The Master of the Brave - Chapter 146
The Master of the Brave
Chapter 146. The one who bears the surname Lemmrousell
“Fa-Fa-Father! Ple-Ple-Ple-Please help me, please help me!! I-I was deceived by Marquis Cliffdorf! It’s not my fault! If I had known from the beginning that I was being used, I wouldn’t have declared that my brother was a fake. Because it’s true! After all, he and I don’t get along badly. In fact, I respect him. Don’t I, Cornelia? You tell him that too! I never wanted to start a war with him.” Neumann was ranting at the top of his voice and was about to run up the throne stairs to cling to Alexei and plead his innocence.
“Shut up!”
It was Alexei’s angry voice that stopped him in his tracks.
“I told you, Neumann, you have no right to climb the stairs leading to this throne.”
“Ah… ah…” Neumann staggered at Alexei’s threat and fell on his face in an unfortunate manner.
After glancing at Neumann, Alexei immediately turned his attention to Wynn and the others, as if he had lost interest in his son. Then he opened his mouth in a somewhat annoyed tone of voice.
“What are you doing? Why are you raising your heads as if I gave you permission?” Alexei’s low, calm voice echoed in the courtroom.
As if a bucket of cold water had fallen on them, Wynn and the others knelt on the spot and lowered their faces.
“I’d already missed seeing you for a while, but it turned out you were with the Brave, Cornelia.” Alexei looked to Leticia, the only person in the room who hadn’t ducked her head, and called out to his daughter as she knelt beside Wynn and the others with her head down. “I see. If you were with the Brave, then I can understand why this happened.”
Cornelia was startled by her father’s words and looked up involuntarily.
“Your Majesty, you mean you know about everything that has happened so far…?” Then she realized that she had raised her head without Alexei’s permission and hurried to look down again. “I’m sorry. Not only did I raise my head without your permission, but I even spoke…”
“I allow it. So, you’re surprised that I know everything. This country is mine, my garden. How could I not know that in my garden there are immature chicks making noise? How could I not know?” Then Alexei tapped the ground with the scepter in his hand. “Well… Neumann and Cornelia. From the looks of it, it is my daughter who has won this battle, am I right? Only the winner is allowed to speak.”
Cornelia looked up when she heard the words “only the winner is allowed to speak”, and Neumann kept his face down and let out a small grunt of frustration.
“Yes. Before that, Your Majesty. I have a correction to make. I was sent to this place by order of my brother Crown Prince Alfred. I would like you to consider me the Prince’s representative, Your Majesty.”
“Then I order you as the Crown Prince’s representative to tell me everything you have seen and heard about the recent strife. I want to hear from the people involved, not what I have heard through third parties outside the conflict.”
When former General Zaunas staged his coup d’état, Marquis Cliffdorf took advantage of the situation to kill Marquis Reinhardt’s son, with whom his faction had a rivalry. Later, during the border skirmish with the Kingdom of Petersia, it was suspected that Marquis Cliffdorf was related to the Kingdom of Petersia, and that he had funded the forbidden magical research left by Conrad Heisenberg. And when Cornelia mentioned the time when Alfred was declared by Neumann to be a fake crown prince after the goodwill delegation from the Kingdom of Lyon was attacked and fell back to Erz.
“Your Majesty! Allow me to speak, Your Majesty! What Cornelia says is only an one-sided argument.” As if he could stand it no longer, Neumann looked up and shouted, “It is true that I dismissed my brother’s appearance in Erz as a fake! But that was because Marquis Cliffdorf had told me so. If I had had proof that the person in Erz was my real brother, I would never have said such a thing!”
“Shut up.”
“But, Your Majesty!”
“I told you to shut up, Neumann. I have not authorized you to speak.”
“Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty. But I…”
“Neumann. It is true, as you say, that Cornelia’s argument is only one-sided. But you see, you have come out the loser. Never in history has a loser been given the right to speak.”
“Ugh… guh…”
Neumann could not reply anything and could only groan at his father’s words. Cornelia looked at him with a pitiful expression on her face. Then she noticed Alexei looking at her and came back to reality.
“Your Majesty. Let us continue our conversation…”
“No, that’s enough. More importantly, Cornelia, do you feel sorry for your brother?”
“Yes, no, actually it’s…”
“Then remember this, Cornelia. The Lemmrousell blood and the family that carries it have always been victorious. Only those who have always been victorious can continue to bear the family name. Therefore, I praise you and the crown prince as victors, and forgive you for all the noise you have made in my garden. But the man there was defeated by you and the crown prince. He has no right to bear the Lemmrousell name.”
Hearing those words, Neumann was astonished while keeping his face down. The emperor’s words that he was not fit to bear the Lemmrousell surname meant that Neumann would be stripped of his imperial title. And Alexei had no intention of changing his mind. Neumann’s body began to shake as if he were furious, and then he rolled in place, foaming at the mouth and turning white. Neumann fell to the ground so unceremoniously that Wynn and the others almost moved to help him up. The only thing that kept them from doing so was Alexei speaking to them.
“Leave that man alone. When the meeting with me is over, you can take him wherever you want. He has no right to be a member of my family.”
Alexei did not even utter Neumann’s name anymore. By then, the Royal Guard knights, who had contained the commotion in the Imperial Palace, had hurried to the audience hall. Noticing the presence of the Emperor on the throne, they saluted him and took their places by the walls of the hall. The imperial guard knights, who guarded the emperor, were exempt from kneeling even in the audience hall because of their duties.
“So, Cornelia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“The Crown Prince of Lyon and his army have burst into my garden.”
“My brother has befriended Crown Prince Raul, and received his support.”
“Hmm… but I don’t remember allowing Lyon’s army to enter my garden, do I?”
“No, but that’s…”
It was true that the alliance between Alfred and Raul was beyond Alexei’s control. But since Alexei was not usually interested in political affairs in recent years, Alfred had been the main one in charge of setting important policies. It was not uncommon for him to sign treaties with other countries without Alexei, so Alfred went ahead with the military alliance with the Kingdom of Lyon.
“I know, I know. I don’t mean to blame him for that. As I said before, the Lemmrousell name compels us to win every time. Whatever means he took to achieve victory, I don’t blame him for it.”
Cornelia, who was worried that he would be blamed for the alliance with the Kingdom of Lyon, was relieved to hear Alexei’s words. Looking down at her daughter from the throne, Alexei rested her left elbow on the armrest of the throne and rested her cheek on it.
“Cailum.”
“At your command, sir!”
Alexei called out to the captain of the Royal Guard Knights waiting in a corner of the audience chamber.
“This is an imperial order.”
“Sir!”
“Call all the troops of the Royal Guard and the Court Knights, and send a message to the other lords. I will now go out to destroy the insolent ones who are disturbing my garden.”
“Go out to destroy them? Where exactly are you going, Your Majesty?”
“I have already decided, to the Marquisate Cliffdorf, of course.” Alexei answered Cornelia’s question by tapping the ground with his royal scepter. “First, we will block the road between Erz and Clennad to contain the Lyonese army. After that, it will be Petersia. I want to crush the armies of both countries that have invaded my garden.”
“Please wait, Your Majesty. Saying it like that, it seems you will also fight against the Lyon Royal Army.”
“That’s right, Cornelia. The Crown Prince of Lyon has penetrated deep into our country. This is the perfect time to eliminate him. Isn’t it clear?”
“His Royal Highness Prince Raul has come to the aid of the Crown Prince to get him out of his predicament. We have also formed an alliance with his country. To attack them now would be a despicable act that would be tantamount to deception. It is a matter of faith in our country!”
“But this was all decided without my knowledge. Cailum, what are you doing?” Alexei looked at Colonel Cailum, who was still in the courtroom.
Cailum also thought that what Alexei was going to do was, as Cornelia had said, a despicable act. Therefore, he hoped that the emperor would change his mind after hearing the princess’s objection.
“I have already given my edict.”
“Of course!” Cailum bowed deeply and left the audience hall with his subordinates to fulfill the emperor’s order as soon as possible.
“Your Majesty! Please wait! Think it over! If you do, the empire will have to fight both Lyon and Petersia!”
“What does it matter, Cornelia?” Alexei looked languidly at Cornelia, who was still trying to raise her objections. “In any case, Petersia has unhealthy ambitions for my empire. So, what choice do we have but to fight? And don’t say you don’t know. The bloody history of the empire. The small country founded by Cecil, our highest-ranking ancestor, ravaged the surrounding countries and turned it into a monster called the Empire. We went dormant for a short period of time due to the demon invasion, but the Lemmrousell family name was originally a clan of notorious raiders that roared across the continent. For those of them who have forgotten, I will personally engrave the name on their hearts.”
“But that…”
“Then, does his majesty also plan to fight Raul?” It was Leticia who spoke in place of Cornelia, who was speechless at Alexei’s words.
“It’s true, Brave. The Crown Prince of Lyon was your ally.” said Alexei, and turned his attention to Leticia.
“If the Kingdom of Lyon had shown their intention to invade and march against the Empire, I would fight for my country myself. However, in this case, they have only sent reinforcements in response to the Crown Prince’s request. If His Majesty says that he will also fight against the Kingdom of Lyon’s army, then I will fight against His Majesty by siding with my ally Raul and the Kingdom of Lyon instead of my homeland.”
“I know that already. But have you forgotten? Your master is a knight of the Empire.” Alexei looked at Wynn. It was a clear threat.
Before Leticia could reply, Cornelia looked at Alexei with a determined expression.
“His Majesty must have forgotten as well. He is my squire. It was I who signed the alliance with the Kingdom of Lyon. If His Majesty is going to start a war with the Kingdom of Lyon, then I will choose to fight alongside Leticia-sama.”
“Good luck then. See you on the battlefield.”
“Your Majesty! Could you reconsider your decision? I can’t believe that you would rather face the Brave Leticia von Mavis. If that is the case, not only the kingdoms of Lyon and Petersia, but also powerful countries like Emerdia, the world tree city of Elnasa and the Kingdom of Carthiate could become enemies of the empire.”
The act of antagonizing the Brave who saved the world could provoke the antipathy of all mankind. The empire would be condemned by all nations, any diplomatic channels would be closed and the economy would be affected.
“Are you trying to destroy the country?”
“Cornelia. I said before that only those who have always been victorious can continue to bear the Lemmrousell name. And the one who takes the victory of this family will be the Emperor and will have the right to liberate this country. If you want to stop me, you will have to defeat me.”
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, do you think you can beat me?” Then Leticia slowly looked around the audience hall. “Even if all the Royal Guard knights here were to attack me at once, they would not be able to defeat me.”
“It is true that even my elite royal guard is no match for you. But I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Cornelia. Originally, this place was protected to prevent the use of magic.”
“Speaking of which…”
The battle between Wynn and Jade. In this courtroom, which was supposed to be protected, Jade used magic to strengthen his body and firebomb magic. Alexei rose from his throne and stepped forward about two steps. With the scepter in his hand, he hit the ground with a thud. At the same time, a figure appeared from the ground. When Leticia and Cornelia saw the figure, their eyes widened.
“Onii-chan…?”
“Wynn-kun!?”
Hearing his name being called, Wynn, who had been in a kneeling, face-down posture, involuntarily looked up. And then…
“Tha-that’s me?”
A man who could only be Wynn was standing next to the throne where Emperor Alexei was seated.
“Eh… there’s another Wynn!?” Locke, who had the same expression as Wynn, also shouted in surprise and compared the person who appeared next to Alexei to Wynn. Although the clothes they wore were different, their height and appearance were exactly the same, like two peas in a pod.
“Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Noale.”
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