12. The Return of Gracia
The atmosphere in the capital was as precarious as walking on thin ice, and it was the same for the Luter family.
"Elena, leave the capital."
Elena Luter, the only daughter of the Luter family, nervously bit her nails. Her mother, the Viscountess Luter, held Elena with an anxious face.
"It's dangerous here. It would be better for you to be away from the capital for a while."
"Then come with me, Mother!"
"I..."
The Viscountess turned her head and made eye contact with Viscount Luter. She nodded briefly.
"I have to stay here."
"Why?"
"There's... something I have to do here, with your father."
At those words, Elena bit her lip hard.
On October 30th, Duke Lartman started a rebellion. The imperial family announced that Duke Lartman had instigated the assassination of Princess Louisa, and afterwards, the Duke killed all the imperial knights he encountered while advancing towards the capital.
Of course, everyone knew that he couldn't have actually killed Louisa. This was no different from the Emperor declaring war on Lartman. Lartman responded to that war, and now fierce battles were taking place in the capital.
Among the Five Noble Families, Marquis Arendt's family sided with Duke Lartman, and Marquis Schmidt's family sided with the imperial family. Eventually, other families began to join the war one by one. Although the imperial family hadn't gained much support from the nobles usually, there were quite a few who sided with the imperial family thanks to their promise to create new meritorious families. However, since the temple supported Lartman, the two forces were ultimately maintaining a tense standoff.
"You're going to fight, aren't you?"
Elena continued in a trembling voice. Her parents would undoubtedly jump into this battle. They were the Luter Viscount couple, famous for being faithful servants of the Supreme God.
Elena recalled Liv Lartman, whose whereabouts were now unknown. She had heard that on the day Hildegard and Walter of the Hamelsvoort family disappeared, Liv had left with them. No one knew where Liv was or what she was doing. Only Duke Lartman would know.
"How could we just sit still?"
"Everyone heard the Supreme God declare excommunication against the Emperor that day."
"And some nobles who pretend they didn't hear that have completely thrown away their conscience..."
Hearing her parents speak with determined voices, Elena thought of the faces of Hildegard and Liv who had smiled and talked with her. They were such good people. To the extent that she thought, so this is why they could be chosen by God. So even if they hadn't been chosen by the Supreme God, Elena would have sided with them.
"But Mother, Father. I can't leave the capital."
"Elena...!"
"You know. My friends, Lady Liv and Lady Hildegard, are in danger. I want to stay here and fight together for them."
At those words, the Viscount closed his eyes as if he couldn't stop her. He knew well the stubbornness of his daughter who took after him.
"Elena, are you speaking after sufficient thought?"
"Yes, Father."
"...If we lose, that's the end. It can't be undone."
"I'm prepared. So we must win. We should lend our strength to Duke Lartman."
Rather than having a tyrant like August as their Emperor, it would be better for Duke Lartman to become Emperor.
Or perhaps Liv receiving the love of the Supreme God meant that she was the material for an Emperor?
Elena was surprised by what she had unknowingly thought of, but then concluded that anyway, the Lartman ducal family should be the winning side.
"There's a rumor that the Emperor has requested military cooperation from the Kingdom of Aila-Hora. We need to capture the capital quickly before they respond to the request."
"We can do it."
Now no one had anywhere to retreat. Many nobles had chosen their sides and jumped into the battle.
'I wonder where Lady Liv is and what she's doing...'
Thinking that if she were here, God might bestow protection, Elena bit her lip hard.
* * *
Fire burned and an acrid smell filled the air. Crows flew towards the corpses scattered here and there.
"We're withdrawing for today."
A horn blew loudly, and the soldiers on Duke Lartman's side began to retreat one by one. The imperial side's soldiers also retreated and disappeared.
Their camp was located near the capital. Returning to the camp and taking off his armor, Emmett frowned.
"No progress today."
It had been just over a week since Duke Lartman started the rebellion. During the first week, they had succeeded in advancing little by little and taking over imperial territory, and they quickly advanced to the capital. However, since reaching the capital, there had been no progress for three days. It was natural that it was difficult as the imperial forces were concentrated in the capital, putting up a last defense.
Short-term battles that started during the day and subsided at night continued repeatedly. Even soldiers can't fight all day long. Of course, Emmett didn't neglect to be on guard against surprise attacks by imperial knights at night. Such things could happen anytime. Or, conversely, they could launch a surprise attack first.
"Your Grace, Viscount Luter has promised cooperation."
"I'll write a letter soon."
The news that his aide Philip delivered wasn't bad. It was good that the forces on his side had increased even by one. And since Luter was a family famous for being so devout, it seemed he wouldn't have to worry about them betraying him.
"Is there no other news?"
"...No, there isn't."
Philip also knew that what Emmett was asking about was news of Liv. Because of that, the atmosphere in the camp became even gloomier.
However, Emmett only endured as he always did. To divert his attention elsewhere, Emmett spread out a map on the table and looked at it closely. He began to ponder which side's forces might be weaker.
"It might not be bad to try attacking from the east."
"What? Isn't the eastern forest dangerous!"
"Forest, forest..."
Hearing those words, Emmett smiled slightly. The eastern 'Devil's Forest', which was rumored to be so dangerous that people couldn't enter, was actually a sanctuary according to Liv. It was as if Liv's voice was echoing in his ears.
"We're not in a position to be picky about means and methods, are we? Sometimes we need to take risks."
Emmett's dark gray eyes flashed with a gloomy light.
At that moment, the tent flap was lifted and a familiar face appeared.
"Your Grace, we've caught a spy."
The person entering while dragging a bound soldier was Hayden. Looking as if he had fought more fiercely than anyone in battle, with his face covered in blood, he threw the soldier on the ground with an unconcerned face.
"A spy?"
"Yes, our soldiers discovered him right away before he could cause any problems."
Emmett looked down at the soldier collapsed on the ground with insensitive eyes. His gaze towards the soldier was dry, as if looking at an inanimate object. The action that followed was as natural as flowing water.
Roll...
A head rolled on the ground. Emmett lightly kicked it away as it rolled to his feet, then nodded to Hayden.
"Clean it up."
"Yes, yes. Well, it was nothing much."
Watching Hayden calmly dragging away the head and body in each hand, Philip's face turned pale. But Emmett's expression didn't waver at all.
"Let's discuss attack methods again."
"What? Ah, yes!"
Philip glanced at Emmett with a strange look. He thought somehow his master seemed to have changed a little. No, in fact, this was closer to his original self. That is, before being with Liv... When he only followed August's orders unconditionally, Emmett had no mercy for enemies and was cold and heartless. People didn't know well because he had a somewhat kind face in social circles.
However, since Liv disappeared, Emmett was returning to his former self. Because Emmett acting like this had a look in his eyes as if he was festering more inside, Philip prayed to God for Liv to return safely as soon as possible.
* * *
Liv's eyes sparkled as she set foot on familiar land.
"Phew..."
Air more stuffy than the Kingdom of Ashur but still familiar to her. She had finally arrived in the Holy Hilysid Empire.
Because divine power overflowed in her body, Liv intentionally didn't spare her power and arrived here at a fast pace. Although she had to change ships once in the Merna Empire, it was still a fast speed considering that.
After arriving at the port of Miergrund, Liv headed to the merchant guild. There were always carriages heading to the capital at the guild, so she intended to hitch a ride. She had plenty of money thanks to the gold coins provided by the Kingdom of Ashur.
"Is there a carriage going to the capital?"
However, when Liv asked, the guild master looked at her with a puzzled face.
"Haven't you heard the news?"
"What?"
"There are no carriages going to the capital now. Probably nowhere."
"What do you mean?"
Somehow an uneasy feeling surrounded her. What had happened in the capital in the meantime? The moment she heard the next words, Liv felt her heart drop.
"Don't you know Duke Lartman started a rebellion? The capital is in the middle of a civil war with the rebels now."
"...!"
Emmett had started a rebellion. That sentence felt stranger than anything else to Liv.
Yes, in fact, it might have been a natural choice for him. After falling out with the Emperor, the Lartman ducal family was being driven into a corner. But she didn't expect a war to start while she was gone. Without Liv to provide justification, it must have been much more difficult to start a rebellion. Where could Emmett be now?