Chapter 4: The Weimar Royal Family
In a chamber of the royal castle of the Weimar Kingdom, an elderly man adorned in luxurious attire cast a stern gaze upon a muscular middle-aged man.
The elderly man was the king of this nation, while the muscular man held the title of Knight Commander.
“How goes the battle?” the king inquired.
“Your Majesty! The performance of our soldiers is nothing short of remarkable; each and every one is fighting valiantly!” the Knight Commander replied.
The king let out a deep sigh in response to the Knight Commander’s words.
“I require more than abstract impressions; speak only of the facts.”
With the king’s command, the Knight Commander hesitated briefly before beginning to speak in a dejected tone.
“To be honest, the situation is at a standstill. We have the advantage in numbers and close combat, but they excel in the power of their magic. We are struggling to engage them in melee. However, they too are at a disadvantage; their physical capabilities do not match ours, and their numbers are few, preventing them from launching a full-scale invasion… that is the current state of affairs.”
“Then it seems you can achieve results when you put your mind to it,” the king glared at the Knight Commander, but soon lowered his gaze and sighed again.
“Just as it has been. It pains me that we failed to persuade Maya… Kenta Maya.”
At the mention of Kenta Maya, the Knight Commander shrank back.
The failure to persuade the Most Fearsome Summoner was attributed to the arrogance displayed by one of his subordinates, which had offended Kenta and led to his refusal.
That subordinate was a noble’s child, but the Knight Commander, furious over such a grave mistake, stripped him of his knighthood and demoted him to a common soldier.
He would have to be retrained from scratch.
Yet, the king opened his mouth with a hint of irritation.
“Indeed, that man was demoted. Considering the gravity of this failure, execution might even be warranted.”
“W-What?! He is a member of the Count’s House! Executing him would only incite the Count’s wrath!”
“Perhaps it would be better for the nation to crush the Count’s House that raised such a fool in the first place?”
“B-But if we do that, we will only create another source of conflict within the kingdom!”
“I am aware of that. Sigh… Victoria has already given up on persuading him, and it is all so infuriating.”
Kenta, who had defeated the king of the Demon Tribe that they were struggling against, was someone the king had hoped would easily scatter the demon soldiers with his power.
Now, Kenta was wanted across the world.
The king had thought that if they lifted the bounty on him, persuading him would be a simple task.
However, that plan was dashed by the foolish actions of a knight.
Even if they executed the former knight and destroyed the Count’s House, the anger would not subside.
Yet, the king also understood that such actions would provoke backlash from the nobility within the kingdom.
With everything going wrong, the king’s frustration only grew day by day.
“It is because I expected Kenta’s assistance that we find ourselves in this pathetic situation. Since we cannot rely on his aid, adjust our strategies accordingly. That is all.”
“Yes, Your Majesty! I take my leave!”
With that, the Knight Commander hastily exited the room.
“Truly pathetic. And to think that the summoner has turned out to be a disappointment. I expected him to be of more use.”
With a sigh, the king found himself alone once more.
Meanwhile, in another chamber of the castle, the first princess, Victoria, received a visit from her younger sister, the second princess, Wimple.
“Sister, I hear you failed to persuade the summoner?”
“…Did you come all this way just to tell me that? Are you so free, Wimple?”
Wimple, who had come intending to mock her sister, was momentarily taken aback by the sharp retort but quickly regained her composure to speak to Victoria.
“No? I am quite busy, actually. You see, I am preparing to go persuade the summoner whom you failed to convince.”
If she could succeed where her sister had faltered, Wimple believed she could outshine Victoria, who was seen as the most likely candidate for the next queen.
With sweet anticipation swelling in her heart, Wimple confidently declared her intentions to Victoria.
Victoria, taken aback for a moment, quickly adopted a bitter expression.
“Stop right there. Kenta has stated he will not cooperate at all. While it is true that he seemed offended by that knight’s attitude, that is not the only reason.”
Victoria’s words sounded like mere excuses to Wimple.
“Ha! You say that, but the truth is you simply failed to present him with any benefits, right? I, on the other hand, can offer him something of value.”
“…Benefits?”
Indeed, Victoria had approached Kenta without offering the benefit of lifting his bounty, making her request seem hollow.
She had held the belief that as a princess, her words would inspire the common folk to tremble with admiration and comply without question.
Realizing she had failed to present any substantial advantages, she felt a pang of regret.
“Yes. I’ve heard that the summoner is quite a young man, is he not?”
“Indeed… he was seventeen when summoned, and now he is around twenty.”
“Ha! A twenty-year-old man is a bundle of desires. Surely, a man like that would be overwhelmed by the prospect of living a life on the run, hidden from prying eyes.”
Victoria’s eyes widened at that observation.
“Y-You can’t mean! No! You are a princess…”
“I would never use my own body! I merely intend to enlist the services of someone from that profession!”
Wimple, her face flushed with embarrassment, corrected her sister’s outrageous misunderstanding.
“O-Oh, right.”
Relieved yet frustrated by the fact that she hadn’t thought of such an approach herself, Victoria bit her lip.
Seeing her sister’s reaction, Wimple smirked.
“I shall clean up the mess from your failure, dear sister. You may wait here in the castle for the good news.”
With a chuckle, Wimple left Victoria’s room, her laughter echoing behind her.
As Victoria glared at her sister’s retreating figure, memories of Kenta flooded her mind.
His expressions and words were filled with deep-seated hatred.
That was…
“Maya harbors a hatred for this world that sought to abduct him and use him as a disposable pawn. The sins of Lindor are indeed grave.”
Kenta had been summoned by the Lindor Kingdom, deceived into fighting, and when he achieved victory, he was met not with rewards but with execution.
The reason for Kenta’s hatred toward this world stemmed entirely from Lindor’s actions.
While the world viewed Lindor as a victim, the royal families knew the truth.
Currently, Lindor was attempting to rebuild by supporting a new king from the remaining royal family, but this had led to widespread disdain from other nations, isolating them in the international community.
The collapse of the nation was merely a matter of time.
“Using seduction, huh? I never would have thought of such a thing… but perhaps it might actually work.”
Even if he despised this world, Kenta was still a healthy twenty-year-old man.
If a woman were presented to him, he might be easily swayed.
“However, would that not inadvertently provoke Kenta’s wrath?”
Such concerns lingered in her mind, but she was already a failure once.
If she were to caution Wimple, it would only lead to accusations of jealousy over her sister’s seemingly promising plan.
“Sigh… All I can do is pray that Kenta’s anger does not turn toward me.”
Victoria murmured as she gazed out the window at the overcast sky, which mirrored her own troubled heart.