I Will Become the Queen of the Enemy Country

“No, this can’t be. Put out the fire, now!”

David ran. It was the first time he had run for something other than training within the palace.

He ran so frantically that his neatly combed hair was a mess and his cravat had disappeared somewhere.

“Your Highness, you’re here.”

The scene of the fire was horrific. The hot heat wave hit David. His eyes and nose were stinging from the thick smoke that was rising.

“What’s the situation? What happened?”

“Forty minutes ago, a fire started on the first floor of the armory. The agents guarding the armory tried desperately to put out the fire, but the fire spread to the bomb crates…”

Even the knight, who had been trained for a long time to keep his composure, couldn’t finish his sentence because of the terrible incident.

The knights who were putting out the fire around him couldn’t prepare for the sudden explosion of the bomb, and they took the force of the bomb with their bodies.

The fire swallowed the armory in an instant. Despite the explosion and the quick knights gathering people to put out the fire, their efforts were in vain.

Boom, bang!

While reporting, one of the pillars collapsed and the building was engulfed in fire.

“Weren’t there fire prevention magic circles in the armory?”

David clenched his fists tightly.

“We need to investigate, but we suspect it may have been damaged.”

“Suspect? You mean it wasn’t checked regularly?”

The knight in charge of the armory bowed his head in shame.

The workload had been heavy while preparing for the subjugation force’s departure. Managing the armory meant taking care of the stored weapons as well.

The departure was tomorrow. The management knight had stayed up for several nights checking whether the swords were sharp, whether there were any duds among the bombs, and whether the spears were well oiled.

He couldn’t be blamed for neglecting his work.

David looked at the burning armory and blamed his unfortunate self. He thought it was just bad luck and wondered how to remedy the situation.

“What weapons are available right now?”

“We can take the weapons from the Royal Knights. There are quite a few stockpiled weapons. There should be no problem for your immediate departure, but for consumables including bombs, and stockpiled weapons in case of emergencies, you may need to resupply in the middle.”

More spare weapons were needed as a tough battle was expected. Once inside the gate, resupply was impossible, so the resupply schedule was tight if they wanted to receive it before entering.

‘Receiving new items is impossible, and the quality of weapons circulating in the market is poor. But we can’t raid the Royal Knights’ armory either.’

They had no choice but to borrow weapons from the nobles. David closed his eyes tightly. Flames flickered over his face with a complicated expression.

****

The party, of course, ended in a mess.

“Oh my, in the world, such a thing?”

“It seems like a bad omen.”

“Don’t say that. We should think of it as an accident. His Highness David will have a hard time with the departure tomorrow.”

“Will the departure be possible tomorrow? The armory has been burned down. Oh dear, His Highness David must pull himself together.”

Everyone seemed worried, but in reality, they considered the serious situation as just an event.

A good snack to relieve their boredom.

Lange immediately gathered the executives.

David and Karan, who were giving off a fierce atmosphere, the heads of the main families, the sages, and Chase attended.

“It’s regrettable that the situation has come to this, Your Majesty.”

At the comforting words of one of the sages, Lange’s eyes twitched.

The sages were free in this situation. They didn’t need weapons to attack with magic, and even if they needed a medium, they managed it all in the Ivory Tower.

“We’re not here to console each other. We need to find a solution since tomorrow is the day of departure.”

“Is there a separate solution? We have to postpone the departure day for now.”

Malcolm said.

“Postponing won’t make non-existent weapons appear, will it? As you know, the country strictly limits the production of weapons. Accordingly, the weapon workshops prepare a year’s schedule and produce according to it. We can’t go with shoddy weapons that lose their edge after hitting a stone once. Postponing won’t solve the problem… that’s what I mean.”

Scott, who had been spewing negative words, closed his mouth at the sight of Lange’s expression.

“What if there’s a noble who will provide weapons?”

Chase, who had been silent, stepped forward.

Lange nodded as if to ask him to speak more.

“You must know Earl Hans. It’s a family that’s making quite a name for itself in business. And he’s the uncle of my fiancée, Iris. I know his private soldiers have quite a few weapons. If he knows the situation of the country, he will gladly give them.”

“What’s the price?”

Chase gave a faint smile.

“Iris will soon be a member of the royal family. Would he ask for a price from her?”

Lange accepted Chase’s proposal without hesitation.

There had been noise due to David getting hurt before the departure. If the departure was postponed further, it would affect David’s reputation.

“His Highness Chase has done one thing.”

Jared muttered. Then Amber poked his side and asked for the right to speak.

“Speak, Sage Amber.”

“Even if we fill up with the weapons of the noble soldiers, we can’t say we have enough weapons. If they fight with unfamiliar weapons, it will be hard for the knights to perform their best. In that sense, I would like to supplement the magicians.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if the Ivory Tower could support us with magicians? Do you have anyone to recommend?”

“Iris Worton. She has a special talent for attack magic. And since she’s the fiancée of His Highness Chase, there’s enough reason for her to go together.”

“But it wouldn’t look good for Iris to participate in the subjugation force as a fiancée when His Highness Chase isn’t participating.”

Malcolm raised an objection to Amber’s opinion. Then silence fell. There was a way to solve the problem while looking good.

It was for Chase and Iris to participate in the subjugation force together.

But the sly ones who knew how Lange viewed Chase didn’t easily open their mouths.

For them, the success of the gate subjugation was important, but it was more important not to fall out of Lange’s favor.

In fact, it was beneficial for them if the gate subjugation was prolonged.

Because they could easily control the lower ones by stirring up fear. They could also sell weapons and various supply items to the country at a high price.

History has proven that war fattens the nobles.

“Chase, what do you think?”

Lange looked at Chase. Chase lifted his heavy eyes.

“As you know, I have never matched my pace with the knights. I agree that it would look good if I went along, but I’m worried that my participation might interfere with His Highness David’s tactics. But if you say it’s necessary, I’m ready to join with all responsibility.”

Chase refused to speak, but subtly revealed his ambition.

David, who had been listening with a serious expression, let out a hollow laugh.

His unusually frivolous attitude was enough to attract attention.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You’re all sincerely concerned.”

David picked up a glass of water in front of him and gulped it down. It was to swallow the mockery that had risen to his throat.

“Your Highness David, the situation is serious. Do you have any plans in mind?”

Malcolm asked, unable to hide his discomfort.

“The situation is serious…If there are no weapons, it’s a serious situation. But fortunately, although the armory has been burned down, all the weapons are intact.”

“Excuse me?”

Everyone opened their mouths wide. David, staring intently at Chase, opened his mouth.

“The damage we suffered from the armory fire is just a crate of bombs and a few unfortunate knights. We must pay proper respects to the deceased knights, but we can still depart without any more mages and weapons support from Earl Hans. Chase, I’m sorry that I can’t accept your generous offer.”

Chase blinked quickly and smiled. It was a sincere smile, happy that the problem was well resolved, but David almost laughed again at the sight of his unwavering eyes.

****

The story of the incident is as follows.

At dawn on the day of the party, Karan came to David. It was a very secret visit.

“Move the weapons, check the carriage…and Elise said something.”

He appeared with Elise’s message.

“You want to move the weapons from a perfectly good armory to where?”

“Do I have to tell you that too?”

The measures were excessive to prevent accidents from one to ten. It was also a burdensome task to do just a day before the subjugation.

“She also said it would be good to change the middle supply merchant.”

“We’ve already signed all the contracts. The penalty is large.”

David was irritated by the suggestions that were all losses to him, made by an unwelcome guest who had woken him up from sleep.

“Wouldn’t it be better than losing human lives? Ah, what was it… Elise said she wanted to change the departure time too. Without anyone knowing. Even without Your Majesty knowing.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying we should postpone the departure? All the preparations are already done.”

“Pull it forward.”

David, who had heard one absurd suggestion after another, lost all his energy. He shook his head vigorously and slumped into his chair.

“Why are you doing this, really?”

“It’s to prepare for a possible situation. Elise predicts that Iris and Chase will mess up things again.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s better for Your Highness to go to bed since the departure is tomorrow.”

David drove Karan out, trying to keep his manners to the end.

And he stayed up all night. Once the sleep was broken, it didn’t come back, and whenever he lay in bed, the advice Elise had given him troubled him.

In the end, as soon as David got up at dawn, he called his close servants.

“Take out the weapons little by little and move them to the Dawn Moon Training Ground armory before the party starts. Instead, fill the warehouse where the subjugation weapons are stored with practice swords and spears from the Dawn Moon Training Ground armory. And I want to meet a top supplier who operates solidly even if the scale is not very large. One more thing, deliver this note to the vice commander of the subjugation force.”

He thought Elise’s worries were excessive, but he felt uncomfortable not to follow after hearing them.

Hoping that Elise’s worries were unfounded, David’s servants had to run with sweat on their feet due to his orders.

****

‘It turned out not to be unfounded, after all.’

David’s mouth turned sour. He stood up from his seat.

“Your Majesty, there’s constant noise about the departure. So I request to depart immediately as the commander of the subjugation force.”