Chapter 9: 10

The Emperor was inducing such a perception in the public, so even the nobles would think the same, but Eugène knew better than anyone that this was not true. He was not the favorite subject, but rather a marionette in the hands of the Emperor. A silly marionette who had no idea as to why he was taking part in this performance.

“Your Majesty.” 

Eugène called the Emperor in a determined voice. The question that he had been thinking about from the moment he was instructed to carry the lamp came out of his mouth.

“Am I your Majesty’s favorite subject?”

By the standards of the court that loved metaphors and such figures of speech, it was an overly direct question. The grammar was almost aggressive, but Eugène didn’t care. This was because he knew that he couldn’t achieve anything with the so-called court-style speech.

To beat around the bush, ask indirectly, hide his true intentions, and then give an answer that would be completely different from his actual intentions. It would be impossible to elicit an honest answer from the Emperor if they were to have a conversation like that. Far from hearing what he wanted, he would only be cajoled. 

“We think so. Seems like you don’t?”

The Emperor asked back in a serious tone. Eugène, without hesitation, immediately nodded.

“Yes, I don’t. I dare not be sure of that.”

“Why can you not be sure? It is what was confirmed with Our own mouth.”

“I cannot guess what Your Majesty wants from me. I don’t have the ability to fathom Your Majesty’s true intentions.”

If not today, there may be no other opportunity to ask such a question. Eugène knew that and pushed forward. He was tired of playing in the hands of the Emperor without knowing what was going on. It was all the more unbearable to be used like a dimwit and then thrown away.

If his wife was the problem, he should have let him go at the end of the divorce trial. The favor given to him was too much to only believe that he was brought to the court to humiliate the Duke of Fernand. Eugène realized that he meant more to the Emperor besides the matter regarding his ex-wife. But he didn’t know what in the world were his plans.

The Emperor looked at Eugène with his head resting on the back of the chair. How do I explain this? An expression of momentary contemplation appeared over the beautiful features and then disappeared. 

“You ask me the same thing as Adelaide.”

An unexpected answer. Eugène, who was heavily tensed, narrowed his eyes, full of doubts and thought to himself.

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… Adelaide? Who on earth is Adelaide?

“Snfc atbeut la’r ecobgaecjaf atja la’r mblcmlvfcaji, Cvfijlvf jrxfv atf rjwf defralbc jr sbe, gluta ogbw ktfgf sbe’gf meggfcais rlaalcu. ‘Tbeg Zjpfras. Qtja lr la atja Tbeg Zjpfras gfjiis kjcar ogbw wf? Jjc P agera sbe, Tbeg Zjpfras?’ 

Pa kjr fjrs ab qgbnf atf ageat ab tfg. Cr rtf kjr mbcafca klat tfg qbrlalbc jr j mbcmeylcf jcv atf alaif bo Jbecafrr. Cii lc jii, la rffwr atja sbe kbc’a yf rjalrolfv klat pera atja. Tbe’gf j qfgrbc ktb tjr wbgf defralbcr jcv atbeutar atjc tfg. Dfrlvfr, sbe vbc’a cffv atf alaif bo Jbecafrr. Tbe kbeiv tjaf la, abb. Qbeiv sbe cba?”

Only after hearing those words did he figure out that Adelaide, whom the Emperor spoke of, was Countess Patrí. But he still couldn’t figure out what she had in common with him. Is this a joke? Or am I being toyed with?

The Emperor smiled faintly when he saw that Eugène’s shoulders were stiff from tension. Don’t be so nervous. The Emperor’s attitude of saying ill-humored things and smiling as if whatever he said was inconsequential was as strange as ever.

“This time, We will ask you one question. Who do you think I hate more? The nobles who are fond of taking advantage of the difficulties of the imperial family by slipping through the cracks? Or the hyena-like foreign enemies who strike me when I’ve turned my back?” 

It was the hyena-like foreign enemies who strike when the back is turned.

This time, he knew exactly who the Emperor was referring to. But that did not relieve Eugène from all the tension. He looked at the Emperor with astonished eyes, unable to even think of loosening his stiff shoulders.

“Is it difficult to choose? Then I shall ask again. Is a civil war better? Or is a foreign war better?”

The Emperor had just fought a war, yet spoke of another war. Eugène clenched his fists as he felt chills run down his spine. He had said it two times already. The fact that the Emperor mentioned a civil war yet again. But Eugène remembered. The Emperor said ‘it’s still too early’. From his point of view, what the Emperor meant now was not a civil war, but a foreign war. 

“Are you thinking of a war against the Federation of Five Nations?”

Eugène asked calmly. The Emperor nodded quietly.

“Do you not think it’s a sound plan? A foreign war is better than a civil war. Even more so, in that, there would be no sense of guilt after all the blood-shed.”

So that’s what it was. Eugène, feeling a headache, habitually raised his hand and touched the wound around his eye. Despite that, the uncomfortable feeling had completely settled deep inside. For him to speak of all this, it seemed that the Emperor had already made up his mind. 

Even if he were to be criticized for being bloodthirsty for wanting to do that, there was no stopping him.

“Isn’t it too fast? It has been less than three months since the end of the Landrienne Revolution. Enemy provocations are expected, but they will not exceed the scale of local warfare. Their Navy is elite, but their Army is nothing more than a comical mob.”

Since the word ‘war’ arose, he couldn’t continue to be Baron Amieux. Eugène returned to his position of Navy Admiral Chastan, not Baron Amieux, and spoke heavily.

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His point was close to the truth from a strategic point of view. The Western Empire and the Federation of Five Nations were as bitter with each other as the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire. However, unlike Shaak, it never had a major confrontation with the Federation of Five Nations, as the forces of the two countries were often in a significant imbalance in terms of military type, which was an unsuitable condition for an all-out war. 

The military power of the Federation of Five Nations had been developed to be centered around the Navy. Just as the Army developed abnormally in the empire, the Federation of Five Nations invested most of its military power in the Navy. Therefore, even if the provocation came, amphibious warfare could not take place, and in the possibility that it does happen and they manage to occupy some areas, they would not be able to maintain those occupied areas.

On the other hand, in the case of the empire, while there were soldiers to carry out the amphibious assault, the number of naval forces was too small to facilitate invasion. The naval power of the empire was not at a level that could withstand the Federation of Five Nations offensive. Although Eugène had been successful in the past, it was a victory in a local battle on account of topographical advantages and ambush, not a victory in an all-out war.

To be honest, Eugène never led the battle to an all-out war. To proceed with an all-out war In a situation where the absolute superiority of the opponent, both numerically and qualitatively, was evident, Eugène was not a commander reckless enough to make such a foolish choice.

“Who said we were going to war right now? Five years at the earliest, ten years at the latest. I plan to expand the size of the Navy three times more than it is now and raise its standards. Of course, until then, we will have to make an accurate nautical chart comparable to the Alwitz. The goal is a naval blockade of the Federation of Five Nations. It should last at least a year.” 

Did he say that to make matters worse? The Emperor’s words that followed were even more unrealistic. It was a plan close to a dream, completely out of touch with the current state of the Imperial Navy. But Eugène did not refute the Emperor’s words. Far from refusing, he froze on the spot with a face that was so startled that he couldn’t even move.

“The naval blockade of Federation of Five Nations is necessary for the following three reasons. First, we have to stop the capital encroachment of the Federation of Five Nations. The Federation of Five Nations mainly engages in intermediary trade related to the Eastern Continent or the Eastern Empire, in which case double tariffs are imposed under the imperial law. Of course, the Federation of Five Nations does not want to impose excessive tariffs, and as a result, international smuggling is rampant in ports on the west coast of the empire. The crackdown is almost impossible due to insufficient regulations and a shortage of manpower. Such smuggling creates a black market and makes distribution indecent. Not to mention how it encourages tax evasion. In fact, most of the cities on the west coast are encroached by the Federation of Five Nations. The bigger problem is that the tariff system itself is becoming obsolete as the distribution process is disrupted. When the law becomes incompetent, the influence of the empire is bound to disappear as well. There is a need for appropriate measures here.

Second, the Federation of Five Nations is actively hindering the empire’s development of trade routes. It’s not only about the trade sea route to Kayediv but also a situation that interferes with the development of routes to the Eastern Continent. This means a naval blockade in a passive sense, which means that the empire could be isolated within the continent due to the Federation of Five Nations. Moreover, not being able to secure a trade route to the Eastern Continent at a time when products from the continent occupy an important position in the market, from a long-term perspective, means economic suicide.

And third…” 

“Third, it should be noted that the theory of great unity has recently taken place in the Federation of Five Nations. Rodom, Myra, Randall, Belpasset, and Kamann. There is an opinion that the permanent federation of all these five nations should be further developed and converted to a federal system, and that opinion is said to be overwhelmingly supported by the merchant nobles who make up the majority of the Federation of Five Nations. Considering that the decisions of the nobility council take precedence over the imperial command in their governing system, the feasibility of a federal system cannot be ignored. The problem is that if they consolidate into a federal system and maintain a unified national system, their naval power will overwhelm our Navy not only tactically but also strategically. This means that they will have the ability to enable active naval blockade rather than passive naval blockade as it is now, so the result would be clear and obvious… it’s been a long time since I wrote my proposal, so my memory’s foggy, but Your Majesty remembers them in detail. Your Majesty, may I ask what’s going on?”

The Emperor’s remarks summed up what he had proposed in his proposal for the Navy’s long-term strategic plan, which he had submitted three years ago. How did a proposal that was thought to be rotting in the Navy’s warehouse at best, come into the hands of the Emperor? Eugène couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“Didn’t I tell you? That I need a man of talent. It’s not a joke, I sincerely mean it. There are many talented people in the empire, but there is no one I can use. When I do manage to find someone, they’re already serving another master. That’s why sometimes I need to cut in line like this. I know it’s not fair play, but what else am I supposed to do? If I don’t do this, I can’t even play the game.”

The Emperor spoke the inconvenient truth without any hesitation. Although the power of the Emperor was strengthened by the victory of the Landrienne Revolution, it was only to the extent that it was superior to the aristocracy, not that it overwhelmed them exceedingly. 

Thirty years ago, during the Second Landrienne Revolution, Armand III, the current Emperor, Ebroin V’s grandfather, was defeated by Shaak, and the Great Plains of Landrienne as well as the Bern River Valley were taken away, which caused the imperial power to rapidly decrease and inversely, the aristocracy’s power began to increase.

During Armand IV’s reign, the aristocracy’s power, when it reached its peak, was so great that it was sarcastically remarked as the ‘Tradition of the Prince-Electors’ Era’, which made the Emperor wary of the nobles.

The faction of the nobility formed as a result was still firmly established even though more than twenty years had passed since then. The nobles, who make up the majority of the bureaucracy, were born into a certain faction and were preferentially loyal to their own faction before anything else, and although the Emperor maintained the balance of power by alienating and manipulating the aristocratic factions, he did not have the power to sweep them all at once.

As such, it was not easy to find talented people wholly dedicated to the Emperor. In a society where education itself was a privilege, an attempt to find intellectuals other than the privileged class could not be easy. 

Cut in the line. That’s an appropriate figure of speech. Though I never assumed myself to be the target. I thought he was aiming for the entire western nobility, but that wasn’t it.

Eugène sighed lowly. It was disconcerting that what he was expecting was completely wrong. The deduction that His Majesty was aiming to use himself to absorb the power of the relatively weak and neutral western nobility was credible, but he didn’t know that His Majesty’s target was not the Marquis of La Baille but rather him.

“I’m tired of talking in circles. I’ll be straight with you. We want you. Not the you who’s Baron Amieux, but the you who’s Admiral Chastan. I want ‘Eye of the Hawk’, the legend of the sea and the hero of sailors. If it were you, you could be the centerpiece of the newly born Navy. Maybe I can hold the Navy in my hands instead of it being in the hands of the western nobles.”

The Emperor’s aspirations, which he had first heard of, were by no means easy. He wanted to recover the military power that he had lost due to the circumstances of his grandfather’s days with his own hands. In addition to the Army currently controlled by the Emperor, the naval power was completely flowing out of his hands. 

But for Eugène, that wish was too much of a demand. He was well aware of how dangerous an offer the Emperor was making. To see him as a capable candidate against the entirety of the western nobility, rather than an average soldier, was too much of an exaggeration.

“… Your Majesty thinks too highly of me. I don’t have the ability to do that.”

Eugène said, revealing his embarrassment as if he had been hit in the back of his head. However, the Emperor only treated Eugène’s denial as mere humility. It wasn’t because he didn’t know his actual feelings. He plainly had no intention of letting go.

“You’re excessively humble, Vice Admiral. To help your self-esteem, you are the only man We found after scouring the entire Imperial Navy. We have been keeping an eye on the Imperial Navy for ten years. It’s already been 4 years since I first found and started observing you. We’re quite confident. It would be nice if you had the same confidence as well.” 

It was something he never imagined. His Majesty has been observing me for four years already? Eugène had never felt such a sign in the past four years and was stunned when he realized that the Emperor’s hand had already reached the depths of the navy.

He was at a loss for words. It’s hard to even think properly because everything felt so complicated. Eugène let out a low sigh as he rubbed his throbbing temple.

Now he understood why the story of Countess Patrí came up earlier. What the Emperor was doing to him now was not mere courtship, but was actually offering a proposal. A terrifying proposal where Eugène would have to completely entrust his life, future, and even his last breath to him.

Perhaps the proposal he received was even heavier than that of Countess Patrí. Even if she refused the proposal she received, it would simply be ignored by the Emperor, however, the proposal offered to him meant death in itself. 

But the method is too poor.

In a way, this was a great opportunity to run on the road to success. It was an offer that would be of utmost joy if he was in a good mood, but he wasn’t happy at all. The means were too insidious to think that way. Asking him to offer loyalty only after driving him to such a dead end, was this really a legitimate way to gain the trust of a subject?

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