The night at the encampment was cold and biting, but just sitting by the fire like this, quietly gazing up at a night sky full of the Milky Way, was enough to make a person feel sentimental.
It was a sentiment that wouldn’t have struck a chord with anyone by the standards of this era, but it was also the reason I loved the nights spent at an encampment. It would’ve been even better if Hilda were beside me instead of a bunch of smelly men.
"So, Your Highness! From now on, please call me Odin’s Lightning!"
"Hahaha, you really are an amusing fellow."
"Ohh! Marco! His Highness praised me!"
"I’m thoroughly embarrassed that the captain takes that as praise."
"What’s embarrassing about it? Hey, was it Leto? Are you embarrassed by me too?"
"...."
"He says he’s not! Wahahaha!"
I’d meant to savor this sentimental night alone, but Schneider and Marco had barged in out of nowhere, and on top of that, the crown prince showing up swelled the crowd even further. At least there were no lords around.
Gedel, who’d been quietly drinking the Rosenheim wine, said to Marco.
"Lieutenant Nutien. I think you and I are going to get along quite well."
"Just call me Marco. Your name was Gedel, was it?"
"It’s an honor that you’d let a lowly Swiss commoner address a noble by name."
"An honor, my foot. Until recently, the captain and I weren’t even treated as nobles."
"Oh? With the Royal Artillery Corps’ renown being what it is, it’s surprising you were treated that way."
"It’s thanks to the Supreme Commander that we got to see the light."
So, since things had come to this anyway, I called Gedel and Leto of the Swiss mercenary company over too. Leto was taciturn and couldn’t join the conversation at all, but he still listened in his own way, nodding as if in agreement.
The crown prince seemed to have taken quite a liking to Schneider, who was good and drunk and spouting nonsense. In truth, the crown prince preferred mingling with friends like these over stiff nobles.
You could tell the crown prince’s tastes just by looking at the members of his guard. Eisenach looked like he wanted to join in too, but he couldn’t afford to neglect watching the perimeter, so I planned to send him a little wine later.
After laughing his fill, the crown prince said to me.
"I thought my head would split from dealing with nothing but those stubborn old foxes, but I really do prefer friends like these after all. They’re fools, but they’re pure, aren’t they?"
"You’ve had a hard time dealing with the old men."
"Hahaha, you’re probably the only noble who’d dare jokingly call the lords old men."
"It’s because I’ve grown bolder. Part of it is that living rough through all this has made me more at ease."
"But they’re the old men you should be most careful of. Damn it all, heh heh heh."
Hmm, the crown prince seemed to have been under a lot of stress.
They were allies on the surface, but lords were the sort who might stab the royal family in the back at any moment, so the crown prince always had to be wary of them.
That was why I didn’t fully trust the lords either. Once the civil war ended, the neighboring lords might become my greatest enemies. At least it was fortunate that Burgundy was nearby.
The crown prince liked gatherings like this, free of political calculation. And Schneider the artillery captain was a remarkably humorous noble—unlike most Germans—which seemed to be why the crown prince took to him even more.
You could tell how dull it usually was just by looking at the prickly attendant who guarded the crown prince’s side. And among the humorous nobles the crown prince favored, I was included too.
"Your jokes have a way of being scathing and yet satisfying. Those old men! Hahaha."
"Ahem, I just said it offhand, but you enjoyed it so much that I’m the one feeling awkward."
"That’s exactly what makes it funny. If only Leo had even half your wit."
Saying that, the crown prince downed his wine like water. He still seemed to be thinking of Vermeer. He was probably the crown prince’s second source of heartache after Louis.
"Oh, you’re quite a big fellow, aren’t you? If it’s all right with you, have you ever thought about joining the artillery?"
"...."
"Verflucht! What does it matter that you’re Swiss? Hundreds of years ago we were all one family!"
"...."
"What? How much is the pay? The Supreme Commander will take care of that!"
"...."
"Gwahaha, that’s right! Quit the dangerous mercenary work and come to Beren!"
No matter how loudly Schneider rattled on, Leto only kept nodding. But was this even a conversation? Watching it, I still couldn’t tell whether Schneider was just talking to himself, yet somehow it seemed to work as a conversation.
Marco and Gedel went back and forth, and the one thing they had in common was cursing their superiors. Marco naturally cursed Schneider, while Gedel tore into the bureaucrats of the Swiss council.
I’d meant to spend the night leisurely on my own, but at this rate there was no way I’d be falling asleep quietly. Watching them while sipping his wine, the crown prince ordered Eisenach to bring something.
It was a letter the other side had sent.
The crown prince spoke bitterly.
"I never imagined the day would come when Louis would send me an invitation. How much better it would have been if it were a wedding invitation instead. Isn’t fate truly cruel?"
I wanted to accept it as a trial the Lord had sent me. The crown prince spoke gloomily and sank into silence. Even with everyone chattering so loudly beside him, his mood didn’t lift in the slightest.
[A Final Invitation to My Esteemed Elder Brother]
Hmm, esteemed, is it. Before I left for Feuzen, Prince Louis, who’d invited me in Breisburg, had hated his elder brother. But thinking about it now, it seemed he hadn’t hated the crown prince from the very beginning.
Perhaps it was rage at having his place taken by someone he’d learned was a bastard? His physical frailty had always been a deep insecurity, and maybe that became the trigger that made it all explode.
That’s how human relationships are.
That simple, yet that complicated and messy.
"Louis admired heroes, and he had a yearning to become like them. Like Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia and pressed on into the endless East, or Hannibal, who struck fear into Rome."
Heroes, is it. Through countless wars and battles, I’d learned what a sweet illusion that was. The places they passed through were mostly hell. I remembered the plunder and slaughter of occupying armies.
"I don’t admire heroes."
"Is that so. You’re a hero yourself, so I suppose you have no need to admire them."
"A hero? Hardly. I simply do my duty as a knight, nothing more."
"That’s precisely what’s remarkable about you."
The crown prince smiled gently.
I’d only done my duty, but he seemed to think it was truly remarkable.
"You were the first noble His Majesty—who never trusted nobles—came to place his faith in."
And so did I.
With that, the crown prince turned his head away, looking bashful.
I looked up at the night sky again. Nobles were forever keeping one another in check, drawn to power like moths to a flame, trying to kill each other for their own gain. But I had never once done such a thing for my own benefit.
I’d only struck back at those trying to kill me.
In this era where trust had vanished, the grand duke and the crown prince, sitting in their lonely seats, may have needed a true comrade who could soothe their worn-down hearts and offer real trust.
Could I really live up to their expectations?
In life, you can’t see even an inch ahead.