I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

12 – War of the Burgon Succession (2)

“Before that, send an envoy to the Duchy of Laurel.”

“Are you asking me not to allow the rebels and the Carolingian army to pass through?”

“You talk fast.”

To come to Dijon from the northern coast where my great uncle is located, you have to go through two routes.

The Bar region of the Carolingian kingdom and the Duchy of Laurel of the Holy Empire. Of course, it could come around very quickly, but it’s unlikely that it will happen because a quick battle is important in a rebellion.

And the former is difficult because of the overlapping rebellion and war, so the easy way for my great uncle to come to me is to go through the Duchy of Laurel.

“I’m engaged, so I can ask for military support, but…”

“It seems difficult.”

“That’s right, let’s stop this.”

In the aristocratic world, engagements are rarely divorced, so they are no different from marriages. In other words, even if you send military support to the other party with whom you are engaged, it is not at all unreasonable intervention in the public perception.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to do so in this case. If the Duchy of Laurel does enter the war, they will face their great-uncle’s army from above and the Carolingian army to the west.

No one will say anything about simply not permitting military passage, but in the case of participating in the war, the Principality of Laurel is literally engulfed in flames.

He must be very aware of this fact, so if you ask for military aid, he will reject it with disapproval.

That’s why I’m just asking for border blocking. I’d be happy to hear this.

‘Assuming that the borders of the Principality of Laurel are cut off… My eldest uncle—’

“I have no choice but to pass through the Bar region of the Carolingian kingdom.”

As I said before, you’ve either heard of the declaration of the Carolingian Kingdom, or you’ll know soon. Then the Carolingian kingdom is an enemy to the uncles.

There are no strong local nobility in the Bar region, so it’s easy to occupy it instantly, so it’s easier to supply and a more attractive option than going around the Holy Empire.

Okay, now that we’ve sorted out what our great uncle is going to do, let’s move on to Caroling. Because the Carolingian army will reach you faster than your uncle’s army.

“Count Leclerc.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Where do you think the Carolingian army will come?”

“Wouldn’t it be Nevers?”

That’s an immediate answer.

There are three routes: North, West and South, but Leclerc asserted that the West is Nevers.

“May I ask why?”

“It’s easy to move large armies in the western plains, and it’s rich, so there’s a lot of loot, and there are people who need to be eliminated anyway.”

The person to be eliminated… Little Uncle.

Certainly, the southern hills are difficult for large armies to pass through. But…

“My eldest uncle will pass through Bar, will they stand still?”

Yes, this is the problem.

People in the Bar region are likely to regard the army of their great uncle who carries the Burgon flag as the army of the Principality of Burgon.

What’s more, since there are all the lesser nobility, they won’t be able to withstand the army of my uncle for long, so the information gathering will be delayed even more.

“Yes, it may be a matter of life and death for the nobles of the Bar region, but it is someone else’s business for Charles, King of Carolingian.”

“It’s someone else’s business…”

Listening to Leclerc’s answer, I felt as if I had been hit in the back of the head.

I forgot that this was feudal times.

Generally, the leader of a country should care for the security of the country, but the leader of a feudal country tends to place more importance on his or her family and title.

Feudal aristocrats are willing to do so if they can increase the glory of their family and increase their direct jurisdiction, even at the cost of reducing the power of the country.

From the perspective of the Carolingian king, it would be a more attractive option to advance through Nevers and then to Dijon after using the Bar region as a meat shield. It’s an opportunity to take away my title.

“Your uncle in Nevers must have heard the declaration of the Carolingian Kingdom sooner than I did because he was geographically closer, right?”

“Yes.”

“How do I…”

I have to think the same way as the other feudal nobles.

If you leave little uncle alone, it will become a very good meat shield to block the Carolingian army.

Assuming that he puts up a desperate resistance.

Hmm…

“…Send envoys to my uncle. If you repent of your sins even now, I will make things that never happened.”

Of course this is a lie. After the situation is roughly over, I will put other sins on the table and deal with it.

Of course I had no intention of letting the bastard who said such things to my mother and Chloe live, and also because he had bared his teeth at me once in the first place.

Why should I let a guy with his teeth exposed once live?

It’s a bit distorted that people are exonerating themselves even with lies, but… I can’t help it.

It would be a catastrophe if my uncle surrendered to the Carolingian kingdom.

There is no choice but to make it look more profitable to surrender this way.

“Leave my great uncle to take care of himself. He is a loyalist, loyalist, to think he raised an army and plundered the enemy country.”

The Grand Strategy is over.

There is only one thing left to do.

Do I personally lead the army from the front, or from the rear in Dijon?

‘I’d rather lead the army myself.’

It has already been 9 years since he was registered as a duke.

In the meantime, the education I received included cold weapon military science.

Including what I learned from my previous life, I can confidently say that my military tactics are definitely above average. If that doesn’t work, you can delegate it to the generals.

Most of all, I need to prove my will and ability to my vassals and vassals, so my family is essential.

It’s not even my temper to stay in Dijon and pray that things will turn out well. Oh, and I also need to meet my little uncle.

“Count Leclerc, I appoint you as chancellor. The deadline is until I return from my parents’ home.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Leclerc wriggled his eyebrows as if slightly surprised, then bowed his head to me.

Did you think I would stay in Dijon? I’ve done everything in advance, so even if I stay in Dijon in the future, there’s not much I can do, right?

A Leclerc with a lot of administrative experience would be able to easily supply and post-process.

Even if he has a bad heart, he won’t be supported because he’s not from the Burgun family, and since I’m leading all the troops, it’s not that much of a problem–

“What do you mean by that!?”

“Ugh…!?”

My thoughts were scattered by Chloe’s hand shaking my head.

Chloe’s voice trembled slightly, and her face was white. His pupils are also vibrating briskly.

Seeing that, Leclerc slightly frowned and showed his displeasure, but since Chloe is my sister, he couldn’t say anything hastily.

“Gong, duke… No, boy… Just give me the duke’s throne… Yeah?”

“Chloe?”

“Nothing is more important than life… Without it… We can live happily enough… So… Please…”

Chloe’s voice, which trembled as if in a hurry, changed to a sound mixed with crying as it went backwards.

Chloe is afraid of losing me, fearing that I will die.

But… I can’t do Chloe’s request this time.

As Chloe said, even if I hand over the dukedom to someone else, they will try to kill me because they want to eliminate any variable. When you step down from the Duke seat, the only thing waiting for you is death.

“…Chloe, I’m sorry—”

“If you must go… I’ll go too.”

“Huh?”

This is a very familiar scene.

…………

“—-Therefore, His Highness, the Duke of Burgon, sent a personal letter asking us to fight the foreign enemy together as we will erase the previous unsavory incident.”

“…”

Since it is difficult for my older brother to go to Dijon, who is only hit by the sea breeze, I, who is connected by land, quickly occupy Dijon, call, and ascend the throne as duke.

Looking at it again, it’s a perfect plan… Damn it.

‘The Carolingian Kingdom…They ruined everything.’

If it wasn’t for those bastards… I wouldn’t have been humiliated like this, and I wouldn’t have lost the crown of Dijon.

Something like an illegitimate child talking to me like this? Ha ha ha ha ha…

“…Yes, I will accept it.”

But there is no other way.

My pride hurts a bit, but if I can protect my land with it, it’s a good enough gain.

“Reject Caroling’s earlier offer.”

“Yes.”

Perhaps they knew the news of my rebellion, those bastards literally thought of putting me on hold.

He made many demands, such as being responsible for the supply of the army, giving up claims to the dukedom, surrendering military command, and selling some of his territory, but in return was only a guarantee that the county of Nevers would be maintained.

Compared to that, the offer of our illegitimate son is indeed generous. Let’s leave things behind and fight the enemy together.

If it were like usual, he would have judged that there would be a trap because he was so generous, but he, like me, is trying hard to protect the crown on his head, so there’s no special meaning.

It must literally mean that we act together for the Carolingian Kingdom.

…Stay still.

“If we defeat the Carolingian invasion…”

I’m going to fight my brother who is in the middle of a rebellion. Not only the army of Dijon, but also the army of my county of Nevers.

The coastal region that my brother inherited is a rich place thanks to maritime trade, but it’s still not enough to deal with the allied forces at the same time.

After I get rid of my older brother like that… The only thing left is an illegitimate child.

‘I’ll have to kill him after that.’

Still, I still have to endure it.

If the illegitimate son is killed now, the elder brother will be given the upper hand according to the law of succession.

Together, defeat the Carolingian kingdom, eliminate the older brother, and assassinate the illegitimate son.

…Good.

Still, there is still a chance.