Chapter 728

Leopold’s younger sister, Eleonora von Wettin.

All I knew about her was that she was sold off in a political marriage to the King of Panam, suffered hardships, and was rescued on the day I beheaded that king.

Since it was impossible to reveal that the assassination of King Danon and the Panam succession civil war were the Empire’s doing, I heard she couldn’t step forward openly after returning to the Empire and had been quietly hiding.

“Are you suggesting we make Her Highness Eleonora a chancellor? That doesn’t seem like it’ll go well.”

Given her education as an imperial princess and her experience as a queen, she certainly has the ability… but since her identity can’t be revealed, wasn’t she practically under house arrest?

Or perhaps, could it be that the Empire had no involvement in Panam’s affairs, and the excuse would be that the king’s assassination and the queen’s abduction were all my doing?

“Chancellor? That’s out of the question. It’s not about revealing Eleonora’s identity, but about keeping her close for advice.”

Leopold pressed his temples and shook his head.

“If she can’t appear publicly, wouldn’t it be better for her to stay in the capital? I think she’d prefer that too.”

If she’s a woman who suffered after being sold off to a foreign land, wouldn’t being able to see her family often provide some comfort?

If she stays here, she can at least see her brother occasionally, but if she follows me, she’ll spend her life in a place with no one close to her.

“If the capital were safe, I would’ve done that… but the capital has already burned twice in less than a year. Who’s to say a third time won’t happen?”

Leopold sighed and confessed his true feelings.

While it’s true that she’d be a great political advisor, the real reason is that he wants to keep Eleonora far away from all dangers.

In the past, he might’ve sent her to a scenic estate, but these days, that’d just make her monster food while she enjoys the view.

“Isn’t the most dangerous place right next to me?”

With constant monster hunts and wars, my hands are always stained with blood, and now that I’ve crushed Ragnar, the apostles of the ancient gods will start targeting me. If she can’t protect herself, being next to me would just drag her into disaster.

“In these chaotic times, is there really a safe place?”

But Leopold seemed to think differently.

“At least you’re someone who thoroughly protects your own, and you have the ability to do so. I’d feel more at ease entrusting her to you than to anyone else.”

Should I take that as high praise or excessive trust? It seems he’s erased the fact that I failed to protect Ludwig from his mind.

“Please.”

“…Alright, fine.”

Seeing Leopold bow his head again, I could only sigh and agree.

“Even with me, safety isn’t guaranteed… but if that’s what Your Majesty wishes.”

No matter what I say, it seems Leopold’s mind won’t change. He’s probably anticipated all my objections and prepared counterarguments, so arguing further would just drag this out.

Ah, but I should at least ask this.

“Has Her Highness Eleonora agreed to this?”

If I take her without her consent, wouldn’t that make me no different from Isabella or the King of Danon? At the very least, I need her agreement.

“Not yet. Originally, this discussion wouldn’t even be happening if you hadn’t revealed the Holy Mark during the victory parade. If not for that, would I have even considered making you independent?”

“Ah, right.”

I forgot. The conversation dragged on so long it feels like three days have passed.

Anyway, that means it’s still unclear whether Eleonora will follow me or not.

Shouldn’t asking her be the first step in deciding something this important? But I guess there wasn’t time for that.

“Once we finish discussing the urgent matters, I plan to go see Eleonora and ask for her opinion. You should come too. Whether she agrees or refuses, it’s a good chance to get acquainted.”

“Alright.”

I have many people to meet too, so I’m not exactly free… but a quick greeting shouldn’t take too long.

—

The discussion about founding an independent nation was tabled for now.

While I agreed to the idea of establishing a country and becoming queen, it wasn’t urgent enough to start immediately.

After all, building a nation isn’t something you can do overnight. Declaring “I’m the queen now!” out of the blue would just make Marquis Median think I’ve gone mad.

Convincing nobles, clergy, and the people of the territories forcibly converted from imperial to royal subjects, and laying the groundwork for a nation, would require a long time and extensive preparation.

Even if I declared independence, it would take at least two months to prepare for the coronation as queen.

So Leopold postponed detailed discussions about independence and moved on to more pressing matters.

Issues that would’ve been discussed earlier if not for the mishap of my Holy Mark being revealed.

“The Dane matter will pass without much opposition. Even if we try to hold someone accountable for the unilateral actions, the Lord of the Borderlands, who should explain this, is…”

Leopold let out a deep sigh. It seems he still struggles to accept Ludwig’s death.

Unlike Duke Bien, who supported Leopold for his own gain, Ludwig supported him selflessly, solely for the peace of the eastern territories and the Empire. To Leopold, Ludwig was as trusted a confidant as I am.

“…The Lord of the Borderlands is already dead, so we can’t hold him accountable.”

Losing someone like that is like losing an arm. The shock is inevitable.

“So… we’ll have to exclude the issue of responsibility and focus only on the gains and losses… Given that Dane, which has always been a headache, has voluntarily submitted, there’s no one who would argue against accepting it.”

Thanks to Ludwig’s death, what was clearly an overreach in diplomatic treaties will be recognized without much controversy.

Neither I nor Leopold can consider that a good thing, though.

“Then there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

“That’s right. Of course, if Dane breaks the pact and tries to nullify it, things will change…”

“That’s unlikely. They just got their crown—why would they want to give it up now?”

After seeing me fight Ragnar and tear through the royal palace, if they still dare to break the pact, I’d have to praise their guts before getting angry.

“Well… speaking from experience, they’ll probably want to give it up desperately. More than you can imagine.”

Leopold sighed deeply and rubbed his scalp. His expression carried more weight than a hundred words, contrasting with the lightness of his wig.

“……”

“Besides, while King Knut might uphold the pact out of fear of you, if the people of Dane revolt uncontrollably, who knows what could happen.”

…I’ll just have to trust Knut, Frigg, and Hrapun on that.

With Ragnar dead, they’ve gained all the rune mages, including the Rune Warriors, and the head of the intelligence department is on their side. Surely they can control their own public opinion.

“Knut and Hrapun don’t seem incompetent enough to fail at suppressing dissent… We’ll just have to wait and see.”

With Ragnar gone, the Dane situation is more or less under control.

The Bølberg Church Order’s presence is a bit concerning, but I’ve told Knut to purge the church’s upper echelons, so they shouldn’t cause any major trouble for now.

—

Over thirty minutes had passed since Leopold and I started talking. Plenty of time to fill the emperor’s office with the scent of peppermint smoke.

After finishing discussions about Dane and the eastern war, Leopold moved on to the main topic: the issues in the capital, countermeasures, and the culprit.

“The residents are being relocated to nearby cities. Rebuilding the capital will take a long time, and we can’t leave them stranded in the meantime.”

“Is rebuilding even possible?”

It might be cheaper to build a new city from scratch than to restore this one.

“It’ll take a long time and a colossal amount of money… but as the Emperor of Kal Ros, I can’t just abandon Exra-shapel, can I? So we’ll have to bear it.”

Judging by Leopold’s expression, he knows full well that rebuilding is ridiculously inefficient compared to relocating the capital, but he can’t abandon Exra-shapel, the founding capital and holy site of the Elpinel Church Order.

“Still, thanks to you, we can expect full support from the Astraea Church Order. The city where the Saintess of Order, born after 800 years, revealed the goddess’s glory before all. It’s worthy of being called a holy land.”

Leopold smiled faintly as he spoke.

This guy, for someone who was scolding me for revealing the Holy Mark, he’s using it more effectively than anyone. Wasn’t it actually a boon for him?

“Discuss that directly with Cardinal Zaisers… For now, let’s focus on more urgent matters. What about Nidhogg?”

Discussions about rebuilding Exra-shapel are better left to the church’s practical head, the cardinal. So I cut off the rebuilding talk and immediately asked about the most pressing issue: the insect-dragon Nidhogg, who escaped with only half its body. Where is it now, and what is it doing?