Quit being a knight and become a mercenary

302 – Ending the Dream (1)

I am happy to have finished the coronation ceremony and received a reward for being a dog so far, but I am just as mentally exhausted.

“No, f*ck. “It’s only been a month since the civil war came to a complete end. What is this, really?”

Don’t the guys who looked down on me just because I was a mercenary leader suddenly turn their palms over and start flattering me?

Some toxic guys say they want to be friends with me from now on, but they ask me for anything they want and openly beg me to pay them a bribe.

As soon as Count Sauer met me at the banquet, he said,

“That bastard with pride and nothing else.”

As soon as Count Sauer saw me, he begged that he had finished his work and would go back to his estate and live quietly like a rat in a hole.

When I said it was okay, he thought that was not enough.

Next, he immediately got down on his knees and said that since he didn’t think he could do anything because he was ‘old,’ he would pass on the title of earl to his son within the next six months and live like an old man in the back room, right?

When I think about that, honestly, it’s more absurd than the thought of being sued.

“Should I at least grab Dalton on the way back home, or rather my mansion, and drag him back to the mansion to complain?”

I don’t feel like I can do it today anyway, so I should gather Karin, Lucia, Hilde… No, even my old colleagues who have become vassals of the Baron Maurer family for the first time in a while, and have a drink all night long.

This is not something that the most successful bastards buy themselves…

While I was continuing my thoughts, the head maid suddenly appeared in front of me again.

“Ah, Chief Maid. Hello?”

The maid heard my words and as she accepted my greeting, she was a little scolded.

“The person who will soon become the wife of Her Majesty Maria in name and reality should not use honorifics toward a woman like that. That is not humility; it could be words or actions that belittle her majesty.”

In 21st century Korea, it is considered a virtue for superiors to lay down their authority as much as possible, but here, it is better to act like you are and stay within the line that does not lead to crazy abuse of power.

If you don’t do that, it will be rather uncomfortable for those serving you below.

Once upon a time, when I gave up all my authority in front of the administrator as a baron, the administrator came to me with a letter of resignation because he thought he had done something wrong.

“I’m sorry. “It’s become a habit.”

“No.”

“But the head maid must be busy as the banquet isn’t over yet. “Can’t she just go and see?”

It is an important situation in which the dignity and authority of the empire will be determined by how one takes responsibility for the banquet taking place today, or rather the chaotic drinking scene that Maria only pretends to be decent because she is a woman.

If she makes a mistake here, her skills as Maria’s emperor will be questioned.

For her, her maid-in-law, this is like a war, so she should save even the time to talk to me like this, right?

“Thank you for your consideration. However, she came secretly because Her Majesty Mary had ordered her to bring her beloved husband to her room. Please follow me quickly.”

Oh, if Maria called it secretly, she can’t help it.

I can roughly guess why she called me, so let’s not ask her any more awkward questions about why she called me.

‘Maria is also active.’

“Hurry up and go.”

“Your Majesty is waiting in your bedroom. “Please come this way.”

And then we just walked in silence without any conversation between us.

Usually, in this situation, her maid, a vassal who has served Maria for a long time, talks about Maria’s strange life or her passionate life…

As I listened to that story, I thought it would go towards her vowing to treat Maria more preciously.

After walking for about 5 minutes, the head maid stopped in front of a room with a huge wooden door.

“This is Her Majesty’s bedroom, and the room where her husband, the Count of Cologne, will reside after the wedding. Her Majesty Maria is waiting inside.”

“I understand. “Then let’s just go in…”

Usually women say they need to be ready, but given Maria’s personality, she wouldn’t call me when she wasn’t ready.

So you can just go in.

“Please wait a moment.”

Then the maid knocked on the door a few times and looked at me.

Unlike before, he smiled benevolently, or even a little affectionate.

“Your Majesty lived a more lonely life than anyone else until you met the Count. Until the civil war began, His Excellency the Duke of Schweig showed some affection for His Majesty…”

The affection referred to here is literally favor in the purest sense.

Because even in this civil war, women were excluded from power to the extent that the princesses except Maria could not even think of forming a faction and participating in the war.

‘A noble woman can obtain her power only after she gets married. And for survival.’

This is a truth that holds true everywhere in the world, including the empire.

So, it seems that Schweig felt sorry for Maria, who was being neglected, and did her a favor.

“After His Majesty participated in the civil war, he treated us strictly as public relations. Of course, Her Majesty never once felt disappointed in Her Majesty the Duke. “She was very lonely.”

Maria is a woman who knows very well how power works and what she must do to seize it and protect it.

So she is not a woman who will be disappointed or resentful just because Duke Schweig changed her attitude like that.

If she had been a woman swayed by such emotions in the first place, I would not have betrayed Otto.

If that were the case, what would have happened to me by now?

I don’t know, just thinking about it is a terrible story and not worth considering.

However, the important thing is that when Maria makes decisions involving power, she has never once gone beyond the category of ‘reason.’

“I heard that story.”

“However, unlike other royal girls, Her Majesty understood the weight of her power so well that she did not reveal this loneliness to anyone under any circumstances. She has been telling all the nobles out there exactly the way to go. She lived her whole life lonely and solitary, like her eagle.”

Then the maid put her hand on the handle of her door and said.

“I don’t like the word if, but if Her Majesty had not met the Count. He probably lived with his heart locked. But now, unlike before, he smiles a lot and is happy. “She tries not to show off in front of the Count, but she is a hard worker who always goes through all sorts of troubles to remain beautiful and loved by the Count.”

When her heart began to pound slightly, the chief maid began to slowly open her door.

“So please spare Him. As someone who has served His Majesty for over 20 years, I can say this with certainty. Her Majesty Maria will do her best to be loved by the Count throughout her life, unless the Count abandons her first.”

Up until now, you kept telling me to use informal language, but because of the affection I have had for you throughout my life, I cannot speak lightly in a situation where you are speaking like a real mother.

“I will also try to never disappoint Maria. “It’s too much for me.”

After saying that, I went inside the door without listening to the answer.

At that time, I heard the head maid sobbing, albeit very softly, in my ears.

I pretended not to have heard that at all and tried to say hello to Maria…

Maria had a serious expression, the kind of bitter expression she would make when she was at war.

“Are you here, Martin? Please sit down first.”

When I was very embarrassed by the unexpected situation, Maria said to me.

“We will soon become a couple. Of course, Martin, there are many women to love besides me, so you can’t be completely mine. I belong entirely to you. “My purity, my life so far, and even my future life will all be given to you by my choice.”

Those words carried tremendous weight.

“So there shouldn’t be anything to hide between us. Martin, I ask you honestly. “Isn’t there something you’re hiding from me?”

Maria, who fully used her dignity as an emperor, scared me for a moment.

Even the emperor of the Montmartre Empire was not like this.

Seeing this aspect, even if Duke Schweig was a woman, she would have wanted to serve as emperor.

So, while I felt proud of this, I also felt anxious at the same time.

Then I realized I couldn’t hide it anymore and said.

“Maria, is that what you mean? “When I first turned to you, I wasn’t truly loyal, but was looking for an opportunity to betray you.”

“I thought you were trying to hide it, but you’re honest.”

“Well, I thought it was best not to hide it now.”

“If I had tried to vote for you, I could have used this as an excuse to strip you of your count and kill you.”

Even though the world today has a culture that treats no major problem even if a vassal with territory serves two lords in theory…

If two people start fighting, you have to take the side of one of them, and straddling the two is considered treason.

So, what Maria said is correct.

But now Maria will never have any intention of kicking me out.

‘If that’s the plan, we would have talked about this at the banquet hall or somewhere else.’

Even though I’m naked right now, I can cut down Maria and about 20 knights of the Royal Guard.

“I am not deceiving you.”

After hearing her words, Maria smiled as if she was satisfied.

“I will also be like that for the rest of my life. And this fact was reported to me yesterday by some rats who served nobles who used to belong to Otto’s faction, but those who reported this were all killed and eliminated. “To frame you, who risked your life so many times for me, is something that has gone overboard.”

Then Maria pointed to the pile of documents piled up on her desk.

“These are the things those rats brought to me as evidence. The orders that Otto gave you and all kinds of physical evidence are all written down, but there are no copies. Of course, there is no one other than me, including the Duke of Schweig, who knows of the existence of this document…”

Maria said with a relaxed smile.

“Martin, burn it down with your Auror. However, before that, I would like you to promise me one thing.”

She handed me a box containing a ring.

“I will love you forever. “Not only in life, but also in death.”

Then Maria took out one of her rings and held it out to me.

“So, you may be half of me, or it may be harsh to promise for the not-so-distant future. “Love me until you die.”