Read Novel Full Chapter 34
Chapter 34
The Person to Ally With
“Yup. I plan on joining hands with the first prince, Fredrik instead.”
“”!?!””
Hearing my reply, both Lizbeth and Maya breathed in with shock.
Well, I suppose it was natural.
Fredrik was the obviously the prime candidate as the next Emperor already, and more than that, both the first queen and his younger brother Robin were deeply prejudiced against me. Even if I joined Fredrik’s circle, it’s unlikely that anything good comes from it.
However.
“I know a certain fact. That Robin, actually has a deep sense of envy towards his own older brother Fredrik.”
Yes,……….he was jealous of Fredrik.
Intellect, ability, looks, Fredrik was better than him in all regards which had given Robin an inferiority complex, and to top it all off, their mother, the first queen Alicia was completely devoted to supporting Fredrik and had zero expectations of Robin.
And the Emperor was the same, as to him, Robin’s existence was at best, only slight above my own in terms of importance.
That’s why, Robin made it a habit of constantly scorning me who was an even lower existence than him, and was trying to maintain what little remained of his pride……..hoping to find some kind of reason for his existence.
Well, I’m sure that the only reason Robin was a subordinate of Fredrik was because of direct orders from his mother, queen Alicia.
At least that way, he was able to get some kind of attention from his mother, or at least that’s what Robin would have thought.
Well, as someone who had no one to even acknowledge me other than Lizbeth, it’s not like I don’t get his feelings either.
………that said, I would never, ever sympathize with a guy like that either.
“And also, what do you think would happen if the guy he thought to be even lower than him were to join hands with Fredrik? Can you imagine?”
“His pride would take an irreparable amount of damage indeed…….”
“Indeed. Then, what would he do to protect himself?………why of course, he would have no choice but to make Fredrik his enemy instead.”
In that case, Robin would have no choice but to join hands with the second prince Oscar instead.
And when that happens, he would openly show his hostility to Fredrik and queen Alicia who he would deem to have betrayed him.
He would never, ever forgive those two for hurting him like that.
“………however, you highness, I don’t think it’ll all go that smoothly. From Prince Fredrik’s point of view, wouldn’t keeping his younger brother by his side have more merits than joining hands with the fourth Prince? Not to mention, I doubt Queen Alicia would ever approve of all this.”
I understood where Lizbeth’s cause of worries came from.
There are a bunch of scandals always following me, and at the very least, Fredrik’s camp won’t be too happy with my addition to their group. There’s even a chance that certain group of nobles even leave Fredrik’s side because of me.
Queen Alicia as well, would rather pull the hair out of her head than join hands with the son of the woman she hated the most.
But…….my chances of winning this gambit aren’t zero either.
“I think, Brother Fredrik is probably already thinking of joining hands with me……..no, that’s not the right way to put it. He wants to join hands with Lord Fahlcrantz who is now backing me.”
“But would he really go this far just to ally with my father? Above all, if he were really so desperate to pull father to his side that he’d join hands with you Prince Rudolf, he would have been trying to approach and recruit father more aggressively even before this in my opinion.”
Lizbeth took another sip from the tea that Maya had poured anew for her, and then looked at me with her pale blue eyes.
“Oh but it’s precisely because Lord Fahlcrantz had continued to give him the cold shoulder even after everything that Brother Fredrik had given up by now. But, now he had a different route, and another chance to bring him to his camp yet again through me. Then, he would not ignore this opportunity at any cost.”
“……….Why would Prince Fredrik want to add my father to his group that much?”
“Because brother Fredrik, does not have his own army.”
This was something that had been made very clear in the [War Records of Wilhelm] as well.
Compared to Oscar, who had various militaristic noble families, that weren’t that far off behind the Fahlcrantz family, under his command, Fredrik’s camp was mostly composed of families that excelled in diplomacy and administration, and nobles with financial might instead.
Of course, when it comes to the politics within the capital, Fredrik had an overwhelming advantage but when emergency situations arose, Oscar’s influence improved drastically.
Especially, other than the north, all the frontier regions from the east to the south west had been banded under Oscar’s banner, and when push came to shove, he could attack the central capital from three directions.
Meaning, for Fredrik to make his claim on the throne truly solid, he desperately needed the strongest warrior, the “Obsidian War Demon”, on his side no matter what.
“……..and so, even with my existence being a negative to him personally, brother Fredrik would still want Lord Fahlcrantz no matter what the price.”
“I see………”
Satisfied by my explanations perhaps, Lizbeth put her hand on her lips and nodded multiple times.
“But still, I must say I’m quite surprised by how discerning you are with these matters Prince Rudolf. You know the exact details of both Prince Fredrik and Prince Oscar’s camps, and have already analyzed it in detail, and have even considered their next……..no a step even beyond that…….”
“A, ahahaha……..”
Hearing Lizbeth compliment me with no restraint, and seeing Maya look at me with inquisitively, I could only scratch my head and smile wryly.
I certainly can’t tell them that I know all this because I know the history of this country in detail from the future, can I?
“In any case, until Fredrik comes and contacts me himself, I won’t be making any moves myself. So let us just patiently wait for it.”
“fufu………Yes.”
Both me and Lizbeth smiled, and left the serious talk behind and focused on enjoying the tea and having a more light hearted chat.
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