"Marquis Eiger is rebelling... Whaat!?"
Hearing Celestine's bombshell announcement, Viola shot to her feet in shock.
She looked around in a daze, and the maid standing by the door quickly hurried out of the room.
She had probably decided this wasn't something they ought to know about... but Celestine slowly shook her head.
"There's no need for her to leave. Don't worry — the entire kingdom will know about this soon enough."
"...Why would Marquis Eiger do something like this?"
Primula asked in a restrained tone while calming her shaken sister.
She often stayed in the shadow of the normally assertive Viola, but in times of crisis, Primula was surprisingly the more composed of the two.
"You may already know this, but... Marquis Eiger was the foremost among those who once revered Her Majesty the Queen Dowager. He supports His Highness Rodele, whom that woman — who was even called the 'Shadow Queen' — favored."
Celestine explained in a clear, confident voice, but her shoulders slumped somewhat wearily.
"My grandfather also worshipped Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, and because of that, I ended up engaged to His Highness Rodele... but well, as a result, I was able to keep watch on the rival faction, so it worked out. Marquis Eiger insists that His Highness Rodele should be the next king, not the First Prince who has already been named crown prince. To that end, he built up a reformist faction and was scheming behind the scenes. The disturbance at the Magic Hunt Festival is also believed to have been orchestrated by him."
"So he was the mastermind... That's absolutely outrageous..."
Rest's expression twisted with displeasure.
That disturbance had nearly resulted in monsters flooding into the royal capital, and even setting that aside, a not-insignificant number of students had been killed.
There was no way he could forgive that.
"Yes. Marquis Eiger has already been designated a traitor, and he seems to be aware of it. He slipped past his watchers' eyes, escaped the royal capital, and has raised an army in his domain. Nobles loyal to the Queen Dowager faction are gathering at Marquis Eiger's domain one after another, preparing to march on the royal capital."
"So it's a civil war... This really is beyond the pale..."
Yuri shrugged in exasperation and popped a pastry from the table into his mouth.
"So that's why Father hasn't been sending people after me lately... That explains it."
"What on earth are you doing..."
It sounded like she was still playing a game of cat and mouse with her father.
Even Duke Cattleya seemed at his wit's end with the runaway daughter.
"Of course, His Majesty the King has no intention of sitting idle while the royal capital is besieged. He is preparing to strike down the traitorous Marquis Eiger. Currently, he is waiting for the right moment to launch the attack."
"Waiting for the right moment... Why doesn't he just attack already?"
"No... It seems His Majesty is deliberately waiting for the enemy's forces to consolidate. He likely intends to sweep away all the rebel elements in one go."
Factions that worshiped the queen dowager were apparently scattered throughout the kingdom.
The king was deliberately waiting for the hostile factions to gather so he could eradicate them all at once.
Deliberately waiting until the enemy's forces were fully assembled — by some measures, it could look like a foolish strategy.
However... if the quagmire of civil war dragged on and domestic turmoil persisted, there was a risk of intervention from foreign nations.
His thinking was probably that in order to cut the civil war short as quickly as possible, it would be best to end everything in a single decisive blow.
"Earlier, I discussed with you whether it would be a problem to grant Lord Rest an expansive domain... When Marquis Eiger and the nobles under his banner are destroyed, large swaths of territory will become vacant. Those territories will be distributed as rewards to the nobles and knights who distinguish themselves in battle, so there shouldn't be any objections."
"Ah... I see?"
Though he said he understood, Rest was struggling to piece together the complicated information in his head.
This time, Rest's subjugation of Sabnock had made it possible to develop the plains.
That was precisely why he was being granted a title and a vast domain.
When a commoner-turned-noble obtained a large territory, it often drew jealous stares. But with Marquis Eiger's rebellion following close behind, no one was in a position to resent Rest.
Since the rebel lords' territories would be handed out to other nobles, any jealousy toward Rest would be tempered as well.
"In the near future, the fact that Lord Rest subjugated Sabnock will be announced, and you will be ennobled alongside the other distinguished contributors. At that same gathering, Marquis Eiger's rebellion and its subjugation will be formally declared. With that in mind... we would like Lord Rest to join the campaign against Marquis Eiger."
"Me... in the subjugation army?"
"Indeed. House Rosemary will also be providing troops, and we would like you to serve as one of the generals in your capacity as viscount. Furthermore, through your contributions in that campaign, you would be elevated to 'count.' We wish for you to attain a rank commensurate with the size of the domain granted to you."
"…………"
Though Celestine's words took the form of a "proposal," this plan had already been approved by both the king and Marquis Rosemary.
In other words, it was an order in all but name.
(There's no option to refuse, is there…?)
Once again, things had spiraled into something absurd.
Not so many years ago, he had been belittled as the child of a commoner, the son of a mistress… and now, without even realizing how it had happened, he was a prospective groom-to-be into House Rosemary.
Not only that, but he had been appointed viscount, and a path all the way to count had been laid out for him.
(Gradually, my freedom has slipped away… but I suppose this is what it means to become a noble — to be bound by these kinds of ties…)
Losing the ability to choose for himself seemed like a miserable fate, but… he intended to take Viola and Primula as his wives.
For that alone, he should gladly accept this degree of constraint.
(And besides… if I carve out my own domain and rank, I can open up a future for the children I'll someday have. In that case, I ought to be grateful for being given this chance to rise in the world.)
Convincing himself with such thoughts… Rest gave a deep nod.
"I accept. I would be honored to join the subjugation of the traitor."