/
Luisen was a wayward fool, even before the civil war. Abandoning his lordly duties, he squandered his youth playing, eating, and drinking in the capital. He was indolent, apathetic, and made light of the world. Although he repented for his many mistakes after meeting the saint, he was still a fallen soul whom hell would welcome with both hands.
‘Perhaps…did mister one-armed pilgrim, my saint, help me?’
A strong feeling overwhelmed Luisen’s heart. Yes, such a devoted and merciful man could definitely have created this opportunity for this pitiful life. Or maybe he was included in the saint’s grand plan in the past somehow! Anyways, everything was in debt to his grace.
“Duke-nim, Duke-nim 1. We must hurry, there won’t be another opportunity.”
“Wait a minute.” He wanted to give his last thanks to the saint in a prayer.
However, Ruger did not give Luisen a chance to pray.
“This isn’t the time to relax. My lord knows well how vicious the butcher can be. He killed one man by tying all four of his limbs to a horse and letting it rip him apart. The remaining torso was spat on and cursed at. He’s a cruel and villainous man. I heard he despises nobles, does he not? If he catches you, you won’t have a gentle death. He’s coming here with full tyrannical power. I don’t know what he’ll do to you, my lord!”
Ruger trembled. “It’s now or never. We’re going to lose–we’re definitely going to lose, no matter what.”
“So, you want us to abandon the territory and run away? In the midst of battle?”
“What’s wrong with that? Those men are all fighting to protect you; there’s no meaning if you die.”
“…”
Luisen swallowed a sigh. His past self had agreed with Rugert–and then ran away. At the time, he had believed fleeing was his only chance for survival. He couldn’t even imagine the life he’d live afterwards. He had just been relieved to be alive. Just as he had lived before, carefree, he had been vaguely confident things would work out.
So stupid and lackadaisical!!!
“That’s enough,” Luisen said.
“Huh?”
“I have no intention to run. If you want to leave, do whatever you want. I won’t blame you.”
“What are you saying?!”
‘I won’t run away.’ For the sake of those who had died, and for the sake of Luisen’s own life, this was the right choice. He couldn’t go through what he did twice.
‘I’d rather die as a noble.’
How could he squander his new life? He’ll live like a nobleman. He’ll formally surrender.
That way, everyone will survive.
The dukedom’s military strength was deficient, but it was holding up well for now. Maybe that was why in the past he thought he could take on his opponent. But, Carlton was deliberately dragging his feet, biding time.
After he realized Luisen had fled, he took the castle in less than half a day.
So, why was he now deliberately stalling for time?
Carlton was aggressive–his hands spread cruelty–and he never retreated in battle. His favorite pastime was to trample, humiliate, and subjugate snobby nobles. The higher the noble’s ego, the more pathetic they would become in the end. Luisen would have been his favorite prey.
He would have been excited to occupy noble castles, trample upon centuries-old traditions and honors. Nevertheless, one could assume the first prince had a reason to make Carlton drag his feet.
‘This is what the saint explained.’
Luisen had faith in the saint’s bountiful knowledge and keen insight.
The Anies Duchy was one of the four grand lordly families. They held power comparable to the authority of a king. Though the first prince believed a centralized ruling system was ideal, he lacked the legitimacy to pull it off. He had a long-standing complex regarding how few nobles supported him compared to his younger brother.
After winning the civil war, he attempted to shore up those weaknesses by winning the loyalty of the nobles. The Duke of Anies was someone who had the right to elect a king. Even though the first prince won the war, the loyalties of the great lords held deep meaning.
The saint said that Luisen’s lifeline depended on his loyalty to Prince Ellion.
‘It would have been better for you to have bent over for him. It’s best to surrender before being occupied.’
Holding out until he broke would go against the will of the first prince. A Duke of Anies who didn’t obey until the bitter end would become a scar upon the prince’s legitimacy. Prince Ellion would not tolerate such disgrace. At that point, the force of Carlton’s cruel pleasure would be unleashed, and there was no way of knowing what would happen to the duke.
Luisen was ignorant of all of this in the past. He was just terrified to hear about the execution of the second prince. He only thought that the first prince would try to murder him as well, so he insisted on fighting him.
And in the end, he abandoned everything.
.
.
Luisen bit his lips and opened the door to the conference room. The room, which was used as a base for military strategy operations, was filled with a heavy tension. The general and treasurer, as well as other officials and the butler, were standing in front of a table laden with tactical maps. As the battle was in full swing, the knight commander and his knights were not present.
When Luisen appeared, all eyes in the conference room became fixated on him. They all looked at him with confused and surprised gazes.
“My lord, for what reason have you come to this humble place? Do you need anything else?” the treasurer welcomed him warmly.
Though the man had gained ample weight throughout the years and had a generous, kind-looking face, his words contained a sharp backbone. It would have been commonplace for a lord to present at meetings that concerned the territory. However, he was shocked at Luisen’s appearance. He had inwardly sneered when he heard Luisen had locked himself up in his room.
In the past, Luisen would not have been able to detect the treasurer’s sarcasm, but a life of wandering had made him develop some sense. He flushed red with embarrassment.
“He is your lord. Watch what you say.”
The butler sided with Luisen, but Luisen couldn’t bear to see him. Before the regression, Carlton was said to have tortured the butler for information on Luisen’s whereabouts. He did not reveal anything until the end, and was eventually abandoned in some gutter with all of his limbs torn off.
“What’s the matter? We were just discussing something very important,” the general said. In the face of his stern gaze, Luisen’s shoulders lightly trembled.
The general was always hard on him. On behalf of his parents who had died when Luisen was young, the general was his foster parent and his proxy in estate matters. He was always a strict teacher and became a very competent thorn in his side. When the castle was occupied, he committed suicide. Carlton decapitated the corpse and hung it over the wall. When Luisen tried to return to the estate, he saw the general’s rotten and decayed head.
The same was true of the other officials. All of the people who worked at the duke’s castle had been decapitated and hung over the wall. This was Carlton’s revenge.
Luisen fidgeted with his thumbnails. Their corpses’ deathly appearance and stench were still vivid in his mind. Anxiety and nervousness filled him all the way up to his chin. It was harder than he’d thought to see the dead roaming alive again.
But, he couldn’t back down.
‘Remember how much you regretted this day, Luisen Anies.’
‘Please, Saint, give me courage.’
Luisen drew a small cross over his heart with his hand, heartbeat flickering like dim lamplight. He steeled himself and said, “We must surrender.”
The general’s face distorted with disappointment at his words. The same was true of the treasurer and the others.
“Why do you say this now, my lord? You may have forgotten since you locked yourself in your room, but we’re currently in the midst of battle.”
“Aghhhhhh!”
Just then, an unnamed soldier shrieked from the outside. Everyone in the room knew immediately that the soldier was now dead, and the air became heavier.
“….I know,” Luisen said.
“Then, you know just how ridiculous your words are.”
“I know. But, we still have to surrender. We’re no match for Carlton’s power. It’s only a matter of time before we are occupied.”
“Our soldiers are still enduring well.”
“How long can they last?”
“The reinforcements will arrive soon. Anies’ vassals will come to our aid.”
“Reinforcements are not coming. They’ve already abandoned us.”
None of the reinforcements came last time. All of the duke’s vassals had turned their backs on them. Luisen had experienced this firsthand in the future (of the first timeline), but the officials all strongly protested.
“Before there was a kingdom, the Anies Duchy was the master of this territory. There’s no way the vassals would abandon us and join hands with the royal family. They are our subjects and we are their sole liege. Didn’t we always teach you to not forget what kind of existence you are to the south?”
The general agreed with the rest of the officials. “That’s correct. The loyalty of the southern territory is different from those greedy nobles in the capital.”
“My lord, you may not know anything about this since you’ve spent all your time in the Capital,” another official added.
‘No… the times have changed.’
Even before the civil war broke out, both princes had been building their factions. The first prince attracted small and medium-ranked lords to his side. He tempted them through the promise of breaking old contracts and installing a new system. As a result, the vassals would not see the Duke of Anies as a lord to protect but rather plump prey to gorge upon.
As if they were waiting for the duchy to crumble, the vassals did not put their heart into the battle to protect their own counties.
‘My words would never be enough to convince them anyway.’
The duke’s advisors were competent, but they had immense pride in their ducal history and were quite conservative.
“Think about it carefully,” Luisen said. “If they were truly going to help us, they would have sent soldiers even before Carlton unsheathed his sword. Has any family sent us their auxiliary troops?”
The treasurer became slightly disturbed. Luisen’s words weren’t without sense.
TN: I’ll try to come out with Chpt 4 sometime later in this week/weekend!
Footnotes
Nim here is the suffix for respect. Think of the japanese 'san”