Chapter 287
(Kyle Calendar Year 513: Age 20)
Entrusted Wishes
Translator : PolterGlast
The dispute in the
Royal Capital was eventually settled with His Majesty and Duke Klein
yielding in the end, and the marriage serving as a bridge between the two
countries was reluctantly approved by everyone except the parties involved.
Well, in the end,
the deciding factor was Her Highness Clarice's
single sentence...
『If you do not approve, I will abandon my royal status and
abscond to the Principality on a single horse right this instant!』
Saying so, she left
the room and was about to run off; that was the deciding factor.
Well, it seems His
Majesty and the Old Raccoon had another plot using Her Highness as a pretext,
but it's none of my business. I am the Demon Territory Count,
unrelated to politics, whose primary duty is defending the border.
... Or so I'd like
to be.
The audience held
the following day regarding
the report of our triumphant return and the expedition to the Principality
ended without issue. Compared to the previous day, His Majesty looked like an
empty shell—haggard, reduced to ashes, and devoid of any ambition...
At the end of this
audience, I received a letter from His Majesty. It contained the details of the
negotiations with the Empire and the Kingdom's future plans for territory distribution regarding
the new territory, but the part about the newly acquired territory was written
very briefly in a few lines.
·
The Empire's new territory shall basically be
given to the Demon Territory Count.
·
However, a portion shall be made into one
Earldom and four Viscounties.
·
Acknowledge new appointments of nobles for
governing the new territory.
·
Submit the names and past achievements of those
desiring appointment.
·
This time, recommendations based on achievements
achieved within the homeland are also permitted as a special exception.
·
Appointments to noble ranks higher than Knight Peerage
are strictly limited to cases where the recommended individual's achievements are judged by the Kingdom
to be substantial.
Regarding the new
territory within the Empire, it seemed to be basically considered my territory,
subject to acknowledging a few points of note.
Even if I'm given such
an enemy territory difficult to defend... My feelings are a little complicated.
However, elevating
my comrades and subordinates to nobility at the awards ceremony—that's what
caught my attention.
I see... Then I'll
recommend a whole lot of them to my heart's content. Well, it's iffy how many
of those requests will actually be granted, though.
And slipped into
that letter was another letter addressed to me. It was a letter addressed to me
from the late Margrave Hastburg.
Tormented by a great
wave of welling emotions and the desire to open it right away, I had no
confidence I could maintain my composure looking at its contents. Therefore,
hurriedly returning to the mansion in the Royal Capital, I shut myself in my room
alone, and with myriad feelings, opened that letter sealed with the Margrave's
thumbprint.
『Demon Territory Count Solis, no, let me dare
to call you my son, Takuhir. Although there is no blood relation,
I, who have no son, have thought of you and Darek as my real sons for
many years and intended to watch over your growth and success. Your growth was
an unbearable pleasure for me as well.』
That's certainly
true. We have always been watched over by the Margrave. And now, I understand
that even more painfully...
『I discussed the final preparations for war with you, and
after seeing you off, I decided to write this letter. At that time, we
promised to drink together to our hearts' content the three of us after this
war ended, but the fact that you are reading this letter means that has
probably also become an unfulfilled dream.』
Yes, that time. At
that time, I returned to Aegis while being seen off by the two, the Margrave
and Brother Darek. Along with welling, indescribable anxiety...
『This letter is something I entrusted accompanying the letter
sent to His Majesty the King, wishing it to be handed to you when the Kingdom
won this war disturbance and you were alive safely. You, reading this
letter now and returning triumphantly to the Royal Capital, must have surely
raised unparalleled military exploits and become the hero who saved the nation.
I too wanted to pat your shoulder, rejoice in the achievements of you whom I
watched over like my own sons, and praise and appreciate your past hardships...
but alas, there is no use crying over spilled milk.』
Tears overflowed
every time I read further into the letter. The Margrave was my greatest
protector and also my greatest sympathizer among nobles. Without the Margrave's
existence, my current position would be impossible. I had lost something so
great in this war that I shouldn't have lost.
『As someone who has passed on before you, it truly pains my
heart to entrust my wishes to you, but please, I ask that you understand my
inner thoughts and listen to my request. And, in order to fulfill my wish,
please lend me your strength. To that end, will you keep me company for a
little story from the past?
Before I
succeeded the position of Margrave, when I was still close to your age, there
were comrades—no, those worthy of being called sworn friends—who discussed the
Kingdom's future together, fought as defenders protecting the borders as
pillars supporting this country, and pledged to protect this country as
guardians even after death.』
Yes, I have heard
from my father and father-in-law in the past. Stories of the predecessors who
fought and scattered their
lives to protect this country when the Empire invaded for the first
time.
Count Falmus,
who governed all of what is now the Viscount Kyrias territory, and the
Baron Bold, Herald, and Kreitz territories. Viscount Gorman,
the eldest brother of the three Gorman brothers who boasted valor. Baron
Albert, the former lord of the Estol territory, who excelled in
strategy and tactics and bore the role of staff officer for the Margrave at the
time.
All three of these
were young and excellent people whose futures were highly expected in the
Kingdom.
『I lost irreplaceable friends in that war. Not only that, but
I couldn't even repay them, the ones who laid down their lives to protect this
country. I couldn't
establish the ones they left behind as their successors, nor ensure that their
brave battles would be passed down to their descendants for generations. Especially
the Falmus and Albert families, having no direct successors, reached
the point where the family names themselves were severed! At that time,
I cursed the old men in the Royal Capital who, ignorant of the hardships on the
front lines, simply wallowed in the comfort bought with the lives of others,
and the members of the previous generation's Restoration Faction who controlled
state politics even back then.』
Could this incident
be what made the Margrave's stance clear? No, I heard from the Old Raccoon that
His Majesty, when he was still a Prince, and the Margrave had been close
friends since that time. Which means, one could cynically deduce that this
unreasonable treatment also had the purpose of chipping away at the power of
the Margrave, who belonged to the Prince's Faction (Royalist Faction).
『And I swore. Someday, I must send their successors, those
who inherit their blood, out into the world. However, their relatives
were still young, with no male heirs who should inherit, and the adults worthy
of inheriting the grand duty of defending the borders were all lost in the war. So I came up with an idea. To have the
next generation of outstanding youths marry into their families, leaving their feelings, and
their bloodlines, to posterity. Though it might have been a somewhat bothersome
proposition for you and your brother. I must sincerely apologize now that planning to marry Albert's
younger sister's daughter, Flora, to your brother, and Gorman's
youngest brother's daughter to you, was my sentimental desires.』
I remembered the
event back then, the joint supreme
tournament held in Kyle Year 506. When the Margrave and Viscount Gorman,
as if timing it together, visited Teigoon unnaturally accompanied by
their daughters.
"Fufu, so it had all started since
then..."
Mysteriously, I felt
no frustration or regret. Rather, both my brother and I are deeply grateful now
that we met them with that as the trigger.
『But there remains a vow not yet fulfilled even now. Knowing
it is unreasonable and stands against logic to entrust this to you whom I
involved, I dare ask you. When the war with the Empire ends, I want you to
become the power to revive the Falmus family. Though it may be a meager effort, I believe I
have paved the way for it.』
I see...
Making the three
Barons under Viscount Kyrias's command an independent unit as the Falmus
Army in this battle; was that, so to speak, the first stage of the groundwork
laid with the future in mind?
The reason for that
personnel decision, which had bothered me a little, finally made sense to me at
this moment.
『The three young men of the Falmus family who solely
survived that war, Bold, Herald, and Kreitz; though they
were from branch families,, I promoted them to Barons and married the daughters
Falmus left behind to each of them respectively. Their unity and
desire for the revival of the Falmus family are firm. Please, I want you
to favor them and lend them power to revive the family name of Falmus.』
Hmm... I have to
move a little carefully on this. Of course, I intend to gladly assist in the
revival. But among the three families, which family becomes the head family?
Since they have been three parallel families so far, couldn't this become the
source of a new conflict?
『Note that regarding the Falmus family, there is no
need for you to worry. The futures of each of the three families have
already been decided among themselves. Things like who will be master and
servant, and how they will conduct themselves, have all been decided among
them.』
Hahaha, you've
completely seen through me.
Understood. I will
just concentrate solely on the revival of the Falmus family and inherit
the Margrave's wishes. I
don't know what will happen with the awards ceremony or land distribution from
here on out, and it's unclear who the Viscount
Kyrias territory will be given to, but the new Imperial territory is
vast. If it's there, I should be able to manage with my authority... no, I must
manage it.
『You might find it strange that I write such a letter before
an unprecedented war. But I feel it. Lately, the faces of my nostalgic
friends constantly float in my mind, and I feel as though I can hear their
voices scolding me. You might laugh at what weak-spirited things I'm saying
before a great war, but only for this war, I somehow can't help feeling that
way.』
I can't blame the Margrave
for this either. I myself, knowing the previous history, faced this battle with
extraordinary resolve.
Thinking of the
future, there were countless times I spent sleepless nights or even jolted awake
in the middle of the night. Anne, Miseri, Claire, Yoltia, Yuka;
they who spent time in the bedchamber with me also understood my state more
than enough and deliberately refrained from saying anything.
I myself, telling Miseri who remained in Teigoon
that she was only permitted to open it if something happened to me, faced the
battle leaving a will. Even the
ear cuff I had always favored since I was a child, I took it off and left
behind as a keepsake just this once before deploying.
Probably my brother
and fathers did the same. As one entrusted with a family, it is something close
to a duty.
『The duty I envisioned; inheriting the blood of those who
departed first and raising those who will carry the next future. This
was accomplished. And regarding the Falmus family too, you will probably
agree.
Here is my final
selfish request. There may
be times when you agonize over me, and are driven by feelings of sorrow and
regret. But, forget them. Please,
forget as quickly as you can, and for the rest of your lives, only think of the
future from here on out, consider it, and move forward.
I always thought
this. A good future is given only to those who desperately overcome current
hardships and sprint through
their era. If
you are trapped by the sorrows of the past, moving forward will likely be impossible.
Elders departing
first is an unchangeable providence of this world. I would be grateful if you
could accept it so. Please, I want you to open the future of the Kingdom
we left behind, and the future of those who follow you. My son, the one to whom I
entrust the future of the Kingdom; please forget the sadness, look only
forward, and proceed ahead.』
At the very end... Entrusting my wishes to my son...
Just that one
sentence was added.
I couldn't stop
crying anymore. Margrave, I'm sorry... only today, I will break your request.
Thank you for
calling me your son. I will inherit your wishes. The future that couldn't be fulfilled, the future you
dreamed of; I promise to surely carve it out.
I couldn't return
the favor to you who discovered me and continued to support me in the shadows
during your lifetime, but...
And, from tomorrow, surely... I promise to make an effort
to forget this sadness.
So, just for
today...
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