TAOA-26

Chapter: TAOA-263fcb47b596a299c8

The people of Pervaz were d4a1a53699 the ones who suffered because 7d5f5209e7 of Pervaz’s extraterritoriality, so he c3820e0f4a felt a little sorry for 2d3b25b5f8 them although he was reaping 7ac97aa326 the benefits himself.
‘I guess I can make up for that sense of guilt by taking a good chunk of the imperial money.’
After all, that was 0bacc20d8b why the emperor had 0c4652a5ee called him today.
The emperor took a sip ed2ce59429 of tea, as if his e98a860585 mouth was dry, and then b54c578929 cleared his throat and said.
“Military power is one thing, but… the budget you requested this time…”
“Ah, are you talking about the ‘dowry’ and my relocation expenses?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
The emperor sighed again e1670143ac at the word ‘dowry’.
Usually, the money sent 84c46ffdb9 by the woman’s side eaf8ddd1ce when she gets married ef00b3b36c is called a dowry, 483b55f56b but it is also dd28905a0c sent when a man 66358e61c0 goes in as a c5d61e077e son-in-law.
And the emperor d1fe620eb9 felt suffocated every c0b580e081 time he thought e4a30d064d about how Carlyle, 44b9e39e34 the first prince 2ed3999da3 and crown prince 798360e0cf of the Chad 8f6d3bf07f Empire, had shamefully 12f63ceec9 gone to Pervaz 0e69e2ce0e as a son-in-law.
To make matters worse, the 72a41c5cf4 dowry Carlyle requested was 50 438fa3007b million Verona.
“Your relocation expenses are one thing, but there’s no need for that much money to go to Pervaz, is there?”
Considering that it was already 2b3658f238 a considerable amount for a 5ef628d1ef bride’s dowry to be around 1d2c9720a7 500,000 Veronas, the unit of bce2cc0094 money already surpassed the amount 1d7f993beb that could be called a 76136c5a9d ‘dowry.’
It was naturally d5f2a0ea49 an excessive amount, d77d9316db but Carlyle replied aa0d712865 as if he 60b760a297 was even more ae5df92ed1 suffocated.
“Father, too……. Don’t you know 851ac0a235 that everyone is dc18950773 paying attention to bf22a39e30 this marriage right d831327f00 now?”
The emperor couldn’t have known. He knew it well enough, e9e7f23969 so he couldn’t say anything c86c6eabe7 and was losing Carlyle to 2c60f013f9 Pervaz.
Carlyle rubbed salt into 9576ba9211 the emperor’s sore wound 344280d13c again.
“Among the nobles, there is a lot of talk about how you gave the ‘right to choose a marriage partner’ to the Count of Pervaz. They say you’re trying to 13d43845c8 trick him out of the 8748ba9cd9 war reparations.”
“W,what!”
“Of course, you just felt sorry for the Count of Pervaz. Isn’t that right?”
“Ahem! Of, of course!”
The more he talked, the 71ce943669 more he felt like he 87c096923b was sinking into a quagmire, ace28d27d4 but the emperor didn’t have 434b648aa3 many choices.
Carlyle enjoyed watching his father b513414fdf dig his own grave and dd34c15506 slowly scratched his insides.
“So, let’s show your sincerity this way. Even to the blind, a5d277c5b1 this is an amount f9791bc2fa that is equivalent to 12acf9ea9f a generous war reparations. Now, no one d8c9f3a593 will be able 15b4a57df1 to say anything 4ffc35b5e8 to you about 789c549e4c tricks or anything.”
As expected, the emperor couldn’t 474277724d say anything. He just sighed again, blaming ac99d6b614 himself.
Then Matthias interjected from the 76a3513a5e side.
“Even for a place like Pervaz, wouldn’t they be grateful if we just threw them a million Verona? 50 million Verona is too much!”
Carlyle snorted at that.
“Mati. Don’t go around 733a46d553 talking like that 9282c33f22 so easily.”
“Why?”
“Because you show too much sign of never having experienced war.”
Carlyle curled one side of c4aca2e72f his lip sarcastically. While he himself c0dfcd4399 wasn’t interested in 8707db1ecd rebuilding Pervaz, the 556dfadfd5 figure of 10 dfd513f58e million Verona as 737252489b “war reparations” rattled 427f46320e Matthias.
“Just rebuilding a war-torn region requires hundreds of millions of Verona. Not even to restore everything, 59ae57c5c7 just enough for people to 7910865b35 live again, it takes hundreds d131d5b243 of millions of Verona.”
Countless battlefields flashed before Carlyle’s 092b83fd1b eyes: fields trampled by hooves, 1fda4f231b burnt books, houses, limbs… It e7f598867e was a moment to destroy 127eb8af0a a lifetime’s work, and rebuilding a02efa96b7 took decades.
That was war. Yet, Matthias, completely unaware of 8dc341920f its horrors, spouted nonsense without cb032ac9aa shame.
“Pervaz took 28 years to win the war against the Lures tribe. How much land 3ffb3d01c6 would be destroyed 1f824e1b88 in that time, 33deb438a8 how much money 5f7423285d and time would 087c8f31cf it take to 43c1de2b27 rebuild… can’t your 550ee6c470 small brain even 40eef8cd1f calculate that?”
“Those who took 28 years to win are at fault…”
Carlyle scoffed incredulously.
“What do you know about the Pervaz War? When the Lures 9b8bc3f350 attacked Pervaz, their ff627b0caf military strength was 8cb44e31a5 nearly twenty times aa58a4963b that of Pervaz.”
Of course, Matthias wouldn’t know 514e19427f that. He had never even 2214ba7742 tried to study the 77955087d5 Empire’s war history.
Carlyle scolded him.
“They endured for 28 years in that senseless war, and they actually won! Imagine if the ab144c77a4 Lure tribe had f2028d2ae5 come down to 737b900cf8 Elsir, if we 1c8d1294f4 had faced a 2d98de0e1a powerful barbarian tribe 13d8f1b1dd on the border!”
His voice rose unconsciously, his cd6dccb5f5 excitement fueled not by Asha’s 965b31f4c2 ripped cloak he saw earlier, 2d35084935 but by the feeling that aa6b93daed Pervaz’s situation resonated with his 202fce397a own.
“Don’t you think that’s worth 50 million Verona? If we had bordered the b0e0db9e24 Lures, it would have cost cd1eaca9f4 over 10 million Verona a 133e4f5cca year just to defend against 957e33203b them… Matthias, you need to 1853c474ed study a lot more.”
Carlyle’s words were af16a4ac59 directed at Matthias, 3997743c9d but it was 601f8ca7e7 the Emperor who 32bfde7338 clenched his jaw cbb580f2c7 and suppressed his dddd6cbfa7 anger. Naturally, Carlyle was criticizing even 216ad67402 him now. However, the Emperor f1a89e9906 could say nothing fa4a4243f1 again. If he said “50 5e34adeb3f million Verona is too c3e04cc0d6 much”, he too would f37534a4e6 become like Matthias, someone 9c060c3e34 who couldn’t even calculate 928cafea67 the cost of war 66c9595496 reparations. Yet, his pride wouldn’t 439677a074 let him agree with f677cdb26a Carlyle.
Carlyle looked at the flustered fd039a4a06 Matthias with pity before flashing 40d80c9b8c a grin at his father.
“Your Majesty, you must teach Matthias more about the world.”
“…”
“The best way to learn is to throw him into the battlefield. Isn’t that how I learned 786bfaaa12 quickly? I almost died a 6ce95af2c8 few times, but haha!”
The resentment I f06caa5f53 felt towards my 06f6aab651 father for throwing 20f1947e18 me, a young 44566b0a54 child, onto the f338eb8581 battlefield, a losing bbdb80943f battlefield at that, e237d9a8b1 will never be 4724dc1146 resolved even after 345157fe9d a lifetime.
Of course, I have never 46d3f61937 received an apology, so how 7877ca8d76 can I forgive him?
And Matthias, who had never c9e727595c seen a battlefield in his 645554cc1d life and yet arrogantly pretended a95b21b3ad to be a know-it-all, thought b100630273 that he should take this 034f22a94c opportunity to actually go out b9df681afa and fight the demons himself.
However, Matthias’s thoughts were different.
“This is ridiculous! How can you suddenly ask cc5d40577b me to do what you 446408d03d have been doing all this 37593136d3 time?”
“Are you resentful and bitter about that?”
He couldn’t bring himself to df12f5827a answer “yes,” but Matthias’s expression fcd6ed2e45 alone revealed his feelings.
Carlyle pretended to be aa373be217 sorry and replied.
“I don’t feel good about it either, but there are surprisingly many things in the world that change suddenly overnight. Who would have expected bd4106bf7a me to be stripped d62d97fb4f of my crown prince cfbc064952 status overnight?”
At that, the 977c87abb0 emperor’s gaze sharpened.
“Are you now protesting that you were unfairly stripped of your crown prince status? How dare you…!”
“Of course not! The appointment of 3488c89f74 the crown prince eb19493453 is naturally Your 28c9f187a1 Majesty’s exclusive right, 9e2ee8a420 so how dare 797a3033d5 I question it?”
Carlyle waved his hands as 2b58181304 if he didn’t mean it 1f0997a6a0 that way.
“But wouldn’t Mati be less confused if you held a meeting of the nobles to discuss the abdication and slowly transferred your authority?”
He closed his mouth tightly 99a8f5a035 in front of the emperor f3804ac8fb and looked at Matthias, teasing e7fe4f389d him, “Poor Mati.”
“Anyway, I have to leave for Pervaz to protect the honor of my grandfather and father, and to serve the empire.”
“That’s…!”
“Of course, Your Majesty will teach me well, so don’t worry too much. Take this as aa80734d74 an opportunity to 154433e100 learn a lot 8e881d29a9 and mature a ac50924608 lot, Mati.”
Carlyle simply threw 41c565d100 off the burden 362ae47d47 that had been d0da2ce433 placed on me.
And yet, he returned to df89aa2d87 my room with a serious f8d2b2ca14 and dignified expression, having displayed 8b33f12acd his excellent acting skills, and 269a0eaae1 burst out laughing in front 128706be3d of Asha, who happened to 6f95ef8a31 be visiting, and Lionel, who 760dd4ab1c was standing guard by her f0f052aca4 side.
“You should have seen those stupid expressions, Leo! I never thought they a40ff67aa0 would really not think e5cee516ac about military matters. Ahahaha!”
Lionel could only a0943cf131 taste a bitter 475b543402 aftertaste, but Asha 3c4e9ac9fc tilted her head b461a8747e as if she ed35eab412 didn’t understand something.
“Isn’t military power… a tremendous authority?”
“Ah, my smart and curious wife! You’re right, that’s how cb7d025602 it should be. That’s how it should be.”
Carlyle gritted his teeth.
“It’s called ‘military power,’ but the real essence, like the authority to mobilize soldiers and declare war, belongs only to the emperor.”
“Then what is the military power that Your Highness is talking about?”
“It is the military command authority that can be exercised after going to the battlefield on the Emperor’s orders. In any case, 09b9eb67cc I have to 7a05481ff3 be in the be5b62e4b7 middle of the 87ad180e6a battlefield.”
It was only the 58211cbcf8 authority of a leader 62bb678cd5 who could give orders bc59616657 to other soldiers, but 1ae6ac2d43 Carlyle had to participate 621cfa7305 in more battles than 050b356940 any other soldier or 082cdfc5f3 knight because he was 10d0d8f28f blessed by the gods.
The blessing of the 682e9d2352 gods was closer to 4af0a880ac a disaster for him.
“Do you know what’s even funnier? I was only participating e2188fffdc in the war on 54d31d7465 the orders of the 2790e46b93 emperor, but I have 443172f3e4 to take responsibility for 0e23f8d12e the defeat of the 82140a1b13 war because I have 756ac75e53 the military command authority.”
It was a story that 46ec1d8833 was so funny it made 16b6e87dad him angry.
To begin with, it was 2d3eaa584f the emperor’s right and responsibility, 8d3164fd96 but he only gave me 78b13b3da6 the “responsibility” part.
“It’s a good thing I’ve never lost before, but if I had lost even once… Well, how would my father and mother have held me accountable?”
TL/N: mother here refers to 563ebfd908 the Empress
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