The unfair bet
She tried to calm her heart and looked away.
‘My heart doesn't throb like it used to do in the past.
Well, over 30 years have passed.
It’s different from familial love.’
No matter how passionate the feeling of love was, enough time had passed to not even leave the ashes.
It was more so when the other partner was the one who drove you to destruction.
The sudden reunion only surprised her, but there was nothing more to it.
The Emperor talked to the Prince.
“You are late.”
“The meeting with the finance council about the Crimean Expedition grew long, so I was late.”
The Emperor nodded his head.
“That’s right, it’s an important issue. Now that our citizens have been slaughtered there’s no way we can avoid war. If we can not avoid war then we must win it. Marquis, what about the situation in the Republic?”
“The Republic’s forces are tied in the Dark Continent so there have been no signs of movement from them, but after we finish the war there and conquer the Crimean Peninsula then gain the rights to the Dark Sea, one way or another, they will get involved.”
The three of them then sat and started a meeting pertaining to the war that was about to break out.
“I am thinking of assigning Romanoff’s second squad as the main forces. It should be more than enough, right?”
“Just speaking of the second army, it has over 50,000 thousand men so it looks like it’s enough as long as the Republic stay out of it. If we send any more it could put a strain on our finances.”
Elise listened to their conversations wordlessly.
‘So a war is breaking out as expected.’
To tell the truth, in her previous life, she didn’t know much about the war situation because she held no interest in the matter.
Although, there was one thing she knew about the first expedition…
‘This expedition will fail and it will fail miserably.’
The 1st squad will lose to the second army. In the second attempt, her second older brother Chris joined, so she knew it quite well. But then her brother died.
It was at that moment, the Emperor smiled kindly at her.
“We left our lady alone right in front of us and talked about a boring subject.”
“No, no that’s not true.”
“How about it? Is there anything you would like to add to the conversation?”
“How could I dare to…”
“I would just like to hear your thoughts once, so you don’t need to feel any pressure, but if you have a good idea please say it.”
His voice was so peaceful that it seemed to lower her tension. The Emperor wasn’t particularly looking for her help but was just curious, for she was like a niece to him and part of the family, thus he wanted to know what kind of thoughts she had.
Elise hesitated.
‘Should I say it?’
It was just that she knew some particular points about this expedition.
‘What if they ask me how I know this?’
She had already changed too drastically in a ridiculously short amount of time. If she started making suggestions when she had previously shown no interest in politics it would look suspicious.
‘No, I might be able to lower human casualties.’
When the first expedition failed the war grew longer, causing numerous victims.
In the end, the Empire won, but the scars were too big for the people.
‘So what if they get a bit suspicious? The best solution is to stop the war, but that’s already a lost cause. As such, I must focus on lowering human casualties.’
As a doctor, she hated wars that lost human lives.
If she cannot stop the war, then she must lessen the victims.
“Then, my thoughts are lacking, but I will say what I think.”
“Hurry and do tell.”
The Emperor looked at her as if she was his own daughter acting out cutely and nodded his head.
“There are two things we must be aware of in this war.”
“Ohhh~ two things?”
At her detailed reply, the emperor gave an interested expression.
“What is it?”
“The first thing is the Moncelle kingdom in the east.”
“Hm.”
The Emperor looked a bit taken back.
“The Moncelle kingdom? Not the Francesco Republic?”
“We have to be aware of the idea that they could join.”
After listening to her words, Elise’s father wanted to correct her and began to speak.
“Elise, the Moncelle Kingdom has no connection to the Crimea Peninsula. It’s true that they are quite close but they have no reason to care about the ethnic strife and they are inland, so there is no connection to the sea. The country we should worry about is the Francesco Republic.”
Elise nodded her head.
“Yes, you are right, Father. If you look at it geographically they have no reason to take part.”
“Then why did you think they would join?”
“The reason is that the current ruler of Moncelle is Earl Igrint.”
“It’s because of Earl Igrint?”
The Marquis’ face froze for a second as he questioned her.
The Emperor had the same reaction.
Both of these men are capable of ruling the kingdom, they understood the hidden meaning behind her words.
“Are you saying...?”
“Yes, the Earl is a King unacknowledged and his throne is unstable. If he wants to earn his legitimacy he needs to get the approval of the Francesco Republic in order for his reign to be officially recognized.”
“.....!”
“The Moncelle Kingdom was once part of the Francesco Republic in the past.”
The Emperor and Marquis’ faces grew serious.
The Crown Prince just looked at her with indifferent eyes.
“Since the Republic can’t move their forces at this difficult time, there is a chance that they will ask the Earl to attack us from behind in return for acknowledging his right to rule.”
“......!”
The entire garden was silent.
Even if she was young, it was not something they could simply ignore, for it was because there was a chance that she was right.
“Hah, I didn’t think of the Moncelle Kingdom, but yes, it is possible.”
“Yes, it’s true. There is a possibility that the Republic will not take it lying down so the Moncelle Kingdom, which is quite close, can attack us.”
They both had emotionally moved gazes as they looked at Elise.
‘How did she notice something the men who moved the empire didn’t notice?’
Then, it was at that moment, a cool voice was heard.
“The most Moncelle Kingdom can send to the Peninsula is 20,000 men. Do you think just that paltry amount can endanger our empire?”
“.......!”
It was the Crown Prince.
It had been so long, more than 30 years since she last had a conversation with her husband, so she felt very strange yet, due to her frustrations, she quickly rebutted.
“True. If we fight head-on, our army will not lose. The Britannia army is the best in the west, no- the whole world. With the exception of the Republic and the Duchy of Prussia, there is no army who can fight us directly.”
“So you do know. Then...?”
“I said if we fight directly.”
The Crown Prince furrowed his eyebrows.
She quickly added two words before he could question her again.
“The Dnieper river and the Ukraine mountains.”
“....!”
“If the Moncelle Kingdom moves, they will not come to the Peninsula but attack from the Ukraine mountains. If they take the Dnieper river it will take them directly to the mountains.”
“Are you saying...?”
“Yes, the Ukraine mountains is the only entrance to the Crimean Peninsula in the Republic in the west. If we give them the mountains they could cut us off with any supplies and isolate us.”
“....!”
If that happens there would only be one result...
Complete annihilation of the army.
“Ha…..”
Once again, a heavy silence hung over the garden.
It was incomparable to the previous gloomy atmosphere.
The rulers of the empire looked at the girl who noticed things they didn’t catch with awe.
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