Accessing the family head’s safe was not difficult. The head of Chesa, Ibnen, trusted her son.

She thought her son’s stubbornness or overly idealistic words were due to his young age. She believed it was the unique sense of justice of youth that would be tempered with time. Anyway, aside from that, he was truly a perfect successor.

And Ibnen’s trust in him shone the moment he cracked his mother’s safe. When he showed a forged certificate claiming he had his mother’s orders, the guard protecting the safe opened the door without any suspicion.

“…I must be crazy.”

Salode muttered as he removed valuable items with small volumes from his mother’s safe. Hazel, who was with him to lend a hand, replied nonchalantly.

“Cousin, don’t worry too much. It’s for a good cause, right?”

“…You really are, enviably simple-minded.”

“I hear that quite often.”

And Hazel swept the items he had sorted into a sack. There was no hesitation in that action, which would completely violate the chivalric code of always being honest.

Though he had called for help, Salode hadn’t expected her to be so nonchalant, so he furrowed his brow, forgetting his own situation.

“Are you sure you really joined the knighthood?”

“Of course. I even went to the border, didn’t I?”

“Then why are you so… with this thievery…”

“Look, cousin, I came because you asked for help.”

Hazel, who had slung the tightly tied sack over her shoulder, wiggled her finger.

“Let’s not rank thieves among ourselves.”

And she strode towards the passage created inside the safe. It was a secret passage made for use in emergencies.

Carrying his share of the sack and following behind her, Salode asked.

“…Why did you invest all your assets there?”

He hadn’t intended to touch his mother’s safe from the beginning.

In fact, he had first sought out Hazel. Because she owned three tenths of Chesa’s silver mines.

When he reluctantly asked to borrow some money, his cousin raised an eyebrow and said.

“I don’t have any?”

“What?”

“I said I don’t have any.”

And Hazel frowned as if he had asked a strange question.

“I sent it all to Soer. Didn’t you know?”

Through that conversation, Salode learned that the royal steward had approached his cousin before reaching out to him.

But as far as he knew, Hazel had no interest in politics. Though they had grown apart since she left home to become a knight, Salode could be certain of at least that one thing.

Apart from being smart and quick to judge situations, Hazel was always indifferent to how the world worked.

She didn’t show much enthusiasm for anything other than hanging out with her fellow knights or making insignificant friends.

The answer that came back was quite sarcastic.

“That’s rich coming from someone who called his cousin to break into Aunt’s safe.”

Knowing that she didn’t particularly like their family members, Salode softened his voice a bit more.

“I’m just really curious.”

Hazel was silent for a moment but eventually answered.

“Just, because it seemed alright.”

“…What kind of person is he?”

They both knew the omitted subject was the youngest prince.

The answer came back after a slightly longer pause than before.

“Someone who’s starved enough himself, that he won’t let others starve.”

And Hazel stepped forward at a quicker pace. Quickening his steps to follow his cousin, Salode carefully asked.

“…Do you still have no intention of coming back home?”

“Cousin, you’re unusually talkative today.”

“Don’t be like that, think about it. Rena wouldn’t want you to live like this…”

It was then that Hazel stopped. Swish. The sound of boot heels brushing the floor echoed in the narrow passage.

When his cousin turned to look at him, Salode saw the quietly simmering remnants of the past in her eyes.

“That’s enough. Stop meddling and keep your mouth shut.”

Because the steward had drawn him and Hazel into the rebellion, his mother, while sighing heavily, eventually said she would cooperate by putting her name on it.

Instead, she said that if this happened one more time, she would strip them of the family name and cut off their wrists.

While it might not matter to him, it would be quite concerning for Hazel who wielded a sword, so Salode glanced at his cousin standing beside him. Hazel had her usual expression.

The preparations for the rebellion, having gained Chesa’s cooperation, proceeded steadily.

In front of the city gates where aid was being distributed, Salode met again with the old man who had drawn him into this affair.

Approaching the steward who looked no different from before, Salode lowered his voice and asked.

“Why don’t you step forward yourself?”

Soer and Chesa were at the forefront of the rebellion. The steward wanted his name to not be attached anywhere.

The old man answered in a voice tinged with the tremor of age.

“I have no reason to do so.”

“You never know. When the new king ascends, you might be treated as a meritorious subject.”

And Salode looked ahead. In the distance, he could see Hazel gathering children from the slums and playing hand games with them. His cousin, mingling with people other than family, looked bright and lively without any worries.

The old man asked.

“Did you get involved in this affair hoping for such things?”

“Not really, but…”

“It’s the same for me.”

And the old man walked towards the cart distributing aid supplies, his back to him. Looking at the old man’s back, Salode suddenly remembered that the previous king had been quite a good king.

For a man who had served the royal family since the previous generation, this affair might feel more like betrayal than an honorable act.

As Hazel said, the man who ascended to the throne was a decent person.

He wasn’t raised to be king, but he knew how to listen to others.

His personality was also good, able to be sufficiently cruel or strict when needed, while still being humane as a person. He couldn’t be called completely good, but he wasn’t evil. Since a king doesn’t need to be good, it was perhaps an appropriate quality.

Hazel got along well with those who came south with the new king from the north. She said they were people she knew from when she stayed in the north.

Salode became an advisor to the new king, following his cousin who became the commander of the Second Corps. There was talk that Chesa was monopolizing too much power, but the new king was adamant. He needed a family to stand against Nebel, which had taken control of Edegrun by then.

Unlike before the rebellion when he had been confused about whether his choice was right, Salode became more satisfied and even loyal to the young man as he experienced the new king.

The king was a person who constantly strived. It was quite difficult for both of them as politics was new, but still, it was truly rewarding to watch a leader who worked to create a better country.

As each day passed, Salode thought that the new king might really become a king who only thought of the country.

Until he suddenly said he would marry.

“The partner is the princess of Reden.”

It was a calm statement, as if he had decided so long ago.

The first thing Salode said upon hearing this was to reconsider.

Reden, of all places. Even excluding the personal character of the bride-to-be, Reden was not suitable for a marriage alliance.

What the king needed now was strong in-laws who could be reliable backing at any time.

Not a country that we would have to aid.

But the king who brought up the marriage was adamant. He was so stubborn that Salode even thought that he wouldn’t marry anyone if not the princess of Reden.

Moreover, the king’s will was not something anyone could stop. His telling those around him about the proposal was merely a forewarning before taking action.

In the end, the king married the princess of Reden.

Contrary to all the worries that had been prevalent, their married life was quite smooth. The man became much softer than when he was alone and somehow more adept.

When the king joined hands with pirates to eliminate Brinwell’s port docking rights, Salode was somewhat surprised.

As far as he knew, the king had been inclined to reject pirates until his marriage. Hadn’t he even confined all criminals and pirates to one area in Galicia?

Salode even thought that he might set fire to that area someday. That’s how cleanly the king had acted in that regard.

But he not only bent his own inclinations but also had some conversation with the pirates that made them move south.

Salode thought that the Black Foam would never move south of their own accord. There was no place better for plundering than the Aglante waters. There must have been some kind of agreement.

That wasn’t all. Whatever agreement he made with the new Lord of Rohos, the king turned that land over to the queen’s share. Driving Nebel out of the castle and taking his daughter’s territory was just a bonus.

Thanks to this, it was much easier to prepare for war. There was surplus funds to deal with unexpected situations, and sufficient supplies could be stockpiled as well.

Still, when he heard that Brinwell’s First Prince’s army was approaching the Kirios Mountains, Salode thought it was too early. As far as he knew, Brinwell didn’t have the capital to afford a war.

When the Brinwell army finally crossed the peak of the Kirios Mountains, he inevitably became tense. If war broke out, troops would have to be brought in, but the situation wasn’t favorable now. It overlapped with the harvest season.

Salode thought it would be better to hold out as much as possible on the northern front first, then conscript after the harvest season and have the king move, but the king’s opinion was different.

“I’ll go to the front lines first to buy time, so conscript after the harvest season.”

When the king said that, Salode remonstrated several times. It was natural. As long as Brinwell had Namie as a royal heir, they couldn’t send a king without an heir to the front lines.

Moreover, the king even said he would conscript soldiers from the elder families. He was doing this knowing full well how black their hearts would be.

But no matter how much he remonstrated, the king did not bend his will. This was the first time he had been so stubborn since the marriage issue.

When he realized this fact, Salode understood what had changed the king so much.

“If my words are hard to believe, think of Ophelia. You know how I regard her.”