The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 4.1

A memorial service was held for the fallen knights as soon as Ilya got the title of nobility. Soon after, the knights’ commencement followed. The ceremony was held to recruit new knights to replenish and strengthen their numbers.

“How do you feel being the youngest knight, Commander?” said Ilya sarcastically as he opened the door to the commander’s room. Papers flew. He caught them skillfully.

A man wobbled, trying to catch the flying paper. He peered over the piles of papers on his desk.

“Why did you have to leave the old men behind?”

Like Ilya, he was overwhelmed with a huge workload. “Where did your aide go leaving you with this mountain of documents?”

“That no-good useless brat went on a vacation as soon as I got back. He said he is searching for something…”

Nazz took a cookie from a small basket on the table and offered it to Ilya. Although Ilya looked at it suspiciously, he took it and chewed it slowly.

“Have you decided which knights will be assigned as guards and escort to young master Livell and Lady Evelyn?” asked Nazz.

“Choose anyone. Why?”

“I picked from the top ten knights. They were all in the Tatar war. When I mentioned the Maduse’s name, they came at me with their knives,” said Nazz tiredly.

Ah, that’s why you fed me the sweet snack first. “Assign it to one of the knights who is supposed to be my bodyguard. At this rate, I am going to lose my wife and my child, too,” said Ilya drily.

“Someone who is promoted to the top ten would be suitable, Your Excellency.”

Nazz picked up a letter from the pile and handed it to Ilya. Ilya scanned the ten-page recommendation letter.

“The vice-commander recommended him? Here we go. He wasn’t even on the Tatar expedition, and he has principles… He seems alright to me,” said Ilya.

“Then the two top knights have been decided, and the other two could be from the lower ranks…”

“No. The ones from the lower ranks are hot-headed. They won’t agree. Besides, they are young and no less than savages right now. Assign my knights, I will be fine with an apprentice.”

Nazz cracked a smile. Ilya silently chewed on his cookie. Nazz studied him with a sideways glance. Ilya was eyeing the map of the empire hanging on the wall.

The Sais Empire was spread over five regions:

Ajauntice Duchy of the North, which embraced the vast Skaran Mountains. The duchy, which faced the border of the barbaric Tatar, was the empire’s shield.

Marquis Maduse’s estate covered the fertile granaries of the central region.

Marquis Vashili’s estate covered ports and islands on the eastern seaboard.

Marquis Lauren’s estate was in the West, the location of the largest gold mine on the continent.

Marquis Flore’s in the South boasted a warm climate with abundant supplies and a large population.

All these used to be controlled by the emperor. The emperor’s territory was in the Southeast. Now that the imperial power had fallen to the bottom, the five regions were almost independent countries.

Ilya’s eyes looking over the map stopped at a point in the center. His sluggish blue-gray eyes turned angry.

“People talk like the war has ended, but you know very well that it hasn’t, Nazz.”

Tatar, which shared a border with the Ajauntice duchy, was uncivilized, but it had a vast territory. As nomads, they boasted great combat power based on their excellent horsemanship and weaponry. Because of the succession dispute, the war was only at a cease-fire, it hadn’t really ended.

“That’s what the ones living comfortably in the capital are saying. That is the North, there are very cold winters and lesser cold falls.”

“Well, they’re not wrong.” Their food growth had fallen to half the rate thanks to the harsh weather.

“Their food!” Ilya said with gritted teeth. “Those Maduse bastards often play dirty tricks. They treat food supplies like hostages and ask for ransom. What’s more annoying is that the imperial family is aiding them.”

“We want to be faithful to the hounds that guard the house, but they are afraid of us having power. Pathetic bastards!”

Those people didn’t dare bleed themselves yet their greed knew no bounds!

“Actually, Your Excellency, your marriage to the only daughter of Marquis Maduse was possible because of the war.”

The imperial family wanted the North to be thoroughly isolated. A union with the North—also known as the empire’s shield—and the breadbasket central was not allowed.

When the barbaric war broke out, however, the emperor didn’t have the power to provide food or supplies. He, who had had no justification to block the union, allowed the marriage and thus, the alliance.

“Everyone was really grateful to Lady Evelyn. Her gifts bore parades of wheat, barley, oats, and rye. Otherwise, we would have starved in the winter.”

“Nazz, when you say it like that, I guess I see that I sold myself for food,” Ilya recalled the Maduse’s daughter who arrived in the North with tons of food supplies as gift for the region.

“Humans are so greedy and cunning. They greeted Evelyn as though she was their savior when she came bearing gifts. Now, I am lucky if they restrain themselves from throwing stones at her.”

“They treat her as a criminal,” said Nazz.

Ilya glanced at his close friend. “What’s left of Marquis Maduse now? His eldest son is dead. He only has his second son now. And of course, my lovely wife, isn’t that right?” he smirked. “The Marquis was all prepared to replace me with that blood clot at the Archduke and Lord of the North.”

Ilya calling his own son a blood clot gave Nazz goosebumps. “What is going to happen to young master Livell and Lady Evelyn?” asked Nazz.