Chapter 258: Valiere-sama Is a Terrifying Being

Valiere was, for now, accompanied by her longtime aide and her newly recruited aide.

She decided to call the two of them by name.

It was like a teacher reprimanding a foolish student.

And yet, as if calling two pet cats, she beckoned them.

“Sabine, Amelia, come over here for a moment.”

“Yes, Vali-sama.”

“Is there a problem or something?”

A problem? There’s nothing but trouble!

In her office, she beckoned the two of them and, slamming both hands onto the desk, shouted:

“Why is it all my fault?!”

Valiere’s roar of anger echoed through the room.

On the desk in her office lay a newspaper.

The Landsknecht takeover by Nina in the Coliseum had ended.

After witnessing it, she returned to her office, thinking, “I’m tired today,” and slept soundly until morning.

She woke up, had breakfast, and when she saw the freshly printed newspaper that the citizens were probably reading by now, she was flabbergasted.

“Did you see that? The roar of anger unleashed by Blood Fairy Valiere!”

Valiere read aloud the bold headline.

For some reason, the bombardment against the Imperial Capital Commercial Guild—executed by her relative, Duchess Astarte—was attributed entirely to her!

Everything was being made out to be her doing!

She was being depicted as a bloodthirsty beast!

“It’s splendidly done. I must say, it’s a masterpiece. Every citizen who reads this will henceforth bow down before Valiere-sama.”

With a pachi-pachi of applause, Sabine praised herself.

“Did you write this article?” she demanded.

“Valiere-dono, if you’re going to praise Sabine, then you must also praise me—the one who spread this newspaper—and this Berlichingen too.”

“I have no intention of praising you!!”

“What makes you think you deserve praise? Where is any merit for it?” she bellowed at Amelia, who looked slightly displeased.

“Look, I didn’t know anything, you know? Alright, I’ll take responsibility for kidnapping the newspaper boss, seizing the printing press, and tarnishing the reputations of the councilors and city officials of the Imperial Capital Commercial Guild. I even fabricated the pretext for the attack. Let’s say it’s all my fault up to that point. Since I already admitted it once, it’s my responsibility!”

That had already been acknowledged. Once she confirmed it, all the responsibility fell on her shoulders—even for the actions Sabine and Amelia took on their own. So she admitted that part. But still—

“I didn’t carry out any bombardment against the Imperial Capital Commercial Guild. That was Duchess Astarte’s doing. Got it?”

That’s the one thing she wanted to deny. They brought cannons within the walls of the Imperial Capital and fired upon the meeting hall of the Imperial Capital Commercial Guild, half-killing—literally, killing about half of the Citizen Council members present. She had absolutely no recollection of that. If what this newspaper says is true, then Duchess Astarte is utterly outrageous.

“It’s terrifying that even Duchess Astarte is being used as a pawn.”

“As expected of Valiere-dono.”

“You’re saying that on purpose, aren’t you?”

Valiere buried her head in her hands.

“Alright, alright,” Sabine said, grasping Valiere’s shoulder as if to calm her down.

“This was necessary.”

“No, let’s assume it was necessary. Let’s assume that this atrocity was necessary. Why is it being made to look like I did it? Isn’t that absurd? Why shift the blame onto me?”

She simply couldn’t accept that.

Even if it were a necessary atrocity, why must I shoulder the responsibility for something I knew nothing about?

It would be fine if Duchess Astarte did it instead.

As if to say just that, Valiere’s face twisted into a look of torment, though her stomach ached all the same.

“Duchess Astarte has no justifiable reason to commit this madness.”

Sabine ended the explanation with that single sentence.

Certainly.

And with that, Valiere found herself reluctantly in agreement.

Perhaps Duchess Astarte merely wanted to test-fire the cannon.

Of course, there may have been other reasons—but in the end, that was basically it.

If the plan was merely to kill or threaten the Citizen Council, there were plenty of other ways, yet she chose not to go that route.

“So… in the end, you want me to ratify this? To say it’s all my fault?”

She understood exactly what was being implied.

Indeed, Duchess Astarte has no justifiable reason to commit such cruelty.

If anyone does, it’s only Valiere—the one deep in negotiations with the Citizen Council—who had a clear benefit in the monetary concessions.

But just because I stood to gain, must I silently swallow it all?

“Rest assured. I have given careful thought to both Sabine and the contents of the newspaper. Please read it thoroughly.”

Amelia urged everyone to read the newspaper carefully.

True, she hadn’t read it all yet, but—

“Umm, well, it claims that alongside the ongoing corruption of the Citizen Council—which is, in fact, true—it states that on behalf of Emperor Maxine, this Valiere has delivered divine retribution.”

“Emperor Maxine and her father were captured by the Citizen Council. I assume you’re aware of that incident?”

“Yeah, I know, but in short, isn’t this not merely about fraudulently using the Emperor’s name—”

Did they even obtain Emperor Maxine’s permission?

Had Duchess Astarte secured Her Majesty’s permission before taking action?

Once again, her stomach began to ache.

“Huh, what? Was this planned from the start?”

“No, of course we never imagined it would come to firing a cannon—but…”

Amelia, with just the slightest frown, said,

“In the first place, Valiere-dono had an audience with the Emperor, and there she was whispered these words: ‘You may cooperate in the negotiations with the Citizen Council. In return, I have a favor to ask. I, Maxine, want to witness firsthand the retribution against the Citizen Council—the very ones responsible for my father’s death—as closely as possible.’”

“Well, I was indeed told that, but still…”

“Valiere-dono, you did indeed fulfill that promise. Isn’t that enough?”

Somehow, her head began to throb.

Certainly, such a promise was made with the Emperor.

But still…

It felt as though she was being manipulated to suit others’ conveniences.

“I wish at least someone had explained it to me…”

No—honestly, neither Sabine nor Amelia had anticipated Duchess Astarte firing a cannon in the city.

They clearly hadn’t expected it at all.

Moreover, it appeared that the Emperor had approved the action.

Of course, by the time it was carried out, no one could have stopped it.

“So, how will the citizens of the Imperial Capital view me from now on? Won’t I be feared more than my elder sister or Duchess Astarte?”

That, at least, was her primary concern.

“Well, you might be feared. Probably even children would cry if they saw you.”

That figures.

She nodded at Sabine’s response.

“Don’t worry, Valiere-sama. The underlings—those so-called ‘fallen ears’ under your command—though they fear you, can only heap praise upon you. After all, the monetary negotiations were conducted to warm their hearts—”

That might be so.

She also nodded at Amelia’s reply.

Our subordinates—the knights who banged their shoulders with their swords and the prospective subjects of the future Polydoro territory—were utterly convinced that “Valiere-sama is a merciful yet fearsome leader who shows no mercy to those who oppose her.”

She held her head in her hands.

“This is definitely going to be recorded in history books, isn’t it? Even though it wasn’t a war or anything, here we are—treated as lunatics for firing a cannon in the Imperial Capital at the Citizen Council and half-killing them. What will they write about us in the future?”

“They’ll say you’re cool as a knight…”

“They’ll say you’re incredibly cool.”

After all, they were knights.

Both Sabine and Amelia were knights.

Compared to a resume that merely boasts, “I once even set fire to a church,” one couldn’t help but feel a thrill from a record that declared, “I brought a cannon into the Imperial Capital, fired it at the Commercial Guild during negotiations, and killed about half of the council members. The Emperor’s permission? Of course, I made sure there was no room for complaints.”

That perfectly satisfied the most important quality for a knight—the absence of ostentation.

Henceforth, there would be not a single person in this world who would dare underestimate Valiere von Anhalt.

Thinking that, the two of them felt their hearts warm up ever so slightly.

“I sincerely hope that future generations will judge me not as ‘cool as a knight’ but rather as ‘what a brutal person—there are things that should and shouldn’t be done,’”

Her honor might be disparaged by future generations.

But regardless, in this world it would certainly make things easier for her as a lord.

Not being underestimated as a lord was of utmost importance.

As for Duchess Astarte, perhaps she even willingly handed over this record to me.

Confronted with that reality, Valiere wore an expression of total resignation.

“Alright, alright, I did it! Just say it was me, okay? Ugh!!”

She decided to accept all of this reality, banging her desk with both hands like a child.