Van: the Capital City of the Amidonia Dukedom.
The Amidonia Dukedom’s territory had an uneven width and length, and its capital city was located on the eastern side of that territory. Because the capital city could be considered as being located too close to the national border with the Elfrieden Kingdom, this might be why they haven’t given up on recovering their lost eastern territory. In a government affairs room located in the castle in the center of Van, a middle aged man with a Kaiser Beard[1] was reading a letter. His mantle-covered body appeared stout, however, because he had wide shoulders, he didn’t look obese. Perhaps below that mantle, he was full of muscle.
That man was Gaius VIII, Duke of Amidonia.
「Oh……」(Gaius)
「Is something wrong, father?」(Gaius’ Son)
From his side, a young man in an army uniform inquired him. He had a handsome face however, his eyes radiated a chill light that somehow made his appearance look cold. It could be said that, his eyes themselves practically showed that he, Julius Amidonia, the Ducal Prince of the Amidonia Dukedom, inherited the coldhearted temperament of his father.
Gaius presented the letter so Julius could read.
「It’s from Georg Carmine. It seemed he has finally “risen”.」(Gaius)
「Oh, he finally did it. I heard that he was popular as someone who did things swiftly without delay when he was young. But it seemed that the person now has quite a heavy waist.」(Julius)
「It might be because he has grown old. Although if he still has his wisdom, then he wouldn’t partake in our invitation.」(Gaius)
「Indeed……」(Julius)
Julius handed back the letter to Gaius.
「Together with the war proclamation to the new king, execute the plan. Send the “reinforcements” to the Kingdom.」(Gaius)
「Oh…… to which side?」(Julius)
「Which side? Of course it would be reported to the new king’s side as 『Reinforcements for the Three Dukes side』 and to the Three Dukes side as 『Reinforcements for the New King side』.」(Gaius)
「I see, we don’t have any obligation to abide to either side after all.」(Julius)
「Kukuku, that’s right.」(Gaius)
Gaius and Julius exchanged a dark laugh with each other.
But there were someone who looked at them with cold eyes.
(Goodness gracious…… Father-dono and my stupid brother are so embarrassing.) (Gaius’ Daughter)
It was a girl who shifted her eyes away indifferently. Her age was about 18. Her face resembled the handsome face of her brother Julius, however the coldheartedness didn’t overly exude out. Rather, her eyes were like chestnuts and she had a round face that was as lovely as a tanuki doll.[2] Her long hair was tied into two braids at her nape level, the so-called twin-tail style. That girl is this country’s First Ducal Princess, Roroa Amidonia. Although contrary to her appearance, her mind held quite a wicked tongue.
(Does this stupid father and son pair intend to trim this country’s lifespan, that was already short even under normal circumstances, even more?) (Roroa)
The Amidonia Dukedom is a mountainous country. It has a lot of metal resources, however on other hand, it had little arable land so it always has food supply issues. The neighboring Elfrieden Kingdom had a serious food shortage, however this country didn’t reach that level. After all, if the harvest failed for even little a bit, then there will be people starving to death.[3]
(It’s not like I don’t understand Father-dono’s wish to possess bountiful land even for just a bit. That is right, but Father-dono had used all the funds that I had raised after so much trouble and sank them into military spending.) (Roroa)
Roroa grinded her teeth.
This Roroa, while being this country’s princess, she also held an outstanding business acumen, and so supported this country’s entire financial affair from the shadow. She made the economy circulate trade with another country, tightened the export of raw resources to another country, and gave favors and promoted the industries to produce processed goods for export.[4] Her ability was something that would be desired by any other country. It could be said that this country, which was in the brink of economic disaster, didn’t undergo economic collapse thanks to Roroa’s quick wittedness.
However, Gaius and his cronies didn’t make the best use of the situation that had resulted from Roroa’s quick wittedness.