The audience chamber.
Not only
There were also armed knights and soldiers.
In contrast,
Amid the grave atmosphere,
"Your Majesty—I shall be direct. I request that you abdicate the throne."
If he did not nod in agreement, Angie was prepared to resort to forceful measures.
Roland stroked his beard, looking indifferent.
"You'd make that brat the king?"
Roland greatly disliked
They detested each other, and there was even a possibility that, in the worst case, he might let personal feelings get in the way and refuse to step down.
Angie nodded.
"Yes."
Angie's plan—was to place Leon, the strongest in the kingdom, on the throne.
The treatment that the kingdom had inflicted upon the nobility until now.
Including various other matters as well, the current royal family had no credibility.
However—what was most important was that the current
Having lost the Weiss, the royal family's flagship, the royal house without a trump card lacked the strength to make the other nobles obey.
There were various reasons, but this was the biggest problem.
Because—the nobles of this world merely obey the strong.
Discontent with the royal family was nothing more than a pretext; even if there were no problems whatsoever, the moment the royal family weakened, they would betray it easily.
Everyone obeys because there is power.
That very foundation was now shaking.
Previously, during the civil war commotion, Leon had acted in place of the royal family's power.
Because of that, many nobles—despite their dissatisfaction—had obeyed.
—The reason was that Leon was strong.
"At this point, there is no longer any meaning in preserving the current royal house. Leon has also made up his mind. Your Majesty—you will step down, won't you?"
It was as good as saying, "If you don't step down, we'll do it by force."
Tension spread through the audience chamber.
Then, Roland stood up—and applauded.
"Splendid!"
His attitude left everyone around him stunned.
Angie hurriedly questioned Roland.
"Your Majesty, I am not joking. Furthermore, what on earth do you mean by 'splendid'?"
Behind Angie, Vince's face looked as if he had bitten down on a bitter bug.
Mylene was holding her hand to her forehead, shaking her head.
Roland put his hand to his chin and spoke in a theatrical tone.
"To overcome this situation, the young ones are working hard. When I think of that, doesn't it make you feel that this country is not so bad after all?"
"—And the one that drove Leon to this point is that very kingdom, is it not?"
"Hmm, I shall reflect deeply on that."
Despite saying he would reflect, his attitude showed not the slightest sign of it.
Roland spread his arms.
"Now then, about the throne—personally I cannot forgive handing it to that brat, but if it frees me from this heavy responsibility, I shall gladly let it go."
Hearing that, Mylene furrowed her brow and muttered.
"The audacity of him."
Vince was also clenching his fists.
"Heavy responsibility? Whose mouth dares say that?"
Yet Roland showed no sign of being bothered by the words of those two.
"A king is a lonely thing. I'm worried whether that brat can endure it, but if he says he wants to do it, let him do it. Ah, I've forgotten something important. You've properly thought about my treatment, haven't you?"
Angie explained to Roland.
"It may be somewhat confining, but we intend to have you live in retirement under surveillance."
She intended to prepare a small floating island and toss him there.
Since he had willingly relinquished the throne, they couldn't imprison him.
If they were to kill Roland, many would feel distrust.
Because nobles who feared for their own safety due to the change of king would emerge.
Amid that, if it became known that Roland was living in comfortable retirement, many nobles would likely feel relieved.
And—it seemed that Roland knew this.
"That's a reasonable arrangement. In that case, I'll be bringing my women along, so I'll leave the arrangements for them to you as well."
Being told that Roland's kept women would come along too, Angie inwardly couldn't accept it but nodded.
"If you would inform me later about Your Majesty's relationships with women."
However, it seemed Roland had already prepared for that.
"No need to worry about that. Hey, Bernard."
Called out, Minister Bernard emerged from the shadow of a pillar, veins also visibly throbbing at his forehead, and handed Angie a document.
"—This is the report on His Majesty's relationships with women. Honestly, increasing my workload at such a busy time."
It seemed his anger was directed more at Roland than at Angie and the others.
Bernard was also glaring at Roland.
The same went for Vince.
And Mylene, her expression vanished, was directing a cold gaze at Roland.
Angie took the document in her hand and confirmed its contents.
"Th-this... is this true, Your Majesty?"
Angie felt the expression vanish from her own face.
Right now, she had terribly cold eyes.
On the document were the names of not just Roland's concubines, but also the mistresses he was keeping outside.
Among them were even the names of women who weren't nobles.
Moreover, there were even children.
The numbers were not trivial.
"Actually, there are some children in the royal capital who don't even know I'm the king. I'd like to bring them along, but those children have their own lives. If they want to remain in the royal capital, please let them stay. Oh, and make sure to take proper care of them."
Angie crushed the report in her hand.
(Why must I clean up this man's mess—no, calm down. It's for making Leon king. If this is all it takes, it's a cheap price. Yes, a cheap price—but still, the numbers are enormous. Your Majesty—just how much had this man been playing around?)
She had never imagined their king was this terrible.
She had heard various rumors, but the reality was even worse than them.
Bernard glared at Roland.
"Just how much have we been cleaning up after him."
Vince was the same.
"Roland, you bastard, from the very start—"
Mylene had a resigned look on her face.
"This man is just that kind of person. He's probably so happy about handing the throne to Leon-kun that inwardly he wants to dance, doesn't he?"
Being told that, Roland blurted it all out.
"So what? I feel like thanking that brat for taking over this troublesome position and dealing with all the troublesome matters. When I picture his bitter face, just that alone makes me feel happy. What's more, from now on he'll be the one toiling to support my livelihood. I'll honestly say 'thank you' here."
If Leon heard this, he'd probably pull the trigger of a shotgun.
Bernard explained to Angie.
"Actually, preparations for the transition are already underway."
Hearing that, Angie widened her eyes.
"You knew we would move?"
Bernard nodded.
"To put it more accurately, if you hadn't moved, we would have moved ourselves. Honestly—if only he worked this energetically as a matter of course."
Even before Angie made her move, Roland had apparently been laying the groundwork within the palace.
Seeing Roland's triumphant face, Angie felt a headache coming on.
(If Leon were here, he'd definitely be frustrated.)
She felt as though she had been played in the palm of his hand.
Roland crossed his arms with full confidence.
"Handing the throne to that brat is the way that settles things best. Now then, the problem is no longer the palace, but the territorial lords. They're damnably troublesome, vexing, infuriating, and on top of that, cunning. —Angelica, do you have the caliber to make them obey?"
Before Roland, Angie took one deep breath.
And then—.
"Of course."
—she answered.
◇
After Angie and the others left.
Mylene, who remained in the audience chamber, threw sarcasm at Roland, who seemed refreshed and exhilarated at being freed from the throne.
"It's good that you weren't sent to the executioner's block."
Then, Roland spoke as if seeing right through her.
"That brat hates seeing blood spilled. Even if he had to kill me, on the surface he'd say I was killed, but behind the scenes he'd let me escape."
Since Angie had proven Roland's opinion correct, Mylene couldn't argue back.
So she resorted to sarcasm and snide remarks.
"You look so pleased to be freed from a position of responsibility. Do you hate the throne that much?"
"I hate it. I cannot understand the minds of those who want such a punishment-game-like chair. However—I'm glad that it's that brat who will be sitting in this chair."
"Oh? You're not frustrated like usual. Are you satisfied at having foisted an unpleasant position onto someone else?"
"I'm certainly irresponsible, but not so much that my heart wouldn't ache at seeing the people who live on this land perish. That brat—he'll fight until the very end."
Roland turned his back on Mylene.
"The only one with a chance of winning is that brat. Honestly, when I heard 'survival of the species,' I was convinced. The Emperor of the Empire is a man who doesn't do useless things. For that man to go this far. It's natural that he has a corresponding reason."
It was almost strange that he had declared war on the kingdom.
From Roland's perspective, the Empire's reason for starting the war, which he heard from Angie, seemed to be one he could accept.
"If only you had been competent, Leon-kun could have fought without any worries about what was happening behind him."
At Mylene's words, Roland turned around.
"People obey the strong. The same goes for nobles. No, nobles are probably more sensitive to it. A weak king is meaningless. It's fine for that brat to rely on the royal family, but the reverse is impossible. Still—Bartfort, huh."
Roland clasped his hands behind his back and gazed out the window.
Outside the window, numerous airships of the Redgrave family were floating.
Roland laughed softly.
"This too is karma."
Hearing that murmur, Mylene tilted her head.
However, since there were also issues to come, Mylene ignored Roland's murmur.
"More importantly, will the nobles obey? I don't think they'll obediently follow when told something like 'survival of the species.'"
Roland laughed.
"As if they'd obediently obey. But, yes—there is a possibility. Hmm, I should subtly inform Angelica of the weaknesses of those troublesome fellows."
"Why do you possess the weaknesses of the territorial lords? If you had told us sooner—"
"It's precisely because it's times like these that they're useful. What good is threatening people on a regular basis? Well, leave it to me. I'm good at using people's weaknesses to threaten them."
Roland cheerfully began his behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
◇
A room in the palace.
Angie was talking with her older brother Gilbert.
Gilbert put a hand to his chin.
"Now then, what shall we do from here? Father is persuading the Redgrave faction, but the problem is the other factions."
Considering the war against the Empire, even if they gathered every bit of the kingdom's military strength, it would still be insufficient.
To get everyone to participate, they had to ask for the cooperation of the other factions as well.
"I'll honestly explain the circumstances."
At Angie's words, Gilbert shook his head.
"Even if you tell them about 'survival of the species,' few will understand. Listening to our story, most will probably just mock it."
No matter how much truth she spoke, they wouldn't understand.
But even so, Angie wanted to show her sincerity.
"If we don't fight here, we have no future. Not for the country. I'll have them fight for themselves. Besides, merely threatening with military force—"
If she were there, her persuasion would have more credibility, but bringing Cleare along would lower Leon's chances of victory by that much.
After all, Cleare was also busy.
(I have to get through this with my own strength—)
As she was thinking that, a man entered the room in a tattered state.
The guards at the door were lending him their shoulders for support.
Seeing that figure, Gilbert raised an irritated voice.
"I believe I told you not to let anyone in without permission?"
The guard knights faltered a little, but the young man being supported raised his face.
Broken glasses.
His clothes were tattered, and there were bruises all over his body.
Angie was surprised seeing that young man.
"
Chris, in his tattered state, thanked the knight who had lent him his shoulder and pulled away.
Then he stood firmly on his own two feet.
"I went to persuade my family. My father almost threw me out, but—in the end, he came to understand. I will lend Bartfort my strength too."
Chris's family was a house of swordsmanship instruction.
Naturally, many of its disciples were nobles, and there were many skilled knights as well.
"—Y-you..."
Even Angie was surprised by this.
She had thought he usually just stripped off his clothes and ran around in a loincloth, but here he was, having persuaded his family to cooperate with them.
Gilbert was surprised.
"That the Sword Saint accepted it."
For Gilbert, who knew the man's character, it seemed to be an unbelievable story.
Chris grinned.
"Talking wasn't going to work—so we beat each other with wooden swords. Thanks to that, he said he'd hand over the title of Sword Saint to me as well."
As a result, it seemed Chris had won.
Angie put a hand to her forehead.
"Get your wounds treated immediately, you idiot. But—I thank you."
Chris told Angie.
"It's not just me.
"Those three? What about His Highness?"
Angie was bothered that
Chris removed his crooked glasses.
"—His Highness went to meet Bartfort."