Chapter 17

Leon waved a hand, dismissing the concern of his taciturn subordinate, precisely the kind of man whose bluntness made him all the more trustworthy.

“For us, it’s not a bad outcome.”

“Living with the princess won’t be easy. Where would a woman, raised nobly with every whim indulged, possibly be able to handle it?”

Raised nobly.

Leon let out a quiet, derisive chuckle.

The image of a princess, supposedly raised in pristine nobility, scrambling up a mountainside in the dead of night, bracing herself against heaps of dirt without the slightest hesitation, rose unbidden in his mind.

“She seemed rather far from being a dignified princess.”

“A princess foolish enough to try to escape right after the trial… I’m speechless with disbelief. If we take in a woman as a wife who could drain the national treasury with her extravagance, no less than the Queen of Velasque, and problems arise…”

“Enough.”

At his superior’s curt command, clearly uninterested in hearing any more despite repeated appeals, Heinz fell silent.

The delegates of the three allied nations, forever eager to interfere at every turn, and a princess who surely had nothing but flowers blooming in her head, utterly ignorant of how the world truly worked. To Heinz, the road ahead looked bleak beyond measure.

Leon, however, was different.

As though he found every one of these complications genuinely amusing, he narrowed his eyes slightly, a glint of interest gathering in their depths.

“The war ended, and things have been unbearably dull. Doesn’t this sound like it might finally get interesting?”

“Even so…”

“Don’t worry. If something troublesome comes up, we can think about it then. More importantly, what about the task I assigned you?”

The ash-gray eyes that had moments ago held a trace of levity turned cold in an instant. A peculiar light flickered sharply within them.

“As you instructed, we are regrouping the regional forces and concentrating them within the Rübenhart territory. Some units have already been redeployed to the Velasque border. Orders have been issued for them to remain on standby, ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice should the need arise.”

“Not bad. Who would have thought that Rübenhart’s borders touching this country would turn out to be such an advantageous condition.”

“So that’s why you agreed to the marriage?”

Heinz asked the question that had been gnawing at him, the reason his commander had accepted a verdict he still couldn’t fully comprehend.

When Leon gave a slight nod, Heinz swallowed a sigh.

He had suspected there might be an ulterior motive, but he had never imagined something this bold.

“Since when did you make up your mind?”

“From the moment the presiding judge spoke my name.”

That meant his initial refusal had been nothing more than a calculated maneuver to deflect suspicion from the royal houses and the other nations.

Leon leaned back languidly against the balcony railing that opened onto the gardens, drawing a cigarette from his pocket and placing it between his lips. A gentle spring breeze stirred the flowers below, setting their blossoms swaying as a soft, fragrant perfume drifted through the air.

It was a tranquil, beautiful sight, as though nothing like the blaze that had nearly reduced everything to ashes a year ago had ever happened.

Such peaceful vistas had once been naturally ordinary days for him as well.

Turning back toward Heinz, he slowly exhaled the smoke he had drawn in.

“That foolish King of Stein didn’t even realize that, once the war ended, the bulk of the troops had effectively come under my command. The number of forces we’ve reinforced already exceeds the limits set by the Ministry of Military Affairs, but if it ever becomes an issue, all we need to do is move them into Velasque.”

As Leon’s even, unruffled tone continued, Heinz’s expression slowly hardened. By instinct alone, he realized that the plan Leon had long been preparing was being set in motion sooner than expected.

“You truly intend to go through with it?”

“Of course. I’ll sever Rübenhart Territory from them, and then I’ll drag down the king who clings so desperately to that throne he cherishes.”

A chilling light flared in Leon’s eyes.

“Stein will follow the precedent Velasque has set, this exemplary former regime.”

His lips curved upward as he closed one hand around Heinz’s shoulder.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

From the day Duke Leon von Rübenhart assumed office as the new governor, every member of the palace guard was replaced without exception. Commander Ansel, who had served as the provisional authority, withdrew along with his subordinates, and their places were filled by soldiers from Stein brought in by Leon himself.

In other words, his own men.

As though everything had been prepared long in advance, the new order was established with striking speed. Once the transition was complete, Leon’s inauguration was held.

Immediately thereafter, the marriage between Commander Leon von Rübenhart and Adeline de Velasque, princess of the former royal house, was formally proclaimed. From start to finish, the entire process took no more than three days.

There was no wedding held beneath a shower of petals, no ceremony blessed by the cheers and well-wishes of the crowd. They simply went to a church, performed the bare minimum of rites, and affixed their seals to the necessary documents. That was all.

Even that amounted to little more than following the priest’s instructions, signing their respective documents, and exchanging the papers.

With that, the wedding was over.