Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence Chapter 764 - 426: Turmoil on All Sides
Previously on Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence...
The study's heavy velvet curtains were drawn, sealing out the daylight and muffling the distant clamor from the Imperial Capital's streets.
Kaelin was seated behind his desk, a recently delivered parchment, its corners still crisp, laid out before him.
It was a 'Declaration to the Imperial Compatriots,' penned in response to Louis's speech.
He scanned it word by word, each phrase sharp and filled with unvarnished malice, like a meticulously sharpened blade.
"A beast who slaughtered his own kin? A tyrannical plunderer of the Divine Artifact?" Kaelin's lips curved slightly at this point.
A low, hoarse chuckle escaped his throat, akin to the satisfaction of a long-hidden truth finally brought to light.
"Beast?" he repeated the word, his fingers slowly clenching, creasing the delicate parchment.
"Ha... Louis, your insult hits the mark precisely." His gaze was frigid and clear.
Kaelin recalled the moment he personally crushed Rhine's throat.
He remembered the rows of bodies hanging along Victory Avenue, the sensation of blood warm against the cobblestones' fissures.
He had never sought any pretense; this Dragon Throne was forged through brutality and bloodshed.
In contrast to Rhine's self-proclaimed civilized hypocrisy, Kaelin favored this raw honesty.
As Kaelin continued reading, his eyes settled on the phrase, "Before His Majesty's return, the throne of the Empire lies vacant." His laughter gradually subsided.
Silence enveloped the study once more.
Kaelin lifted his head, reclining in his chair, his fingertips tapping gently on the desk's surface.
This particular detail held his keenest interest.
The common belief was that the formidable Emperor, his own father, would never reappear.
Yet, Louis had seized the Gray Rock Province, absorbed the Remont Clan, but notably refrained from claiming the throne, instead awaiting the long-absent Emperor, clearly leaving an avenue of return open.
Kaelin perceived this not as cowardice, but as calculated restraint.
"He understands he currently lacks the capacity to absorb the entire Empire; securing the two major provinces is his present limit."
A smile touched Kaelin's lips once more. This 'Declaration,' while seemingly a condemnation on the surface, was subtly defining boundaries.
The North would not advance south, at least not for the time being.
He carried on reading. Upon encountering Louis's use of the most scathing terms to denounce the Fifth Prince Lampard, branding him a "whore profiting from the ancestors' heritage," Kaelin let out a snicker.
"That spineless fifth," he muttered, shaking his head in utter disdain, "actually bowed down to those God-worshippers."
At this juncture, he experienced a sense of sarcastic amusement.
In this very document, Louis maligned the Southeast's pseudo-Emperor with greater ferocity than Kaelin himself, personally consigning him to the abyss of heresy.
The Empire's legitimate public opinion had fractured into two distinct factions.
On one side stood Kaelin, the blood-soaked tyrant; on the other, a traitor subservient to an external divine mandate.
And the Northern Territory remained aloof, observing both with cold detachment.
Kaelin exhaled slowly. "Intriguing."
In the ongoing struggle against the Holy Eastern Empire, this individual from the Northern Territory might prove to be a useful instrument.
Not an ally, but also not necessarily an immediate adversary to be eliminated.
He let the parchment fall onto the desk, as if discarding a playing card after discerning its value.
"Maintain vigilance over the Northern Territory," Kaelin instructed the attendant hidden in the shadows, his voice soft. "Do not provoke him."
Kaelin then leaned back, closing his eyes. The soldier's instinct at this moment superseded any personal sentiment.
Within his mind's eye, a new map of the Empire began to materialize, not etched on paper, but a tangible landscape shaped by blood, supply lines, legions, and interlocking ambitions.
To the north lay the domain of Louis Calvin.
The Gray Rock Province had changed hands, yet Louis had neither advanced further south nor hastened to seize the crown.
Instead, he had even indicated a willingness to resume certain trade relations.
Kaelin understood this clearly: it wasn't weakness, but the calculated patience of a well-fed wolf preparing for its next hunt.
"No action can be taken," was his assessment regarding the north.
Remont had failed to reclaim Gray Rock, and Kaelin himself stood even less chance.
Therefore, the existing situation must be accepted.
Allow Louis to serve as a bulwark on the Empire's northern frontier.
A defense against external threats and a deterrent to other aspirants.
If circumstances demanded, this bulwark could even be made to bleed for the Empire, potentially pacified later with concessions, even granting him the title of King of the Northern Territory, which was not out of the realm of possibility.
To the southeast were the Fifth Prince Lampard and the Church Court operating behind him.
Kaelin's eyes snapped open, his gaze hardening to steel.
They represented the true enemy that must be eradicated.
The introduction of heresy into the realm, the use of divine authority to subjugate imperial power, constituted a direct defiance of the Empire's fundamental laws.
"Heresy" was a word he savored repeatedly in his thoughts.
The perfect target.
Provided all wartime objectives were directed towards the Southeast, he could, under the guise of eradicating heresy, bring the aristocracy back under his control, thereby solidifying his own absolute authority. Ultimately, the Imperial Capital stood between him and Remont. His gaze drifted past the thick drapes, focusing on the distant Imperial City. Within its walls lay Duke Remont's estate, and though the Duke himself had not yet returned, numerous knights maintained their vigilant patrols around the grounds. There was a time when that manor loomed like a menacing shadow, oppressing him. Every significant and minor imperial affair, even after his own decisions were made, invariably found its way back there to be finalized by the old Duke. He himself had always been merely a tool in the Duke's grasp; Kaelin was acutely aware of this reality.