NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: Civil War Period - Christine Aquitaine (1)
Translated by – Mara Sov
༺ Civil War Period – Christine Aquitaine (1) ༻
The battle ended the moment the soldiers of Millbeau saw their acting lord captured as a prisoner, as they either surrendered or fled.
The look that the second son of Millbeau showed just before fainting, as if he was the most wronged person in the world, was quite memorable.
Truthfully, I feel wrong as well.
Before my regression, I was a fool.
As the sole heir to the ‘Blue Knight’, the strongest combatant in the kingdom, I carried the weight of expectation my whole childhood, only to be defeated by a commoner in my first Knightly tournament, becoming the black sheep of all nobility.
Although enraged, my father, the Marquis, did appoint Gaston as the winner of the tournament. However, he was assigned to the fief under the pretext of being my personal guard.
When I remember how I spent my days, wandering around timidly, not knowing the idiocy of my actions until the Marquis died and I had to stand on the frontlines……
Shaking my head, I focused on the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield, gathering the prisoners and casualties when I spotted the captain who led the Aquitaine soldiers.
He didn’t look like a Knight though.
Well, while I did ask them not to send anyone important, as allies, wasn’t this a bit too much?
“I’m the Acting Marquis of Lafayette. Are you the one in charge?”
“My Apologies, your Excellence, that is not the case. Please wait a moment.”
“Hm?”
The captain bowed to me and then approached a carriage that, unlike the supply wagons, seemed to be made for nobility; he then spoke to someone inside and opened the door.
Am I imagining this?
Was the only thing I could think of, when I saw a woman in a light dress step down from the carriage.
“Uh……”
The woman exited the carriage by herself, not bothering about the captain’s outstretched hand as she held a pistol in both hands that didn’t match her dress. She looked around, frowned, and covered her mouth with her hand.
Why on earth was she here?
My moment of deliberation was short-lived.
As she got used to the smell of blood, she lowered her hand. As our eyes met, she handed the gun to the captain and turned towards me.
The woman with midnight hair and black eyes gently lifted the hem of her dress and greeted me.
“Christine Aquitaine, daughter of Count Aquitaine greets His Lordship the Acting Marquis of Lafayette. It’s been a long time, My Lordship the Marquis……”
Before my regression, my fiance, who died of illness, now stood before me.
“Pierre de Lafayette, son of the Marquis of Lafayette, greets you, Lady Christine. It’s had been a long time indeed since we’ve me—”
“Blegh–!”
My words were cut off by the sound of a woman who looked like her maid vomiting as soon as she followed Christine out of the carriage.
No, what the hell is with this situation again?
Why is this even happening to me?
Christine had an awkward expression while she glared at her maid, but she soon put on a forced smile and with an elegant and polite voice, said.
“If it’s not too much trouble, My Lord. May I ask for an explanation for the situation we find ourselves in?”
……I want to know that too.
—
As always, I made the usual public request to Aquitaine County for supplies, but I also sent a separate messenger to warn them of a potential attack and to strengthen the escort while requesting that no key persons be sent.
I couldn’t wait for the messenger to return, but I did get the word that he had delivered the message to the Count himself before parting.
Since the request went unanswered, this could be interpreted as the Aquitaine Count adopting a passive stance in fear of losing his assets.
If the supplies were properly transported into the Marquisate’s territories, then he could argue that it was the Marquisate’s responsibility to protect the supplies from that point forward.
However, it’s also absurd that Christine was the one in charge of this convoy.
If I had not timed the ambush of the Millbeau forces right, or had we lost the battle, she could have been taken as a prisoner or in the worst case, killed in the fight.
Even if she had panicked and fled from her carriage, we would have been too busy protecting her to fight properly.
If something had gone wrong with the convoy we requested, and my fiancee from our allied family had come as the head of the convoy that had been attacked and destroyed while on our lands……
The mere thought of this scenario already filled me with dread.
After hearing my explanation, Christine pondered for a while with a serious face, then she spoke a single sentence.
“I hope this messenger has safely returned to the Marquis’s mansion.”
After following the caravan back to the Marquisate’s estate, I received a report that the messenger had not returned.
—
In the Mansion’s drawing room.
Damien de Millbeau was trembling, his face flushed red in anger.
“You want me to transfer the taxation rights of three villages for 10 years?”
Christine nodded coolly in response.
“Yes. If you agree, I will not only cover the ransom and compensation Millbeau County owes to the Marquisate of Lafayette, but I will also provide the military funds that are needed to be sent to Count Millbeau at the front lines, in a lump sum.”
I calmly enjoyed my coffee, while watching Damien squirm.
Mmm, indeed, the goods brought from Aquitaine County are top-notch; even the aroma of this coffee is superb.
“Don’t be ridiculous! The tax rights of these 10 years would be worth several times that amount!”
Christine also enjoyed her coffee, paying no mind to Damien’s outburst – Mimicking me – But then, set it down on the table with a loud clang.
“Damien De Millbeau. I’m sure this news hasn’t reached your father, the Count. Not yet, that is.”
With a deliberate pause, Christine continued with the trademarked merchant smile.
“But what if he finds out that his son, the one he entrusted with the rulership of his territory, took all his available forces and did something he wasn’t even instructed to do and got captured? And now he has to retreat from the glorious battle on the frontlines to pay a ransom instead of receiving the one thing he expected you to send? His long-awaited military funds. What will he do I wonder……?”
“W-well, that, that would……”
Christine continued, seemingly enjoying the sight of Damien’s shaking eyes.
“I’m sure the honorable Count would not want to bear the disgrace of being a kinslayer, so he would pay the ransom. However, your house would certainly invoke the wrath of the Second Prince, rightly so, don’t you think? Look at all the resources this could bring……I fear that I might even hear about some ‘unfortunate’ accident that has befallen you in the future…..You have my sincerest condolences.”
……She looked genuinely worried for him.
Christine watched the completely pale and speechless Damien, as she drove the final nail in the coffin.
“As someone who is not an heir myself, I understand your position. Tax rights are important, of course, but they aren’t really yours at this moment, are they? Well, at least for now. However, If you accept my proposal as the acting lord, you could send the military funds to your father, buying time to make amends for this mess.”
In the end, Damien opened his mouth with a resigned expression.
“Just, give me a moment. I need to think about this.”
“Of course. But remember, time is money. After all, the County will get the tax rights back in 10 years, and depending on your choice, you could be the one to reclaim them.”
Damien, who looked like his soul had escaped his body, followed the servant who was also a guard out of the room.
“As you can see, the situation has developed like this, Your Lordship. If Count Millbeau accepts, I will arrange for the ransom and compensation from Aquitaine County.”
……That poor bastard has no choice but to accept it.
“I see. Originally I promised a share of the ransom as compensation to your family for the dangers involved in this……”
With a self-deprecating smile, Christine said.
“I haven’t been informed about this, and since I’ve become entangled in this affair and benefited from it, let’s consider it as if it never happened”
With that, she continued to sip on her coffee while looking at me.
After a long silence filled with the awkward stares of both Christine and I, she bowed her head to me and said.
“I’m sorry, My Lord. But our engagement will have to be annulled.”
Sigh.
I mulled over the words she said to me.
–I hope this messenger has safely returned to the Marquis’s mansion.
After some thought, I also reached this same conclusion.
The messenger clearly delivered my confidential letter to the Count’s family. And I even sent a follow-up.
However, Aquitaine County didn’t increase the escort for the caravan; they sent a minor guard force and even made Christine the one in charge.
“……So they never ‘received’ my letter, and they are using the danger you and the caravan faced as a pretext for their actions?”
Christine’s eyes widened at my words.
“…I didn’t expect you would understand this so quickly.”
It wasn’t until I heard her that I realized I had been wrong in my thinking.
Before my regression. A few months from now, Christine would die of illness.
However, the woman in front of me was the picture of health.
She doesn’t look like someone who would die in a few months.
Perhaps she wasn’t taken by a mysterious illness but was instead murdered.
The situation I orchestrated may have provided them with the perfect chance to eliminate her without getting their hands dirty, or at the very least, provide them with a good cause to break the engagement off.
“My Lady. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I assumed our families had several aligned interests……”
The Lafayette family rose from a Knightly lineage to our current standing due to my Father’s, the ‘Blue Knight’s’, overwhelming martial prowess.
The Aquitaine Family originated from urban merchants who amassed their wealth and bought titles from the fallen nobility.
Both families are ostracized by the other nobles and political factions, the so-called ‘Pure Blooded Nobility’.
The martial family of Lafayette, and the mercantile Aquitaine. Both have been allies to each other, which is why the engagement between Christine and I was decided when we were both very young.
“In the past, that was true. We operated many caravans and always had to have a sizable escort of Knights and soldiers, so the alliance with the Lafayette Marquisate was a heaven-sent boon for us.”
Christine let out a small sigh as she continued.
“But now? After the civil war broke out, for the past three years we have been fulfilling our part of the alliance by providing your family with all the military funds you requested, but the army of the Marquisate has been preoccupied with the main battlefield in the north. Because of this, our lands have been neglected.”
That’s right. Perhaps I was being too naive in expecting support from Aquitaine just because of our long-lasting alliance.
After a brief moment of silence, Christine opened her mouth once more.
“……Because of the situation, I thought the engagement with your Marquisate could be broken. But I never expected that I would be used as a pawn in order to break it.”
Christine uttered those words in a flat and even tone.
But the sadness and anger she felt were clearly visible in her eyes.
I tried to think of something to comfort her, but I stopped myself.
How could I, the sole heir to my house, possibly understand her feelings?
Besides, right now I was also pretty disheartened.
Three years of civil war. The nobles plundered each other to sustain the war, diminishing their power, and during that time, the wealthy merchants had been lending money to the nobles who were short on military funds or used their money to buy their autonomy, becoming independent.
By this point, not even the high nobility could exert their influence on those cities.
In the end, as the Civil War reached its end and the Kingdom was completely devastated, the powerless royals and nobles cast their eyes on those wealthy independent cities. And that’s when the Revolution broke out. The core Revolutionaries were from the merchant class.
The exact origins of Raphael Valliant, the supreme commander of the Revolutionary army are unclear, but considering his proficiency in warfare involving hot weapons, unlike the nobles, it’s likely that he came from a city that favored those weapons, instead of Knights or Mages.
The Aquitaine family who rose from a city of merchants to a nobility, naturally had a deep connection with several cities, and their trade networks, which also meant their Information network as well. They can serve as a link to the other independent city forces.
That’s why, in my plans for the future, Aquitaine County played a very pivotal role……
“……I feel dirty.”
After a while, her sudden words echoed my sentiments.
“Even if the heir to the family wasn’t my mother’s child, I tried to be a good sister. I even made an effort to treat the Countess–That woman, as well as I could.”
Christine let out a hollow laugh as she said this.
“I had no complaints about the arranged marriage, nor did I ever have the slightest intention of aiming for the title, the only reason I ever was managing the household and assisting my father was out of a sense of duty to my family until my marriage.”
She was the daughter of the former deceased countess, and the current heir is the son of her stepmother. So, naturally, there was quite an age gap between them.
Even I, who wasted my days cooped up in the castle knew about her competence and that she had enough influence to manage the family’s trading operations.
It’s no wonder her stepmother sees her as a threat.
“Before I left, I promised that child that I would buy him a gift from the Marquisate……Hahaha…..I never imagined I would be betrayed like this.”
The moment I heard that, I knew what I had to do.
What did I come back for?
I know things that I couldn’t even imagine would happen.
Can’t count on the Aquiteins anymore? Well, let’s just put someone in there that I can count on then.
“Lady Aquitaine.”
Meeting Christine’s eyes, which were filled with negative emotions, I made a proposal.
“Let’s form an alliance.
……The engagement between our families is going to be annulled, Isn’t it?
That’s why we should form a new one, not between the Marquisate and the County. But between us. I’ll become your partner.”
For the briefest of moments, all self-doubt and loathing vanished from her eyes.
“The engagement will be annulled, and I’m not the heir to the family. What would you even need me for, Your Lordship?”
She said she had no intention of coveting the title.
Yet, they planned on eliminating her, regardless of that.
“I need a Countess who can help me with the influence of the Aquitaine Family.”
My emotions flashed across Christine’s eyes when she heard my words.
But in the end.
The last thing that settled on her expression was a beautiful and radiant smile that hid a venomous maw.
“Oh dear, this isn’t the kind of gift I had in mind for my adorable sibling”
TL Note: SHE’S HEREEE
FUCK YURIEL
CHRISTINE IS NOW THE BEST GIRL!!!!
IF UR DISAGREE THEN UR JUST WRONG!
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken