Chapter 46: Against the Madman

In the imperial capital, the Emperor stood in his study by the window, his hands behind his back, listening to the reports of the head of intelligence, who was kneeling on one knee behind him

"We have managed to identify the nature of the gift sent by the Grand Duke to the Marquis of Olyzhar: it is the Emblem of the Hymn of Doom, the only legendary artefact that Korvekar openly possesses. Ivar Korvekar’s advice to the Marquis was to remove Her Majesty the Empress and Their Highnesses, her princely children, from the Royal Palace, He informed the Marquis of Olyzhar of the Grand Duke’s decision to temporarily suspend Korvekar from all it’s duties outside the Grand Duchy for the foreseeable future; for the time being, he entrusted the Marquis with the leadership of the nobles loyal to them in the imperial capital and the matter of supporting the Second Prince, ... Ivar Korvekar and Miroslav Korvekar left the Marquis’s palace immediately afterwards and are now residing at Korvekar Palace in the imperial capital, though they left five knights behind with the Marquis to support and protect him, and judging by the insignia they wear, they belong to the Requiem Knights – they did not even attempt to conceal this, ..."

"What is Serafim doing?"

"As for the movements within the Grand Duchy, Your Majesty,... The Grand Duke Serafim has already begun to prepare the expeditionary force. According to our information, two elite battalions from the Grand Duchy’s First Army have been selected, along with a banner from Northern Border Knights - the Cheronval Knight Order, and a full knight band of the Riquim Knights.... According to rumours leaked from the expeditionary force, they are to be led by the Grand Duke’s fourth son, Alexander Korvekar. However, our intelligence has uncovered covert activity in the north-west, where it appears a full army has been assembled. According to our preliminary investigations, we have detected an army of unknown affiliation comprising more than ten thousand soldiers, one hundred knights and one of the Knights of Death – and we believe there are more. As for inside the castle, the second son, Rolan Korvekar, was imprisoned in the Sixth Abyss for a few days before being released and then sent to the south of the Grand Duchy, As for the third son, Roman Korvekar, he departed for the west; however, based on our preliminary assessments, we believe his destination is likely the north-west, to join the army in question. It is probable that this army will subsequently join the expedition. However, we have been unable to obtain any inside information due to the absolute secrecy surrounding the Grand Duke’s current decisions; it appears that no one is yet privy to them except the elders, members of the main family, and the heads of the collateral families close to the Grand Duke, and all their movements are shrouded in complete secrecy."

"What do you think Serafim is up to?"

"Given the Grand Duke’s swift response, the readiness of his armies, the chain of command and the military manoeuvres in Korvekar, we believe the Grand Duke wishes to exploit the current political situation to resume the north-western campaign. It appears the Grand Duke may have been secretly investigating the matter, or perhaps Korvekar’s advance into the north never ceased. given the chaos that has reigned in Korvekar over the past four decades, we have effectively lost track of entire Korvekar Fieldarmies that were claimed to have been wiped out."

"Therefore, our previous belief that Korvekar would not wish to ignite a war beyond the Frozen Sea, given the strength and madness of its enemy... we were wrong... Well, Serafim suffered a humiliating defeat in the war ten years ago, but it seems he has the audacity to return—or perhaps it is merely blind rage... But it’s not as if I don’t understand him; even I would feel a tingle of excitement if there were armies of Death Knights outside my gates enjoying themselves, even if they weren’t directly hostile to me. "

"What does Your Majesty command?"

"Well, there’s really nothing we can do if that’s what he wants... Go and check on the rest of Korvekar’s armies and let me know if Serafim is making any foolish moves in the south and east of his territories. Those Korvekar folk – they’ve got some serious problems in their heads already... so it wouldn’t be surprising if they tried to rebel after attempting to deceive us by preparing their armies to target the north—or perhaps they wouldn’t even mind opening up multiple fronts."

"As Your Majesty commands."

"I shall send Nastalya and her children to the Marquis of Olyzhar , but slip some of your men into their entourage and keep a close watch on everything. Ensure that the ruse concerning Berthold is not exposed, and also... send a report to Xenophon regarding Serafim’s movements."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You may leave."

After dismissing the head of intelligence, he remained standing where he was, massaging his temples with his fingers in an attempt to ease his headache.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t prepared for any surprises from Serafim, but the problem was that he really couldn’t understand what this madman wanted.

So he frowned, and the furrow between his eyebrows deepened.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t anticipated the possibility of the Grand Duke abandoning one of his sons, even if he was proud of them; after all, for them, before being fathers to their children, they were the rulers of their people, and the lives of millions hung on a single decision of theirs. Throughout history, it is not uncommon for rulers to face such a choice in some situation or another; even he, were he in the Grand Duke’s position... Well, the problem here is that

Serafim’s position isn’t really that difficult; he can fight without sacrificing anyone and doesn’t need to make any sacrifices at all, for his strength is not so weak that he would be so submissive!

Not even Dravarius would dare to face them alone without the backing of another great power; otherwise, Xeno would not have been forced to make all those concessions so far, because, quite apart from anything else, history has always proven one truth

even if you burn them, destroy them and wipe them out, they will find a way to crawl out of the pit as charred, decomposing corpses and rise again... one way or another. Like an eternal nightmare, Korvekar can be considered... powerful, very powerful... And to this day, neither he nor any of his imperial predecessors have found a way to break their resilience

So for someone obsessed with protecting his children to send two of them—not even just one—made him particularly guilty, even though the others do not know much about what happened ten years ago; but he was there in person at the time because his father, the Emperor, had sent him then to support Serafim and also to observe closely what was happening by staying close to Serafim – even though Serafim had nearly killed him at the time, claiming he was spying on him... Well, he wasn’t wrong, and despite all his fears for his life, he carried on and miraculously survived there,