Chapter . 77
“Truly an infinite glory…….”
“Prince Leontes…….”
Thus, all the nobles among Giuliano's retainers knelt before me and kissed my hand. While I had not a single noble attendant to introduce to him, a noble.
Since they, acting extremely politely, did not introduce their commoner knights, I couldn't introduce my commoner knight, Sir Rolf, either. Given Sir Rolf's personality, he would have declined even if I tried to introduce him.
When the greetings were over, Giuliano led me to the balcony.
A crowd of people was gathered below the balcony. It was clear that every able-bodied resident of Montova had gathered.
No, looking closely, there were even babies held by mothers and elderly people supported by sons. Unless they were dying, it seemed everyone had come.
“Praise Prince Leontes!”
“New Lord of Montova!”
“Long live Prince Leontes!”
People raised both hands and welcomed me at the top of their lungs. Sweating profusely with dark circles under their eyes.
“I offer the key to the gates of Montova to Prince Leontes.”
Giuliano knelt again and offered even the ceremonial golden key.
“The descendant of the hero Valaska, Armatia's proud Prince Leontes has visited our hometown Montova. Glory forever and ever!”
A choir of boys and girls sang below the balcony. Their youthful voices trembled. Along with the pitch.
I kept my smile from beginning to end, waving my hand continuously in response. But I couldn't delay it any longer. When I signaled Yolande, she shot fireworks into the sky above the balcony.
Daytime fireworks possible only with magic.
“Waaaaah!”
“Wooaaaa!”
People forgot their worries for a moment and shouted in awe.
“I, Prince Leontes, thank the people of Montova for their welcome!”
When I responded, everyone cheered.
“Prince!”
“It is an honor!”
The atmosphere was better than before, but everyone looked like they would collapse soon.
“Now guide me to my room and dismiss everyone. I need some rest.”
When I hinted to Giuliano, he guided me to the lord's chamber. A servant must have gone out to the balcony and signaled, as I heard the sound of people dispersing soon after.
The Count recommended a bath to me, who came via magic circle, as if I had ridden a horse covered in dust, but I declined. It wasn't that he was tactless, but seemed to be following the tradition of hospitality strictly.
“If you need anything, please call anytime. Then rest well, Prince.”
When the servants left after placing water for washing hands, beverages, and simple snacks, I flopped onto the bed. Even my brother, who doesn't go through such things, lies down every time; how much more so for me.
Michelon sat arrogantly on the lord's armchair and laughed.
“A grand welcome!”
“I also felt very proud.”
“Everyone is happy that the Prince has come!”
“Our Prince is famous, after all.”
Yolande, who smiled brightly after checking for eavesdropping or surveillance artifacts and meticulously casting soundproofing magic, anti-scrying magic, and intrusion detection magic, also said.
“That's right, everyone prepared thoroughly to welcome the Prince.”
“That is exactly the problem.”
“Pardon? Prince?”
“Look at this room. Whose room do you think this is?”
At my words, everyone looked around the room. Although not as luxurious as the Imperial Palace or noble mansions in the capital Elan, it was decorated with dignity. Just somewhat old-fashioned.
“It's full of weapons and armor.”
“There are many portraits like the Count's father and grandfather.”
“It must be the Count of Montova's room, but naturally, since the Prince has come, shouldn't he give up the room?”
Following Vincent and Nanette's words, Sir Rolf spoke in wonder.
“That is correct. The current castellan is the Count of Montova. But to whom did that Count of Montova pledge his loyalty?”
“He kissed your hand earlier.”
“That was just extreme courtesy because I am a Prince. Even a commoner who hasn't pledged loyalty to me could do that if I just extend my hand.”
“Then what, is the Count the Empress's vassal?”
Michelon frowned.
“That is not the case. Under national law, the only one who can have vassals is the Emperor.”
I explained.
“However, a vassal can have retainers. Those retainers might live in the same castle, but they can also become lords of land bestowed by a powerful figure like the Empress. In other words, a vassal of a vassal. Currently, the Count is not the Emperor's vassal but the Empress's retainer. Under national law, both the Count and the Empress are the Emperor's subjects, but the Count received the land from the Empress.”
“Then he is the Emperor's subject in name only, but actually loyal to the Empress! It's not just simply being the Empress's relative!”
“Exactly.”
“Kick him out immediately! Strip him to his underwear and throw them all out!”
Michelon jumped up.
“…….”
“This is your castle! If you won't keep an enemy's subordinate close, they have to follow your decision! You have to do that to rule your first estate well too!”
“…Do you think Giuliano della Montova didn't know that?”
Everyone's face was filled with shock.
“…So, that's why they held the welcome ceremony so diligently…….”
“No wonder the people looked extremely exhausted. As if they had been waiting standing up the whole time until the Prince arrived…….”
“It was surprising when that white-haired Countess went so far as to kneel.”
After everyone said this and that, I sighed and spoke.
“I rushed here immediately as soon as the paperwork to hand over the estate from Rhiannon was finished.”
Before enemies could leak it to Father, or Father's spies could notice, and Father could interfere.
“Since you finished the paperwork as soon as negotiations ended…….”
“It was a period less than three days.”
I finished Sir Rolf's sentence.
Even if the Empress contacted him in advance, for the young Count, it must have been like getting struck by lightning on his helmet while riding on a clear day.
A welcome ceremony can be done by working the serfs, but a banquet takes weeks just to prepare. To serve high-quality ingredients to many guests.
It was fortunate that my entourage was simple and had no nobles; otherwise, it would have been difficult to prepare even tonight's welcome banquet.
“Ah, right. As a Count, it's worth struggling not to be kicked out with his family. But even so, he is the Empress's subject. It's pitiful, but he should go to the Empress and beg for mercy or something. Isn't it the Count's fault for being loyal to the Empress in the first place? Since he chose a person who hands him over to an enemy without considering her retainer's situation.”
“I came to do just that! I rushed here so urgently for that. To not give the Count time to prepare resistance.”
I was dumbfounded by the suggestion of Michelon, who still didn't know how cold a politician I was.
“Then why aren't you kicking him out? Because the grandmother begged on her knees with the baby?”
“This estate's name is Montova, and the lord's name is Montova. What does that mean? They built this land into an estate with a castle guarded by knights. Either Montova named the land after the family, or the family was named after the land, one of the two.”
“A native family obeys the upstart Empress? Then this is their land, not a fief the Empress bestowed upon them. Did the Empress deceive you by giving you land that wasn't even hers?”
“No, it is the Empress's estate. The previous Count, the young Count's father, died after mortgaging the estate for gambling debts. Afterward, the estate, unable to pay off the debt, passed to Rhiannon.”
“The Lauderdale family's gambling den is famous.”
Sir Rolf also said. The nobles' gambling was immense. Just as everyone cursed the Queen when a kingdom's royal family went bankrupt, but in fact, the gambling debts of the King's brothers paid off by the King were much larger than the Queen's luxury.
Rhiannon targeted the nobles' physiology and had the Lauderdale family run gambling dens. Lending gambling money and taking estates as collateral.
“It's not for nothing that the Lauderdale family gets cursed. Not only are they upstarts, but they greedily swallow others' estates. Even those who criticized them become helpless once caught by the leash of Lauderdale.”
“Can't you crack down on the gambling dens?”
“Rhiannon didn't spread it; gambling is originally court culture. They have money, they make commoners do the work, what would idle crowds do other than play with money? When rumors circulate that if you can't join big gambling tables, you aren't a high noble.”
Rhiannon and the Lauderdale family couldn't even join the real nobles' gambling tables in the early days. They barely got to play in the big leagues after losing large sums of money readily at every table that let them in, making a name for themselves.
And now they were the ones running the gambling dens themselves. I don't know why they get angry every time they hear they are descendants of merchants.
“But why didn't she make a Lauderdale person the lord?”
Yolande raised an issue.
“If Lauderdale took everything, backlash would boil over. But doing it this way, a historic family like Montova would keep their mouths shut even for the sake of face. Of course, the truly well-located estates must be taken by Lauderdale.”
“By handing over the estate to you, can't we consider that Montova's loyalty oath also passed to you?”
Michelon asked with his arms crossed.
“If it were that simple, why would arrogant nobles bother with loud rituals of kneeling and kissing hands or not? Because loyalty oaths are not kept that well. There are many cases where a vassal rebelled against a monarch, or a monarch confiscated a vassal's estate. Everyone raises their voices saying it shouldn't be so, but vassals try to break centralization and monarchs try to break feudalism.”
The Empress kept the Count as the castellan even after acquiring Montova, but he was strictly an administrator, not a proper lord.
Feudalism was originally a system where regional administrators took taxes as salary, but gradually corrupted into hereditary succession.
Rhiannon's method of reviving that old system and appropriately mixing centralization and feudalism to her convenience was truly clever.
“Anyway, the Empress broke the oath first. Giuliano can also change the object of his loyalty.”
“Even if a monarch harasses a subject, if the subject resists, it is treason. If Giuliano leaves her and becomes loyal to me, the Empress will use that as an excuse to attack Giuliano. Then I have to protect him. For me, the estate I just got will be dragged into an estate war.”
I really didn't want to wage an estate war with the Empress. Not because I wasn't confident in winning, but because I intended to restrain myself to some extent until I came of age.
While faithfully laying the basics of raising retainers and an army based on my estate, I had to gradually distance myself from court intrigues.
“Alright, alright. Anyway, Montova must leave your land.”
“How many times do I have to say it, I rushed here to do just that. I was determined to use force if they insisted on not leaving, but who knew they would gather the residents and appeal like that!”
“It's just an act! You shouldn't be deceived!”
“Such a remote place is hard to govern without cooperating with local powers. I'd rather the Count resisted; then I could drive him out at once using that as an excuse, but if I do so when the Count knelt in front of everyone, I'll incur the fear and antipathy of the residents. It becomes a spark for a long time.”
“Rhiannon aimed for exactly that point and agreed to give Montova besides Petrafis. I wondered why that greedy Empress readily gave such a large estate.”
“The Empress's words that the hardships of Petrafis are a good excuse for me to leave the Imperial Palace are correct. But for me, I couldn't just accept that one small village and fall back. Anyway, whichever of her estates I chose, the Empress would have plotted a complex scheme.”
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, but I calmed down. I knew Rhiannon wouldn't hand over an estate meekly. I'd rather wage an estate war fighting with my brothers; although it's troublesome in an unexpected way, I couldn't fail to resolve it.
“The sunset is falling.”
Nanette, who had been quiet while we discussed serious matters, pointed to the sky visible from the balcony and said.
“Now the banquet will open.”
A place where the Count would treat me and try his best to negotiate with me.
We changed our clothes first. Although we came dressed extravagantly, we had to show the Prince's dignity sufficiently in front of the Montova family. Especially since there wasn't a single noble in my entourage.
“I will stay here with Nanette.”
But Vincent shook his head.
“There is no need for that.”
I dissuaded him, but he was firm.
“Your Highness allowed me to live without wearing a mask anymore. Then I would feel comfortable not going to official events either. Especially if it's an awkward occasion like now, I am not confident in behaving in a way that is not disadvantageous to Your Highness. After trying a bit more to behave like Your Highness's attendant in front of people, I will go out.”
I considered dissuading him more, but for now, letting Vincent do as he felt comfortable seemed more considerate to him.
Unlike the Yolande and Nanette sisters, it was good to see him, who was still very wary of me, gradually speaking his mind.
“But Nanette goes with us.”
Showing off how much she is favored by me was advantageous for Nanette's future. Even if, by any chance, I failed to raise the status of mages, Nanette had to be seen a lot in such places to pave her own future.
Unlike Vincent, Yolande was of the opinion that not a single person should be missing at such times. To the point of briefly glaring at her beloved husband. However, she wore a mask.
Saying she would wear it at least until the rumors about becoming the Prince's first love through Charm Magic disappeared. However, when Michelon asked if she believed such a day would come, she took it off again.
“Everyone stand in front of me one by one. I need to see if you sparkle enough.”
If it sparkled to a dragon, it was at a level to blind people with its flash. Only after satisfying the dragon's aesthetic sense did we head to the banquet hall.