I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

17 – Rebellion Countermeasures

Awesome.

All I can say is that it’s amazing.

To be honest, at the beginning of the war, I wanted the Duke to just give up.

A duke who loses his title will no longer be an attractive groom for nobles. Even if he doesn’t have a duke’s throne, the two of them can live happily ever after.

But… The Duke has won. It is also very splendid and goes down in history.

“Whoa…”

I’m sure you should be happy… But I’m not happy at all.

The possibility that the Duke’s position will be in jeopardy is low. For the duke who defeated such a large army, the garbage coming down from the north would literally be as easy as clearing out the garbage.

“…Good.”

Then… There is one thing I must do from now on.

Cleaning up trash that is offensive to the Duke as a maid instead.

It’s a little disappointing that Laurel’s Ines is twisted, but it’s okay. The duke won’t be distracted by that woman with me in front of him.

Above all, even when I directly asked the duke about that year, the answer was not [Good] But [Not bad].

I’ve always said that I’m pretty, cute, and trustworthy, so it must be very easy for her to win over such a woman.

Yes, there’s no way the duke would like another woman besides me.

‘First… The Count of Nevers.’

It’s not enough to raise a rebellion, to spread rumors that we’re siblings.

…………

The negotiations went very smoothly.

The nobility of the Carolingian Kingdom who participated in the war learned lessons from the war 20 to 30 years ago, and most of them were thoroughly prepared for their descendants.

If all of them were executed, the relatives of the nobles in their home country would surely make a fuss over the king for not fulfilling his duty to protect his vassals. Of course, because of that, the ransom of the nobles was reduced a little.

In addition to the ransom, the amount of war reparations is a bit small because I bargained with Barr, but this will be of great help to my withered finances due to the border being blocked.

We made an agreement with the fallen dead who were left to gorge themselves on mud in the swamps and send their bodies back to the Carolingian Kingdom if we can cull them and properly identify them.

That means we can do whatever else we want with the precious metals, armor, and weapons worn by the nobles. Oh, so sweet

“How was the battlefield, Count Nevers?”

“I was the one who fought the enemies directly as the bait, but it’s very inconvenient to hear everyone chanting your name.”

“Tsk tsk.”

The way he speaks is very disrespectful and he still refuses to call me a duke, but his face isn’t like that at all. It looks very good.

“Then… I’ll go first. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the battlefield, so I’m very tired.”

“Okay, go in and take a break. Heck, you’re an adult and you’re getting permission.”

“It’s exactly what it says… Why should I ask permission…”

“…”

This old man until the end.

I made a joke to lighten the mood, but what if I take it seriously?

I watched idly as my little uncle sighed wearily and went into the room, only to begin a discussion of what was left of the headquarters once he had completely left the headquarters.

“…Anyway, the battle has been won, but it’s not over yet. We have to deal with the rebels who are currently passing through the Bar region. So I’ll ask everyone.”

“Yes.”

“How many days do you think it will take for the rebels to pass through Bar province?”

“Hmm… No matter how short it is, maybe two days.”

“The rebels who started a long time ago must have passed almost all of the Bar region by now. I think it will be about two days after all.”

Everyone in this room is referring to my great uncle as a rebel. Everyone has already tacitly agreed to the treatment of the great uncle.

There were many generals who fought alongside my grandfather, so I was a bit worried that I might not agree with my great uncle, but it seems to have been groundless.

I have gained authority by proving my abilities through victories, and in the eyes of the generals, it seems that my great-uncle is rebelling against the decision of the previous duke.

“Then, I’ll feed the soldiers today and give them a good rest, and tomorrow afternoon, I’ll lead the lightly wounded and uninjured soldiers who can move and go to the Bar province to stop the rebels.”

“Time seems a bit tight… But it can’t be helped.”

Originally, we should have let the soldiers rest more, but the rebels who departed from the north a few days ago have already come down as soon as they come down.

If you delay further, the rebels will knock on the empty walls of Dijon. If that happens, it will be a little annoying, so before that, you should either enter Dijon and prepare for the defense, or defeat the rebels in the field.

His great-uncle seems to have squeezed everything out of the rich coastal provinces and hires mercenaries to lead an army of about 10,000.

Compared to that, the soldiers on this side were exhausted from continuous battles and lost a lot of fighting power due to serious injuries or deaths.

Tsk… It hurts my stomach to spend the compensation money on something like this.

“General Arras, I entrust you with the command of the subjugation force to subdue the rebels. I will hire and attach mercenaries as reparation money, so that you can put them to good use. And a messenger to Leclerc, who will be in Dijon, to hire mercenaries along with the amount of funds. Send.”

“I accept your orders.”

But it’s a necessary expense, so I can’t help it. Count Leclerc, who is in the middle of a financial crisis in Dijon, will understand.

Anyway, there are a lot of sturgeon clams with pearls in the mud field over there, so this level of bleeding is tolerable. I have to dig clams hard.

“Now, since the year has been lost and everything seems to have been discussed, let’s leave here. Good job everyone today.”

“Yes.”

After I finished speaking, the generals each bowed their heads to me and moved to the room assigned to them, and I sat in the seat of honor and watched them leave.

After the last one left the room, I finally let go of my weight and was able to move freely.

“Ahhhhh … It’s finally over … Huh?”

Isn’t it?

Chloe, who was by my side until recently, is no longer there.

Where did he go?

Hmm… Chloe doesn’t do useless things, so she must have gone to do something necessary.

…………

“aaa…”

Good.

All I can say is that taking a bath after sweating for a while is really the best.

The doctor told me not to take a bath because I have a lot of scars on my body… But how can I endure it when my body is so sticky?

“…Write.”

I’m starting to worry about the future now that my head is getting clearer.

I didn’t expect to win this far, but he became very popular among the generals and the people.

Looking at his personality, he’s a guy who will thoroughly prepare for assassination, so assassination won’t be easy.

“…Do I have to protect even what’s in my hand?”

If you do something wrong, everything you give to your son could disappear. I never thought I’d give in to an illegitimate son or something.

If you look at the me I was when I was young and roaming the battlefield, you’d say I’ve become weak.

“I need to mend my relationship with my nephew… Even now.”

It seems that he cherishes his adopted sister very much… She will never be completely forgiven for cursing at her parents and younger brother at the same time.

Still, wouldn’t it be a bit of a relief to see the merits of today’s battle?

I’m really, really weak.

“…?”

At that time, there was a crowd outside the door.

I’m moving very carefully, but I can’t fool my ears.

“Who are you?”

“I brought a change of clothes.”

A young woman’s voice is heard outside the door.

You brought clothes?

“You already have clothes to wear, don’t you?”

“Perhaps there was a mistake, it was replaced with the boy’s clothes.”

“Yes? Leave it there.”

“Yes.”

Tsk… Bringing the wrong clothes, right now… No, I’m tired, so I’m going to leave today. Tomorrow morning, I’ll have to tell the lady-in-waiting to do better training.

I pondered over what to do from now on, and only after my whole body was completely blown up by the water, I got out of the bath, put on the prepared clothes, went back to the bedroom, and lay down on the bed.

‘Yes, tomorrow. I have to apologize properly tomorrow. If your son doesn’t mind losing face a little…’

This is the correct answer. My nephew is leaving tomorrow afternoon, so he has plenty of time.

Okay… Tomorrow morning… Properly… Apologies…

…………

“What is it, Count Nevers doesn’t even see you off?”

“That… Maybe it’s because he had a battle yesterday and took a bath late at night, so he seems to be sleeping until now. Besides, he doesn’t like to have his sleep disturbed, so he always closes the door when he’s sleeping so we can’t wake him up either…”

…I’m not even a kid, how old are you, why lock the door so you don’t wake me up?

But what… I know it wasn’t intentional. I’m sure you must have been very tired from yesterday’s battle, so it’s not too much of a stretch to sleep until now.

“Anyway, yesterday he also agreed to send troops, so I will take the troops of the Count of Nevers to suppress the rebellion.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Fortunately, it’s fortunate that I got consent in advance yesterday. How absurd it would be if the march was delayed because of this.

“…Hit.”

“What, are you so happy to be back in Dijon?”

“Yes, because I can help the duke.”

“So…?”

Well, there wasn’t much Chloe could do here in Nevers.

I’d help with the paperwork in Dijon, but up until yesterday there was a battle here, so Chloe literally worked as a maid.

“Okay, let’s go back. Chloe.”

“Yes!”

As long as the rebels come down from the north, Arras can easily deal with them.

Yes, it is now time for internal affairs.