How did our family, which had been doing reasonably well, become a meritorious founding house?
It was thanks to Father making a split-second calculation and seizing the opportunity that came to him.
A moment’s judgment decides everything. That is what people mean when they say life is all about timing.
Now I have succeeded Father’s position and become the one who leads our house.
From this point on, my fate and my family’s fate will be decided entirely by my judgment.
‘Does the Eighth Prince truly possess the qualities of an emperor?’
I do not know. What qualities could one see in a child who has only just turned ten?
Very rarely, there are emperors prepared from the sprout, extraordinary from the beginning.
But the Eighth Prince has none of that whatsoever. He is simply a ten-year-old child.
He may change once he grows up and becomes an adult, but that is not certain.
‘Then. Does the Fifth Prince possess the qualities of an emperor?’
He does. In terms of ability, one could already call him overwhelming.
An exceptional mind. Quick perception. Outstanding instincts. Bold decisiveness.
I remember Father once praising the Fifth Prince to the skies.
The moment the Founding Emperor sought to establish the Eighth Prince, the officials opposed it first.
They are making it known that the Fifth Prince is the true material of an emperor.
Now let us calculate. Which side should I be on?
What must I do to eat well and live well as a meritorious founding house?
The Eighth Prince is too young. The Founding Emperor is old. The Fifth Prince is in his prime.
Perhaps it would be different if the empire’s history had long since settled into succession by the eldest son.
But it has only been six years since Condor fell and a new sky rose in its place.
They attached all sorts of justifications and reasons to it, but it was clearly an overthrow by coup.
The empire is still in chaos. As things stand, a powerful second emperor is necessary.
“Your Majesty.”
Never once in my life had I thought something was regrettable.
With the experience and memories of my previous life, I filled in the shortcomings of this one.
My family had already been remarkable, and now we had become a meritorious founding house.
But this time, that regret grew unbearably large.
“I am deeply sorry, but I humbly beg you to withdraw your words of granting me a fief.”
If I had known the place I reincarnated into was the world of a novel from my previous life.
I would have gritted my teeth and read every volume again and again.
Regrettable. Truly regrettable. All the more because my life depends on it.
There is far too much weighing on my shoulders right now.
I think I understand why Father passed away so early.
In front of the family, he laughed and told us to trust only him.
But inside, he must have trembled in fear, never knowing when he would be pushed out.
“Lord Montebello. How insolent. Are you saying you dare refuse to accept His Majesty’s will?”
But it is all right. As I said, I have the weapon called my previous life.
If this truly followed the historical research of an author from Earth, then I can know the future.
And if I know the future, I can decide my next course of action.
“That is not so. How could I not be moved by His Majesty’s care, vast as the sea? However, when I am the one who called for a sweeping reform of the Ministry of Finance, if I were to receive more territory, it may cause the people of the empire to misunderstand. That is all that concerns me.”
The Founding Emperor. The great war hero. What he loves.
Honor and people. That is why I deliberately mention the people of the empire.
At that, the Founding Emperor’s back leaves the throne slightly.
It means he is curious as to why I would refuse him to his face.
“Your Majesty. Instead, how would it be to leave that land, even temporarily, as farmland for the displaced?”
“Temporary farmland? Speak further.”
“During Condor’s time, the corrupt engaged in harsh exploitation, and countless people became displaced. After Condor fell and Your Majesty’s reign began, much has stabilized, but they still cannot trust their lords.”
The displaced still remember the taxes that had been far too cruel.
If they returned for no reason, only for the lords to act as though they would devour them again, there would be no hope.
So they wander here and there. This has become a social problem.
The empire is doing everything it can to soothe public sentiment, but there is still a long way to go.
Six years since Condor fell. To them, that is still a short time.
“Let them use that land temporarily and farm it. Then give them seventy percent of the income produced there.”
“Lord Montebello. What absurd nonsense is this! Seventy percent? Not collect seventy percent, but give seventy percent away? Have you forgotten that the empire already guarantees fifty percent?”
“I know. I know that in Condor’s time, they even took eighty percent in taxes. I know that, in truth, fifty percent is already a tremendous improvement. I know all of it. Because it is what my father accomplished together with His Majesty.”
I may seem like nothing more than a brat barely in his twenties.
But I have a father who was a meritorious founding retainer, and I myself am one as well.
I did not come here merely riding on my father’s radiance.
Like all of you, I stand here as one who proved himself through ability. Through talent.
“As I said, it is ‘temporary.’ This is a project to confirm to them that the empire is a nation completely different from Condor.”
“But. A single fief will not be reason enough to draw that great number of displaced people back to their hometowns.”
The Founding Emperor strikes at an extremely realistic point.
Perhaps because he spent his entire life in the military, there is no obstruction in his thinking.
“At most, it will be a few hundred. Even so, will Lord Montebello make such a choice?”
“Your Majesty must know as well. The mouth of one imperial subject can easily possess the strength of ten soldiers.”
Though he was called a war hero, in the end, the Founding Emperor had been no more than a military man.
How could such a man have ascended to the throne of emperor?
He won the people’s hearts. And the people’s hearts come from their mouths.
“The rumors spread by the displaced will travel in all directions, and those who react most sensitively to them will be other displaced people. And all of them will soon go about praising and singing of the empire and Your Majesty’s benevolence.”
To the emperor, I present honor and the hearts of the people.
“In addition. Only when those wandering from place to place return to their hometowns as soon as possible, to their own lands, will the entire empire stabilize, and furthermore, it will have a positive effect on tax revenues.”
To those around him, I mention the sensitive matter of taxes.
If I do this, opposition will not easily arise.
Yes. Not easily. Which means opinions themselves do exist.
And those who will oppose even in this situation are, as expected.
“The intention is good, but some irreverent people may resent it even more, saying they were unable to enjoy that benevolence themselves. What will you do about that, Lord Montebello?”
A middle-aged nobleman steps forward after clearing his throat.
He goes on about resentment and how few people will receive the benefit.
But everyone knows why that man has stepped forward like this.
Camarg Legestis. None other than the current empress’s elder brother.
If things proceed as they are, he will become the crown prince’s maternal uncle.
And someday, he will become the emperor’s maternal uncle.
Thanks to that, they say his recent influence knows no bounds.
The reason he has deliberately stepped forward to oppose this is obvious.
He does not want displaced people coming near their fief.
In words, he may say they should embrace the people of the empire with love.
But having them live right beside him is a separate matter.
The Founding Emperor’s in-laws. Perhaps the crown prince’s maternal family.
Displaced people beside such a great house.
He must be thinking they are not of matching status.
However, he cannot say that openly in this situation.
So he has presented opposition from another angle.
“Of course, that may happen. But the stories of those who experienced it directly are far more powerful.”
You all know better than anyone how the Founding Emperor became the Founding Emperor.
The image of a great war hero who cared for people even on the battlefield.
The deeds of a war hero who strove to save those suffering from foreign invasion.
The stories that spread from there brought down Condor’s two-hundred-year history.
—Swoosh.
The Founding Emperor raises his hand, stopping the officials’ conversation.
“Lord Montebello.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Your intentions are most admirable. You even refuse the fief I meant to bestow in praise of the merits you have established so far. And you say you will offer it for the people of the empire. Truly commendable. Though the previous Lord Montebello departed before me and caused me grief, to think his son is such a man. We are truly blessed.”
“You honor me beyond measure.”
After looking around at those present, the Founding Emperor speaks again.
“The matter of the fief I intended to grant Lord Montebello shall be withdrawn. Instead, as Lord Montebello said, discuss granting it to the displaced as temporary farmland.”
It came from none other than the Founding Emperor’s own mouth.
He says to discuss it, but in truth, it is no different from an order to carry it out.
With this, no one can voice opposition.
“We shall obey the imperial command, Your Majesty.”
Even if they are Legestis, the empress’s family.
‘Good. With this, at least I’ve stopped my name from immediately going on the death list.’
I glanced at the Fifth Prince and let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
I do not know about anything else, but I hope the current situation looked this way to him.
That I had politely refused the Founding Emperor’s wish for me to support the Eighth Prince.
‘That’s the only way I survive. Please. I really don’t want to become Fantasy Killer Bangwon’s number one target for elimination!’
Whether he knew my feelings or not.
“Was it Ethan?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I am simply overwhelmed that you would remember even this humble subject’s name.”
“Excellent. My friend who departed before me, Lord Montebello, would be proud.”
In the midst of it all, the Founding Emperor was wholly occupied with praising me.
*
These past few days, he had struggled to endure the fury boiling inside him.
Disappointment. Anger. Betrayal. Every emotion mixed together and surged.
“How can this happen! To found the empire, we brothers aided Father until our bodies nearly broke! And yet a green child surpasses all of us and takes the crown prince’s seat?!”
“Calm yourself, younger brother. Nothing has been decided yet. And watch your tongue as well. We are imperial princes, and Father is now the emperor. You must properly call him His Majesty the Emperor.”
At the Fourth Prince’s shout, the Second Prince restrains his younger brother in a stern voice.
This place is not the battlefield. Nor is it their house. It is unmistakably the imperial palace.
There are ears everywhere. Nothing good will come of it spreading.
“As we have done since childhood, we follow His Majesty’s will. That is enough.”
“Ah! Brother, you certainly have an easy heart. If that child becomes crown prince. And then emperor. Who do you think he will eliminate first? Us! Every day, nobles will cling to him and whisper! That he must strike down those who threaten imperial authority!”
“Enough!! You insolent fool!”
“Look at that! You cannot say I’m wrong either, can you, Brother?!”
—Creeeak.
At the sound of a chair being pulled back, the two princes cautiously read the room.
The person who, in this situation, would be more furious and feel more betrayed than anyone.
Their youngest brother, who had not even shied away from dirty work for the founding of the empire.
“The meeting presided over by His Majesty will begin soon. Brothers. If we are late, we will give them fault to find, so let us hurry.”
He must endure. Yes. Nothing has been decided yet.
Getting excited and causing trouble is the worst move. He must remain cold.
Thinking so, the Fifth Prince headed to the meeting room for now.
But the Founding Emperor. His father’s will was firm.
“Ethan Montebello. I shall newly bestow a fief upon you.”
He was pushing forward the young meritorious founding retainer who had newly appeared.
The location of the fief itself was very close to Legestis.
He intended to make him the Eighth Prince Ruston’s political partner.
Because the current Lord Montebello was the youngest among the meritorious founding retainers.
‘Father. I am the one who did not refuse all manner of deeds for your sake. Perhaps if you had established Second Brother as crown prince, I might have understood. But how could you choose the youngest? Do you not feel sorry to Mother, who passed away after suffering all her life?’
Anger rises again. Anger that freezes cold.
But at the next voice that flies in, that chill thins.
“Your Majesty. I am deeply sorry, but I humbly beg you to withdraw your words of granting me a fief.”
The young meritorious founding retainer, Ethan Montebello, petitions him to withdraw his will.
Then he suggests using that land as temporary farmland for the displaced.
“…”
The Fifth Prince looked at Ethan with eyes different from before.
He had not known when Ethan was not standing out, but he was an exceptionally interesting man.
He dared to refuse the will of the founding emperor and yet did not incur his hatred.
He knew precisely that the emperor loved honor and people, and aimed at that point.
Now that the emperor, in turn, was showing interest, the officials closed their mouths.
‘And whether he intended it or not, he even made House Legestis uncomfortable.’
If even this had been staged together with Legestis, then that would be another matter.
They would show themselves as benevolent people who cared exceedingly well for the displaced.
Through that, they would use it as a move to raise the Eighth Prince’s score as successor.
If that had been the case, he would have certainly thought Ethan an extremely troublesome man.
‘But judging by Camarg’s expression, that does not seem to be the case.’
Ethan Montebello.
It is one of two things. Remove him quickly before he becomes an enemy.
Or. Win him over to this side by any means necessary.