5

One day had passed since the attack on the capital by Rayla and Forze.

The panicked crowds were slowly calming down, and somehow, damage assessment and recovery efforts had begun.

In the safe conference room of the palace, nobles, senior statesmen, and guards had gathered. Of course, I, a Guard Knight, and the other captains of the First Knight Company were present too.

Only three members of the royal family were there: His Highness Prince Darius, His Highness Prince Ford, and Princess Ines.

After the attack, Prince Yugo, the Second Prince, was found lifeless beneath the rubble—after spending the night in rescue operations.

The whereabouts of His Majesty, the King, remained unknown. But judging from the situation, it didn’t look promising.

The king’s office was nothing but rubble—its ceiling and floor had collapsed, leaving the upper and lower floors wide open to one another.

Even after clearing the debris, no human form was found. So far, all that’s been discovered is a single right arm, still clutching a torn piece of maid’s uniform.

“Now then, since Father’s gone, I’ll take over proceedings.”

Darius Prince’s first words cut through the silence.

“Given yesterday’s attack, I think we can safely assume Father’s dead. Which means we must choose the next king and appoint new members for the new political structure. After an assault that loud and flashy, if the king doesn’t show his face again, the people’ll figure it out soon enough. Morale on the front lines won’t hold up.”

“True enough. If we’re to pick the next king by law, wouldn’t it be customary for my brother to take the throne?”

“Ah, that’s the plan. Anyone got an objection to this?”

Darius nodded once, confirming his intent to become king, then glanced around to check for dissent.

No one spoke up, of course. After all, Prince Darius had been groomed since birth to inherit the throne, and there wasn’t a single glaring flaw in him—unless you counted copying His Majesty’s exact methods?

But after seeing yesterday’s mess firsthand, even the most stubborn would have to admit that old ways don’t work anymore. Now it’s just a matter of what comes next. Lucky for us, most of the clerks in the castle survived, and with their help, I can manage the job just fine.

After scanning the room and seeing no objections, Darius gave a single, firm nod.

“Then I shall be king. From now on, I’ll be steering this nation. I’ll need your help.”

In response, everyone bowed low toward His Majesty Darius.

“Now then—about the future. We need to decide quickly on two things: staffing for the nation, and how to handle the ongoing fighting within our borders. And how we’ll announce it to the people.”

“The staffing, I think, should continue along the current lines, filling in the gaps as needed. If we bring in people without some know-how, they’ll only end up bothering Your Majesty, who’s still getting used to it all.”

The chancellor spoke. An old man, nearly seventy, frail and bent, who’d known the late king since he was a child. He enjoyed deep trust from the royal family—heard from the princess herself that he’s often consulted. Not the sort to crave power at this stage of life, so the princess seems to trust him quite a bit.

"Yeah. How many are dead from the attack, or hurt so badly they can’t come back right away?"

"That’d be me."

The commander of the infantry unit lifted the documents on his lap, as if to say he’d already gathered the reports—summing up who’d disappeared in just these few short hours.

"Confirmed deaths: three officers. Two missing, no word yet. Among the maids serving in the castle, eleven dead, seven still unaccounted for. And the placement of the officers—"

I tuned out the commander’s explanation, eyes drifting back to the princess, who’d been silent since earlier.

I’m standing behind her chair, can’t see her face—but something in her stillness feels tight. Like she’s holding her breath.

Is she trying to say something? In places like this, women usually get brushed aside. Especially princesses—bound for marriage abroad, they rarely get to speak up on politics.

“Hmm, nothing urgent enough to stall the whole operation. We’ll just increase staffing for now. The maids’ families’ll need proper compensation, but that’s manageable. The real issue is the military branch—Eugene’s old post.”

Luckily, the nobles who died weren’t top brass, so replacements should be easy to find. But the real problem, as His Majesty Darius said, is the military department Eugene used to run.

The military department had two top commanders—one in charge of the Armunale Corps, and another over the infantry troops—and the one who oversaw both was Prince Eugene.

That position isn’t something you can just swap out easily. And even if we wanted to put a royal in charge, Prince Folde’s been studying civil service intensely, so he’s got next to no knowledge of military affairs.

We could promote one of the two commanders to oversee the other—but both of them have been in their roles too long, and they’re both deeply attached to their own units. Best to pick someone who doesn’t belong to either side. Otherwise, commands will always carry favoritism, blind spots. I don’t think the current commanders would do that—but subconscious bias? You never even notice it yourself.

“Should we appoint the former overseer?”

“No, he’s already past eighty—hardly able to get out of bed. Better to have Prince Folde take on the role as well.”

“Don’t be absurd! Prince Folde hasn’t even finished his training as a civil servant. He doesn’t have time for that.”

“But isn’t there anyone in the military who doesn’t lean toward one side or the other while working within it?”

“That… well…”

Even among the elder statesmen, voices rise and fall—arguments, counter-arguments—but no real answer comes.

For now, the strongest option seems to be Prince Folde taking the dual role. Or maybe the Second Princess directly giving orders, dragging out the retired elder for Option Three.

None of these are good ideas, really. That’s why we’re stuck in this mess.

And just as the debate was turning into shouting, and shouting into outright force—the room suddenly went quiet as one woman stood up.

Princess. Seems she’s decided this moment’s the best one. Well then, what’ll she say now? Whatever it is, she’ll probably spout something utterly mad again, just like always.

Thinking that, I watch her back.

“May I speak?”

“Ines? Something on your mind? Honestly, right now, I’d take any opinion—just give me something.”

“Thank you.”

She bows to King Darius, then slowly scans the senior officials gathered in the meeting room.

“I’ll be in charge of the military.”

“Huh?”

Everyone stares at her, mouths hanging open.

To be honest, I almost wanted to smack her hard from behind—just one good whack—but I force myself to hold back, sending her a silent, furious thought: *You idiot.*

"So I’ll be overseeing the military. Even if we’re engaged, marriage’s still years off, and in the worst case, the engagement could be called off. So in the meantime, I’d like to take charge of the military—and raise an heir at the same time."

"Isn’t that right, Ines… You haven’t even bothered to study properly. You think you can run the military like that?"

"Oh, come now. I *did* sneak peeks at Yugo-sama’s lessons from behind, you know. I know more about military matters than Folde-sama ever did."

"Knowing a few things by ear—how dangerous that is. You should know that much, Ines."

Darius-sama kept shaking his head in protest. The princess, meanwhile, was starting to get impatient.

"So what do we do? Leave the command vacant? Appoint Brother Folde to hold both posts? Or will you, my lord, give orders directly? Can you even manage the king’s duties properly? Worse still, the Commander must be at the front lines right now."

Folde, hearing the princess’s words, blinked hard. Apparently, he hadn’t realized that yet.

A few other civil servants looked stunned too. Well, they’re amateurs when it comes to war—can’t really blame them.

The castle’s under direct attack, and the king’s dead. Even if a new ruler is crowned at once and the political system holds, the soldiers at the front can’t help but feel unsettled.

Only the Commander—someone who can still speak their king’s words, who can argue back—can keep their spirits up now. Not the generals who can only follow orders. Not the commanders who don’t even get to hear the king’s voice.

We’ve got to keep their spirits up now. Not the generals who just follow orders. Not the commanders who don’t even get to hear the king’s voice.

Ah, so that’s how you’re using me.

All those times I’ve been dashed across the front lines—sure, part of it was to help the people, but it was just as much to build trust among the soldiers, wasn’t it?

Hmm.

King Darius fell silent, listening to Ines’s words.

“No, Your Majesty! If something were to happen to Lady Ines out there, the engagement would be broken for good!”

“That’s right. Our alliance with the Duchy of Welia is too important to risk. If word gets out that her fiancé was sent to the front, the protests will come flooding in.”

“No, but the way Ines-sama just laid that out—pretty sharp, don’t you think?”

“Even among you lot, not everyone noticed, I’d wager.”

“Even if Ines-sama’s knowledge falls short, the commanders can stand in like the King does. And her guard’s strength? That’s exactly what we need on the battlefield right now.”

The argument flared up again, but Darius-sama, deep in thought, suddenly turned a sharp gaze toward the princess.

“Ines… what exactly do you plan to do with control of the military?”

“Control? Such a harsh word. I’m just doing what I can, where I can.”

“—Fine. I’ll entrust the command to you, Ines.”

“Thank you. I accept with utmost respect.”

The princess gave a light bow and took her seat. Probably grinning like a fool right now.

"Then, handle the frontline matters with Ines at the center—discuss it with the commanders. My requests’ll come later, but basically, I’m leaving it up to your judgment. I’m likely to be swamped with domestic affairs soon."

"Understood, Your Highness."

"Received, Your Majesty."

"We’ll do our utmost."

The princess and the two commanders nodded at Darius’s orders.

"Next, what about announcing the king’s passing?"

"Should we do it right away? Rumors are probably already spreading. There’s no way we could keep it hidden."

"True. With that much damage, people would’ve noticed the king wasn’t showing his face in public. They’d know something was wrong."

On that point, everyone agreed—better to announce it sooner rather than later.

Well, the castle’s got a hole in it, and the enemy’s Armunale was racing through the streets. No way we could hide that from the people, no matter how hard we tried.

The only way to calm the people’s worries was to clearly lay out our next steps—no hiding it, no matter how hard we tried.

The meeting naturally turned into a deep dive on future policies. It wasn’t until seven hours after it began that things finally settled down.

Leaving the conference room, we returned to the princess’s private chambers and dropped onto the sofa, facing each other.

“Princess, what are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Grand Command, of course.”

“I thought it’d be best if I took it. My brother’ll be king from now on—he’ll set the tone, but it’ll likely be his father’s way of thinking. Even if he won’t be so foolish as to talk about controlling war outright after all this, he’ll still look to the front lines as an outlet for the people’s frustration.”

“So you mean… we’ll be the ones launching the attack?”

“Probably.”

Yeah. That’s a real possibility.

There’s no doubt the townsfolk’ve been stewing over the Empire lately. And now that the capital’s been hit—merchants’ll hoard food, prices’ll spike across the countryside. Imports’ll flood in quick enough, sure, but it’ll only be temporary. Still, the people’ll suffer either way. So naturally, that frustration’ll build.

Expecting poor Darius, barely crowned, to fix all that right off the bat? That’s a bit much. Truth is, in wartime, there’s almost no way to calm the nerves.

So in the end, the only answer’s clear: drag the battlefield out of our own land… and into theirs.

Two neighbors, sure—but there’s a world of difference between fighting abroad and having your own streets turned into a war zone.

And to make that happen? No choice but a full-scale assault.

"Have you given up on stopping the war, Your Highness?"

"Of course not. But right now, I’ve no way to stop it. So I’ll do what I can—anything I can—to lessen the damage."

"So that’s what ‘frontline deployment’ means, huh?"

"Yes. Once someone’s been assigned to the guard, you don’t just unassign them lightly. But right now, I believe Eld is the kingdom’s strongest asset. Depending on how things go, I might ask you to do something reckless again."

"Hey, I’ll try not to die. And if I’m out there, I might run into them again, you know?"

"Rayla and Volce, was it?"

The Princess has already spoken to her about the two of them. Whether or not to pass this on to the King is entirely the Princess’s call. For now, she hasn’t said a word.

As for Fortze, I don’t really know—but he’s the kind who seems to like fighting, I guess. Funny how we’ve ended up as rivals, all things considered.

He was the one I fought in my first real battle, after all. Ran into him on the battlefield a few times already. Even if we’ve only crossed blades three times, I’ve come to understand his strength—too well, really. And that machine of his? Its special moves are something else. Probably got a limit on how many times it can be used, but even so, let him loose, and we’re looking at serious trouble.

“And Rayla—”

What the hell am I supposed to do with that guy?

Honestly, I can’t fathom what that guy’s after. He joined the academy in the first place just 'cause he hated the Empire, right? And now he’s on the Empire’s side—worse, he’s in a mercenary company.

He doesn’t actually want to stop the war, does he? No—said his village got raided, so he must hate war itself, right?

So he’s trying to end the war his own way? No way—he’s not actually thinking of joining the imperial side and conquering the kingdom, is he?

“Eld? You alright?”

“If I could, I’d try to talk her down. If she’s just throwing a tantrum, maybe the princess’s words would snap her out of it.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

……I’ll kill her myself.

If he really did side with the empire, then he’s my enemy.

I love this country. Ange’s here. My family’s here. If I have to kill Layla to protect it, then I’ll do it with my own hands.

Next time—or the one after—should we start the liberation arc?