a part of a castle in the imperial capital of the Vestian Empire.

　Fritzione was talking to the nobility of his faction in his private room.

"Does that mean that Prince Fritzione will be under Prince Mercurio?"

　Fritzione nodded to Marquis Loganos, an elderly man in his 60s with a fine beard like a dwarf.

"Yes, I think so."

　The simple words of Fritzione make the aristocrats who listen to them sigh.

　Fritzione, who was originally a princess, is too low to aim for the position of emperor.　

　As such, many of those who belong to this faction love Fritzione purely.

　Not everyone adores Fritzione, of course, but even so, not many people oppose Fritzione even if he says he will come under Mercurio.

"Well... what happened all of a sudden? If I remember correctly before, it would have been about cooperating with the rebels with Prince Mercurio in order to deal with this civil war.Why is it that Prince Fritzione is under Mercurio?"

"If Mercurio and I were on equal footing when we joined the rebels, would the chain of command be disrupted? There might be other people who would slip away to make a contribution.That's why it's better to make it clear that I'll be under Mercurio."

"But!"

　a nobleman who is eager to speak outspokenly.

　The nobleman fell in love with Fritzione's kindness and decided to join the First Princess' faction.

　If Fritzione becomes emperor, this country will definitely be better than it is now.It was only because I believed so.

　It meant that Fritzione's chances of becoming emperor would not disappear, but that he would be infinitely low.

"Calm down.It is not a question of whether or not to become an emperor now, but how quickly to end this civil war.Don't you think we should concentrate on that?"

"That's... but..."

　I understand Fritzione's point.I understand, but if the nobility are still allowed Fritzione under Mercurio, the answer is no.

"Your Highness Fritzione is probably saying that.Calm down."

　said the Marquis of Loganos, who had been talking to Fritzione.

"...I'm sorry.I was distracted."

"That's all right. It's all of a sudden.I explained it to other aristocrats, but they all reacted in the same way."

　It's a starting point for aristocrats as soon as Ray came to this castle, but of course it can't be so easy.

　If it was as originally planned, it would be natural for both parties to proceed in the form of equal status.

"You can't go with me in this case.If you think so, you don't have to hesitate to go back to your territory... or you can leave my faction.I'm not going to blame this, given that it was unexpected for me."

　Fritzione told him so, but he was silent without saying anything, including the aristocrats who had complained about it earlier.

　Though we have many thoughts, we will never abandon our lord in front of us.

　That thought was the only thing we all agreed on.

　He must have understood the feeling in the eyes of everyone looking at him.Fritzione smiled a little and opened her mouth.

"...thank you."

"No, I don't mind.We are here because we like to be with His Highness Fritzione....but some of them seem to have other thoughts... well, some of them seem to have feelings."

　The young nobleman glanced at by the Marquess Loganos and blushed with shame.

　a male nobleman who had long been attracted to Fritzione.

　Understanding this, Fritzione turned his gentle gaze towards the man.

　What do you think of yourself?Even though he knows this, Fritzione cannot respond to his feelings.

　There are differences in status, and there are things that I have to do and things that I want to do.

(If you think about it, Vyhela must have overcome many things.)

　Even if the other party is an adventurer who has given up the status of a royal family, there is no obstacle to being united.

　No, not exactly because there are people who adore Vihera themselves, not her status, so it wasn't without disabilities.

(Like Tiyur)

　In my mind, I can say that I worship my sister.

　The nobleman who has a deep knowledge of art will certainly be in the rebel army now.

　There were reports that he had seen it in the first battle, but it was certain that Tiyur was already there when he heard that Vihera was in the rebel army before that.

(If I say I'm jealous, I'm jealous, but it's true that I can't go that way.)

　That's why Fritzione pretends not to know that the person at the end of her gaze is in favor of her.

"Anyway, if you come with me, be prepared, including the soldiers you will take with you.I will leave the imperial capital in a few days, so please don't let my brother Shulz or Kabazid see my actions."

"But if we all try to leave the castle at once, won't we find it? I think it's better for me to get soldiers out of the castle little by little and hide in the imperial capital, and gather outside the imperial capital on the day of the execution."

"Well... what do you think, Angela?"

　Angela nods back after thinking for a few seconds to ask her husband's true feelings behind her.

"Certainly, as the Marquis Loganos says, if we all leave the castle at once, we may stand out, but there is also a means of making them more conspicuous and hesitant to meddle.In particular, our bodyguards include Ray... As long as there is crimson, neither Prince Shrus nor Prince Kabazid will be able to attack carelessly."

"... crimson?"

　It had already been explained that Ray was sent by Mercurio as a bodyguard.

　Nevertheless, it is true that as a nobleman in the Bestian Empire, he has something to do with crimson.

　Of course, many members of the First Princess' faction lost their families, friends and acquaintances in the spring war.

　That's why I had a lot of thoughts about Ray.

"Just in case, that battle was a war.Moreover, I attacked him from here.If that's the case, don't try to hold a strange grudge against Ray."

　The aristocrats listened to Fritzione, who told him with a sad expression on their faces.

　Everyone knew that Fritzione had originally taken the opposite position on the spring war.

　However, all members of the royal family except Fritzione agreed to the war, including the emperor's tradist.

　In order to get the sea.

　The result was that crushing defeat.

　In addition, he created a hero named crimson.

　In many ways it was the worst for the Bestian Empire.

　And if the national power is not fully recovered yet, this year will be the worst year for this civil war.

"... I see.I'll let you do nothing against crimson, at least as far as I can see."

　The Marquis of Loganos nodded to Fritzione's words.

　Those around him nodded, saying that it was Fritzione's will, following the Marquis of Loganos.

"Thank you, so I don't know what to do after all.If the soldiers were scattered in the imperial capital, it would be difficult to grasp our movements, but it would take time for us to get together... but if we all get out of the castle, we will surely find them."

"It's a difficult place, but in the end, Prince Fritzione should decide which one he wants to choose.This faction is Prince Fritzione's."

　At Angela's words, Fritzione thinks with a difficult expression.

　Frizzione, who is usually smiling, had a fresh feeling among the nobles.

　He might not have noticed the gaze he was looking at, but Fritzione spoke.

"Hey, Angela. If we were all going out of the castle, of course we'd be conspicuously spotted by others, wouldn'

"That's right. It's not like a parade of subjugation troops,

"What would happen if Ray was by our side?"

"...on the premise that they will notice, but as I said, they will hesitate to attack.You don't want to fight in the imperial capital and increase the damage, and above all, you know the power of Ray to the point where you don't like the flame tornado.If you make a mistake, the castle will be burned down, let alone the imperial capital."

　Fritzione nodded, "I see," but suddenly she opened her mouth because she was curious about Angela's words."Do you notice?"

"Yes, I don't want to say this, but Ray looks like a rookie wizard from the side.Gryphon's... Did you say Seto? I'm sure they'll know that Ray is there right away."

"Oh, I see. . . Then I wonder if I must somehow get the Gryphon into the Imperial capital.You're outside the imperial capital, I suppose?"

That's what I've heard.And... Oh, there's another symbol of Ray.With that scythe, it would be obvious to everyone that Ray was crimson."

　Few people use scythe, a weapon that is usually very difficult to use.

　One of the few is Ray, and along with the Gryphon, his scythe... death size is also the symbol of Ray.

　At this time of year, if anyone in the imperial capital wore a robe with a sickle, it would be judged that the person was Ray... crimson.

"Well, if you look at that scythe-like man wearing a robe, do you think he is crimson?In that case, I wonder if I can change my opinion to that of Angela."

　When Marquis Loganos expressed his consent, other nobles nodded as if to follow suit.

"Then, if Ray is among us, he won't attack us.Can I think so?"

"Yes, if there's nothing more... at least it'll be after you get out of the imperial capital that you attack."

"Then it would be better for us all to get out of the castle together. ... Let's discuss it in more detail.And I need to tell this to the people I've talked about... Angela, can I go to any of the children of the Order of the White Rose?"

"Yes!"

　He nodded swiftly to Fritzione's orders, and immediately told the Knight of the White Rose Knights waiting outside the room what to do.

"And... well, I don't have a lot of troops to take, but I think it'll take a lot of time to move.Don't forget the preparations and food for each camp."

"Prince Fritzione, as far as supplies are concerned, I think it's better to bring them together as a supply unit. Otherwise, there will be a lot of obstacles when moving, and it will take more time and effort when distributing food."

"Wouldn't the damage be great if we were to be attacked in one place?"

　One of the nobles asked so, but it was Angela who rejected it.

"If we prepare individual supply units, we will not have enough time to protect them from those who attack us.We don't already have that many people, so I think we should concentrate on operating our forces."

"But I don't think there's anything we can do if we just focus on defense. If we don't attack, we'll only be attacked unilaterally."

"We should concentrate on defense and leave the attack to Ray.How powerful is he?We, the people of the Bestian Empire, know that best."

"...you seem to have become very close to crimson."

　Angela is a nobleman who tells her something sarcastic, but Angela replies with no sign of concern.

"Of course.Ray is our bodyguard, and I honestly don't think it's a foolish thing to go out of your way to hurt our relationship against him."

「……」

　Angela's words were certainly sound arguments.

　If the relationship with the person who came to protect themselves is bad, it will only be disadvantageous to both of us.

　In the case of Ray, if you think that you can protect yourself, the first princess faction will be in a position to be disadvantaged unilaterally.

　I guess he understood that.There were several other aristocrats who had feelings for Ray besides talking to Angela, but after that, he kept that feeling in his heart and talked about how to escape the imperial capital.