Chapter 90 - The Difference Between Alms, Rewards, and Spoils (2)

When Second Prince Maximilian returned, Marquis Bielefeld felt a fresh shock.

The boy who was merely gentle and wise had become a strong man in just a few months.

Seeing that sight, the Marquis teared up, moved all by himself, thinking that the blood of the lion had not been cut off and that there was still hope for this country. That was how remarkable the Second Prince's growth was.

"I am... still far lacking compared to my elder brother."

When the sharp-eyed nobles laid out praises about his change, the Second Prince spoke words of humility as if he were embarrassed.

At that time, they had marveled at how the good and gentle prince was even humble.

Because the saying that there is no younger brother as good as the elder brother did not apply, at least not within the Royal House of Leonberk.

But those were truly not words of humility.

The First Prince, who revealed himself in The Capital again, had become a completely different person.

Except for his arrogant gaze, there was nothing the same as before.

His body was covered in scars, and his eyes were as fierce as a wild beast's. Behind the boy who had always walked alone, numerous lords and knights followed.

And how overbearing his presence was.

It was to the point that even the snobbish nobles unconsciously bowed their heads.

If the younger brother had a charm that brought everyone together, the elder brother had a spirit that crushed his surroundings.

From the moment the First Prince revealed himself, he continuously overwhelmed the crowd, and all the nobles without exception walked on eggshells around him.

However, while the Marquis was pleased with that intense spirit, he was simultaneously worried.

The First Prince was overly rude and extreme.

Even when treating the King, who was his father in private and the ruler of the country in public, his words and actions were overly rough. It looked dangerous, like a young child who didn't know restraint holding a sharp sword.

The words he spoke were sound, and the path he walked was straight and right. Regardless of how his past had been, that was a clear fact.

It was just that his steps were so excessively extreme and loud that one could vividly see those who would be trampled and scream with every step.

He had spirit, but he lacked the tolerance to embrace the crowd.

It was a shame.

Was there no one advising him on the side? Or was he refusing to even listen to advice?

Neither was good.

What is strong is bound to break someday.

Moreover, even that strength was not complete; the Northern nobles who supported the First Prince were just a fraction when looking at the nobles of the entire kingdom.

He respected the spirit of those born and raised in barren lands, but it was an undeniable fact that their foundation was barren and impoverished.

It was not yet the time for the First Prince to bare his fangs.

The greedy and cunning wolves would not let a young lion grow up intact. Right now, they might be bowing their heads, suppressed by his momentum and pushed back in justification, but their insidiousness could, at times, become more lethal than the bravery of a lion.

A young lion still needed the protection of the pride. Even if the leader of that pride was an old lion with clipped claws and pulled teeth.

The Marquis hoped that the First Prince would quickly realize that fact.

But that was nothing more than an old man's worry.

The First Prince was not just a young lion.

The moment the imperial ambassador selected the First Prince as the master of the Magic Tower, the Marquis was able to realize that fact.

It wasn't that he lacked the capacity to embrace them. He simply had no intention of doing so.

Because nowhere in the world did the master of a Magic Tower step forward to ask for favors first.

And even more so in a kingdom where the seed of Mages had dried up over the past 100 years.

As evidence of that, the ones who had been reading the room regarding the empire's power and complaining that they were going to get stripped of their precious bloodlines or gold, stayed behind long after the gathering ended, debating over who to send to the North.

Among them, there were those who boldly declared they would send their eldest sons, and there were those who declared they would send their cherished youngest sons.

There were even some who acted as if their sons had already become Mages.

Of course, once they regained their cool, they would soon remember the fact that not just anyone could become a Mage. But they wouldn't be able to abandon the vague expectation that their son might be included among those who weren't just 'anyone', so in the end, whether they gave up their eldest son, second son, or an adopted son, they would end up giving someone quite brilliant.

"Hmm..."

Watching even his close aides discussing the Magic Tower, the Marquis quietly left the banquet hall.

And he headed straight to the 1st Prince's Palace.

"I'm telling you! I have something urgent to say!"

"His Highness has already retired for a nap, so please visit again later."

The prince's palace was already crowded with quick-footed nobles.

"I am Count Dunstein. Convey to His Highness that I request an audience with him."

Among them was Count Dunstein, who possessed an influence counted among the great lords of the East.

"His Highness has already retired for a nap. When he wakes later, I will inform him that you visited."

But even a powerful Count was no exception to being unable to step past the threshold.

"Hmm."

Watching that scene, Marquis Bielefeld could tell that the prince knew exactly the value of the weapon he held in his hands.

It seems it will be difficult to see him today.

Seeing that he had placed such a stiff person as a gatekeeper, it seemed he really had no intention of seeing anyone, so the Marquis turned his body, promising to return another day.

No, he tried to turn.

"Is that not His Excellency Marquis Bielefeld?"

The royal knight, who had remained steadfast amidst the complaints and threats of numerous nobles until now, saw him and acknowledged him.

"Have you come to see His Highness?"

"I have, but since His Highness has retired for a nap, I will come back later."

"There's no need for that, please come inside and wait."

"Huh, well..."

"This way."

Pretending he couldn't refuse, Marquis Bielefeld crossed the threshold of the prince's palace, following the path opened by the royal knight.

"What! Why is someone allowed and someone else is not!"

"His Excellency Marquis Bielefeld already made a prior appointment."

"What kind of lie is that! I clearly saw with my own two eyes that His Excellency was about to turn back."

"He must have been being considerate of His Highness, who is tired from his long journey."

From behind, the sound of nobles clamoring could be heard. But the royal knight consistently feigned ignorance.

"Hah. What a true character."

While the temperament of royal knights was originally famous for being inflexible, he hadn't known there would be someone with enough spirit to say everything he had to say even in front of so many nobles.

And in the 1st Prince's Palace, which no one had paid attention to until now.

"What is that knight's name?"

"Who are you talking... Ah... You mean Sir Karl."

The royal knight acting as a guide informed him that the knight's name was Karl Ulrich. And he learned the fact that he and a few knights had been guarding the masterless palace for over a year.

I really can't tell if he has the virtue to attract people or not.

The Marquis shook his head from side to side.

"Your Highness. His Excellency Marquis Bielefeld has arrived."

The royal knight who knocked on the door opened it.

"Please enter."

The Marquis patted the knight's shoulder and went straight into the room.

"You came earlier than expected."

"Your Highness."

Despite supposedly napping, the First Prince was drinking tea with two women seated opposite him.

"His Excellency the Marquis."

The women sitting in their seats recognized the Marquis, stood up, and bowed their heads.

One side was the daughter of the Kirgayen family, quite well-known around The Capital, and the other was an unfamiliar face. But just because he didn't know the face didn't mean he didn't know her identity.

The rumor that the First Prince had taken his maid as a knight was still a regular topic never left out when talking about the First Prince.

Although most of them were close to dirty jokes, so the Marquis hadn't listened closely.

"I heard you were seeking sleep because you were tired from your long journey, yet were you leisurely drinking tea like this?"

"You believed that?"

"Of course not. Not only me, but no one would believe it."

At the Marquis's reply, the First Prince chuckled and laughed.

"Take a seat first. Arwen, Adelia, sit down too. You don't mind, right?"

Nodding roughly to the First Prince who asked for his understanding, the Marquis swiftly took a seat.

"I also had a conversation with Your Highness here a year ago."

"Back then, I didn't even have the presence of mind to serve tea."

"It was understandable."

In this seat a year ago, Marquis Bielefeld had suggested to the First Prince that he would have nothing to gain by staying in The Capital and advised him to leave The Capital to gather power in the provinces.

And following those words, the prince had left for the North with his maternal uncle, and returned as the leader of the North who subjugated the seventeen lords.

"I sometimes think that you might have suffered unnecessarily in the North because of me."

The Marquis looked at the prince's face. There were so many scars on the beautiful face that resembled the Queen. It was obvious to the eye how much the young boy must have suffered in the North.

"I did suffer. But it was worth it."

"Even if it's empty words, it lightens my heart."

"If they were empty words, Marquis, you wouldn't have even been able to enter here."

The First Prince buried his back deeply into the sofa.

"Right. Did the Marquis also come because you have an interest in the Magic Tower?"

"It would be a lie to say I have no interest, but I came to see you because I have something to tell you rather than that."

Saying so, the Marquis discreetly glanced at the women.

"We will take our leave now."

"It was nice meeting you. Let's see each other again if there's a chance next time."

Understanding the meaning of the glance, the women tactfully vacated their seats.

"What are you trying to talk about that you're sending others out?"

"Your Highness."

The Marquis spoke with a face wiped of its smile.

"Do not be too hostile toward His Majesty."

The First Prince frowned.

"Do not judge and think of His Majesty solely by the revealed results. His Majesty is by no means the kind of person Your Highness thinks he is."

The prince did not answer.

"The empire has put effort into clouding His Majesty's brilliance over a very long time, and they put even more effort into cutting off the Royal House's limbs. This became even more severe by His Majesty's generation, so His Majesty has lost much more than Your Highness thinks."

Looking at the prince with a stiff face, the Marquis said in a low voice.

"And he has managed to protect quite a lot."

The prince was about to ask something, but before he could, the Marquis stood up from his seat.

"Please keep this in mind. The fact that the Royal Family is the support that will back Your Highness up the most reliably, not an enemy."

After saying so, he added one more thing.

"If you easily draw and swing a treasured sword simply because the blade in your hand is sharp, you can say for certain that there will be those cut by that blade who will hold a grudge."

Saying that what is strong is bound to break.

The Marquis left his seat with that sincere advice.

And the next day, the distribution of rewards and honors for the recent war, which the King had postponed the previous day, began.

First, awards were given to the lords of the Central region and the Central Army who stopped the monsters from moving south at the central defense line, and after that, consolation bonuses were given to the lords of the North who had suffered much damage in the war. And then, further merit was evaluated, and rewards were given.

"To Second Prince Maximilian Leonberk, who represented the Royal Family and led the remaining legions to fight bravely on the front lines, I bestow ten excellent steeds, fifty suits of iron armor, one hundred bolts of silk, and I will grant one of the hunting grounds under the Royal Family's direct control."

"Your grace is immeasurable, Your Majesty."

With the reward for Second Prince Maximilian, the King closed his mouth.

However, among the nobles gathered in the banquet hall, there was no one who did not know that the distribution of rewards and honors had not yet ended.

The First Prince was left.

Even if only half of the contents of the grand strategy were true, the First Prince had to receive a greater reward than anyone gathered here. If all of it, rather than just half, were true, his contributions and achievements would not fall short even if he were called a hero who saved the nation, so it was hard to fathom what kind of reward should be given.

Agony could be felt from the face of the King who had closed his mouth.

To Marquis Bielefeld, the King's inner thoughts seemed so clear he could almost grasp them.

Depending on what kind of reward he gave, the prince's position would change.

If he gave a large reward, it would appear, at least on the surface, that the discord between father and son had ended, and naturally, the prince would regain everything he had lost by falling out of his father's favor despite what he should have enjoyed as the eldest son.

If he gave a small reward, it would mean the King would refuse to accept the First Prince as a member of the Royal Family to the very end, and would not even acknowledge the authority held by the leader of the North, so things would become exhausting in many ways going forward.

No matter how much his hands and feet had been cut off, he was still the monarch of this country sitting on the throne.

Even though he must have already deliberated deeply before coming, the King did not open his mouth easily.

Fortunately, the First Prince also did not act rudely and extremely like the previous day.

The Marquis smiled.

Telling him not to make enemies, that the Royal Family was not an enemy.

He felt relieved, seeing that the prince seemed to have accepted his advice to some extent.

But it was a delusion.

"Please give me my reward with what I want."

The Marquis grabbed his head.

To think there was someone who would flaunt his merits in front of the monarch and decide his reward himself.

"I don't need anything else."

Looking at the King who was as stiff as could be, the First Prince confidently demanded.

"Just a single sword is enough."