Chapter 29 - 3-6
──Be strong.
There are those in Siddim who walk the path of hegemony while reminding themselves of this.
One such man is the Marquis of Delroy, Sedias Thora. Rather than a craving for strength, it is a fear of weakness that drives him, keeping him a shrewd man to this day.
The territory of Marquis Sedias Thora, Delroy, is the keystone of western Siddim.
The military houses of the surrounding territories all look up to Sedias as their leader.
When he succeeded as head of the house, he was a youth in his late teens—short of stature, possessing great physical strength, and brimming with confidence.
What that youth saw upon ascending to power was his own weakness. Looking west, there lay the great nation of Pushan, where political stability was nonexistent and no one knew which way it might tumble. Then there was Eber; Eber was a small country, but it was a cunning nation that garnered sympathy by appealing against the atrocities inflicted by the great powers while running conspiracies behind the scenes.
Turning his eyes within Siddim, he could not help but be conscious of the fact that Delroy was surrounded by hungry wolves. The further east one went, the worse the reputation of the Thora family became.
──The westerners will eventually ally with foreign powers and march upon the city of Malfa.
Such things were spoken of openly.
No one thought of being peaceful. Everyone looked at Sedias with faces that seemed to want to trade blows. Even the lords beneath his own feet looked around restlessly, trying to read the wind. Even his vassals attempted to manipulate the young Sedias for their own selfish designs.
──If I am weak, it is annihilation!
Once he had determined that, his resolve hardened. He aspired to hegemony and ceased to care how others perceived him. Whether he was hated or loathed, as long as he remained consistent, people would follow the one with the most power.
The crude youth grew into a man of discretion and acquired the cunning necessary to move people.
Now, if Sedias gives a single word, western Siddim tightens its ranks and falls into line.
Central Siddim and the areas around the royal capital also show him submission.
In eastern Siddim, there are still those who do not sway toward the Thora family, those who maintain their own independent feudalism. These are figures such as Marquis Anavis of Ganlord and Marquis Gilmond of Kraff. They are not worth fearing. As the saying goes, poverty breeds dullness; everything those people do is clumsy, and they are plagued by carelessness.
──They will surely attempt a comeback, rush things in their haste, and destroy themselves.
Sedias waits with a thin smile. In fact, he has received reports from spies that there are traces of iron ore mined in the east being transported to foreign lands. Iron is the top item on the list of prohibited exports. It seems Count Tosha, a subordinate of the Marquis of Ganlord, is involved.
──Fools. I'll make sure they find out exactly where it was smuggled.
The ones he truly feared were not the lords of the east.
It was the Siddim royal family.
In the early summer of that year, Sedias Thora came to the royal capital of Malfa──or rather, it should be said he returned. The only time Sedias returns to his home territory is for a brief period in early spring. He spends most of the year at Malfa Castle.
Indeed,
"I have returned."
Kneeling before His Majesty, he reports thus every year.
It is customary for His Majesty King Swad Alish VII to reply,
"You have returned well." "Let us eat. You must have come with an empty stomach, yes?"
His Majesty rises lightly from the throne. The King is twenty years younger than Sedias.
Sedias follows behind with a pale face.
This meal is also a custom. He is invited to the royal family's table. It may be the event that the hegemon Sedias dislikes the most. His Majesty invites him knowing full well.
When he became the Marquis of Delroy and was consolidating his grip on power, Sedias had maintained a cautious distance from the royal family. To put it bluntly, he was afraid. The authority of the King in Siddim is worthy of fear.
Of course, he never let a hint of that show.
Sedias's governance had the flavor of an old country lord.
He possessed a diligence and attentiveness in winning over people's hearts, such as granting scholarships to promising youths or visiting bedridden vassals.
Toward those outside his territory, he was a tyrant personified.
He lured enemies into traps by flaunting things they desired, pinched their vital points, twisted them, and then made them obey under the guise of "discussions." If an agreement could not be reached, he raised an army. It was not only disputes within his own territory. This young ambitious man sent troops even into the squabbles of other territories. Naturally, complaints flooded in from all directions.
Each time, he entered the presence of the King to seek post-facto approval. The King at the time was His Majesty Yude II. For the most part, he was not in a pleasant mood. The Marquis was scolded quite a bit in his youth. However, he was quick to grasp the knack of it. His Majesty Yude II did not like an attitude of servile fear. He loved hot-blooded men who would sulk and boldly talk back.
──Surprisingly...
To call him a man one could talk to would be insolent. Even so, the Marquis of Delroy felt that they hit it off. His sense of aversion vanished completely.
Sedias frequently caused disturbances and then headed to the royal capital with glee, deepening the bond between sovereign and subject. Examples of His Majesty Yude II accepting Sedias's justifications increased, and Delroy's military power grew in presence.
One day, after he had passed forty.
He was appointed as the Supreme Commander of the Royal Army.
The head of the Thora family, whose power had matured, had been granted the authority to float warships in the inland sea a few years prior and had been appointed as the Inspector General of the Siddim Navy. This seemed to be a continuation of that trend.
──Have I reached the pinnacle of rank?
He was, as expected, struck with a sense of daze.
It did not end there.
After His Majesty Yude II passed away, the newly crowned King of Siddim, His Majesty Swad Alish VII, took notice of Dravia Thora.
Dravia was a distant cousin to Sedias. She was a child born to Sedias's uncle in his later years, and after the uncle's death, Sedias took her in as an adopted daughter of the main house.
Her lineage was impeccable, her features beautiful, her education rich and her demeanor modest, yet she possessed a core befitting a military house. Her age also matched perfectly with that of the Crown Prince.
──Dravia may bring us fortune.
He had such a premonition. That said,
──In that glittering royal palace, Dravia will likely be seen as nothing more than a country girl with a big backside.
He had figured that even if it failed at first, he had nothing to lose. Using money and people, he launched a campaign within the royal palace to promote her. This resulted in fruition.
The wedding was held in the city of Malfa.
Dravia gave birth to three boys in succession.
──Well done!
The Supreme Commander of the Royal Army did not immediately act like a maternal relative. It was better to wait for His Majesty Swad Alish to designate the Crown Prince.
However, he did not waste this golden opportunity.
When Dravia felt lonely in the royal palace, who would she rely on last?
Even if it was a relationship of adopted child and adoptive father, it was bound to be him.
In fact, whenever Dravia felt even a slight anxiety regarding her position within the royal palace, she sent a letter to Sedias. Sedias did not find it troublesome and traveled to the city of Malfa, intervening in various matters that occurred in the palace. He began to be away from Delroy more often. He also had his duties as the Supreme Commander of the Royal Army.
As a result, Sedias became a man of the royal capital.
He called youths from his own territory, trained them, and established the Royal Army. He grabbed money from the national treasury to pay their salaries and had them bring it back to Delroy.
The previous king, His Majesty Yude II, had succeeded in a personnel appointment that looked like an invitation for foreign trouble—placing a foreigner as Prime Minister. Through the skill of that Prime Minister, Gilma Rigardie, Siddim's currency was recoined and its popularity rose completely.
The distribution routes for such gold coins opened to the west. Western Siddim suddenly began to grow wealthy.
Could it not be said that Siddim now belonged to the Sedias Thora Shogunate?
──How far will I go?
Just as he thought this.
Good things are often plagued by demons. Dravia Thora died during the birth of the sixth child, Her Highness Princess Luchentin.
The day after Dravia's death, Sedias Thora was summoned to the royal palace.
The grief of His Majesty when they had an audience alone was indescribable.
The depression of His Majesty Swad Alish VII looked almost like an illness. He was deeply affectionate. Sedias, inadvertently, felt sympathy.
──To that extent.
He felt moved and thought it was a grateful thing.
On the other hand, the Marquis of Delroy was cautious. And? And then? What does His Majesty wish to do and how in this situation?
His Majesty said something unexpected.
──I am thinking that I would like the princess born this time to be wed to your son; what do you think?
That was the inquiry.
I see. Sedias Thora appraised the young king's judgment. It was not a bad offer. He would receive a princess of the royal family as a bride. First, it would be well.
"I humbly accept."
With cheeks wet with tears, His Majesty's eyes sparkled.
"Is that so. Is that so. Now I am relieved. Sedias, let us eat."
This was the first time he was invited to the royal table.
He felt it was abrupt, but he did not doubt it.
Far from doubting, Sedias Thora was intoxicated by victory.
──They must see me as terrifying.
With Dravia gone, the royal family fears that their ties with the Thora family will weaken. Therefore, a new marriage alliance.
Lunch was held in a courtyard in the separate wing of the detached palace.
There was only one table and one chair. There were countless people, but no one approached the chair and table. When Sedias appeared, they formed a line before him.
"On this occasion..."
Expressing their condolences, they left the courtyard one by one.
They were the King's direct vassals. The royal palace elders were also there.
"And them?"
When he asked the King,
"They do not eat. Only I, my family, and you." He showed a smile. "Now, Marquis of Delroy. Please take your seat."
"But..."
"It is fine. Everyone has already finished their appetizers. If you do not catch up, neither I nor my family can begin the meal."
If those were the circumstances, Sedias apologized for his rudeness and sat at the table.
His Majesty, His Majesty's siblings, the princes, and the princesses. The people of the Alish house.
They were looking down at Sedias with smiling expressions. Sedias had been naturally intuitive, but at this time, he must have been quite overwhelmed by the atmosphere. Regarding the strange feeling of this meal,
──It's odd, but well, it is the royal family.
He thought only to that extent. He had no time to think deeply. Soon, a pleasant scent wafted over.
"It seems it has arrived," His Majesty said. He was in a high mood, as if he had forgotten the tears from moments ago.
What the chamberlain brought was wine and a meat dish heavily dusted with spices. For an hors d'oeuvre, the portion was substantial. It had been cut into easy-to-eat pieces. He immediately took a piece.
"Mm! This is..."
It was delicious. A rare texture. As expected of the royal chefs, the seasoning was exquisite.
"It is quite tender."
"It is delicious, is it not? It is not something one can eat often."
The part that seemed to be fat was like cheese, and the chewiness resembled a shellfish.
He finished it quickly and thought he had a good story to take home.
"It was delicious. What kind of meat is it?" While washing his fingertips with water from a small bowl, Sedias asked. He felt a good mood, as if His Majesty's high spirits had been contagious.
"It is the placenta."
"I see... pla—"
He looked up in surprise.
"The afterbirth. The thing called the ena. It is what the Queen delivered last night along with the child."
It took time for him to understand the meaning.
During childbirth, along with the infant, some sort of jumbled lump of meat is expelled. Meat that came out of a woman's body—they cooked that and fed it to him?
His Majesty's family, everyone, including the princes, were all smiling.
His Majesty's elder sister, the Duchess of Lambour, said, "Welcome to the house of Alish."
When he felt his stomach heave from the bottom like a sock being turned inside out and the food he had eaten refluxing—
"Do not vomit, Sedias."
His Majesty's words, like an imperial decree, felt as if they had tightly pinched the tube connecting the stomach and the throat. He felt violently nauseous. However, he could not vomit.
What an insult.
Sedias had been deceived.
He felt he could not be satisfied unless he immediately spewed what he had been fed onto the table and said a word to them. Despite thinking so, his viscera ignored Sedias and obeyed His Majesty's command. He could not vomit. His body had already given the answer.
"Eating the placenta is one of the secret rites of the royal family... What is it? Your complexion is poor. It may be better if you retire to your estate today." At this time, Swad Alish was still a youth in his twenties. "Also, Sedias. Do not tell anyone of this."
As if I could!
Sedias thought. If it were known that he had eaten a part of the body of the cousin he had cherished as a daughter, what would people think? No, being rumored would be one thing, but
──If the Church found out.
Sedias might have been excommunicated.
The sense of defeat was carved strongly into his memory. He was made to realize the thing called the difference in status.
Returning to his estate in the city of Malfa, he attempted to vomit, but it was useless.
The Queen and a part of the princess had assimilated with Sedias.
The thirteenth meal with His Majesty had ended. Princess Luchentin, who had been a newborn at that time, had grown into a girl of worldly beauty.
"I shall see you off, Marquis-kakka."
When looking at Princess Lucy, Sedias's heart is complex.
If she were to marry into the Thora family,
──Should I bully her?
There are moments he thinks this. Sedias himself knows well that he would not do such a thing.
On that day of the formal dinner, he feels as if something that supported his center had snapped. Or perhaps because of that, the military commander of Delroy's personality had begun to take on a human-like mellowing. When he looks down at the princess, an affection wells up that he cannot help.
──Your life, your beauty. The same thing is dissolved within me.
He wants to tell her that.
While harboring a feeling close to obsession, the hegemon narrowed his eyes.