A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

164 – Incompetent but Competent, Competent but Crazy (4)

Rattling, rattling.

The Magical Automobile, said to have been ridden by the Habsburgs, became a liner that traveled between Orosol Academy and the Gibraltar Gorge.

To be exact, Gibraltar’s private ship.

Gray Gibraltar was to be a gift from the Imperial Prince for the ‘Crimson Margrave of Gibraltar’rather than to be given personally, and the Crown Prince suggested that I take it for a test drive myself and return to my homeland to report to his father His his.

Of course, he didn’t say that directly, but that was his intention.

If you give it to a Gray individual, an incompetent crazy person might get jealous and come take it away, but if it’s a gift to Crimson Gibraltar, they won’t be able to touch it.

Even if that were the case, Saint Geo would no longer argue with the Magical Autonomous Ship.

Protection of the imperial prince.

The disappearance of Lionel Barcel.

The movements of the Duke of Winchester and the Morganian intelligence unit.

A senior knight was sent to assassinate him, but Gray Gibraltar was alive and well.

All of this means that the assassination failed, and the Incompetent King will be doing his best to somehow hide the fact that he was the one behind it.

Or, the person who sent the assassin was not himself, but he was struggling to get someone else under his command to take his place.

‘Is Zeros Barcelona going to step forward?’

Zeros Barcel, the leader of the 1st Royal Knights and one of the loyal soldiers, can do just that.

If Saint Geo gives an order, ‘You are the one who sent the assassin to Gray!’, Zeroth Barcel is a person who will follow that order without a word.

‘Until he saw Saint Run, he was a man loyal to the kingdom.’

Saint Run.

Saint Geo Nostrum entrusted Naria with the defense of the capital, and he himself ran away from the capital and took refuge in the Duke of Morgania’s castle in the rear.

They were not the only ones whose blind loyalty was broken after seeing them abandon the people of the royal capital and run away alone, and the same was true for Zeros Barcell, the commander of the Knights of the Golden Dawn.

‘But now is not the time to worry about the incompetent king.’

A situation was so serious that the assassination attempt against me ended as just an incident.

None other than-

“It seems the emperor is dead, princess.”

“…”

The emperor dies.

Astasia, who heard some shocking news, immediately got on the magic automatic ship and her expression hardened at the topic I raised.

“There was no mention in any of the imperial newspapers that the emperor had collapsed, but on the contrary, quite some time had passed since the emperor had not been seen in public.”

“His Majesty the Emperor… “

“The Crown Prince of Habsburg hinted at this and left. He called the princess princess, not granddaughter.”

“…Are they trying to assassinate the emperor?”

Astasia asked with a serious expression.

“Since you succeeded in removing the emperor without others knowing, are you thinking of becoming the emperor now…?”

“I would not have committed assassination. Before he was my biological father, the political burden of trying to assassinate someone and getting caught would be significant.”

The corrupt emperor.

You don’t want to hear that.

If succession to the throne had been considered through corruption, Astasia would have gone from being the granddaughter of the emperor to the princess at least three years ago.

“I think he collapsed from old age.”

“He was the one who made the correction at the beginning of this year.”

“Then someone caused him to faint with poison. I’ll have to investigate, but maybe he collapsed by accident.”

Let’s mix it up a bit.

“I think something went wrong while he was having an affair with Crown Princess Isabella, who would probably be considered a traitor by now.”

“I committed an affair and it was a mistake… Ah?!”

“I don’t know all the distribution channels here, but one of Caroline’s main customers was the Emperor.”

A person who tried to flatter the emperor offered the truth, and the shadows of the Al-Eum-Al-Eum Empire bought the nourishing tonic Caroline at a high price.

“Either the emperor was aiming for a side effect and the side effect took him away, or he collapsed due to cardiovascular disease or cerebral hemorrhage. Either way, it is clear that he has difficulty moving and can no longer serve as emperor.”

Before regression.

The emperor corrected.

It wasn’t until I graduated that I heard that the emperor had died of old age.

From the Habsburg point of view, wasn’t that the final act of filial piety?

Although it is said that he married a man without love, Habsberg secretly had an affair with the Crown Princess and waited until her father grew old and died.

Thanks to this, when he inherited the title of emperor, it is said that there was no disturbance inside or outside the empire.

Of course, there were parts such as swallowing up all of Iperia Industries and occupying the Elven Forest without the people of the Empire knowing, but the people’s support for the Habsburg Emperor continued to soar.

In particular, when he appeased Gibraltar, occupied the Kingdom of Nostrum, and achieved a unified empire, there was a joke that his approval rating reached 99%.

“I asked you to wait until the vacation is over, but I think that might be difficult.”

“Are you saying the Crown Prince will reject Gray’s offer?”

“No. I will probably try to listen as best as I can. However, external factors may force us to delay the schedule.”

There are various events in the empire, and there are also official events where the emperor personally appears in front of the people and delivers a speech.

But the emperor does not appear?

You might think it would happen once, but when it starts to happen two or three times, you start to doubt it one by one.

I wonder what happened to the emperor.

Actually, it may already be stretched out.

“It’s a bit unfortunate. Still, he wasn’t a bad person.”

“Astacia. Weren’t you quite close to the emperor?”

“…Isn’t it correct to say that I am closer to His Majesty the Habsburgs? The emperor favored me. “I don’t know why.”

“He was a person who wouldn’t be surprised if he died. I can’t believe he admired Astasia.”

It doesn’t feel like I died two and a half years early, but I’m a human being who grows older anyway.

“In a way, I think it is a good thing. At least the current emperor is not a very good person for the atmosphere of peace with the kingdom.”

It was the crown prince who led the peace negotiations for the Kingdom of Nostrum and achieved great achievements with full authority over them.

“From the emperor’s point of view, he would have tried to resolve the issue through war. The current emperor was a conquering monarch, and he was a man who believed that dominating the enemy and making him obey was the surest and fastest way.”

The emperor was not directly involved in the crown prince’s actions and checked him behind the scenes, but that check was nothing more than an ugly struggle by an old man in power.

“The story about Crown Princess Isabella’s infidelity was published in the imperial newspapers. It seems that from then on she began working on erasing the emperor.”

“It seems like a lot happened at the imperial palace while I was at the academy.”

“Yes.”

As before, Astasia had no idea what was happening in the imperial palace or the empire.

“If there was a reason why Habsburg came to the kingdom in person and only saw me, it would be because he wanted to inform me directly about the situation in the empire.”

“…”

“I’m not sure if I should thank you for this, but it doesn’t change anything.”

If someone else than Habsburg had ascended to the throne, the story would have been a little different.

“The rebellion of Crown Princess Isabella and the Third Imperial Knights ended in failure, and the Habsburg Crown Prince is controlling local rebellions very easily. He is completely controlling the media so that the imperial newspapers do not even mention the word ‘rebellion’. . “

One of the reporters is a war correspondent and is expected to film the extermination of traitors and print it in the newspaper, but there is no such thing.

“Astacia. I will tell you one thing, a guess that may hurt your feelings.”

“It’s okay. Please tell me as much as you want.”

“It looks like Chairman Erwin will join hands with the crown prince in earnest.”

“…”

Although the press is the crown prince’s main area, it is Chairman Erwin who decides the text and content to be printed on the rotary press.

“I think her coming to the Sirene territory was probably an extension of that alliance. I’m not sure what the context is, but at least this one thing is clear.”

Chairman Erwin had already decided to join hands with the crown prince again.

Or maybe he decided to give his power to the crown prince through this meeting.

“She did not decide to side with the Habsburgs because she coveted the position of empress, beyond being the crown princess.”

“…”

“Astacia, I decided to make you a princess and to protect you, I decided to become an empress to fight closest to the Habsburgs.”

President Erwin made her choice as a mother, not as a woman.

“Let’s respect that decision and support it. Instead…”

“Instead?”

“If the Habsburg Emperor makes a move to oust the Empress, we will take immediate action to do so.”

I lightly tapped the deck of the Gibraltar magic automatic ship running on the main road.

“I don’t know what the Habsburgs were thinking when they sent this, but now that we have a ship, we have to play around with it. Luckily…”

Really, I don’t know why.

“There are no listening devices or voyeur magic stones here.”

Except for the location tracking function, there were no major problems.

* * *

At that time, the Imperial Palace of the Thersian Empire.

Spacious room.

A chill fills the room, as if magic had been used to maintain the temperature in a space that was once someone’s office, and in the middle of it, there is a large glass tube.

Among them, a bald old man with a kind face is lying in an upright position.

It may not have been in this posture before death, but since it was a glass coffin to show to someone, it was postured as a courtesy after death.

“Father.”

The expression on the Habsburg Crown Prince’s face as he quietly placed his hand on the glass coffin was extremely grave.

“If she had asked for Isabella, she would have given it. If she had asked him to be a foolish son who would give his wife to her father, she would have done it as the minimum concession and filial piety.”

It is spoken to the dead, but no one can hear.

“But not the emperor.”

Habsburg’s eyes began to shine brightly.

“After killing me, and seeing Isabella’s new son, did you intend to pretend that he was your son and make him the crown prince? You proposed one of Isabella’s children as a temporary emperor and held the throne until your son ascended to the throne. Did you plan to order it?”

It’s a question.

“So, after taking the throne from me, did you intend to rush the entire might of the empire towards Nostrum? To finally rule over the only nation you could not conquer?”

However, this is actually a guess close to 99%.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please understand that covering it all up is my last act of filial piety.”

Squeak.

The door to the morgue opened, and a woman came inside.

“You have come, Empress.”

“I guess she hasn’t become empress yet.”

Chairman Erwin – The woman who should now be called the Crown Princess appeared in a dress that seemed unfamiliar.

“Your Majesty the Emperor…”

“He wasn’t a good father-in-law for you either, was he?”

“He was never a father-in-law in the first place, but he wasn’t a bad emperor to run a company.”

“You always called me to give me money?”

“Wouldn’t your son do the same?”

“Hmm, well.”

The Habsburg Crown Prince played with her beard and giggled.

“First, we have to make a judgment by looking at how much of the budget His Majesty the late Emperor embezzled and how empty the treasury is.”

“…”

“Money…Yes, there is a place for it everywhere. Even though Isabella, that crazy person threw the money in a useless place, there is a lot of room for money in the empire.”

“Are you going to extort money from the citizens of the Empire?”

“Grey Gibraltar said that. Are you thinking of opening a lighthouse?”

“…”

“Chairman Erwin, what do you think about making money through gambling?”

“Well… It may not be enough to fill the treasury, but it’s enough to line His Majesty’s back pocket?”

“Do you think so too?”

The Habsburg Crown Prince closed his eyes for a moment.

“I guess I should create a short-term bond.”

“Short-term bonds…?”

“What you’re saying is that it’s a short-term bond. Should I make a commemorative stamp and sell it to commemorate my enthronement? No. I should at least make a lottery ticket and distribute it. A lottery where only one person can win.”

He giggled and smiled faintly, as if a child had planned a naughty prank.

“The winner has been decided.”

“Who? “You?”

“No.”

The Habsburg Crown Prince lightly drew a circle with her finger.

“To the first person to call me emperor.”

“…”

“Until now, I have never been an emperor. But.”

Habsburg placed his hand on his chest and smiled slightly.

“From the moment he called me emperor, I finally became emperor.”