Chapter 101: Preparing oneself
The emperor quickly composed his expression after a brief moment of surprise.
“Hmm… It seems that you are not joking.”
He looked at Eurius with a serious expression.
To expel the grans duke meant to cut off the duke’s territory and all the forces that followed him from the empire.
“Are you confident?”
His eyes were burning with a youthful vigor. But there were many things to consider before that.
“It is true that the duke still has many forces that he can mobilize.”
“Indeed. But it is something that we have to do sooner or later. I want to hear why you suddenly changed your mind after opposing it last time.”
To expel the grand duke, they had to accept a significant loss anyway.
Thanks to Eurius’s achievements, many of the nobles in the south were wavering and the connection with the desert kingdom was cut off.
But even considering that, the duke’s territory was a fertile land with almost the size of a kingdom.
The number of soldiers and knights was not inferior to his.
“That is because I have prepared enough power to restrain the grand duke.”
“Enough power?”
The emperor frowned.
Of course, the empire’s power was stronger than one duke. But Eurius meant something different.
“I have enough power to hold back the grand duke with my own strength.”
“Huh…”
The emperor let out a sarcastic laugh.
What did that mean? And did he say restrain? Did he not intend to start a war?
Eurius slowly began to explain.
“Of course, we will have to subjugate the grand duke’s soldiers by war in the end. But before that, we have to weaken his main forces to minimize the damage.”
“Isn’t that what you said before? Do you think he will suffer more here?”
“That is not what I mean. I plan to provoke him first from our side. Then he will have no choice but to respond as a grans duke.”
“You are twisting your words too much. Tell me your real plan.”
Eurius finally revealed his main point.
“Actually, I have a favor to ask you at this merit award ceremony.”
“A favor? Do you want the crown prince position now?”
It was not a difficult thing anymore.
The grand duke’s power was greatly reduced and if they planned to expel him anyway, they did not need to care about the nobles’ opinions.
***
Eurius’s merit award ceremony was actually a tricky matter.
The reason was the problem of what he would receive.
“Is there anything more that His Highness First Prince can receive now?”
“If there is, it would be the crown prince position, but isn’t that already promised after His Highness Second Prince’s coming-of-age ceremony?”
“But it is not a very important promise either. Even if His Highness First Prince has achieved such great merits, it is not like he can get anything he wants?”
Of course, the emperor’s first question was about appointing him as the crown prince.
“I would like to postpone that for a little longer as we agreed last time.”
‘Phew… One less worry.’
The nobles sighed in relief.
They did not think that Leonhardt would become the crown prince now, but they did not need to strengthen Eurius’s foundation from now on either.
“Then do you have anything else you want?”
“Nothing.”
“…!?”
How could he say he did not want anything after achieving such great merits?
Eurius smiled inwardly.
In fact, he had already obtained everything he wanted in the south.
As the nobles worried, the only thing he really needed was the crown prince position.
‘But that is not too late even after I completely expel the grand duke!’
His eyes swept over the hall once.
Among the nobles who showed curious expressions, there was only one person who calmly observed the situation.
It was the grand duke.
“…”
For a moment, the eyes of the emperor, the grand duke, and Eurius crossed.In fact, the duke wanted to eliminate Eurius and he did not care much whether he became the crown prince or not.
‘He does not seem to have any intention of leaving for a while, does he?’
That alone ruined his plan of confronting Eurius directly when he left next time.
‘And sending the third army to the south is also a move to restrain me.’
It was about sending Perez to the south.
Uf an army commander received a territory in the south, naturally his troops would move there too.
It was a kind of personnel transfer.
Of course, it was not without reason.
After the capital terror in Calihara, there was a need to reinforce the troops in the south where the war clouds were looming.
But the Grand duke thought differently.
‘Does he want to mess with me in my front yard?’
The problem was that the territory that Perez would receive, the Brussels region, was adjacent to the direct territory that he ruled. In other words, it was like placing Eurius’s power right next to the duke’s base.
It was obviously a blatant provocation from Eurius.
The grand duke glanced at Eurius.
He gave him a wink with a smiling expression.
‘Don’t you want to get rid of me and my power? It is a golden opportunity, isn’t it?’
‘You are too arrogant after a few minor victories. Perez? Devan? Do you think you can restrain me with these guys?’
The merit award ceremony ended as a fire was lit on the invisible fuse.
Eurius decided to expel the grans duke for good after receiving a report from his double agent, Wallace.
He had visited the duke a while ago and reported to Eurius with a nervous expression.
“I don’t know why, but the duke didn’t blame me much.”
‘He must have something up his sleeve. Well, he is not the type to sit and take it.’
Eurius guessed that the duke was planning to do something anyway.
He didn’t know if it was a civil war or a scheme against him, but he thought it would be better to take the initiative by attacking first rather than waiting.
‘And I have enough power to do that!’
The first people he had to meet were Devan and Perez, who had returned from the western front.
“Count! No, you are a marquis now. Congratulations on your achievement. I was right to choose you.”
“It’s all thanks to Your Highness. Haha…”
‘I’m glad I made the right choice too.’
Perez realized that it was the best decision of his life to side with Eurius at the merit award ceremony.
His merit was great, but it was not enough to receive such a reward.
‘It must be because His Highness helped me.’
Devan also bowed his head with a touched expression to Eurius.
“It’s all thanks to Your Highness. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“It’s all because of your talent. I only gave you a little opportunity.”
Eurius smiled brightly and patted Devan’s back.
Then he casually brought up a topic as if he remembered something.
“By the way, have you decided on your family name? You are a commoner, so you don’t have a surname, right?”
“Actually, I was a bit worried about that.”
Devan scratched his head awkwardly.
It was an unexpected problem to choose his own surname. But Eurius offered him a surprising suggestion with a smile.
“That’s good. If you don’t mind, can I give you a name?”
It was quite shocking that a royal, especially someone like Eurius who was likely to be the next emperor, would personally name a family.
“How can I deserve that?”
“No, I think you deserve it more than enough.”
He cut off Devan’s modesty and continued with a serious expression.
“The name I will give you is…”
***
A while later.
“…”
Devan looked at the direction where Eurius had left and pondered for a while.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Perez, who still looked happy, tapped Devan’s back.
“Oh! The army commander is here and I was rude…”
“You are also a noble with a title and a deputy army commander now. You don’t have to be so formal.”He cut off Devan’s words and showed him a friendly smile.
“Then I hope we get along well. Deputy army commander Viscount Devan Calios !”
“Haha… That title is still embarrassing.”
Devan was truly shy. It was because of what Eurius had said when he gave him that surname.
“This name is not well known now, but it was the name of a legendary strategist who shook the whole continent.”
“I can’t accept such a name!”
“I believe that you will become such a person soon.”
Eurius confidently gave him the surname ‘Calios’ as if he had seen his past life.
‘Because that is your future!’
In fact, when he saw Devan at the academy, he was doubtful, but now he was sure.
Eurius recalled the player’s proverb that said that those who were destined would succeed anywhere and nodded his head repeatedly.
‘It wasn’t a waste of time to find him at the academy!’
Devan also muttered to himself.
“A genius strategist and Devan Calios…”
“We have to lead the army and depart for the south soon. We have to keep our promise to His Highness.”
“That’s right. We have to hurry up and prepare for departure.”
He left with Perez, but he kept thinking about what Eurius had said for a long time.
But if there was someone who trusted him so much when he was nothing until recently, wouldn’t it be worth risking his life?
Especially when that person was the most noble person in the world.
‘I don’t know if I can ever repay His Highness’s kindness. But I will try my best to live up to this name!’
A new determination rose in Devan’s eyes as he made this vow.
***
Eurius was not idle either after the merit award ceremony ended.
He had to check his power that he had accumulated so far and aim for a sure victory.
‘First of all, Devan should be able to do more than his share in Brussels.’
He asked the third army to block the south of the duke’s territory completely. It would be hard for him to be restrained in his front yard, but he wouldn’t be easily pushed back either.
And his last move would start tonight.
‘He’s here!’
Jegal Gun came to him with a polite expression and reported.
“My lord, the people you asked me to bring have arrived.”
“Good job. They are quite rough guys, did they cause any trouble?”
“Actually…”
He looked a bit embarrassed.
“There were some clashes with the master. But they said they would settle it by fighting later.”
Eurius chuckled.
“Well, they are both peculiar personalities, so they might get along better after a fight. That’s why I called them.”
As soon as he entered the Azure Dragon Hall at midnight, Eurius heard a familiar voice.
The conversation was taking place in a secret room, but he could hear it with his sharp senses.
But the content was very harsh.
“You seem to be impatient. Why don’t you follow your predecessor’s example and be more courteous?”
“I’ve been hearing about my predecessor, my predecessor, but I’m just the one who inherited his legacy, not his relation.”
The owner of the growling voice was showing hostility to Jegal Unhyun.
“Then why did you come all the way here?”
“For the sake of friendship.”
“That’s vague. You should respect the person who should be your master as a friend.”
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me since earlier? Let’s fight here and now.”
“Hooh…”
‘Oh no!’
He felt a fierce clash of energy in the secret room and rushed in without hesitation. It was troublesome to fight in this situation.
Bang!
As he jumped in, a loud noise erupted from the secret room.
“You’re here.”
“…!?”
The two people who were arguing in the secret room both looked at Eurius.
He had barely stopped their collision by jumping in at the right moment.
‘Why are all the people who have connections with players so difficult?’
He grumbled inwardly, but outwardly he smiled and greeted one of them warmly.
“Long time no see!”