Until the word “hostage” leapt from the king’s mouth and was about to pass a death sentence on my peaceful second life, I had been enjoying that peace.
I knew well enough that a war seemed likely to break out sooner or later, but for the moment, it had little to do with me.
If I had been the strongest being in the world, living while hiding my power, I might at least have tried to save the country. Unfortunately, when I possessed this body, I received no special perks or traits whatsoever.
Even in the carriage heading to the royal castle for the first time in ages, led there by my mother’s hand, my heart was as light and leisurely as usual.
“Ian, it has been a long time since you last saw them, so make sure you greet Her Majesty the Queen properly. And keep Prince Joseph and Princess Amy company kindly as well. With the state of affairs so grim these days, everyone seems rather depressed, so go and tell them something amusing. Understood?”
“Of course. Mother, you’ll be with Her Majesty the Queen, right?”
“This time, His Majesty the King will probably be there too. I was invited to a tea party. They did say you should come along as well, but perhaps after exchanging a few words, they’ll send you off to be with the prince and princess.”
“Then I’ll just have a cup of tea and come out. Are we almost there?”
Looking out the carriage window, I noticed that the atmosphere in the capital was rather different from usual.
The faces of the people passing through the streets, which should have been lively, were deeply shadowed, and the merchants in the market were whispering among themselves as they began closing their shops early.
Most of all, the number of soldiers guarding the royal castle had increased noticeably.
‘Did something happen?’
Of course, through the original novel, I knew that the empire would eventually unify the continent and swallow up even our kingdom.
But I had thought that was still a little further in the future.
After all, between the empire and our Kingdom of Sterling, there were still a few minor nations left acting as buffer zones.
If I had known the exact timing, I could have prepared somehow, but the original novel began its first chapter with the scene of the country surrendering, so it had given me no information about precisely when the kingdom fell under imperial rule.
If I had known earlier, I would have prepared something.
#
The royal tea party was held in the beautiful greenhouse attached to the king’s office.
“Oh, Michelle! And Ian! It has been a long time. Welcome.”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen. Have you both been well?”
As usual, the king and queen welcomed my mother and me with great warmth.
Prince Joseph hugged me as soon as he saw me, and Princess Amy also smiled brightly the moment she saw my face and came over to kiss me on the cheek.
“This is black tea prepared especially for today’s tea party. Merchants from the southern seas brought it in, and its fragrance is quite excellent. Try some.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The greenhouse was filled with the scent of freshly bloomed roses and sweet black tea.
It was the same peaceful atmosphere as always, yet something about the king felt different from usual.
‘…He’s forcing himself to seem cheerful.’
Dark fatigue and shadows had settled around the king’s eyes, and the wrist holding his teacup was trembling faintly.
Though he was forcing a smile, the air in the greenhouse had sunk heavily.
Normally, I would have been the first to toss out some silly joke and lighten the mood, but the instinctive sense I had honed since my previous life was strongly warning me.
Now was not the time to run my mouth.
I was quietly lifting my teacup and offering appropriate responses to Prince Joseph’s hunting story when it happened.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!”
A minister with an ashen face burst into the greenhouse, flinging the door open with a bang, having completely forgotten both etiquette and dignity.
“…From next time on, at least knock before entering. What is it?”
“The, the north! A messenger has arrived from the northern border!”
The north.
At that single word, the king’s teacup rattled noisily, then fell to the floor and shattered.
Scalding black tea spilled over his knees, but the king paid it no mind and sprang to his feet.
The mad war of conquest by the great empire that began in the north of the continent was not news of yesterday or today.
Rumors had already been circulating openly for years that the countries between us and the empire were kneeling beneath the empire’s feet like autumn leaves before the wind.
And our Kingdom of Sterling was the final target remaining at the southwestern edge.
“Bring him in at once, at once!”
At the king’s urgent, near-tearing shout, I quietly tried to rise from my seat.
“Your Majesty, it seems there is important state business, so we shall take our leave…”
“No, Ian. Michelle. You are no different from family, so there is no need for you to leave. Remain seated.”
At the king’s restraint, I awkwardly sat back down. Immediately afterward, the door opened and a messenger entered.
Everyone inside the greenhouse sucked in a breath. The princess let out a small scream and covered her mouth.
“Haa, haah… Your Majesty…!”
It was a soldier drenched in blood, his shoulder and side torn open as if they had been ripped apart by a beast.
He collapsed face-first onto the ornate marble floor of the greenhouse and burst into a wretched sob.
The sweet scents of black tea and roses were devoured in an instant by the fishy, nauseating smell of blood.
“W-what is the meaning of this state you are in! Is the armor you wear not that of Marquis Lancaster’s men? What on earth happened at the kingdom’s sturdiest and most loyal bulwark!”
The king asked, his voice trembling violently as he shot up from his seat. The soldier struck his bloodied head against the floor and wailed.
“The bulwark… has fallen, Your Majesty…! The northern border forces have been annihilated!”
“What? Are you saying the empire has declared war? Have all the nations in the buffer zone fallen? They crossed the border without even an official letter? Has the empire’s main army already reached our border?”
“Th-that is not it. It was not even… a formal army…”
The soldier blinked his unfocused, terror-stricken eyes and moved his bloodless lips.
“For several weeks, we had detected signs that the empire’s main army was gathering, so Count Lancaster assembled five thousand infantry at the border for a preemptive defense. They were the finest elite forces our kingdom could field. But then… there was a first clash with the imperial vanguard approaching under the pretext of reconnaissance and search.”
“A search party? How large was it, that five thousand of the kingdom’s finest were broken through!”
“Only… only three hundred men.”
Silence descended.
I doubted my ears.
Five thousand regular soldiers had been annihilated by a mere three-hundred-man search party?
“Nonsense! That is a difference in forces of nearly twentyfold! No matter how much our army has grown complacent in long peace, how could they be broken through in an instant!”
“Th-the battle itself never even took shape! They are, they are not human. The empire’s warhorses were twice as large as ours, and when three hundred imperial cavalrymen made a single charge, the shield wall of five thousand infantry shattered like straw! The soldiers were slaughtered indiscriminately without even managing to thrust their spears once, unable even to flee…!”
As if he were seeing that hellish scene again before his eyes, the soldier flailed at the empty air and screamed.
“Count Lancaster tried somehow to gather the scattered soldiers and reform the ranks, but… a female imperial general clad in black armor cut off his head with a single stroke! With the count’s head flying into the air as the signal, the northern army collapsed completely. It did not even take half a day for three hundred demons to butcher five thousand men!”
‘A female general clad in black armor…’
Belated regret came over me, wishing I had properly read the novel my ex-girlfriend wrote.
I had only read the erotic scenes.
If I had read it properly, I would know who that was, but I could not remember.
“I… I, too, was captured on the spot, but that general in black armor pointed a massive sword dripping with blood at my neck and spoke. She told me to run to the capital at once and report this sight. She said she would spare only me, so I was to go and deliver the message.”
“What… what did the empire tell you to deliver!”
When the king shouted with a pale face, the soldier answered, tears of blood streaming down his face.
“One hundred thousand, the main imperial army of one hundred thousand is marching south, so if we wish to live, we are to open the gates and surrender at once. If we show even the slightest sign of resistance or try to buy time… they will wipe out the entire kingdom to the last seed.”
There was a thud as the king sank down.
The queen and princess clung to each other and burst into tears, while Prince Joseph froze with a blank expression.
Sterling, a small kingdom that had steeped itself in peace for decades.
This country, which had never once experienced a proper war, did not have the strength to stop one hundred thousand men—let alone even the three hundred cavalrymen who had just broken through from the north.
The king’s hands trembled.
“Surrender… Yes, we must surrender. How could we possibly fight that great empire? We must save the people. What surrender conditions does the empire demand? Do they want tribute, or do they want us to cede territory?”
“Th-that, they said they would send an envoy and notify us directly…”
The soldier had not even finished speaking.
“Your Majesty!!!”
This time, the captain of the royal guard rushed into the greenhouse, his armor clanging loudly.
His face was even more deathly pale than that of the minister from moments ago or the blood-soaked messenger.
He collapsed to the floor, unable even to breathe properly.
“A cavalry unit calling itself the, the empire’s envoy… has already reached the main gate of the royal castle!”
It was an absurd speed.
They must have sent the soldier before us as a messenger as soon as they broke through the border, yet they had arrived almost at the same time.
It meant that every castle in the kingdom had been breached without any meaningful resistance.
“Let them… let them in…”
The king murmured like a man whose soul had left him, staring into empty air with unfocused eyes.
“Let the empire’s envoy… enter.”