Chapter 38

"The beginning was the rebellion of the Grand Duke's family. You understand that in a war, the side that is forced to react is at a disadvantage, right?"

In this world, the attacking side has an advantage in war.

This is because of the existence of airships.

"Yes. In fact, the defense of the capital was also very difficult."

Milene-sama nodded and continued.

"---The royal family at the time, which had been oppressed by the Grand Duke's family, feared the emergence of a second Grand Duke's family. As a noble lord, you should understand that there are ways to rapidly increase military strength once you become a baron or higher."

"To increase the number of airships. I've heard that in the past, there was a way to expand one's influence by attacking other families."

Due to the convenience of floating stones, the maintenance cost of airships is surprisingly low.

It is also possible to build them relatively cheaply.

Gathering forces and fighting among lords to gain new floating islands.

This was a method for lords to expand their power. With the right forces and talent, even a baron could instill fear in the kingdom.

...Such an era existed.

"Many of the nobles who retreated to their own territories thought that the kingdom was not an enemy. In fact, many nobles underestimated the kingdom and attacked."

Such misguided men lost to the kingdom.

However, since the defending side is at a disadvantage, the kingdom also suffered significant damage.

"The kingdom also prepared the academy to demonstrate its power. To show the lords the capital and the difference in national strength."

Lukseon said something like that.

But, how does this relate to the truth?

He seemed to say something about burdening men...

"And the kingdom prepared another strategy. It was to weaken the power of the lords. They implanted a new set of values."

"Weaken their power? Values?"

"Do you understand why women were so favored?"

"That---"

"Originally, men are very few due to war. There's no problem while they are in the academy, but after graduation, there are not enough men. The reality is that many women cannot marry."

In such a situation, why are women favored in marriage?

Now that you mention it, it does seem strange.

Men have the luxury of choice.

Wait, could it be that the reason I was almost forced to marry before entering the academy was because there are so few men?

"When instilling common values in the academy, the kingdom implemented a scheme. At first, they made people think that spending money on women was the right thing to do. They made it seem normal to be gentlemanly and spend money on women."

...Hey, hold on a minute.

Could this situation have been created by the kingdom?

"Wait, what's the point of doing that? Because, you know, the nobles won't work when it comes to it!"

This time was the same.

The boys in the same situation as me were watching the battle and planning to defect to the duchy.

After calming me down, Milene-sama slowly continued her explanation.

"At first, they didn't expect such a situation. They just wanted to instill the same values and camaraderie, and slightly weaken the power of the lords. But the effect was beyond their imagination."

Young people who knew the kingdom's strength early on became less likely to challenge it.

At the same time, the idea of favoring women became stronger.

"Shouldn't we have corrected it halfway through?"

"It wasn't necessary. In fact, if I had been a party to that era, I would have ignored it. It was convenient for the kingdom. The noble lords were exhausted, and wealth was concentrated in the capital. From then on, the number of lords who opposed the kingdom actually decreased dramatically."

Milene-sama, who answered firmly, spoke about another purpose of the academy.

"Another purpose of the academy is to establish an educational system."

...Hmm? Now that you mention it, I remember having a conversation with Lukseon about something like this.

"To establish an educational system and educate not the nobles, but the commoners. Do you understand the meaning of this?"

When I averted my eyes, Milene-sama smiled.

"To create a future where nobles are no longer needed, a few hundred years from now."

...I didn't want to hear that.

If I hear such a story, I might be eliminated.

"The royal family at the time intended to implement political reforms over several hundred years. No, they probably thought they had to do it to some extent."

Tired of dealing with noble lords, the royal family thought about changing the political system after much consideration.

What's that? Isn't that thinking too far ahead?

"At that time, it was an era when the corruption of the nobles, represented by the Grand Duke's family, was severe. Even a viscount should understand that."

There are good people, but there are also many scoundrels who make you shake your head.

"The academy also tried to correct the thinking of young people like that. If the nobles were normal, the kingdom would continue as it is. However, things progressed in a direction that the royal family at the time did not expect."

The status of women became higher than expected.

"The result of effectively weakening the power of the noble lords and leaving it unchecked led to some women from baron and count families going too far. The situation became worse than the royal palace had anticipated."

That's how it led to the present.

"Terrible story, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's a terrible story. However, it's also true that the wealth of the noble lords was concentrated in the capital. The girls who wanted to live a luxurious life in the capital were convenient for the royal palace. This is the reason why the burden was placed on men."

The kingdom did not trust the nobles, especially the noble lords.

By creating the academy and eventually educating the commoners to reduce the number of nobles, it seems that the kingdom might have intentionally overlooked the girls who went too far in the academy.

It seems that they were selecting the nobles who should eventually be discarded.

Perhaps the real noble families, like the count's family, did not give their daughters slaves because they sensed or knew this fact.

When changing the political system, the remaining nobles might have aimed for important positions in the new system.

Even if the ignorant nobles went too far, the kingdom, which had the trump card of the royal family, seemed to be optimistic.

I never thought that such intentions existed in the academy, which had become a mess. I'll ask Lukseon for more details later.

And---

"Could it be that Livia's enrollment in the academy is"

"It means moving to the next stage. The nobles should feel a sense of crisis. They intended to start with her and increase the number of students each year. Well, they were thinking of a hundred or two hundred years from now."

...I learned this in my previous life's school.

After the feudal system, wasn't it the absolute monarchy with centralized power?

"---Centralized power"

"Centralized power? ...It's a good concise term to describe what the royal family aims for."

I was praised for showing my knowledge from my previous life, but I'm not happy in this situation.

They are talking about taking everything from us lords and making commoners do the work of the nobles.

I never imagined that the academy was established for that purpose.

"Things don't always go as planned."

Milene-sama said this and smiled self-mockingly at me.

...Stop it. Don't test me like this.

I'm worried that I might be killed for hearing this story. If the male nobles hear this, they will be furious.

Well, it's pointless to blame the current royal family. Milene-sama was probably in a position where she was told about such a plan after marrying from a foreign country.

"You are indeed different. You are so calm. I thought you might yell at me."

She seems to have misunderstood my reaction.

"And this is a personal talk, not as a queen---"

I was just confused and didn't know what to say.

Then, Milene-sama stood up, sat on the floor, and bowed to me.

...What? Why is she doing a dogeza! Wait a minute. There shouldn't be such a thing in this world! Did she imitate what I did at the school festival?

"Hey, stop it! What's going on all of a sudden?"

"Viscount Baltfalt. I know it's impolite, but please. Could you help my son Julius? I'm asking you as his mother."

...What did he do?

◇

The six people who were thrown into the dungeon.

Marié, Julius, Jilc, Brad, Gregg, and Chris were quietly waiting for their fate to be decided.

Marié was crying.

"Everyone... I'm sorry."

Julius smiled.

"I could only do this much. Don't worry, Marié."

Jilc looked at Julius with a sad face.

"The prince couldn't go to the battlefield, and there was a masked knight who helped us on the spot."

Brad, remembering the masked knight, seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

"He suddenly disappeared. Well, he was quite capable, though."

Gregg, sitting cross-legged, rested his chin in his hand and talked to Julius about the masked knight.

"He wasn't a replacement for you, but he was useful."

Chris nodded in agreement, acknowledging his skills.

"He was on a suit of armor I had never seen before. His swordsmanship wasn't bad either. But I never found out who he was. Baltfalt seemed to know something."

Julius smiled faintly at their reactions.

"---I see. I wish I could have met him too."

"No, you didn't need to meet him. He's the kind of guy who suddenly shows up and takes charge. Next time we meet, we should interrogate him to find out who he is."

Marié looked at the five of them in exasperation.

Are they serious? She had that look on her face.

"Everyone, that was---"

Footsteps were heard in the dungeon where the six were.

When the guards saluted, the man told them to step back. Behind the man was a woman with black hair.

"Ah!"

The man Marié looked at with shining eyes was---Lion.

"You guys are really stupid, you know."

Behind him, the Duchess Heltrude's daughter was also present.

"I'm really disappointed in you noble ladies."

Marié clung to the iron bars and begged Lion for help.

"I did my best. Please help me."

Lion, looking pained, pressed his right hand to his forehead and assessed the situation.

"Do you know what your crimes are?"

Julius looked straight at Lion.

"I have no shame at all."

"Be ashamed! Attacking the duchess's daughter after signing a treaty is not funny! Because of you, the royal palace is embarrassed!"

Heltrude sighed and looked down.

"Did you do something reckless for my sake?"

"That's part of it. That treaty was too harsh. Besides, I was going to become your son-in-law. And... Marié asked me to."

Marié had asked Julius to do something about the duchy.

"Is that your true intention?"

The royal palace probably wanted to send Julius to strict management. By marrying Heltrude, they thought it would ease public sentiment.

But Julius attacked the duchess's daughter.

Of course, it was a pretense.

Because of this, the royal palace's reputation was completely ruined.

Even the treaty was revised to some extent because of Julius's actions.

Naturally, the marriage talk with Julius was canceled.

(We could have just married.)

Marié thought.

Lion turned his gaze to the other four.

"Do you understand, too?"

Gregg rubbed his nose with his finger, looking a bit embarrassed.

"To protect Marié. I have no regrets."

"Show some remorse! Knocking out the temple officials who came to take Marié is ridiculous, isn't it? Hey, are you really that stupid? You are, right!?"

Chris puffed out his chest.

"It was self-defense."

"You went too far. The temple has filed a protest! We had various plans, but you disrupted them."

The temple officials who came to Marié were supposed to collect the holy maiden's items.

However, there were some inconvenient people mixed in. They also brought poisoned wine to make her drink.

They intended to make Marié take all the responsibility.

The four rushed to the scene and drove out all the temple officials from the royal palace. While this was problematic, Lion wouldn't blame them. The problem was what happened after.

"You know, Marié was recognized by the holy maiden's tools. Even if she says she's a fake, she is the holy maiden. Do you understand that?"

Marié, thinking she was being praised, blushed.

"Really? Then I'm the holy maiden, huh?"

"Because of that holy maiden's man, the situation got complicated. They drove them out without investigation, and the temple got stubborn and refused to recognize Marié."

Heltrude seemed to want to say something but left it to Lion.

"Do you know how much I had to do behind the scenes? Why did you waste my efforts?"

Brad stood up in anger and protested.

"Would you have let Marié die? We can't accept that!"

"Indeed, you are right. They were trying to poison her. I thought they were idiots too. But... it's not good to cause a commotion after driving them out. Isn't storming in like that stupid?"

Marié defended the four.

"Wait! Everyone, they were just protesting because they thought I would be executed by the temple."

"Using armor and causing a riot is not a protest! It's called using force! The situation was almost settled, including the poisoning attempt!"

To the officials in the royal palace, the six people thrown into the dungeon must be very annoying.

Heltrude sympathized with Lion.

"You must be having a hard time. Why don't you come to our place? I can promise you good treatment. I can even offer you a dukedom."

"Not interested."

Lion, who immediately refused, approached Marié.

Heltrude, looking a bit regretful and sad, whispered, "Rejected again."

"The legendary seductress who led the five promising young men astray---you are known as such, you know."

"Really?"

Marié, blushing, made Lion look really annoyed.

"Because of you, protests are pouring in from all sides! Your families are furious, the officials in the royal palace say they won't forgive you, and the temple is demanding the execution of all of you!"

Marié grabbed Lion's leg.

"Please help!"

"I tried to help! You guys ruined everything! Do you have a grudge against me? How did we end up in such a terrible situation? Everyone is shocked!"

Lion looked like he was about to cry.

"No! We tried to do something about it, and this happened."

"This is the worst! Think before you act!"

Marié started crying.

"Then, are we going to die?"

Lion seemed to want to say something but swallowed his words and turned his back.

"...I was asked by Milene-sama. I will do my best to help, but don't expect too much."

Marié smiled.

Yes, if my brother from my previous life---Lion---moves, things usually work out.

(Thank you, big brother!)

◇

To resolve the incident with Marié and the others, I went to the king.

Surrounded by the elders, King Roland was accompanied by Vins and Bernard.

Everyone showed reluctance to my request.

"I don't think you understand the meaning of helping those six."

Even though my son's life was at stake, the cold words of the king made me---

"I will give up all my assets."

The king snorted.

"Didn't you transfer the factory you owned to your father, the viscount? Besides, you've lost all the lost items. Even if you gain a little wealth now, it's meaningless. Moreover, we've lost the royal family's ship, haven't we? Isn't that your responsibility?"

What a nasty guy, saying such unpleasant things.

The Partner and Arrogant can be repaired, but it's better to keep quiet about it.

"...I only ask for the lives of the six."

The king, leaning back, looked at me with a smirk.

Does he hate me that much?

However, Bernard said,

"Saving their lives is easy. But I hope you understand that we can't just leave those six alone. Prince Julius is a member of the royal family. The other four are the former heirs of prestigious noble families. And there's a girl with the power of the holy maiden, even if she's considered a fake."

The king turned to Bernard in surprise, but this time Vins also supported my opinion.

"It would be prudent to confine them to a monitored floating island, but we don't have a suitable island ready. The royal palace won't go out of its way to find such an island. So, we'll have to use the one you found. Is that okay?"

Using the floating island I discovered and claimed as my territory. The king seemed to be reluctant, looking at Vins with a resentful gaze.

It seems that Vins and the others think the loss of the royal family's ship was unavoidable.

I won't touch that matter.

Seeing Vins ignore the king, I felt relieved.

However... It hurts to give up my territory, which is full of my ideals, but I can find a new floating island