Honestly, at first, I thought Alice was kind of blackmailing that young lady for the royal family’s benefit.
Still a bit emotional, but ever since coming to the academy—no, ever since going to Velbur together last year, she had been moving as the ‘Crown Princess’ quite often.
But Alice was just sitting there, glaring at Lady Rassel the whole time in the student council room.
As the party involved, I had accepted the apology, and she even said her family would be loyal to the imperial family, so it would have been right to let it end there. Yet, it seemed Alice’s anger couldn’t be quelled by just that.
“I think it’s unnecessary to be so angry since you’ve gotten an apology.”
“Aren’t you angry?”
At Alice’s words, I furrowed my brow slightly and sank into thought. Hmm…
If the other person had been an adult with a big head, it might have been different. If someone who wasn’t clueless was gossiping about me, I’d probably be dumbfounded at first and then feel really bad about it.
But she was just a fifteen-year-old kid, after all.
Even when Mia showed me a grudge, I didn’t get that angry because I understood she didn’t know the truth and was still young.
Well, from the perspective of someone in their twenties, having killed someone might be disturbing, indeed.
While I was deep in thought, Alice swept her hand across her face and sat down on a chair at the customer reception table in the room.
“So what if I were the one being insulted like that? What if the one called an assassin was me instead of you?”
“…….”
Hmm… That would definitely have made me angry.
Not just Alice, either. If Leo or Claire were gossiping about me, or if Jake or Roti were, it would have bothered me too. Mia and Rena would feel the same… Sophia is a bit complicated still.
Without saying it directly, it seemed Alice noticed my expression and figured out what I was thinking.
“Well, you’re probably thinking that’s natural, so you wouldn’t care what I say.”
“…….”
Alice rolled her eyes for a moment before speaking.
“I think there’s a need to be cautious in this situation.”
“I agree.”
“If someone who thinks like you just lets the nobles gossip about the Crown Princess, isn’t that a problem?”
“Given the current situation, I’m trying not to create unnecessary enemies.”
‘I wouldn’t mind how many enemies I end up with. If it gets too bad, I can just rewind time and cancel the situation altogether, and I already have plenty of information that could expose weaknesses on influential families.’ Ever since meeting the masked lady, I made sure to gather as much necessary information as possible, utilizing all the common sense from the original work and my time-rewinding abilities.
That said, I didn’t visit each of the families’ territories, so my methods are certainly a bit limited.
The reason I could remain unfazed by the gossip I heard was that Lady Rassel had already shed a few tears in front of me, spilling her family’s secrets several times.
“…….”
Seeing my expression, Alice seemed to decide not to press the matter further.
“Anyway, it’s a problem if more nobles start to disregard the imperial family. Until now, things have been well suppressed, but… you know about the northern bombardment last time.”
She must have been referring to the incident when Jayden led the monitor fleet and swept everything away from the border.
“After that, not only neighboring countries but also local lords have been wary of the imperial army. They had no idea when those monitor ships flew over their territories.”
“And the local soldiers have no way to stop that fleet.”
If a monitor ship bombarded a lord’s castle, it would be the end for them. A civil war could follow, but the imperial army is strong. If a rebellious family arises, that family will definitely be crushed first.
Yet paradoxically, because of this possibility, more families wanted to rebel.
No matter how large the Imperial Capital is and how many goods it produces, it can’t sustain the country on its own. To produce all those shells and bullets, an enormous amount of gunpowder and lead is needed. Gunpowder necessitates a cornerstone. And the Imperial Capital doesn’t have those cornerstone mines.
In fact, even before the game started, there were nobles going around openly saying, “We feed the Imperial Capital.” It’s just that the group actions of those nobles only began in the latter half.
Even if the Emperor doesn’t think about conquering the world, the nobles’ thoughts don’t change. They don’t know about my ‘ability.’
“However, that doesn’t mean a rebellion will happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because His Majesty the Emperor has no intention of projecting military force externally.”
In the original work, the rebellion was a ‘burglary.’
No matter how great the difference in combat power between the empire and neighboring countries might be, the military force needs to be projected clearly for a war against the whole world.
The ships protecting the Imperial Capital would have to move closer to the border, and the monitor ships would be deployed on the front lines. The air force would move to the front lines, leaving only the minimum defense forces behind to support the army. The loyal Winterfield would have most of its military force bound to the north, and Lindbergh, which wasn’t having a bad relationship with the royal family, would be flustered by the revolt in their colonies.
Since the military power that the empire boasts would have vacated the capital, it would be the perfect moment for lords harboring ill intentions to take action.
But of course, the Emperor isn’t a fool.
He was already aware of that situation, and that’s why he had designated a few treasonous families to crush thoroughly, ensuring discipline within and outside the empire. If dukes are assassinated and those scoundrels die in broad daylight in their own territories, their families would realize something was wrong.
Furthermore, on the borders of the empire, the territories weren’t directly ruled but mostly belonged to counts or dukes.
When the imperial army pulls out during the war, the angry soldiers from rival countries would come trampling in. The armies that suffered losses from the imperial forces wouldn’t care about whether their enemy is ‘pro-Emperor’ or ‘pro-noble.’
Ultimately, because of that fact, the lords near the borders had no choice but to become pro-Emperor, which eventually led to the defeat of the pro-noble factions.
But the starting point of that whole process is the imperial military heading toward the borders.
“Local lords fear the military power of the empire. If they try to rebel, all they’ll gain is scorched territories and shattered corpses of their children. If they can keep their heads, they’d be incredibly lucky.”
“But it’s a fact that the atmosphere among the lords is uneasy.”
I nodded.
“But that won’t last forever.”
In the end, notions like absolute imperial power and nobility can’t last. Sooner or later, it’ll all come crashing down.
In about a hundred years, there will come a time when citizens will govern the land. It’s an unavoidable fate. Even if the noble class manages to stick around, they cannot prevent the republic’s emergence. Furthermore, there’s already a parliament of sorts, even if nominally, in the empire.
If they try to resist, they’ll just be cutting their own heads off.
“…Do you know something?”
“…Honestly, I don’t. Things have changed too much from what I knew.”
I could make such predictions. Thinking of the world I lived in, the future of this world, which is somewhat based on actual history, was bound to turn out like that. It had been mentioned in interviews with the production team.
The problem is, that’s a prediction for a hundred years ahead. I hardly have any certainty about the finer details.
Thanks to the existence of the country, the story has diverged too much from the original work.
The Emperor was focusing much more on internal management, and there were still no distinct signs of the nobles’ unrest. The Papal State was moving much more cautiously than in the original, and Bella was alive.
And considering people like Lucas and the masked lady…
Sometimes I thought it might have been better if I hadn’t done anything at all.
“Well, okay.”
Alice shrugged her shoulders as if it were no big deal. But I knew she was probably having complicated thoughts inside.
“Then how about putting off the unpredictable future for now and talking about the future that’s just around the corner?”
Alice crossed her arms and said.
“What do you think about Charlotte’s idea?”
“You mean suggesting Lutetia as the practice location?”
… In the original work, going to Velbur was not just for practice.
It was to persuade Charlotte to join me. To gather companions to fight against the Emperor, who wanted to bring everything under his control.
The original story was about secretly entering the ruined Lutetia to find Charlotte.
Well, I mean, it’s a nice change, but…
I felt an overwhelming urge to pull my hair out.
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