28 - Valentina's Paradise
"This is going to be interesting…"
Princess Anna Angella personally received the messenger who arrived after midnight and slowly read Duke Edgar's letter.
"Sleep is as sweet as honey, but some news is sweeter than honey. It was worth waking up for."
James, who had been riding like a madman without sleep, was almost unconscious, but somehow managed to kneel on one knee before her.
"You were Duke Edgar's close aide, Lord James?"
"That is correct, Your Highness."
"So, Valentina invited Duke Edgar to Edeled's welcome banquet, and he's now rushing to Regio Florida? With fifty armed knights and a hundred soldiers? Why not just declare war?"
James was taken aback by Anna's sarcastic remark.
"And Edeled's escort was annihilated in the Black Forest, and only Edeled arrived in Florida? So Edgar wants to secure Edeled as soon as he arrives in Florida?"
"That is correct."
"What kind of farce is this…"
Anna Angella burst into laughter. She couldn't bear to miss such an amusing spectacle. She even joked with the maids who followed her out. She didn't care about James, who was sweating and staggering, having ridden without proper food or sleep.
She waved Edgar's letter and said, "But you know, there's something the people of Nebulosa are forgetting. I don't know if they've really forgotten, or if they're just pretending not to know…"
"...What are you referring to, Domina?"
"A few months ago, Edgar came here and was formally recognized as the successor to the Duchy of Nebulosa. But that position was originally meant for Edeled."
"Your Highness, Duke Edgar did not seize it without permission. Countess Margaret proposed it first, asking for help…"
Her eyes narrowed sharply, and a cold voice flowed out.
"How dare you contradict me? Do you want your tongue ripped out?"
James barely suppressed the surge of anger that rose within him.
He had a feeling that he could never respect Princess Anna Angella. He understood why Duke Edgar had sent him, the quick-witted and resourceful one, instead of his rigid and unreserved brother William.
Anna Angella, the heir to the Lema royal family, which had produced Holy Empire emperors for generations, and the current imperial regent, felt no need to mince words or persuade her inferiors. Inferiors who questioned their lord's words were naturally subject to punishment.
The Terra Lema royal family had a different atmosphere from other countries on the continent. Because the Lema territory was located on the trade route to the East, it was heavily influenced by Eastern culture.
Although the lords and vassals of the continent had a lord-vassal relationship, they were also reliable fellow knights on the battlefield, bound by strong camaraderie. On the other hand, the Eastern despots and their vassals could not be comrades bound by brotherhood or loyalty. Vassals were merely the emperor's hands and feet, tools, and sometimes treated like insects to be slaughtered.
Anna, who grew up in such an environment, was intelligent but arrogant and autocratic. She had learned that a ruler should be feared, not loved, and wanted to follow the path of the Eastern despots who had ruled vast lands with unwavering discipline based on that fear.
It had already been six years since she took over as regent for the emperor, who was bedridden with aftereffects of an injury. Initially, she was merely a proxy delivering imperial decrees, but soon she began to wield full power.
The reason this was possible was that Anna, who had no other siblings, was almost certain to become the next Holy Empire empress. More than half of the seven electors who chose the emperor were firmly on Terra Lema's side. There was a reason why other great lords were wary of her, even if they disliked her. Anna rebuked in a cold voice.
"Margaret had no right to say such things. That authority belongs to the Holy Empire imperial family. I should have torn her presumptuous mouth apart, but it's a pity she's already dead."
"……!"
"In any case, I gave the dukedom to Edgar. I took the risk that Edeled and the minor lords who support him might rebel. So Edgar owes me a great debt."
Then, narrowing her eyes, she said in a sweet and soft voice, "And now he's going to increase that debt. I'm very curious to see how he'll repay it."
Anna Angella was quite anxious about the imperial election that would be convened after her father's death.
Of the seven electors, Archbishop Jacobus of Terra Lema and Domina Giuseppina of Insula Marina were on Terra Lema's side, and Francois II of Terra Gallia was contractually obligated to support Terra Lema. Including her own vote, that made four votes, which was a majority.
But that alone was not enough to reassure her. She couldn't know where she might be stabbed in the back. So, before her father passed away, she intended to win over one or two more electors and secure the throne for herself.
Among them, Johannes of Terra Technica, her ex-husband, and Valentina of Regio Florida were hopeless. The only electorate with potential was Terra Nebulosa.
Lord Edgar, the second son of that territory, was a man with a keen eye for the situation and good social skills. He frequently visited the Terra Lema imperial palace and gained her trust, eventually obtaining the Duchy of Nebulosa at a crucial moment.
'Perhaps Edgar will surely be on my side.'
Anna smiled, recalling the nights she had spent with Edgar long ago. Edgar, who was the same age as her, was an outstanding knight and a leader who captivated people. Like a man from the Nebulosa ducal family, he was handsome and full of masculine charm. Even this time, he was asking for her help without being humble or submissive. He was a man she truly desired. Just as brave men burn with a desire to conquer beautiful and noble flowers, women also burn with a desire to possess ambitious males.
On the other hand, she couldn't find anything she liked about Valentina. She even found it ridiculous that she was acting like a cold and chaste lady in the Florida Grand Ducal Family, which was famous for its licentiousness and open sexual culture. A woman raised in the grand ducal family might have a body as cold and pure as a glacier, but her mind would be filled with all sorts of dirty and obscene sexual techniques, as much as a prostitute in a brothel. And yet, chastity? Even a passing dog would laugh.
Anna explained in a twisted voice.
"My great-aunt, Grand Duchess Giulietta, committed the act of refusing to go to war twice. Do you think the other lords didn't know that they were spending money to participate in the war and watching their precious knights die because they didn't value their lives?"
"……."
"Even when my father proposed to the Grand Duke, that arrogant mother and daughter refused, citing a broken engagement from the past. They would have had nothing to say even if they had been hanged at that time, but I forgave them then. But if they disobey again this time, I will never forgive them."
She led the maids holding candlesticks and slowly walked back to the door. The hem of her long nightgown brushed past James, who was lying on the floor. No, it stopped. Right next to him. He could feel the hem of her skirt on the back of his hand. Sweat dripped from James's chin. Her piercing gaze stabbed him in the back.
"Scribe!"
At Anna Angella's call, an official who had been waiting in the darkness approached the candlelight with a portable writing board and stylus.
"Lord Edgar, Duke of Nebulosa and Regent of Petronia, has requested confirmation of the authority to arrest and try Edeled of Petronia, the suspect in the 'murder of five direct knights, including the two Ockudis brothers, and twenty escort soldiers,' and has also requested military support from the imperial family."
James looked up with wide eyes. The arrogant princess with long auburn hair and reddish-gray eyes now felt completely like an empress. She continued in a solemn voice.
"Anna Angella, Regent of the Holy Empire, confirms that Duke Edgar, the protector of Edeled of Petronia, has the authority to apprehend, try, and execute lawful punishment and execution of his nephew."
"……!"
"And the Holy Empire imperial family, accepting Duke Edgar's just and urgent request, will send ten knights and twenty armed infantrymen. The commander in charge will be Lord Honorius, head of the royal guard and Count of Trachina, who will be the plenipotentiary envoy to carry out my decision."
James, who had been listening while prostrate, raised his head with wide eyes.
Only ten knights?
It was by no means a large force. But the astute James soon nodded.
He could understand. Ten men were enough because they were the imperial family's forces. Even if it was only ten knights, confronting them meant confronting the imperial family, and that meant confronting the entire continent. The emperor had the authority to summon the forces of his subordinate lords in the event of rebellion or foreign invasion.
In other words, her support was not so much a practical help as it was a grant of authority that would neutralize any military provocation. Princess Anna Angella was clever, to put it nicely, and cunning, to put it badly.
"Tell Count Honorius separately. If Grand Duke Valentina interferes with the execution, it will be considered a third act of disobedience, and the Grand Duke's peerage will be abolished and Lord Ricardo, the first heir, will be appointed as regent."
