Chapter 221
Gianna, the Seventh Consort, is the youngest of the Emperor's consorts.
She is twenty-eight years old. She married him eleven years ago, when she was seventeen.
Father took a woman the same age as Erich as his wife. But that was not because he had fallen for her.
The two of them were joined by a political marriage.
Gianna was originally the daughter of a duke in the Kingdom.
Eleven years ago, the Kingdom incurred the Empire's anger over dealings involving the dwarves, so it offered Father the daughter of a duke distantly related to the royal family.
That daughter was Gianna. The Kingdom proposed this marriage as a way to establish friendly relations.
Being a distant relative of the royal family might sound impressive, but it also meant she could be cast aside at any time. As proof, even after Gianna married, the Kingdom once tried to cross the border.
Father did not execute her, but it was an act that could easily have led to Gianna's execution as an example.
She was a sacrifice offered for a temporary reconciliation. That was the kind of consort Gianna was.
Offered up as a sacrifice by her homeland, the Kingdom, and forced to become the Seventh Consort of a man who already had a son her own age in the Empire, Gianna was unusual even among the consorts.
However, rejecting the political marriage would have worsened relations with the Kingdom, so Father accepted it—and treated Gianna well, too.
The youngest of my brothers, the Tenth Prince Rupert, was proof of that.
Ten-year-old Rupert was a child Father had no need for.
Given the ages of the older children, Rupert would still have been very young when the struggle for the throne began.
He was in a completely different position from Christa, the daughter of the beloved Second Consort.
Even so, Father had a child with Gianna. He thought it would be too cruel for her to be treated as a sacrifice by the Kingdom and as an unnecessary consort in the Empire.
But that also created new troubles for Gianna.
Gianna had no allies in the Empire. Her origins in the Kingdom naturally made her suspect. Her son Rupert was viewed with suspicion as well.
Rupert represented the possibility of the Kingdom interfering in the Empire.
Of course, Gianna understood those suspicions. She had kept Rupert close and made no unnecessary moves so far. Naturally, she had not taken part in the struggle for the throne.
Yet Gianna had gone through Mother to ask me for help.
That was a move that would draw the attention of the other contenders for the throne.
"Gianna-sama. Do you understand what it means to ask me for help?"
"Of course..."
"...Are you saying you've decided to join Leo's faction?"
"...Yes."
Gianna was not a fool.
Even though she had asked me, she was not relying on me personally.
Entrusting her son to a washed-up prince would be an act of suicide.
So Gianna's words did not mean exactly what they seemed to.
She was asking me to act as an intermediary with Leo.
"Given Gordon's suspicious movements, seeking protection under one of the factions would not be a mistake. But as someone from the Kingdom, wouldn't Brother Erich be the better choice?"
Erich, the Foreign Minister, was on good terms with the Kingdom.
As someone from the Kingdom, Gianna should have found Erich the easiest person to rely on.
"I considered that as well... But I am afraid... The people of my homeland, the Kingdom—especially those who belong to its royal family—are all deeply sinister. Prince Erich faces such people without batting an eye. That frightens me..."
"Couldn't that be called competence?"
"I suppose it could. However... Prince Erich looks as though he feels nothing when dealing with them. As if he has no emotions. No matter how capable he may be... I cannot entrust my son to him."
"I see."
I understood her reasoning.
It made sense. If she could not trust Erich as a mother, she had no choice but to rely on our faction.
The situation might have been different in the beginning, but Leo's faction now had enough momentum to rival Erich's. It was hardly strange that she would turn to us.
The prospect of Leo taking the throne was becoming increasingly realistic.
However.
"I'm sorry that you've come to rely on us, but we have no room to protect you both. I recommend that you approach Brother Erich."
"No! At least protect Rupert!"
"We can barely manage Christa. You know that, don't you? Almost all of our forces are outside the Imperial Capital. With Elna, our best hope, outside the capital as well, we cannot mobilize the House of Valor. There is very little we can do. Give up."
Gianna was rendered speechless and looked at Mother.
I turned my gaze away from Gianna as well and looked toward Mother.
"Al, don't you want to help your brother?"
"...If we could protect him, I would like to, but we have no room to spare. Neither Leo nor Sebas is here. With so few people capable of fighting, increasing the number of people we have to protect would put those we absolutely must protect in danger."
"Would adding one person really make that much difference?"
"It matters. Rupert isn't just a child; he's a prince. Protecting him would require a considerable force. If someone is willing to provide us with that force, I might reconsider."
"...We have no allies..."
"I know. And Leo and I were in the same position at first. If you had been someone who supported us when we were at a disadvantage, I would go to great lengths for you. But asking for our help now that our momentum has grown, without offering anything in return, is far too presumptuous."
Anyone who stood by us when we were weak could be trusted, and we would feel indebted to them.
But if someone offered us their support only after we had grown strong, we could not trust them or feel indebted to them. Besides, Gianna and Rupert had no allies—only enemies.
They would only increase our burden.
"Al. Protect them. Leo would never abandon the weak."
"Unfortunately, I'm not Leo. Reality is more important than ideals. We don't have the forces to protect them."
If Gordon made a move, the castle would be seized and the Firmament activated.
The Firmament could be activated by placing several crucial gemstones on their pedestals. Once activated, it could only be dismantled from within. That was why I had remained inside.
The forces I had brought into the castle were there to prepare for that as well. We had no forces to spare for guard duty.
If the Firmament were activated, Leo and the others would be unable to join us. We had to deactivate it first.
As long as that absolute condition remained, I had no choice.
"Oh, is that so? Then I'll protect them."
"Mother... Please don't make things difficult. If something is impossible, it's impossible. We don't have the forces."
"If it's forces you need, we can borrow them."
"From whom?"
"From your brother."
With that, Mother gazed at the doorway.
Feeling a bad premonition, I slowly turned around.
There stood Brother Trau, his face pale.
"I heard everything! I shall cooperate!"
"...Why is Brother Trau here?"
"I called him as insurance in case you refused."
"...Do people normally call someone who's bedridden from blood loss?"
"It's an emergency. Besides, I didn't force him. He came of his own accord after hearing the conditions, you know?"
"I'll ask anyway. What were the conditions that brought you here?"
"I only ever act for the sake of little girls! Ms. Mitsuba asked me to guard Ms. Christa, so I came here staggering, I did!!"
"..."
"Oh, how curious. We have some forces to spare now, don't we?"
At Mother's words, my face twitched.
Mother had used Christa as bait to draw Brother Trau in.
That would indeed let us reassign the people guarding Christa to Rupert.
But there was one problem.
"Brother Trau... How do you intend to protect anyone in that condition?"
"Arnold, you mustn't make light of your brother. I have called in a powerful helper, you see!"
"A powerful helper?"
"My aides."
"Pardon?"
The helpers he had summoned were an astonishing lot, far beyond anything I had expected.