Vol 03 Chapter 96: Political Upheaval
June.
The armistice had expired, and it was precisely the time to invade King Rosais’ Country.
Then it happened.
「Arghhhh!」
「My king! Are you alright, my king?!!」
King Domorgal clutched his heart and collapsed. Immediately, the palace’s magicians gathered to start his treatment.
However, despite their desperate efforts, King Domorgal passed away without naming his successor…
◇
In the capital of King Domorgal’s Country, in the mansion of Aldo Domorgal.
There resided a boy about fifteen years old and a woman in her early twenties.
The boy’s lavish attire indicated his high status, which was natural since he was Aldo Domorgal himself, the master of the room.
On the other hand, the woman was wearing very plain clothes. Her beautiful blond hair identified her as a Germanis. Furthermore, she had a considerable amount of fat stored in her chest area. If Almus saw her, he might have commented, 「These are heavy cruiser’s class… no, they are battleship class. Not quite a Dreadnought… around the Mikasa1 class maybe…」
However, her face marred all these attributes. It wasn’t that she was ugly; on the contrary, she could be considered quite attractive.
That’s why the bruises all over her face stood up. And most painfully, the collar around her neck connected to the shackles on her hands and feet.
The chain extending from the collar was held in Aldo’s hand.
Aldo shouted.
「Ah! My father has died! What a joy… no, that’s not right. How tragic! Now, what should I do next?」
「I don’t know if you’re asking me.」
「Silence!! How dare you speak up, lowly spider!」
Aldo kicked the slave. He kicked her in the stomach repeatedly and then, straddling her, began to hit her face.
While being beaten, the slave—Alice—thought to herself,
(I guess I have to endure this for about five minutes.)
After approximately five minutes, either tired from hitting her or for some other reason, Aldo backed off from Alice.
「Hey, Alice. Go kill Pax.」
「That’s quite… innovative idea.」
It said much of Aldo’s character to suddenly command the assassination of an important figure, but it also said how accustomed Alice was to receiving this type of order, as she did not bat an eyelid after receiving the order. It was as if she treated the assassination as casually as if she were going on a picnic.
「But won’t that raise suspicions? If Prince Pax is killed under these circumstances, anyone would think Aldo-sama is the culprit.」
「Pax will become king as it is. The most unproblematic choice is based on seniority, and he was to be the supreme commander of the upcoming invasion of King Rosais’ Country. I want to be the king. It’s better for the country to kill him now than to have a civil war for months to get rid of Pax.」
Alice was taken aback by his statement. Aldo smiled slyly.
「What about after that?」
「I’ll kill all the hostile forces currently in the capital. I’ll use my private army. If I can successfully launch a surprise attack, it can be done. You assassinate the patricians with many private soldiers. If they lose their leaders, their command structure will collapse.」
「Is that so…」
Alice sighed. In the end, it was she who would be put in the most dangerous situations.
「And what about Prince Carlo? Are you letting him go?」
「He’s holed up in a mountain far from here. It’s impossible to kill him at the same time as Pax. I’ll send soldiers separately to kill him. Even I don’t command the impossible. I am a good master, after all.」
A good master wouldn’t beat his slave to a pulp. Alice thought to herself that he always asked for nearly impossible tasks, but she didn’t voice her thoughts. She was used to being beaten, but avoiding it was always preferable.
「What about the remaining supporters of Pax and Carlo? I don’t think they’ll comply easily.」
「If they obey, they’ll be spared. If not, they’ll be executed. Most patricians will comply as long as their dominions are assured.」
At least from the conversation, it seemed like things could go smoothly. The key to the plan was Alice assassinating Pax and the influential patricians with many private soldiers… Alice was confident she could pull it off.
She could certainly do it at midnight.
But what would happen afterward? Aldo would have no just cause, only infamy.
Assassination isn’t difficult if one only considers success. The problem is that if you think about who benefits from the person’s death, the perpetrator can easily be deduced.
Killing his siblings after a fair fight would have a better public perception than killing them by cowardly means like assassination, the latter would only result in scandal that would become a significant blemish on his honor forever.
Hence, assassination should be a last resort method, to be used only when no other methods are viable.
King Domorgal had only three children, Carlo, Pax, and Aldo, but there were many other relatives by blood.
The possibility of supporting another patrician with royal blood instead of Aldo, who killed his own brother, was entirely plausible. As Aldo himself mentioned, what the patricians wanted was the assurance of their domains.
How many patricians would be naive enough to think that the man who killed his brother wouldn’t turn his blade on them next? When supporting a figurehead is better for it to have the least baggage possible.
Aldo was too clever for his own good and the infamy of assassinating his brother was too much baggage.
(Well, it’s none of my concern…)
Aldo wouldn’t listen to her anyway. He didn’t heed the advice of his own grandparents, so there was no way he’d listen to Alice’s counsel. Being scolded and then beaten was the usual outcome for her if she got too presumptuous.
「Do you understand? The operation is set for one week from now. Prepare until then. I’ll also finish my preparations,」
「Understood.」
Alice quietly nodded.
◇
One week later, in the dead of night, Alice was on the roof of a house near Prince Pax’s mansion.
The mansion was about twenty meters away.
「Alright, let’s go…」
Alice extended her arm forward, aiming at the roof of Prince Pax’s mansion.
With a sound that would hardly be described as stealthy, a thread shot out from Alice’s finger and hit the roof of the mansion. The thread was about one centimeter thick.
Alice rubbed the thread against her feet to secure it at her end, creating a one-centimeter-thick bridge.
With a calm demeanor, she jumped onto it. Skillfully balancing, she walked across the thread.
In no time, she landed on the roof.
「Now… Prince Pax’s room was the third one from the right on the second floor…」
Since Prince Pax’s mansion was three stories high, she needed to descend one floor.
Alice placed her hand on the roof, creating an adhesive thread from her palm, and began to descend slowly.
In no time, she reached the balcony.
As expected, the door was locked, designed to thwart unwelcome guests like Alice.
There was no keyhole. The design anticipated someone accessing the balcony from the room but not entering from it. Even a locksmith could have opened it if there were one, but it was not fitted with such a lock.
It was an impenetrable defense for anyone but Alice.
「What a hassle.」
Alice wound the thread around her finger, creating a drill-like object by combining strands as strong as steel.
「Here goes.」
Thud.
With a slightly loud noise, Alice’s finger pierced through the wooden door. It was quite a noise, loud enough to awaken Prince Pax.
「Huh? What’s going… Agghh!」
The thread extended from Alice’s fingertip wrapped around Pax’s neck. Alice pulled the thread, tightening it around Pax’s neck.
Pax struggled, clawing at his neck, but soon ceased all movement.
「Well, time to head back. It would be troublesome if I got caught… not that I plan on being captured.」
If I get caught, I will be beaten when I return. I dislike pain.
Despite Alice’s capabilities, which would easily allow her to kill Aldo and escape, she had been conditioned not to defy him.
Suddenly, Alice heard a commotion. Looking toward the noise, she saw flames rising. It appeared that Aldo had initiated his move.
She needed to hurry and assist, or she would be accused of slacking and beaten.
Alice quickly headed towards the disturbance.
◇
Carlo, in an effort to show repentance after the last war, was staying in a mountain villa a short distance from the capital. However, his seclusion was nothing short of comfortable, especially since the villa was owned by a patrician family loyal to him. It was very comfortable indeed.
Carlo spent his time reading, flirting with his female slaves, hunting, flirting with his female slaves, reading poetry, and yes, flirting with his female slaves.
It’s worth noting that Carlo had a fiancée, with whom he had a good relationship.
That day, Carlo was in a town at the foot of the mountain. The town was barely more than a village.
He was there because his female slaves had pestered him to go out for some fun. Tired of the monotony of green scenery, Carlo decided to disguise his identity and enjoy the town, opting to sleep in an inn there that night.
The person who woke Carlo from his deep sleep was a soldier who had followed him secretly, worried about his safety.
「Your Highness Carlo, it’s a crisis! A coup has occurred in the capital! Prince Aldo has killed Prince Pax. The mountain villa is already under attack by Prince Aldo’s soldiers, the soldiers defending the villa are fighting them. No one knows that Your Highness has left the villa yet, but Your Highness’ absence will be soon discovered. Please use this opportunity to escape, a carriage is already prepared.」
「What?! Why… No, I’ll ask for details later. We need to escape now!」
Carlo hastily woke up the female slaves and rushed out of the town. By a twist of fate, Carlo narrowly escaped Aldo’s grasp.
TN1: The battleship Mikasa is a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Japanese Navy. It was first launched in 1900, fought in the Russo-Japanese War, and was later decommissioned in the 1920s. After decommission it became a museum ship located at the Yokosuka Base where it continues to receive visitors nowadays. Mikasa’s size, guns, and armor were considerably smaller than those of its latter bigger cousins like the Nagato or the enormous Yamato.
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The prince who’s name in Latin means “peace” was assassinated by the prince who’s name in old high Germanic is “old” or “wise”.
The prince who’s name is rooted with an old low Germanic name that means “free man” escaped the same face along with his a slave harem.
Is the author doing this on purpose?