Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 147

“Faust executed his mission flawlessly.”

Astarte murmured quietly. It wasn’t an exaggerated statement; he had indeed accomplished his task. He had broken down Duchess Temeraire both physically and mentally, revealing all the secrets she had been hiding. Every objective had been met. No one could claim he had not done his job.

“Duchess Temeraire is no longer an adversary. She will, strictly speaking, follow our lead—or more precisely, she will comply because ‘Lord Polydoro says so.’ As planned, we have subdued Duchess Temeraire. This is a complete victory.”

I listened to my cousin’s words, which sounded like an analysis. Everything she said was true, without a single mistake. However,

“There is one issue. Could it be that we underestimated Duchess Temeraire as a mere foolish old boar? Or perhaps we misjudged her resolve?”

Duchess Temeraire, still bedridden and absent from this gathering, had disclosed everything. The name of the nomadic equestrian state, “Mongol,” was finally revealed.

“Of course not. If she isn’t just a blind boar, that’s fine. She will be a strong ally going forward.”

Duchess Temeraire had gathered an impressive amount of information. She had skillfully utilized the situation where the Mongol needed a large number of foreign bureaucrats, infiltrating many subordinates within their ranks. She had a grasp of everything: the size of the expeditionary forces, the military formations, the invasion routes, and the invasion targets. That boar was exceptionally skilled in such maneuvers, having experience in large-scale expeditions and wars outside the Holy Gusten Empire’s territories. This was something to be pleased about.

“So, what is the problem? Everyone understands it, right?”

Astarte looked around and murmured. Sitting opposite me, across the table, was the Elector of Virendorf, Katarina. She answered with a blunt expression.

“Is it that I attempted to kill the boar without knowing that Duchess Temeraire and Reckenber were friendly correspondents? That was a mistake. Reckenber of Valhalla is likely pulling her hair out.”

That’s not really important. I dismissed Katarina’s words.

“Isn’t the fault on Duchess Temeraire’s side for not explaining anything?”

“Even someone as clueless as me can’t agree with that. In hindsight, Duchess Temeraire’s hostility towards me stemmed from my ignorance of Reckenber’s love, which she harbored until her death. If I had been more perceptive, if I could understand human emotions better…”

Katarina overthinks things. Essentially, it’s the opponent who’s at fault. Consider yourself as the epitome of justice in this world, and those who obstruct you are evil. If I take from the opponent, it’s justified, but if they take from me, it’s theft, and I have the right to kill them and take everything back. Living with that mindset allows you to confidently declare that the fault lies entirely with the other party. This is how I advise Katarina. She responded skeptically.

“Have you ever considered other people’s feelings?”

If you think everyone lives their lives fulfilling their roles diligently, you wouldn’t say such things. Katarina, the cold-hearted queen who doesn’t understand emotions, says things like that. She appeals to the sanctity of life, saying that everyone lives earnestly. Is she okay? It seems her judgment wavers when Reckenber is involved.

“Even my mother, Liesenlotte, to me, is just an old woman who completed her role by giving birth to me and my sister, Valiere. She’s nothing more than a stranger.”

When my 32-year-old mother uttered the nonsense of wanting to bear Faust’s child, I decided that she was worthless. This was a natural conclusion.

“Well, you should cherish your mother, though.”

Katarina muttered skeptically. But for Katarina, her mother is Reckenber, and she probably doesn’t care about her biological mother. She doesn’t realize her own contradictions, having killed her real sister and father in the struggle for Virendorf’s succession. What nonsense is she spouting, not even remembering her birth mother’s name? Doesn’t she feel any self-contradiction? Probably not. After all, we are all rotten scoundrels. The difference between this Anastasia and Katarina is merely understanding that or not. I grasped that but didn’t press further. Instead, I proclaimed,

“Every person has the right to be recognized as an individual from birth. You don’t understand that.”

Each person is an independent individual. Therefore, I don’t acknowledge the mother who uttered nonsense like ‘I want to bear the child of your beloved fiancé, Faust.’ I even have the right to kill her. We are born with the right to commit matricide. That’s how I see it. And I declared,

“I want to kill that 32-year-old hag who calls herself Queen Liesenlotte and sits arrogantly on the throne.”

Given the current situation, there’s no room for that, though. Katarina looked incredulous but resigned and answered,

“Well, if you want to, go ahead…”

For Katarina, the Elector of Virendorf and neighboring potential enemy, it was a matter of indifference. It’s fine; in four years, when I turn twenty, I will have surpassed that hag’s abilities and can manage the country well, with no problems. Astarte, troubled, interrupted,

“The conversation is drifting.”

Indeed, the conversation had gone off course. Astarte clapped her large hands, bringing the focus back with a resonating sound.

“The issue isn’t that Katarina Queen’s concern about nearly killing Duchess Temeraire, nor about Aunt Liesenlotte-sama feeling lonely since Uncle Robert died. Also, let Aunt secretly have a child if she wants to.”

Astarte, being an incorrigible deviant, even considered it acceptable for my mother to bear Faust’s child.

She raised two fingers. I understood the meaning behind them.

“Duchess Temeraire’s prediction gives us only two years before the Mongol invasion. We have far too little time.”

I refocused the discussion, pressing my index finger against my brow and murmuring softly.

“Is there no other issue?”

“None,” Katarina agreed.

There were other issues, but they were short-term ones and not as significant as the impending Mongol invasion in two years.

“The Pope has betrayed us? Kill her.”

“The Empress has betrayed us? Kill her.”

We muttered in unison. That was it. If they obstructed us, if they intended to sell us out to preserve their power, we would kill them and seize everything they had—status, honor, power, property, land. As knights, it was only natural. Exercising our right to self-help—violence.

“Indeed, there’s no issue. The first immediate action should be to verify Duchess Temeraire’s information. We need to scrutinize all the information she holds about the Holy Gusten Empire and the Mongols.”

Has the Pope really betrayed us? Has the Empress really betrayed us? Are all of Duchess Temeraire’s predictions and information accurate?

“Are you suggesting that Duchess Temeraire lied? I believe in her testimony.”

“I believe her too, Queen Katarina.”

Astarte clapped her hands loudly again, her canines visible as she opened her mouth.

“But even if she believes it, it doesn’t mean it’s true. Just like we didn’t know Duchess Temeraire and Lord Reckenber were friendly correspondents. Moreover, killing the Empress or the Pope wouldn’t be easy. No, killing them would be simple, but…”

“The aftermath would be troublesome.”

Killing them was fine, but it would lead to a struggle for their territories and create chaos in the Empire. While we could claim there was no problem with killing them, we still needed to handle the aftermath.

“We need a reason to kill them. We need someone with the right to kill them.”

If we were to use violence for self-help, we needed to prepare a facade, both in terms of appearance and manpower. I pondered briefly before speaking.

“Well, while hoping they haven’t betrayed us, we should prepare. Shall we use the Wesperman family?”

I mentioned the name of the intelligence overseer of the Kingdom of Anhalt. Currently, they were gathering information in the imperial capital, but they should verify Duchess Temeraire’s information. And—if possible, arrange for an assassination.

“Use Sabine.”

It was Katarina, not Astarte, who spoke. Why was she mentioning the name of my sister’s bodyguard?

“Why Sabine?”

“If she’s to become Faust’s wife, she should be put to proper use.”

She murmured casually. I knew that madwoman was infatuated with Faust, but setting that aside,

“Don’t lie.”

I knew Katarina’s mention of her name was not for that reason. I gestured for her to correct herself.

“Then let me be clear. Speaking as someone from an enemy nation, I don’t think your Wesperman family is useful. That heraldic family never once broke our Virendorf’s intelligence network. And I think that lunatic Sabine is ‘extremely suited’ for such tasks.”

“I see.”

She stopped herself from saying more. All her reasons were valid. Even I didn’t value the Wesperman family solely for their intelligence network; I thought Marina, the current head, should grow alongside me. While Marina could work on other tasks, I also considered it acceptable to dismantle the Wesperman family.

“If you must use someone, use Sabine. Bring your sister’s musketeers to the capital immediately. For espionage, for killing the Pope or Empress. Virendorf will cooperate, but I have more faith in that Sabine woman than in your Wesperman family.”

Indeed, Sabine von Wesperman had impeccable abilities. She had been trained as a spy and was more than competent as an assassin. But she was mad. At the same time, because she was mad, she might sneak into a church and kill the Pope or Empress with ease. If it were a public execution, we could send Faust, but for a secret assassination, Sabine was more convenient.

“Agreed.”

Now, the problem was Valiere. Recently, despite wanting to kill my so-called mother, Queen Liesenlotte, for trivial reasons like “the sky was beautiful today,” I also felt an inexplicable urge to spoil my sister. Perhaps I had become weak.

“As Katarina suggested, we could use her. But we won’t use her up.”

Turning Valiere’s valuable subordinate into a disposable bullet was unwise. Using Sabine was fine, but she deserved proper treatment. And—

“I will give the Wesperman family one last chance. Let’s use them up completely.”

“As long as Sabine is used, I have no complaints.”

Katarina, with her cold queenly expression, nodded without a single smile.

“Now that the Electors have agreed, let’s discuss the long-term plan.”

In contrast, Astarte smiled slightly, spreading documents on the table before us.

Now, let’s discuss the long-term plan. How to repel the Mongol invasion. Faust had completed his mission; the rest was up to us.