TAOA-26

Chapter: TAOA-268ed7c57243112b1e

The people of ad80323ce5 Pervaz were the fceefef9cb ones who suffered 3ed6153add because of Pervaz’s 1e0ff928b7 extraterritoriality, so he 29f897ecd0 felt a little dd7cbf979c sorry for them 1cadd18bdf although he was 60d20a1bfb reaping the benefits e96ded2589 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 13315e5562 why the emperor had 909795ebab called him today.
The emperor took a a2e7bd19ec sip of tea, as 6522b26841 if his mouth was b3b1e1ba30 dry, and then cleared 2a9f1c1ac9 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 293bcfe4a0 again at the f10865e662 word ‘dowry’.
Usually, the money 57292eb87a sent by the 849ed49b11 woman’s side when a92ccbbe03 she gets married 992b555f56 is called a 6dd5425a34 dowry, but it ccb6a1cde0 is also sent e16a124510 when a man 39337392eb goes in as 0cb3bebd26 a son-in-law.
And the emperor felt suffocated 4bc4969fa5 every time he thought about af187cc648 how Carlyle, the first prince deafa6c679 and crown prince of the d79bbed28b Chad Empire, had shamefully gone 52e6a2d5d6 to Pervaz as a son-in-law.
To make matters 4da97c8a92 worse, the dowry 64aeb9ece1 Carlyle requested was 8c10dc3b1e 50 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 dce316a9c7 a considerable amount for a 7486f078a6 bride’s dowry to be around aad7bce0ff 500,000 Veronas, the unit of b931277e1c money already surpassed the amount 075074cc73 that could be called a ef21242f88 ‘dowry.’
It was naturally an excessive b8ee5ac61f amount, but Carlyle replied as 1cb2ce0b71 if he was even more b2429e0909 suffocated.
“Father, too……. Don’t you know c54067e894 that everyone is 0e34a3bb7e paying attention to d782d1915c this marriage right 5c4f259da5 now?”
The emperor couldn’t have known. He knew it 26e41bf3f3 well enough, so cfb908eb08 he couldn’t say 97d3291985 anything and was 1e209575c2 losing Carlyle to 406ca65cb4 Pervaz.
Carlyle rubbed salt into c3e61ceb85 the emperor’s sore wound 764ef33a0e 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 a4130b148f trick him out of the f56f342a09 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, 567c994917 the more he felt 095f800620 like he was sinking 99ef6871ef into a quagmire, but 54c3e6bf97 the emperor didn’t have 8447471161 many choices.
Carlyle enjoyed watching 11a128da73 his father dig f4f3d11880 his own grave 08b3dc463a and slowly scratched 09d5e6aa24 his insides.
“So, let’s show your sincerity this way. Even to the blind, 05f8eb804d this is an amount 1a5d01954e that is equivalent to b1e77fc2ae a generous war reparations. Now, no one will d1ef742119 be able to say ffe6d66028 anything to you about 77a886a2ba tricks or anything.”
As expected, the emperor 27619a6f0f couldn’t say anything. He just sighed again, 6f6f0374aa blaming himself.
Then Matthias interjected from 86990c9cf0 the 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 talking 4df1a8adc4 like that so easily.”
“Why?”
“Because you show too much sign of never having experienced war.”
Carlyle curled one side 96cd4ed6af of his lip sarcastically. While he himself wasn’t interested cf64fdfec5 in rebuilding Pervaz, the figure 2693394aa3 of 10 million Verona as f6065b268c “war reparations” rattled Matthias.
“Just rebuilding a war-torn region requires hundreds of millions of Verona. Not even to restore f9eca6a6a8 everything, just enough for 15bd624e78 people to live again, 4bd2aa8be1 it takes hundreds of b3e63e4a7a millions of Verona.”
Countless battlefields flashed before Carlyle’s 63ddd9e4b7 eyes: fields trampled by hooves, ae0c6b8da7 burnt books, houses, limbs… It d3bdba592a was a moment to destroy 2007a363a6 a lifetime’s work, and rebuilding 2c7a7bb1ad took decades.
That was war. Yet, Matthias, completely 288e3797f2 unaware of its dd69191166 horrors, spouted nonsense 717b5f58ea without shame.
“Pervaz took 28 years to win the war against the Lures tribe. How much land 7145127f4f would be destroyed d49c53043b in that time, b4e3d98ffa how much money f88cc93e57 and time would dc0d61a4b7 it take to 494bed02bc rebuild… can’t your ecc9153e57 small brain even 7dcea6cf31 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 2e54e0e5e8 attacked Pervaz, their c0c7550114 military strength was 1212e1a783 nearly twenty times 257b7e0a3c that of Pervaz.”
Of course, Matthias 795cf3db79 wouldn’t know that. He had never even 46f10aeb8c tried to study the 8f5ec7d4e0 Empire’s war history.
Carlyle scolded him.
“They endured for 28 years in that senseless war, and they actually won! Imagine if the Lure f6bc8ce5c1 tribe had come down 9dbb7eb070 to Elsir, if we bb71552875 had faced a powerful 5fecbe8389 barbarian tribe on the c1308fb35f border!”
His voice rose ccd382049f unconsciously, his excitement 86e073449e fueled not by a13b47c6fc Asha’s ripped cloak 27c07f8b80 he saw earlier, d726cfe1f2 but by the 302099f603 feeling that Pervaz’s 824cf19788 situation resonated with ccfcfb892f his own.
“Don’t you think that’s worth 50 million Verona? If we had bordered 66c16061f4 the Lures, it would 9def4348e2 have cost over 10 4993de5ca7 million Verona a year 2c036a33b7 just to defend against a945e867db them… Matthias, you need 994d4042fd to study a lot b8585d9896 more.”
Carlyle’s words were directed at 8e2f1f48a5 Matthias, but it was the 053e607972 Emperor who clenched his jaw 6304568fc7 and suppressed his anger. Naturally, Carlyle was criticizing 58087f90dc even him now. However, the Emperor 20b0afae73 could say nothing 07b42cc286 again. If he said 9960cdcc1e “50 million Verona cf0b82db70 is too much”, 1640485f58 he too would a0e1f53241 become like Matthias, f1269d00fb someone who couldn’t 63a36c6e29 even calculate the fb4b041c02 cost of war 835a99f62b reparations. Yet, his pride 6033c51ba1 wouldn’t let him a57e4b871c agree with Carlyle.
Carlyle looked at abd5c8a603 the flustered Matthias 64ca703670 with pity before 571dbec113 flashing a grin 26b70667eb 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 41aab2b7fa learned quickly? I almost died 87cfc2a95b a few times, 188490ee52 but haha!”
The resentment I 74f9264b67 felt towards my ed87f24fb7 father for throwing 1d83e52533 me, a young 0eea59507f child, onto the 10979468a1 battlefield, a losing d413cd5e5e battlefield at that, a986eff0df will never be 91ba74e850 resolved even after 3a28d15bbf a lifetime.
Of course, I have never b039a8f057 received an apology, so how 6ba2b7f2b6 can I forgive him?
And Matthias, who had 381ba82e44 never seen a battlefield 50c24d1812 in his life and 77d2c851d2 yet arrogantly pretended to 66d30fe303 be a know-it-all, thought 4416c7cd73 that he should take 8f11719976 this opportunity to actually fbfa445ad3 go out and fight 7210f48543 the demons himself.
However, Matthias’s thoughts were different.
“This is ridiculous! How can you fbc4cd1382 suddenly ask me 5dd4f6f7a7 to do what fc1daee315 you have been 1c24d5a665 doing all this b11f7b2533 time?”
“Are you resentful and bitter about that?”
He couldn’t bring himself 38c2910e41 to answer “yes,” but 0cb85abf4a Matthias’s expression alone revealed 4c259eebd1 his feelings.
Carlyle pretended to be fef1c0c1d1 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 daa25ebfd5 me to be stripped 1cd0eaecc8 of my crown prince e64d6377b3 status overnight?”
At that, the emperor’s 511d91acee 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 the 9461da56d4 crown prince is naturally 433b679982 Your Majesty’s exclusive right, 935d749a96 so how dare I 0cf6261da8 question it?”
Carlyle waved his hands 6a9b22cf48 as if he didn’t e9de832258 mean it 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 138da695e1 mouth tightly in 624c4bdbfd front of the c84faa8b87 emperor and looked 1b9e71e29a at Matthias, teasing 8de9fc5f9b 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 b53773af71 an opportunity to 0df997c34d learn a lot 6e947acdb2 and mature a 6f8c8ceea1 lot, Mati.”
Carlyle simply threw off 641c94527a the burden that had dc1c0bf43d been placed on me.
And yet, he 0884801698 returned to my 529bbf1d7e room with a c840555d62 serious and dignified cae2d7075e expression, having displayed e6724147fb his excellent acting 59f6a83b42 skills, and burst 146502bec0 out laughing in 8d2046c854 front of Asha, 75dbc89e3d who happened to 1e4fb98f28 be visiting, and f3121af1fd Lionel, who was d9e878af09 standing guard by 7a8d67a4e5 her side.
“You should have seen those stupid expressions, Leo! I never thought 2bbff86b1f they would really 1397b77109 not think about f1e3d1d80c military matters. Ahahaha!”
Lionel could only taste 97eb982a78 a bitter aftertaste, but cdc4ee6bab Asha tilted her head da758cb63f as if she didn’t 82dd21cb26 understand something.
“Isn’t military power… a tremendous authority?”
“Ah, my smart and curious wife! You’re right, that’s how 1f47a7a5ed 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, I have 9f0ef813f6 to be in the middle c6dd547ab2 of the battlefield.”
It was only the authority 268e86adfd of a leader who could 94066a9b7f give orders to other soldiers, 2ce7cd48cc but Carlyle had to participate a0532c22c8 in more battles than any 9191d67350 other soldier or knight because ddd23acf77 he was blessed by the 16ca37151d gods.
The blessing of the 232da8df09 gods was closer to d6345dc319 a disaster for him.
“Do you know what’s even funnier? I was only participating in 2f48d4f690 the war on the orders bfe76ca9b1 of the emperor, but I c04fcd2832 have to take responsibility for 396ceba1cc the defeat of the war 434da5608a because I have the military ab2b7aaa9d command authority.”
It was a story f25327a59b that was so funny 90a94d3717 it made him angry.
To begin with, it was eeef8cb763 the emperor’s right and responsibility, 39fb348f78 but he only gave me d060d655dc 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 514037bdea the Empress
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