emperor, the Empire should have been secure. He learned that this had been a naive ideal only when the ideal heir died.
His thoughts drifted into the past. But a visitor entering the room soon pulled him back.
"I apologize for being late, everyone."
"...Thank you for coming, Duke Holtzvart."
Edmund greeted the visitor, Rolf von Holtzvart, with a bitter expression.
Edmund's attitude was nothing unusual in this gathering, because no one there welcomed Rolf.
Rolf knew that as well.
"I've become rather unpopular, haven't I?"
"You know better than anyone why, don't you?"
"Indeed. I admit that my son egged Marquis Weitling on and gave him the opportunity to form the White Gull Alliance. However, my son did not join the White Gull Alliance himself. He had joined the Gull Pact before that, but wasn't it your sons—including Marquis Weitling's—who chose to oppose Prince Arnold?"
Rolf said this without the slightest sign of remorse, wearing a smile that seemed designed to provoke everyone in the room.
It was all true.
Rainer, Rolf's son, had not joined the White Gull Alliance. Why had he given them the impetus to form it, yet not joined?
It was so he could mediate a reconciliation from a neutral position if things turned out this way.
"I have no intention of voicing any complaints. Everything is my son's and my responsibility. Please, help us."
With that, Edmund quietly bowed his head to Rolf.
Rolf smiled and nodded in response.
"Very well. I will use my connections to mediate a reconciliation with Prince Arnold."
"Can you really do that? I heard your other son had a falling-out with Prince Arnold."
"That is true. But I will not be approaching Prince Arnold directly to ask for reconciliation. I will appeal to Mitsuba-sama, Prince Arnold's mother. I have the necessary connections, so please rest assured."
"I see. That is reassuring."
Though they all suspected that everything was proceeding according to plan, they could not say anything.
The nobles present felt a flicker of irritation. This would put them clearly in Rolf's debt, and there was no telling what he might demand of them later.
But they had no choice but to rely on Rolf.
From there, the talks proceeded rapidly.
During that time, Edmund wavered over whether he should explain the possibility that Al and Leo had switched places, but chose to keep silent.
Telling them now would accomplish nothing and would only stir up anxiety.
Besides, there was still no proof. If the reconciliation continued to progress, he could simply keep it to himself.
Just as Edmund reached that conclusion,
"his attendant hurried into the room."
"What happened?"
"Yes! Duke Kleinert and Duke Rheinfeld have arrived in the Imperial capital! Duke Kleinert seems to know what is happening here and has been trying to contact several nobles, while Duke Rheinfeld appears to be taking advantage of that movement!"
What?! Fiene-jou's father has arrived?!
Edmund sprang from his chair in surprise.
"Then he immediately fixed Rolf with a stare and said,"
"Duke Holtzvart, that settles it. May we consider our discussion canceled?"
"...It cannot be helped. If this is a matter of mediation, they are better suited to it. However... The fact that the two of them came to the Imperial capital at a time like this feels rather contrived."
Even if it is, I have no objection. Few people could make those two move. If this was arranged by someone capable of that, then so much the better.
With that, Edmund gave a slight bow and left the room. The other nobles followed him out.