Emperor Edward the First
He is still young but he exuded a noble aura, even just by sitting on his throne. A faint tinge of worry could be seen in his eyes.
He was alone inside the room, making him appear very lonely.
The ssenger had given him the letters form the frontlines. Unlike the others that would receive the letters today, his letter is longer and there are more letters addressed to him.
He is reading it carefully, letter after letter.
There were reports of the matter at the frontline, there were reports of the happenings and there were also reports of future plans and others thing that he did not know, revealed in those letter.
It is sealed by the seal of the Chancellor. He frowned when he saw the na Aero on the bottom of each letter.
’I was too late. The Chancellor once again took this opportunity from . I should never have put him out in my plans. It turns out this old fox had always been planning to return ho. I just did not think he would return in this way, draining all of my effort’ he thought to himself.
He touches the handle of his throne and he chuckles helplessly.
His face is calm, but only he knew how stormy his emotions right now
Edward could not be sure of it but he was confident that Aero had chosen the right ti before he could crush Veranis
Aero instead co out and lead an army so that he would gain the rit and reputation of saving the Empire
In other words, it was almost like Aero had intercepted his rit
Edward had never worried about Veranis invasion.
Like Aero had speculated, he could easily have driven back the invasion.
Of course, it would be a little hard from him to take the capital of Veranis after that, but to drive back the Veranis invasion is a simple thing.
There is still the secret army that he has and there were many other ways for him to force Veranis back.
he wanted to take advantage of the Veranis invasion to determine who is loyal to the rule of the Empire and who is not so he could destroy them later.
Consolidating his power, just the way Aero would have done if he was in the Imperial court
Aero however suddenly rge and break that plan into pieces.
Edward had once think that after all matter is solved and he had the allegiance of the plains warlords and knowing who is loyal and who is not, he would himself led his army to the frontline and defeated the Veranis invasion
That would raise his reputation among the common people.
That is also one of the reason why he let the Veranis army to live that long.
He wanted to give the impression to the people of the Empire that the Veranis army is not weak.
If he had destroyed Veranis army on day one, people would just treat it as a matter of course.
Of course the Empire could defeat Veranis.
What is Veranis compared to Vanheim? They would not feel that the Empire had done sothing significant. Things that is so easy to do, would not register in the minds of the people.
The harder a certain matter is to be solved the more impactful it will be for the people.
That is what he was counting on.
He wanted to give the impression that what Vanheim is facing is an existential threat.
He wanted to make the people fear.
He wanted them to think that if Veranis pass the Ethylred Plains and co down further east they would reach the capital and bring down the Empire.
He wanted to create that fear, and during that ti, he would co out from his Palace lead the army and crush Veranis rebellion, elevating his reputation to the highest
He did not think that while his first phase of the plan succeeded where he manages to make people afraid of a possible collapse of the Empire, Aero would be the one reaping the benefits.
Aero must have known his plans.
Aero could always co out during the early phase of the war if his intention is really to save the Empire.
But, no, he did not.
He waited until the Empire wanted a savior and then he co out and crush the Veranis rebellion
’This old fox, always ruining my plan.’
But at the sa ti he is scolding the Chancellor in his heart, he also wanted the Chancellor on his side. Jas had been unruly in his behavior and no one could really effectively stopped him.
Edward knows that his authority is being eroded by his older brother. But as the Emperor, he could not really execute Jas without any reason.
He is betting that if he does try to execute Jas without reason, all of the officials that is in his older brother pockets would send all kinds of morials against the decision.
Not to ntion the old aristocratic families that would surely stand up for his older brother. And if he pushed his older brother too far, Jas might really rebel and he could cite that the Emperor is tyrannical trying to execute him as justification for his rebellion.
The Chancellor always spoke of his grand ambition of unifying the continent and to beco the sole ruler of this continent.
Edward shares the Chancellor enthusiasm.
Which monarch did not want to rule a vast land, and be rembered through the ages?
But, he is not his father. His father while he has an old stepbrother which is Archduke Bradheim, the older brother of his father did not covet the throne.
Edward on the other hand have Jas coveting the throne. Unless he could settle Jas, he is not confident of trying to unify the continent.
He fears that he would bake the bread, but sobody else is going to be eating it.
That is why even though he does not like the Chancellor, he wanted the Chancellor on his side in the court.
The only one that could have any restraining effect on his brother is the Chancellor.
It could not be helped. Even before he ascends to the throne, the old officials and the old nobles all were on Jas side.
The only one that truly protected him is the Chancellor.
Out of everyone in the court, he is the one that could change the decision of all the officials of the court to support him instead of Jas.
The forceful power that the Chancellor have in the Imperial Courts is almost absolute after the death of his father.
It is why he learn to be timid and acted like a coward timid king. He wanted to test the Chancellor and at the sa ti he wanted to see if the Chancellor wanted to usurp the position of the monarch of Vanheim.
If the Chancellor wanted to usurp the power of the imperial throne at that ti, Edward truly did not have any power to stop it. As such it is better to pretend like he is an obedient cat.
In the years since Edward ascend to the throne, the Chancellor had never seed to care much about the Imperial throne and Edward believes that the Chancellor truly did not desire the Imperial Throne
And while Edward had gotten his answer, the answer does not satisfy him.
The Chancellor did not desire the imperial throne.
Though, he wonders is it because he is loyal or is it because his power has already surpassed that of Emperor and that is the reason he might not want the Imperial throne.
It is really hard to know the desire of the Chancellor especially since he is also an adventurer. Their motive is usually very weird and strange.
Not all adventurers serve the imperial court but it is well known that all of these adventurers all have their weird quirks.
In the absence of the Chancellor this past few years, Edward had shown so of his claws that he had hidden
And he does not know whether showing his claws is a good idea or not. He sighed again as he once again looks at the letter and read it
And another sight echoes in the empty throne room.
After he read the letter he did not say anything.
He seems to be thinking of sothing very intently.
Since no one is inside the throne room, no one could see the fierce expression on Edward face. No one would believe that the timid Emperor could have such a fierce expression.
He sighed
’The Chancellor has returned. I don’t know if this a good thing or a bad thing. Jas would not be sitting tight on his throne if he knew this. The Great Khagan would also think of so way to minimize the damage. A storm is about to hit the court’
Edward had complicated feeling about the Chancellor.
On one hand, the Chancellor is a ritorious subject of his Empire.
On the other hand, the Chancellor have too much power in the Imperial Court that it almost seems like he is the puppet Emperor.
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