Chapter 20: Theanabe Union, Independence

Chapter 20: Theanabe Union, Independence

Theanabe was in a remote region in the north. This region, which borders the Tomis Ashinaqui Eri Kingdom and Gayuhi Dukedom, spoke the language called Theanabe and had a culture of its own. It was the last kingdom to be annexed in the Bungdalto Empires reconquest of the former Lothar Empire, and the aristocrats of this region were neutral and didnt belong to the Chancellor or the Regent faction.

Yes, they were neutral. Three months after Count Palatine Vedett visited my room in the middle of the night the news of their independence reached the Imperial Capital. In the meantime, I had turned seven. I heard they called themselves the Theanabe Union.

After this news reached the capital, the palace was in an uproar and the aristocrats acted like a beehive that was being poked at. It was satisfying to watch the Chancellor panic.

Well, it is supposed to be an alarming situation for the Emperor but I dont have any real power.

Lord Aquicurl was not in the Imperial Capital probably because he had gotten this information beforehand, so he retreated back to his fief. The Chancellor faction, on the other hand, didnt seem aware of this and there was a big commotion.

By the way, the Regent didnt know about this either This father and daughter pair might be on worse terms than I thought.

The Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies probably predicted this would happen because his fief was close to Theanabe.

The Imperial Capital, Cardinal, was located in the centre of the Bungdalto Empire.

From the Imperial Capital, Aquicurl fief was to the southwest, and Lord Rauls fief was to the east. The region to the northwest had become independent.

Moreover, most of the aristocrats in the Regency faction had fiefs to the west while most of the aristocrats in the Chancellors faction had fiefs to the east. For the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies, Theanabe declaring independence had happened right under his nose. He certainly wouldnt have the time for political strife in the capital after this incident.

Incidentally, I said was located because the fief in the southeast and southwest (to the east of the Aquicurl fief) were handed over to other nations after the assassination of the previous Emperor.

Now, the Chancellor hadnt felt any guilt over handing over his political rivals fief to another nation, so why was he panicking over this independence? If he were acting like his normal self, then it wouldnt be surprising for him to gloat at Lord Aquicurls predicament.

The reason lied in the foreign nations who seemed to have assisted in this independence.

First, the nation that would have helped the most, was the religious nation Tomis Ashinaqui.

This nation had been at war with the Belbe kingdom but were now in a ceasefire with them due to my engagement with Rosalia. They no longer had direct contact with the Bungdalto Empire because the Theanabe Union has now become independent. Tomis Ashinaqui is expected to invade the Belbe Kingdom again now that the buffer state Theanabe Union was created.

The Belbe Kingdom will have to do its best.

The Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies returned from his fief a few days later. He said he was going to prepare for when the Ghafur Republic invaded.

Even so, the political strife in the capital didnt die down. In fact, it was the opposition.

The only ones left at the capital were the radical George V and the outspoken Regent. The aura in the palace was worse than ever.

The palace was in chaos now that the top two officials were gone, but my surveillance loosened. Timona was assigned as my night watch during this chaos, so that I could learn swordsmanship and self-defence.

The Emperors room was surprisingly spacious, so much so that there was plenty of room for sword training. I was still being watched during the day even though they had loosened my surveillance. This room at bedtime was the perfect place to train in secret.

The question was whether I was really training in secret. I dont know if I can trust my retainer Timona. I honestly had a hard time with this. I didnt feel any hostility from Timona, on the contrary, I felt that he was respecting me in his own way but he had directed his bloodlust at me for a long time, so I cant decide how much I can trust him.

Count Palatine said, You can kill him immediately if you feel threatened by him. Masters shouldnt feel threatened by their guards.

I believe I have to be prepared for that kind of thing.

Im going to hide the fact that I can use magic for now since this was a matter of life or death for me. Other than that, Im going to keep an eye on him for a while.

After this day, I started to learn swordsmanship and self-defence from Count Palatine Vedett (who comes from the attic) during the time when I was normally supposed to be asleep. Naturally, I stayed up for most of the night, so I was always sleepy during the day and often dozed off in my room.

As a result, I was nicknamed Lazy, Slumbering Emperor and Aquicurl Madness.

Im sure they nicknamed me Aquicurl Madness because they thought I was having trouble sleeping at night because I was doing it with Timona.

IM ONLY SEVEN, YOU KNOW?! Just what goes on in your minds

I thought and Timona told me that he was much younger than me when he was assaulted. I didnt know what to say to him.

But Aquicurl Madness, is it? It might be a good idea to meet with George V often to avoid being considered as being in the Regent faction, but I hate him.