Chapter 13

Four days ago.

General Albrecht, who was handling duties at the Royal Army Headquarters located at the northern end of the Royal Palace, sighed deeply at yet another meager meal.

“General, may I disturb you for a moment? I’ve brought your lunch.”

“Come in.”

The orderly brought in a tray of food prepared by the chefs assigned to the high-ranking officers. The chefs, who had previously worked at high-end hotels, used ingredients sourced from across the country to create their dishes.

Thanks to this, General Albrecht had always enjoyed satisfying meals… but recently, things had changed.

“Is this all for today?”

“Yes, sir. I protested, but they said there’s a shortage of ingredients, so there’s nothing they can do.”

“While the lack of ingredients is unavoidable, still, this is…”

A few shriveled pieces of bacon, a pale cream soup, some hard black bread, and a bit of lettuce grown in the Headquarters backyard.

This was General Albrecht’s lunch today.

The meal of the highest-ranking officer commanding hundreds of thousands of Royal Army soldiers was barely enough to sustain him.

Under normal circumstances, even low-ranking soldiers wouldn’t touch such ingredients. If this kind of food were served on the battlefield, it might even spark a riot.

The kingdom had fertile farmland, so food supply had always been plentiful.

But now, even this was considered a sumptuous feast.

“Take it. I’m getting old, and my appetite isn’t what it used to be.”

“Eh? Really, sir? Are you sure?”

“You don’t want it? Then I’ll eat it—”

“No, no!! Thank you, General!!”

The orderly, delighted by the offer, grabbed the tray and ran off.

It wasn’t exactly the kind of attitude one should show to a four-star general, but Albrecht decided to let it slide. This was probably the orderly’s first meal of the week.

‘Who would have thought the day would come when the kingdom’s soldiers would starve due to food shortages? And in the royal capital, no less.’

You’re not happy with this meager food?

What a spoiled complaint. The soldiers don’t even have this much to eat.

The original military provisions were all taken by Grand Duke Alexander, and now there’s no way to replenish them.

The troops stationed in the capital, Rahator, never had to worry about supplies running out, so they hardly stockpiled any resources. But now that the entire city is under siege… how can they hold out?

I heard they’ve started rationing food, distributing it only once every two days. Even then, it’s just watery vegetable soup and hardtack crumbs.

“This is madness. The situation is this dire, and yet no one dares to suggest surrender.”

General Albrecht sighed.

If this continues, forget maintaining the soldiers’ combat effectiveness—their very survival is at risk.

In a few weeks, we might seriously have to consider cutting up corpses and using human flesh as provisions, and yet the royal family remains silent.

The military has repeatedly reported that the situation has long since reached its worst, but instead of responding, the royals continue to waste time hosting banquets and lounging in salons.

‘Wait, did those reports even reach the king?’

Come to think of it, the reports might not have reached the king at all. Most of the high-ranking officials in the palace are from the noble class.

And those nobles are the same ones who, in their reckless attempt at a night raid, wiped out half of our remaining forces.

They’re the ones who caused us to lose the ability to resist and cost countless lives. Do you think they’d accept a proposal to surrender now? All the blame would fall on them.

It’s entirely possible that they’ve deliberately blocked the information to save their own skins.

In fact, General Albrecht thought that was far more likely. He’d spent sixty years watching these people evade responsibility and act recklessly.

“Damn them.”

He cursed without specifying who.

He’d always disliked them, but now his disgust was turning into outright hatred—toward them and the royal family that protected them.

How could anyone feel affection for a monarch who, in their extravagance, turned the entire northern military into enemies?

That incident alone had already eroded 90% of General Albrecht’s loyalty to the royal family. Grand Duke Alexander’s disastrous defeat cost him another 9%. The remaining 1% had now vanished entirely.

‘Expecting anything from a monarch who can’t even take care of the livelihoods of the people closest to him is futile.’

The city is under siege. Soldiers are starving, and civilians have resorted to eating stray cats and rats. When even that’s not enough, they bake mud into cookies.

This isn’t some hidden back-alley tragedy. No, this is happening openly on the main streets. All you have to do is step out of the palace to see it.

And yet, Karl VII still hasn’t noticed, continuing to live in luxury. At this point, he’s no longer a monarch worth serving.

Someone who can’t even grasp this simple reality and blindly trusts his ministers doesn’t deserve to be called “His Majesty.”

“Has my devotion, our soldiers’ devotion, truly been repaid?”

Those were the words of an officer from an enemy country who was caught spying and executed. He had turned to crime because his family went bankrupt due to unpaid wages from the king.

At the time, Albrecht dismissed it as the nonsense of a spy, but for some reason, those words came back to him now.

If he were asked the same question today, General Albrecht could answer with certainty.

[No.]

The devotion he and countless loyal soldiers had given to the country had not been repaid at all. This was no longer a place where values like loyalty and trust had any meaning.

‘That’s it. I’ve endured enough. It’s time to tear it all down.’

After much anguish and rage, General Albrecht made his decision. He would bring down the heart of this kingdom.

“Is anyone there?!”

“What is it, General?”

“Go and summon Lieutenant General Holtman. Tell him I have urgent business and he needs to come immediately.”

“Understood!”

After sending someone to call his trusted subordinate, Albrecht pulled out two bundles of documents from his desk drawer.

One was a detailed military map of all the buildings and fortresses in the capital.

The other was a collection of budget plans and meeting records related to the purchase of the queen’s diamond tiara.

He had obtained these with great difficulty through General Grotel, who had connections with the royal archives.

‘Finally, the time has come to hand these over.’

Originally, he had planned to use these documents and internal cooperation as bargaining chips to negotiate with the Revolutionary Army. This was during the brief period of chaos after Grand Duke Alexander’s defeat and the capital’s temporary turmoil.

In exchange for facilitating their entry into the royal palace, he would ask them to spare the king and his own life.

But the nobles had forcibly seized control of the military and even mobilized their private troops to monitor the city, leaving no opportunity.

Now, after several failed night raids and the weakening of the nobles’ control, it was the perfect time to plot and execute his plan.

‘Your Majesty. Survive on your own. I no longer wish to suffer for your mistakes.’

General Albrecht bid a silent farewell. Protecting the king was originally a duty he had to fulfill, but now it no longer mattered.

With the situation in such disarray and the king still oblivious, indulging in luxury, what good would it do to risk his life to save him?

“General? You called for me?”

“Ah, Holtman. Perfect timing.”

“Do you have something for me to do?”

“Yes. It seems the time has come to pluck the lily.”

“….!”

The lily was the symbol of the Liudolf Dynasty, which ruled the kingdom.

To pluck it meant that the time had finally come to execute their plan.

Lieutenant General Holtman, who had been briefed on this code by General Albrecht, immediately understood and widened his eyes in surprise.

After a moment of shock, his voice lowered, and his expression hardened.

“Should I send someone?”

“It’ll be difficult for you to go yourself, right?”

“Yes. There are too many eyes on me, and at my age, it’s hard to move swiftly.”

To avoid potential eavesdropping, the two men deliberately avoided specifying the subject of their conversation.

The plan had already been laid out, so there was no need for detailed discussion. They just needed to hand over the gathered materials and set a date.

“When do you plan to execute it?”

“The sooner, the better. How about five days from now, in the evening?”

“That works. I’ll relay the message.”

That night, a messenger carrying General Albrecht’s confidential documents and a letter of proposal climbed over the fortress walls and headed to the Revolutionary Army’s headquarters.

* * * * *

And now.

“General Albrecht sent this, you say…”

I stroked my chin, racking my brain, which had been stagnant for a long time.

The person making the proposal was someone I knew well. He had served as the deputy commander of the Northern Army before me. We had served together for about two years.

I remember him as someone who, though cynical, was still loyal to the royal family… Who would have thought he’d change like this? The royal family must have really screwed up.

“Lieutenant General, is there any chance this is a deception?”

“Extremely low. There’s no benefit in lying here.”

It’s possible to see this as a trick to lure us into the capital and strike us, but that’s too irrational.

With the forces they have left, they can at most destroy a regiment or two, but that won’t be enough to bring down our Revolutionary Army.

In a situation where the overall outcome is practically decided, such a meaningless and poorly thought-out act of desperation? It’s an unrealistic assumption.

“The letter says they want to guarantee the safety of those not involved in this incident. So that means it’s fine to deal with those who are connected, right?”

“Correct.”

“Even if that includes His Majesty the King and the royal family?”

“…..Of course.”

The messenger hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

There was no reason not to accept such a cooperative offer. I had no intention of conducting a reign of terror by indiscriminately eliminating everyone anyway.

“Tell them I accept. Also, let them know I’ll visit the Headquarters at dusk tomorrow.”

It seems I’ll need to make sure the troops are well-fed tomorrow morning and afternoon.