Game of the Monarch

“Huh?"

When Princess Leila suddenly frowned, Milton expressed his concern from his seat across her in the carriage. 

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought someone said, ‘stubborn girl.’”

“……”

“Well, it was probably my father. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Milton had only one thought as he looked at her.

‘People all over this world would probably call you stubborn.’

But he didn’t voice it out loud and merely changed the topic. 

“Anyway… it’s truly amazing how in the end, everything was done as you wished, Your Highness.”

He wasn’t just saying empty words. Every time there had been an issue, Princess Leila had provided the perfect assistance, it was as though she had a prescription for each situation. When Milton had a difficult time gathering the southern nobles, she had lent him her name. And by proclaiming that she was still alive, she had given the southern nobles the justification they needed to join the army — they were following the will of the royal family. For the southern nobles who had been discriminated against by the nobles in the capital, this had been both an honor and an opportunity. Thanks to that, Milton had been able to smoothly bring together the southern nobles under one banner. 

In addition, she had also used her own information network to provide Milton with endless information. From the fact that the Second Prince’s army was marching north, to Duke Palan leading the army in the capital, and even the fact that the Second Prince’s army had been divided into two. Her connections were endless. It was as though the seeds she had sown for the past seven years had sprouted with information. It went without saying how invaluable all this had been for Milton. 

“Once we reclaim the North after pursuing the Second Prince’s army and annihilating the rebels, won’t you become the strongest candidate for the throne?” 

Princess Leila didn’t refute his words. At this point, the Second Prince had revolted and the First Prince had made the worst mistake possible in the process of subduing said revolt. The other princes below them were too weak to even mention. In such a situation, Princess Leila had appeared like a hero with the support of the citizens in the South and saved the country. While there was the perception that women shouldn’t become the successors over men, it wasn’t absolute. Especially since there had been several queens in the history of the Lester Kingdom.

“When I ascend the throne, you, Count Forrest, will receive the title of Margrave and become the leader of the South.”

“We will both get what we want then, Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

But, Milton felt somewhat disappointed. The times he had spent discussing and working through the problems with her had been…

‘It’s been very fun and enjoyable.’

That’s right. It was an odd type of enjoyment. Thinking how all that would come to an end after the war, Milton felt a bit regretful. While Milton had been thinking that, Princess Leila spoke.

“You seem very regretful.”

Milton flinched when her remark hit the nail on the head and gave a deep sigh.

“I’m asking you this seriously, but are you capable of reading people’s minds, Your Highness?”

“Don’t you know? A woman can always understand the mind of the one she loves.”

“……”

Milton’s heart pounded. For a moment, he had almost lost control and given in to his body’s impulsive instincts, but he managed to calm down. 

“If I reacted to those words of yours, Princess, and began to think that, ‘maybe it’ll work out,’ then I guess I would just be another fish that’s been caught by you.”

Princess Leila gave him a provocative smile.

“You don’t want to?”

“……”

For a moment, he thought that wouldn’t be too bad, but he shook his head. 

‘She’s really driving me nuts. Is a MAX level trait this scary?’

Amongst Princess Leila’s traits, there was one whose level had reached MAX - seduction.

Seduction LV.9 (MAX): Utilize one’s innate beauty to tempt the opposite gender and create situations which are advantageous to the user. Able to shake the opponent’s cognitive judgment.

Despite knowing this, Milton often felt disoriented when talking to her. If weak-willed men were to talk with her, they might even give her their liver, perhaps even all five of their organs if they aren’t careful.

“Cough… Anyway, let’s focus on the war right now.”

“Yes, we should. After all, the rebels are still able to fight.”

Princess Leila continued on. 

“Since we’ve already ambushed them once, it won’t work again. So now, it’ll be a fight of pure skill. Are you confident you can win?”

“You’ll see it in the results.”

But Milton’s expression was full of confidence. 

* * *

Although the Second Prince’s army had been defeated once, they weren’t annihilated yet. About 10,000 troops remained in the main force with about 15,000 troops who were fighting against Duke Palan. By hastily combining those forces into one, the Second Prince had approximately 25,000 troops. Now the question was, what should the Second Prince do next. 

“You must retreat, Your Highness.”

Some nobles, including Marquis Marius, insisted on retreating. 

“There’s no point in continuing to fight when the attack on the Capital failed, Your Highness. It’s more important to quickly retreat and solidify our foundation in the North.”

“Marquis Marius is correct, Your Highness. Our priority should be to solidify our foundation right now.”

Most of the nobles pushing him to retreat were either middle aged or older. But the younger nobles were more hot blooded and thought it was too soon to give up. 

“Even if we solidified our foundation in the North, our strength alone isn’t enough, Your Highness. I think it’d be better if we took this opportunity to switch our situations.”

“I agree, Your Highness. We lost because those yokels from the South suddenly attacked us, but we still have an edge over them.”

“That’s right, Your Highness. There’s also no guarantee that the Republic would take care of us even if our foundations were strong in the North. Instead, they might be wanting to use us as a buffer between the kingdom and themselves.”

The younger nobles felt it would be better to come to fight it out. Listening to the differing opinions of his vassals, the Second Prince fell into deep thought. Both sides made sense. As a monarch, it was situations like this that were most troubling. It was difficult to make a decision when one side wasn’t wrong, but neither was the other, but at the same time, neither was right. Making the correct judgment in situations like this was the hallmark of a wise monarch.

However…

‘I don’t know. Which side should I listen to?’

The Second Prince wasn’t able to decide either way. He had lost a lot of his self confidence with his last defeat and was afraid of making a decision. Perhaps that’s why he eventually made the worst possible decision.

“After listening to both sides, I’ve decided to compromise.”

He’d chosen to listen to both sides. For a moment, Marquis Marius was shocked.

“Your Highness, it’s a matter of retreating or attacking. Instead of deciding on one, what do you mean by compromising?”

“I mean that we’ll do both. In a time of crisis, we should do everything we can.”

The Second Prince continued to talk to his vassals.

“Send a messenger to the Republican stationed in the North and ask for reinforcements. We will combine the forces and hold on until reinforcements from them come.”

It seemed as though the Second Prince believed he had come up with a good compromise. However…

“But, Your Highness, where is the guarantee that the Republicans will send reinforcements?”

“It’s an emergency right now. They also don’t want to lose the alliance that has just been forged. They might present unreasonable conditions, but tell them we’ll accept everything for now.”

Marquis Marius was alarmed. 

“Your Highness, how can you say that? You don’t even know what kind of demands they’ll make.”

“What’s important right now is the victory in front of our eyes. Do you not understand? If we lose now, we’ll have nothing left.”

“But, Your Highness…”

“Enough. I’ve made up my mind. Make sure you do as directed.”

The Second Prince became stubborn.

“Please reconsider, Your Highness.”

Marquis Marius repeatedly insisted on retreating, but the Second Prince refused. He had originally trusted Marquis Marius a great deal, but that credibility had fallen after the devastating defeat they had recently suffered. 

In the end, the Second Prince’s army took over one of the castles on the road up the North and fortified it. Seeing the soldiers diligently preparing for war, the Second Prince thought to himself:

‘We can win like this. We’ll recreate what happened at Baikal Fortress.’

The Second Prince wanted to recreate his overwhelming victory over the First Prince’s army at Baikal Fortress. But it was questionable whether that would really happen. 

* * *

Upon hearing that the Second Prince had camped in a castle, Milton immediately began to prepare to besiege it. He hurried to make preparations, including the escalades that had worked better than expected during previous territorial battles. 

‘Since it’s a siege… No matter how much we prepare, they will also be preparing. The damage will be great for either side.’

Milton was bitter, but it couldn’t be helped. Out of all warfares, a siege was one that dealt a great deal of damage equally to all. All you could do to reduce the damages as much as possible was to thoroughly prepare beforehand. That was why Milton was personally overseeing the production of siege weapons. But at that moment…

“My Lord, a guest has come to visit you.”

Tommy approached Milton.

“Me? Not Princess Leila?”

“Yes, My Lord.”

To the outsiders, it was Princess Leila who was currently leading the southern army. But even though she was on the battlefield, many nobles had come to see her once she revealed her identity. They came to give her gifts hoping to create a connection with her or to catch her eye and be remembered later on. Milton had been disgusted by those who had come to the battlefield for a portion of her power, but tolerated it nonetheless.  Inevitably, dirty bugs were always tangled with power. Dealing with such humans was the responsibility of Princess Leila who was aiming for the throne. So even though Milton didn’t want to see them, he couldn’t just get rid of those flies since it was up to the Princess to utilize them.  And so, Milton thought it was strange that someone had come to see him and not Princess Leila. 

‘Even if I’m actually the one leading this army, I’m treated as a village leader from the South at best.’

“Why did he come?”

If he came just to say hello, then Milton had no intentions of meeting him and would say he was busy.

But the message Tommy delivered was beyond his expectations.

“He said that he plans to destroy the Lobiance Castle that the Second Prince was holed up in, My Lord.”

“……”

It suddenly got difficult to refuse him. 

‘If it’s a business meeting, then it’s a different story.’

“Then I should at least meet with him.”

“Yes, My Lord. Then, this way, please.”

Milton followed Tommy to the barracks to meet with the man.

“Thank you for meeting me, Count Forrest. I am Viscount Randol Sabian.”

Randol Sabian.It was this moment that a diamond in the rough was found. 

“I am Milton Forrest. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Viscount Sabian.”

Milton peeked at Viscount Randol Sabian’s stats as they shook hands.

And…

“Huh?!’

He was shocked. Sabian’s stats were unusual. 

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