In the deepest part of the Imperial Palace, the deep dormitory of the Emperor, the Emperor Harold III, who enjoyed the highest honor in the entire empire, was now suffering from illness.

The thin emperor sat on the sofa by the fire in only his thin pajamas, quietly listening to the reports of his two sons. Because of the fire in the dormitory, the seriously ill emperor did not feel the slightest winter cold, but even so, the skinny body under the pajamas still trembled slightly from time to time, in addition to the cold, the pain was also destroying the emperor's body.

"Father, although the current situation seems to be calm, it has actually reached a critical point of turning point, if we don't fight a decisive battle with the Baidi people now, then the power of the empire will only get weaker and weaker in the encroachment of the Baidi people, so only the sooner we fight with the Baidi people, the more hope we have of defeating them!"

After Iscario reported on the meeting, Francisco echoed his brother and tried his best to advise his father, even more eager than Iscario. On the contrary, it was Iscario, after reporting on the situation of the Imperial Council, he basically quieted down, and the duties of the two seemed to be reversed.

Harold III, on the other hand, was silent, leaning back on the sofa, staring at the fire with his eyes in a trance, and he probably hadn't heard Francisco's impassioned words just now.

Looking at his father, who had been tortured by illness like this, Iscario sighed slightly, he knew that the country could no longer rely on this emperor. Harold III was not a great emperor in the first place, although he tried to strengthen the authority of the royal family after succeeding to the throne, but his cowardly personality made him afraid to take the risk of confronting the dukes, and the situation of the empire during his reign could not be said to be very good, but he barely maintained the dignity of a great power.

Francisco, who was unwilling to give up, called out to Harold III again, and the old emperor reacted slightly, turned his face, and looked at his two sons in a daze.

"Hmm...... What did you just say?"

This time, Francisco couldn't help but sigh.

"Father, I have consulted with several dukes to prepare for a decisive battle with the Baidi people in the Mirror Lake Territory. I have drawn up a battle plan, and I beg you to order Minister Zaclyde to cooperate with me. ”

"Let Felix cooperate with you......" The emperor looked a little surprised, his head was half a beat slower than his son, and he hadn't reacted yet, "Felix is the marshal of the empire, shouldn't he be in charge of making military plans and executing them?"

Francisco opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but Iscario took the lead and said: "Then it's up to me to cooperate with Minister Zaclyde, I'm sorry Father, I just overstepped it." ”

The Emperor's expression relaxed, his wrinkled skin slackened again, and he leaned his weight back on the sofa as he had done at the beginning, unable to conceal his old age.

"Izzy, I'm sorry, it's not that my father doesn't trust you, but Felix is the marshal of the empire after all, and he has a lot more experience than you. Of course, I believe your plan is good, so let's do it together. ”

As he spoke, the Emperor raised his hand slowly, laboriously took off the seal ring he was wearing, and handed it to Iscario.

"I'll leave the formal order to you, just stamp it. I'm tired, so let's be here today. ”

The two princes respectfully retired, indeed, the royal meeting was not over until late at night, and being woken up at this time was really hard for Harold III, a sick old man.

Walking out of the emperor's bedchamber, Francisco was still indignant.

"Brother Emperor, this is a battle plan drawn up by you, how can it be transferred to someone else to carry it out? Zaclyde was not a clever military commander in the first place, and when he was appointed as a marshal, it caused many people to be dissatisfied, why did his father trust this half-guy so much, and let him stay in the position of Minister of War for so long, Father Emperor is really ......"

Iscario's expression was calm, and he didn't care, even though his father clearly didn't give him trust.

Waving his hand, he motioned for his brother to stop talking. Iscario was well aware of his father's reasons for reusing the incompetent Zaclyde, and it was for this reason that he didn't have much hope when he came here.

"My father is old, and now he is seriously ill, so you should be considerate of him. ”

Francisco glanced at his brother suspiciously, and saw that there was really no resentment on the other party's face, so he had to give up the words that he held in his mouth.

"I'll go back and prepare the battle plan in writing, and tomorrow I'll hand it over to Zaclyde along with my father's orders. Although our Minister of War is conservative, it is also good to be conservative, and he will never disobey the orders of his father. ”

"But he would definitely be against the plan. Francisco said sullenly, "How dare such a timid guy fight a decisive battle with the Baidi people so close to the imperial capital, he doesn't even dare to step out of the imperial capital." ”

Iscario was silent about his brother's words, as he could not refute them. Field Marshal Felix Zaclyde, the Reich's Minister of War, is the most conservative type of officer, and it is better to say that he is cautious, but most people still have a bad evaluation of his style as a "coward", this marshal is almost a pacifist and opposes all acts of war that are not 100% sure, which also makes him lose almost all the support of the military, and if it were not for Harold III's insistence on appointing him, Zaclyde would not have been able to do a day in the position of Minister of War.

"Zaclyde may not be reliable, but General Walsh and those people will definitely support me, and most of the soldiers in the imperial capital are dissatisfied with Zaclyde, and this happens to give me enough supporters. They'll help, I'll tell them my plan, you're in charge of the six dukes. ”

"It's the four dukes. Francisco shrugged his shoulders and said a bit of teasing in his tone, "I can see that Northway and Tamska have entrusted this matter with carte blanche to Figlaf, and they don't intend to care about us at all, how can the so-called 'Miss Michelia' and 'Bishop Juan' represent the Duke, so the opinions of the three families are completely unanimous, and it is up to Figlaf." ”

"Then go and talk to the Duke of Arnold, we know too little about him. Perhaps thinking that his brother was complaining too much tonight, Iscario frowned and looked at his younger brother seriously, "Before he appeared, no one expected that the duke brought by Leng Shan was not Tigerman, don't underestimate this person, judging from his wrist, maybe" will be the next Wollaston." ”

Francisco's forehead sweated slightly when he heard the name of Wollaston be mentioned by the royal brother, he was still quite afraid of the serpent-like and sinister duke.

"I see, but aren't all those dukes agreeing to join our plan, and you're still worried?"

"Well, it's a little ......," Iscario nodded, his expression solemn again, "I have never been able to figure out what kind of tacit agreement Wollaston and Heslett have reached, they are acting too strangely for me to figure out their purpose, so I am always a little uneasy." It's an element of uncertainty, and the most dangerous thing in planning is uncertainty. ”

"They...... There shouldn't be any serious problems, right?" Francisco thought for a moment, and although the royal brother's statement was a bit appalling, he still didn't think things would turn out as bad as Iscario said, "At most, it's just an offensive and defensive alliance to reduce their own losses, just like Feglaf and them." ”

"This is the best-case scenario, but we must not just put our hopes on it. Iscario was still not so reassured, "It's better to be careful, you can find a way to inquire." ”

Francisco smiled bitterly, if this thing could have been done so easily, they wouldn't have to bother here.

Iscario also apparently realized how difficult his request was, so he added a sentence to soothe his brother: "Do your best, and I'll find someone to help you." ”

Francisco nodded, in response to the royal brother's request.

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On the other hand, Arnold also received an invitation from Heslet, Duke of Voliva, immediately after the Imperial Council.

Apparently, the Duke of Heslett did not invite Arnold to drink and have fun, but an invitation signed as a conspiracy.

When Arnold arrived at the location indicated by Heslett, he was not surprised to find that the Duke of Wollaston was also here.

"You may be seated. The Duke of Heslett made a "please" gesture, pointing to the couch in front of him and said to Arnold, "The Duke of the Empire is an extraordinarily high title, not only because of its symbolic status, but also because of the authority that the Duke has. Now that a young companion has joined us, I think it's important to get to know him. ”

Arnold noticed the Duke of Heslet's diction, and it seemed so strange to say "companion", but he said it naturally.

Obviously, this companion meant a fellow nobleman who fought against the imperial power.

"Then I introduce you to the famous genius, His Excellency Duke Louis of the House of Tamska. Arnold sat down and joked with the Duke of Heslett in a serious tone and expression, "If you have time, be sure to go to Whitehorse and get to know Louis, his genius will definitely impress you." ”

Although Louis was a year younger than Arnold, after all, he became a duke two years ago, and Heslett had heard of him, so the reputation of this duke naturally reached Heslet's ears.

He couldn't help but laugh and raised his glass to Arnold.

"If I have the chance, I'll go. Of course, first of all, I had to survive this war. ”

The Duke of Wollaston also seemed amused by Arnold's joke, his expression was no longer as fierce as at the meeting, and the scar looked less hideous on the smiling face. He stood up and poured wine for Arnold himself.

"It's a pity that I didn't get to meet His Excellency Æthelwolf, but it's good to meet new people, and this is a toast, Your Excellency Duke Arnold. ”

As he spoke, Wollaston drank all the wine in his glass, and now the viper looked kind, not at all in line with the rumored image of the outside world.

"It is my pleasure, Your Excellency the Duke of Wollaston. Arnold smiled as he drank the wine Wollaston had poured him.

Although it was a conspiracy meeting, the atmosphere was as harmonious as the reunion of old friends, and if it weren't for the identity of everyone present, I am afraid that it would be extremely difficult to refuse others in this atmosphere.

"Well, now we know each other, and we're friends. Duke Heslett put down his wine glass, although his face turned a little redder, but his elegant temperament did not change, "As a friend, can I ask you about the attitude of Northville and Tamska towards this war?"

If you were a friend, you wouldn't ask that kind of question at all.

Arnold put down his glass, knowing it, and replied in Heshlet's tone: "As you can see, Norsvi and Tamska have been stumped by another war, and they are completely unable to pay attention to the crisis caused by the White Landers, so I have absolute power to represent them. ”

"Good. Duke Heslett smiled with satisfaction at Arnold's candor, "So, what is your attitude?"