The day of my return to the Empire, far more hurried than anticipated.
Beoilleo personally came to see me off, together with Areute and the warriors.
It was somewhat unexpected. To think that all the warriors would turn out.
It was proof that what we had gained here was quite considerable.
“Farewell, Edan Montebello. Be sure to give my regards to your brother. And please be certain to tell him that I offer my sincere condolences for the tragic news.”
“Yes, Beoilleo. I shall relay it. That upon hearing the news, you grieved and sorrowed more than anyone.”
A pity. If only the Empress had not died, I would not be leaving in such haste.
The Eighth Prince. No, now that he is the Crown Prince, I can no longer leave the capital empty.
I must return quickly and realign my future once more.
“It is quite a shame that you are leaving. I doubt any other Imperial envoy who comes to replace you will be to my liking.”
“I hope you will view us with a generous heart. If given the chance, I will surely return.”
“Of course you must. Surely you do not intend to leave without taking my daughter?”
“I have never said I would agree to the engagement.”
“It was merely a proposal, so there is no need to make such a stern face and act as though you hate it. You wound me.”
Even as he says that, he subtly acts as though he wishes it would come to pass.
Just as in the Empire, here too an engagement is regarded as a blood oath.
They wish to have their friendship with the Empire confirmed by something other than mere words or promises.
In that regard, marriage can properly serve as a bridge.
There are times when it does not, but it is better than not doing it at all.
I, too, do not view the engagement entirely negatively.
The eastern steppe tribe is the first place where I proved my worth.
The warriors of the other tribes may not know the Empire, but they believe in my name.
In their own way. A result earned by fighting as they do.
Entering into a union with a steppe tribe woman there would yield even greater advantages.
Though not of steppe birth, I am a wolf who has earned recognition one way or another.
If my partner were the White Deer of the Steppe, the trust would become all the more certain.
But I am not a steppe tribesman. I am a noble of the Empire.
The place where I must live is inevitably the Empire and its political sphere.
Forgive me, but my first wife must absolutely be an Imperial citizen.
If something can become a weakness, it is right to avoid it if possible.
“Edan, I shall not forget the sincerity the Empire has shown through you.”
“Nor shall I forget the friendship shown to me by Beoilleo, the Uruteu Tribe, and indeed all the steppe.”
“Farewell. I hope we meet again.”
As Beoilleo finished speaking, this time Areute came forward.
Unlike when we first met, she was not hiding her face.
She stared at me fixedly, as if she had something she wished to say.
“….”
But she merely gazed at me without opening her mouth.
She simply kept looking. Looking only at me, doing nothing else.
Wondering why she was doing this, I was the one who opened my mouth first.
“Areute?”
“Yes. Edan.”
“Um, you are acting this way because you have something to say, aren't you?”
“On the steppe, it is the husband who greets first. Then the wife returns the greeting. So I was waiting.”
“….”
We are not married. Was I the only one who was not?
Such inner thoughts must have been plainly visible on my face.
Areute smiled softly and held something out.
None other than the curved blade she had worn at her waist.
“It is a gift, Edan.”
“….”
Anyone could tell it was a gift brimming with strange implications.
Would it not be better not to accept it? My instincts quietly jabbed my side.
I wanted to refuse, but as an envoy, such a thing was impossible.
Moreover, from behind, Beoilleo was urging me on with his eyes.
Hurry up and take it! If you don't, I'll forget we're friends, you bastard!
“I shall treasure it, Areute.”
As I received the curved blade, color suddenly rose to Areute's face.
Feeling that if I stayed here any longer we might truly proceed with the grand affair, I quickly turned away.
And so I also received the send-off from the warriors of the Uruteu Tribe.
“Go well, guests of the Empire.”
“We shall meet again.”
The foreign ministry officials and escort soldiers who had accompanied me also exchanged parting words.
At first, they had been wary, calling them savage tribes and whatnot.
But after living together for several months, they had all become friends.
All diplomacy is like this. In the end, only by growing close does anything come of it.
“Well then, let us depart.”
Having received both farewells and a gift, we finally set out for the Empire.
It had been exactly eight months since we had departed from the Empire.
By the time we arrived at the capital, it would be a return after at least ten months.
Having spent nearly an entire year outside, the feeling was somewhat strange.
‘And on top of that, the Empire's interior must currently be a mess.’
The Eighth Prince had become the Crown Prince. But the Empress had died.
The Fifth Prince's side had now effectively been handed a terminal diagnosis.
In truth, opposition was only possible before the Crown Prince's investiture.
The current situation was no longer opposition, but rebellion.
To survive, one had to submit, but could they truly survive?
The existing princes would now unconditionally become targets for purges.
Would they truly sit still and accept such a fate?
“Commander? Over there.”
As we passed through the Uruteu Tribe's territory, a band of warriors appeared.
In the moment the escorts were worried it might be a raid, those approaching were all familiar faces.
“Edan of the Empire! Are you returning?”
“That is correct, warriors of the Rungireu Tribe.”
“We have come to bid farewell as our friend departs. Furthermore, remembering our friendship with you, we have decided not to provoke the Empire for a time. Of course, we cannot promise how long. We have our own lives to live.”
“Even that much is something I am grateful for, my friends.”
“Return safely. I wish to test our strength against you again someday!”
After the Rungireu Tribe warriors left and we traveled on, this time warriors of another tribe appeared to bid farewell.
They were all tribes I had personally visited and mingled with.
Shedding the title of Empire. Casting aside the empty formalities of nobility.
I had mingled with them unreservedly, just like a steppe tribe warrior.
That result was now approaching me in this manner.
“This is strange, Commander. During the Kondoreu mission, and even a few years ago—envoys were always sent to the steppe tribes, but they were never received with such welcome.”
“Is it not a matter of attitude? People who come to conduct diplomacy hold their heads high and look down on others, thinking themselves superior. This place is neither Kondoreu nor the Empire, but the steppe.”
Leaving behind farewells with many tribes, we moved without rest.
When we crossed the steppe and reached the Empire's border, the reality of our return sank in.
Instead of the still-difficult steppe tribal tongue, it was the Imperial language that reached our ears.
The Imperial border defense troops welcomed us back joyfully.
“It is deeply moving to return like this.”
“Anyone listening would think we had gone off to die.”
“Were you not, Commander? Honestly, we were terribly nervous.”
We were still far from arriving at the capital. We had to travel for well over a month.
I only hoped nothing would go awry in that time.
Even if something erupted, it had to erupt where I could see it for me to respond.
Then, when we were nearly at the capital, a piece of news arrived.
“His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes. Therefore, it seems they regretfully cannot receive our envoy delegation on a grand scale.”
It was said that Geon Gukje had taken ill due to health reasons.
It was not a fatal illness like the Empress's, but neither was it light.
Age and stress had likely played a large part.
If it came to this, the Chancellor would be delegated full authority.
Matters would proceed in the name of the Crown Prince, but this was the Chancellor's will.
To others, the word puppet might come to mind.
“…Let us move quickly, then.”
Ironically, I found myself missing the distant eastern steppe.
Even with all the fighting and struggling, those times had seemed a bit more comfortable.
*
A few months prior. The Eighth Prince had finally been invested as Crown Prince.
It was the will of Geon Gukje that was forcibly pushed through despite the opposition of his subjects.
Perhaps he had hoped that this would help the Empress recover somewhat.
But after the Crown Prince's investiture, the Empress could endure no longer.
“The Empress!!”
“Your Majesty!!”
Geon Gukje wept and grieved for three days and nights without cease.
He did not stop there but personally took charge of all funeral arrangements.
He even personally oversaw the construction of the Empress's tomb.
A forced march lasting over a month. Continuous weeping without rest.
An ordinary person would have collapsed on the spot from overexertion.
No matter how iron-like a body Geon Gukje possessed, he could never be invincible before the passage of time.
Moreover, the mental shock continued to gnaw away at his body.
In the end, Geon Gukje had no choice but to fall ill, unlike his usual self.
“Now is the opportune moment.”
Following the Empress's death, there had been a full month of funeral rites.
All eyes were focused on it, so they could not move carelessly.
Now, with Geon Gukje bedridden, was in fact the only time.
“If things continue like this, we will all die, Your Highness the Fifth Prince. The Crown Prince may be young now, but he will not be in a few years. Even if we currently hold much influence in the administration, we do not know when that may change. Now is the only time when everything is being done not by His Majesty the Emperor, but by the Chancellor.”
It is only when contending over the position of Crown Prince that such an angle holds.
In this situation where the investiture is complete, one cannot act recklessly.
Yet if they simply accept it and bow their heads, the future is obvious.
They will all be purged. Because they were opposing sides.
Because they would become the greatest threat in the future.
If they do not kill, they will be killed. If they do not strike first, they will be struck.
Now, there was in fact only one path left for the existing princes.
“…As it happens, I was told that the envoy delegation led by my younger brother will soon return.”
“That is correct, Your Highness the Fifth Prince.”
“It was originally intended that he be grandly received for his splendid fulfillment of his duties, but His Majesty the Emperor is indisposed, making that impossible.”
“From what I hear, the Chancellor will receive him instead. It is even said that he is preparing a party for them.”
Resolving the matter of the eastern steppe tribe well was undoubtedly a good thing.
But the reaction is too great. Everyone knows the reason.
It is to dim the Fifth Prince's achievements in the west as much as possible.
If they could place Edan firmly in the Crown Prince's faction, it would be all the more perfect.
“What of the efforts to win over the commanders?”
“Recently, the Chancellor has moved even faster, and the accumulated discontent has helped. Some of the privileges granted to the Princes were being enjoyed by the commanders as well. They are all reacting sensitively to the Chancellor's statements that these must be revoked.”
They are commanders who have spent at least twenty years with Geon Gukje.
Therefore, no matter what happens, they will ultimately follow him.
It is true. They cannot point their blades at Geon Gukje.
But there is no need for them to do so. One need only stop them from picking up their blades.
What if they are silenced and everything is finished in a single, overwhelming stroke?
“The party celebrating the envoy delegation's achievements. That is the only opportunity. It must be carried out then. Any later, and the Chancellor's eyes and ears scattered everywhere will catch wind of it first.”
For a brief moment, Isyumael felt sorry for Edan.
A place where praise for his own accomplishments would pour down upon him.
If that place were to be stained with blood in an instant, it would not be pleasant.
But it could not be helped. They were not in a position to be picky.
And if one were to force the issue, it was not as though he had clearly chosen a side.
If one stands in an ambiguous position, one can only receive ambiguous treatment.
If asked whether there was no hostile enemy, they would answer that that was why he had been kept alive.
For the Crown Prince faction intended to sweep them all away in this opportunity.
“They will likely invite Your Highness the Fifth Prince and the other Princes to that occasion as well.”
“Use it. Say instead that the Chancellor attempted to eliminate the Princes there.”
“If they are accused of the crime of attempting to assassinate Imperial blood, nothing will stand in our way.”
For a time, fierce debate continued over this endeavor.
But in the end, the conclusion reached was one: they would carry it out.