“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “I mentioned Margarita a moment ago. We would like for her to remain in the kingdom. Given she cooperated with us to maintain order in Van, I suspect you would be hard pressed to decide what should be done with her.”
“General Margarita Wonder, is it?” Julius seemed to think for a moment. “If you will release five of the nobles you hold prisoner in exchange, I can accept that.” he said.
He must have been calculating her value as a prisoner, and he’d judged that, compared to a general he wouldn’t know what to do with, a reduction in the ransom for vassals who were actually loyal to him was more beneficial. Calling for five people to be exchanged in return for one was a shrewd decision.
“Very well,” I said. “I’ll accept those conditions.”
“…She was a good general, yes, but good enough for you to want her so badly?” Julius asked dubiously.
I smiled wryly. Julius, only able to judge people’s value by their potential as assets in war, wouldn’t understand Margarita’s true value. As a singer, as a host, Margarita had become indispensable when it came to producing programs for the Jewel Voice Broadcast.
Well, I was under no obligation to explain that to him, so I kept quiet.
With things largely in order now, I declared an end to the talks.
Elfrieden would receive war reparations in exchange for withdrawing from Van. Amidonia would regain control of Van in exchange for paying reparations. The Empire had demonstrated its influence by acting as a mediator in this dispute.
…Those were results I could be satisfied with, for now.
It could be said that Amidonia had come out at a loss, the Empire had lost nothing, and Elfrieden had come out with suitable gains.
With the talks concluded, Julius turned on his heel to walk away, as if saying he had no more to say to the likes of me, but I called out to stop him.
“Sir Julius!”
“…What?” he snapped, not turning around.
“A political thinker from my own world, Machiavelli, said something like this,” I said. “Those who acquire a principality with difficulty will keep it with ease. Those who acquire a principality without difficulty will find it difficult to keep.”
“Huh? What does that mean?” Julius turned around, glaring at me.
I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I defeated you and your men to take Van. I expelled the vast majority of the nobility and gentry, purging almost anyone who could have become a political opponent. That’s why, if I had continued to rule Van, there would likely have been no major problems. However… can you say the same? Even if you return to this city, can you rule it without issues?”
“What are you talking about?” Julius demanded. “This is my country.”
“However, until just now, it was part of Elfrieden,” I said. “You regained it using the authority of the Empire, which is to say, the arms of others. This would be what the political thinker Machiavelli meant by ‘a principality acquired without difficulty.’”
In history, there are those who became princes with the backing of relatives or powerful countries. However, for those who fly to the top under the power of those backers, to lose their support is to instantaneously lose their fortune.
An example of this would be how the man Machiavelli had held up as his ideal prince, Cesare Borgia of Italy, had fallen upon the death of his backer, the man who was both his father and the pope, Alexander VI.
Or like how, in the time of the Chu-Han Contention, when Xiang Yu had struggled against Liu Bang, the farmer who had been held up to Xiang Yu’s side as a hero, and who had risen from humble beginnings to be named King of Chu, had eventually been killed when he had been deemed to be of no further use.
Having borrowed the authority of the Empire to reclaim his own capital, Julius would surely be looked down on by both his officers and the people of Amidonia. And Gaius VIII, feared for his military might, was no more.
Would Julius, who was clever but lacked intensity, ultimately be able to keep his officers under control? Would he be able to serve the people of Van better than I had, and gain their trust?
“One who acquires a principality without difficulty must work hard to keep it,” I said. “Before you begin talking about grudges, I suggest you work hard on policies that will benefit your people.”
“That’s none of your concern.” Brushing aside my words of unfelt support, Julius left.
Jeanne shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes.
I walked over to Jeanne and shook her hand. “These talks have been very fruitful. Give my regards to your sister.”
“Absolutely,” Jeanne said. “You take care, too, Sir Hakuya. We should complain about our respective masters over drinks sometime.”
“That does sound good,” said Hakuya. “I’ll have a keg waiting for you.”
What was that supposed to mean? They’d have enough to complain about that they’d need a whole keg? When I looked in his direction, Hakuya blatantly averted his eyes.
Seeing that, Jeanne gave a jovial laugh. “I hope we find ourselves on the same side when next we meet. Please, speak directly with my sister, too, sometime.”
“That’s right,” I said. “I will be looking forward to the day I can talk with Madam Maria.”
We exchanged a firm handshake.
Once the withdrawal was decided upon, the rest came quickly.
Because it had been decided that we would return Van, staying any longer would only waste our war funds. The Royal Army pulled our troops out of Van with as much of a show as they had put on when we’d first entered through the gates. The small number of Amidonian soldiers stationed near Van were overwhelmingly outnumbered, and the Imperial Army was still in the vicinity, keeping a close watch on both sides, so we didn’t need to worry about being pursued.
I was in the middle of the procession, the same as when we’d arrived, riding atop a horse that Aisha held the reins of, with Liscia on another horse beside me. When we entered the castle, the people’s eyes as they looked on the Royal Army were filled with fear. However, things had changed a little now.
We hadn’t issued an official announcement, but the people who lined the street wore expressions filled with uncertainty. When she saw those looks, Liscia had a dubious look on her face.
“Why does everyone look like that, do you think?” she asked. “I would understand if they were relieved, because they were happy to be liberated, or glad to see us finally gone…”
“It’s probably… that they’re worried,” I said. “Worried about coming under Amidonia’s rule again.”
“Worried? When things are just going back to how they were before?” Liscia asked.
“That’s exactly why,” I said. “They’re worried, Will our lives go back to how they were before?” I faced straight forward as I spoke. “Van’s residents were being oppressed by the Princely House of Amidonia. It probably didn’t bother them when that was simply a matter of course, but being under our occupation, they learned that it wasn’t a given that things had to be that way. Unlike the Princely House, I gave them the freedom to express their feelings and ideas. That’s why, with us leaving, they’re worried that Julius and his followers’ return means all of that will be suppressed again.”
Because, well… it probably would. Once Julius entered Van, he would naturally set about clamping down on the relaxed atmosphere there.
Liscia looked pityingly to the people lining the streets. “Now that they’ve known the taste of freedom, they can’t go back to their old lives… It’s like an addiction, isn’t it?”