Chapter 92: Butterfly Effect (3)
Sssaaa….
Feeling the air around him drop a few degrees, Abel swallowed hard.
The strongest family of the Empire, the eighth head of House Bernhardt.
Edgar Bernhardt took off the hood of his cloak and cast a sidelong glance.
“Hey, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Uh, y-yeah.”
“Have I ever said sothing wrong before? Hm?”
“……”
“If I say sothing, you could just agree, knowing it’s right. Why get so worked up?”
As Abel pressed his lips tightly shut, Edgar spoke again in a soothing tone.
“Co now, Abel… You don’t seriously think you earned that seat through your own strength, do you?”
“T-that’s…”
“If Crown Prince Luel hadn’t died on the battlefield, if Emperor Ludwig hadn’t fallen into an endless sleep, if Princess Elisabeth hadn’t beco Kalte’s queen, if the Queen hadn’t beco addicted to drugs—do you really think you’d still be Crown Prince?”
With each word, Abel’s shoulders drooped lower.
Then, as if driving a nail into it, Edgar asked coldly,
“Do I really need to remind you how many manipulations our Bernhardt Family carried out for your sake?”
At that, Abel hastily waved his hands and stamred,
“N-no! That won’t be necessary! I understand perfectly well what you an. Let’s do as you say.”
You should have said that from the start.
Swallowing those words inwardly, Edgar continued,
“Well, let’s consider that discussion settled for now… I have one more proposal.”
“O-oh? Let’s hear it, then.”
His gaze turned toward the full moon peeking through the narrow window.
“Soon, we’ll need to move the Ribenian Orthodox Faith.”
“…Those old geezers? Why?”
“…I happen to be one of those old geezers myself.”
“Ah, co on, Edgar. You’re an exception, of course.”
Instead of reproaching Abel for his careless remark, Edgar analyzed the situation with a cold gaze.
“What they want is the collapse of the current system—legislation centered on the Bernhardts, religious policy centered on the Orthodox Faith, the overwhelming burden of beast extermination on the Special Task Force, the lack of independence in the Academy’s curriculum, and even the poor treatnt of the Magic Tower.”
“……”
“They want to overturn all of that and rebuild the system centered around themselves.”
Well, perhaps because they’re convinced they can’t win this war otherwise.
“It’s about ti we step on them lightly—to remind them who they’ve made their enemy.”
Abel rubbed his chin and asked,
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be simpler to just send the army?”
“…Phew.”
Where the hell did this fool crawl out from?
No wonder they called him Emperor Ludwig’s greatest regret.
Suppressing a sigh, Edgar patiently explained,
“If we send the army to an Imperial academy directly under the crown, what do you think the citizens’ reaction would be? Especially when they’re already exhausted from constant beast suppression.”
“…Wait, then wouldn’t it also be difficult to move the Orthodox Faith? For the sa reason—they don’t have much military strength either.”
“There’s no organization in the Empire that can outdo the Ribenian Orthodox Faith in terms of justification. If we have clear evidence, the citizens won’t say much.”
More importantly—
“Ironically, the strongest force in the Empire belongs to the Orthodox Faith.”
“Ah… so that’s what you ant.”
Finally grasping the situation, Abel scratched his forehead awkwardly.
“But how are you planning to create that justification? To move Dellowell, you’d need undeniable proof of blasphemy.”
“I’ll take care of that myself. Your Highness just needs to be ready to stamp the approval.”
To think soone could talk to the next Emperor like that.
Sotis, the irritation nearly boiled over—but this ti, Abel decided to let it pass.
At least the Bernhardts wouldn’t say or do anything that might disadvantage him.
“Just make sure that justification is airtight. If it is, I’ll stamp it as many tis as you want.”
“Of course.”
Having said all he needed to, Edgar rose from his seat.
“Then, I’ll proceed as planned—with your trust.”
Once the head of the Bernhardts disappeared from sight,
Abel Ribenia clicked his tongue while staring at the cigar still burning away at its end.
“Damn it, they really treat the Crown Prince like a damn fool. Every last one of them.”
Let’s see how long you can keep that attitude.
In the end, I’ll make you kneel before and beg in earnest, Edgar Bernhardt.
March 21st, Monday.
Before the main building of the Empire’s only Imperial Military Academy, Academy Karbenna, an unusually large crowd had gathered.
“It’s noisy as hell the mont I get to work.”
Ignoring the commotion, Frederick Lake, who was about to head into his office, leaned his head out the window for a mont.
People he had never seen before were holding up placards and shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Chairwoman! Co out and explain what you said during the summit!”
“Is it true that a proud instructor of the Imperial Academy supported holy magic?”
“The faculty must state their official stance on the Hockma Incident!”
“Start by properly dealing with the insiders protecting that problem child, Eugene Carter! Before we cut off all the education funds given in the na of support!”
With that kind of protest happening outside, it was no wonder the staff couldn’t focus.
Watching the scene quietly, Frederick first encouraged his staff.
“Don’t worry and keep working. The higher-ups will handle this matter. And make sure you don’t say anything unnecessary.”
Leaving behind both reassurance and warning, Frederick hurried toward the main entrance of the main building.
Many officials had already gathered in the lobby.
Among them were Dale, the Director of Planning and General Affairs; Orwell, the Cadet Commander; and Michel, the Chairwoman.
“Chairwoman.”
“You’re late, Frederick.”
“What are your thoughts on this?”
“We’re getting the conference room ready right now. Wait a little longer.”
“Let’s just ignore them. Things like this always happen after every summit.”
But Michel neither affird nor denied it—she simply stared at the people outside holding the placards.
At that mont, Dale leaned in and whispered softly.
“Hold on, Frederick.”
“Even if you’ve got deep ties with the Bernhardt Family, this is—!”
“It’s not about that, so just be quiet.”
“…What?”
“There was an anonymous report over the weekend.”
“What are you talking about now…”
Not long after, so servants and mbers of the faculty inford them that the conference room had been set up.
Michel nodded slightly and gestured to the subordinates beside her.
“Let’s go.”
Seventy percent of those leading the protest were servants sent by noble families to deliver petitions.
The remaining thirty percent were the wives of those nobles, and through persuasion, Michel decided to allow only five of them into the eting room.
Thus, the conference room was filled with five representatives of the parents and five from the faculty.
The only absent departnt head was the Head of the Personnel and Administration Departnt.
While the faculty began reading through the pile of petitions,
the woman who had appointed herself as the spokesperson, Marchioness Vera Etihonen, glanced around at the faces before speaking.
“What is this? Where are the people actually involved? Why are we surrounded by unrelated ones? This isn’t what was promised earlier, is it?”
“……”
“Did all that boldness you showed during the summit suddenly disappear?”
“If you’re looking for Instructor Eugene Carter, he’ll be back shortly.”
“…Back?”
“We’re expecting other guests as well.”
After skimming through the docunts, Michel added indifferently without even looking at the noblewon.
“If you have sothing to say, please begin quickly. We have plenty of administrative work to process.”
That woman, dumped by the Bernhardts, really has no manners…
Vera barely swallowed those words and slamd her hand on the table.
“Eugene Carter, Rubia Magnus. Expel them while I’m still speaking kindly. And all the cadets involved in the Hockma Incident—expel them too.”
“And why should we do that?”
“…Are you speaking seriously right now?”
“Yes.”
“You clearly don’t understand the gravity of this issue. Do you really think you can brush it off that easily?”
“I don’t see what exactly the problem is.”
Michel’s unwavering confidence left the parents montarily speechless.
And as if that were just the beginning, Michel continued.
“Colonel Carter’s qualifications as an instructor are sothing to be proven over ti. As for Professor Magnus, it would be absurd to dismiss her just because she uses holy magic. The Imperial Court has already decided to conduct a full-scale investigation into the Hockma case.”
“……”
“In this situation, what more is there for Karbenna to do, Madam?”
Kwaaang!
Unable to contain herself after being refuted repeatedly, Vera shot up from her seat.
“You should be thinking about Karbenna’s image! I heard that Eugene Carter caused trouble after trouble in the past! Shouldn’t soone like that have never been accepted in the first place?”
Ha, unbelievable.
Even Frederick, who had planned to stay silent, sighed and interjected.
“Did you witness that yourself, Madam?”
“…Do I need to? Anyone can tell from what people say.”
“So you’re fine condemning soone based on rumors? Once marked, that’s it? Not even giving them a chance to change?”
“Then he should’ve behaved properly from the start.”
Just as Frederick, flushed with anger, was about to slam the table—
“Excuse .”
Michel, taking over the exchange, fixed Vera with a cold stare.
“Whether or not he deserves another chance—that’s not for you to decide.”
That glacially cold gaze left Vera dumbfounded as she dropped back into her seat.
“Considering how much money we’ve poured into Karbenna, you wouldn’t dare say that. What do you think, Dale?”
“……”
“…Dale?”
“…Wouldn’t it be better to let Karbenna’s internal affairs be handled by those within Karbenna?”
“……What?”
Even Dale, whom they had expected to side with them, took a neutral stance—and unease began to spread across the noblewon’s faces.
“W-what do we do now?”
A nearby countess whispered urgently into Vera’s ear, but Vera waved her off and issued a warning.
“If you keep responding like that, we’ll have no choice but to act.”
“And by ‘act,’ you an?”
“The education funds we’ve been providing to Karbenna—we’ll have to consider them… nonexistent.”
Co on, now—drop that smug expression and start crawling.
Beg for leniency, promise to get rid of those pests, say you can’t survive without our money.
Watching the arrogant woman with folded arms waiting for her reply, Michel let out a quiet laugh.
“So Instructor Carter was right after all.”
“What do you an by that…?”
Right at that mont—
Clack!
The conference room door suddenly swung open, and four n and won entered.
Among them was the very face they had all been so desperate to see.
“Isn’t this a bit too much to make run around since morning? My feet are killing .”
Muttering to no one in particular, Eugene Carter smiled brightly.
“Well then, shall we finally get this eting started? Our dear parent ladies?”
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