The Path Of The Great Sovereign - Chapter 171

Nel looked at the Emperor who lost his arrogant demeanor while she drank and looked at the stars shining down upon them.

“The North is of course still apart of His Majesty’s Empire, however, as a Duke and Duchess there are certain privileges we are granted along with that title. As your Majesty and my Husband indeed share blood ties we seem to be the only Ducial family with ties to the Throne that remains.”

The Emperor’s pupils dilated as he grasped the hidden meaning behind her statement.

‘As a Duke with blood ties to the Throne and with a Fief the size of his, he is effectively running a country and can challenge me for the throne as he is indeed my Cousin. However, he has not done anything of the sort he has even stopped expanding his territory and ceased all hostilities. Despite that my Empire is completely dependent on his dukedom as he has landlocked shutting down the sea trade.’

Then the Emperor’s eyes went wide.

“It would seem his Majesty has understood.”

“Indeed I have.”

“So what shall you do?”

“War.”

“War it is then Your Majesty.”

Nel just smiled as she continued to drink with her now enemy while the Emperor thought about what has happened.

‘Despite not holding the Throne Duke Von Hoga commands more respect than I do as the Emperor. Every citizen of the Empire benefits from the Von Hoga Duchy while I do nothing at the top of the power pyramid. He has too much power for me to attack alone I will need to ally myself.’

While the Emperor smiled at his plan, Nel already had the Duchy’s Nobles contact the Nobles and royals of the other countries giving then the Ultimatum. Support Duke Von Hoga or the Von Hoga Duchy will pull out all of its goods. The Emperor was just a smart child, with proper guidance he would be a fearsome enemy. In order to make him into an asset Nel first had to show him what defeat truly was, yet what she did was equal to a Professional Boxer beating an infant. While the opposition was learning how to walk you already knocked them out without them ever knowing what happened.

The Scary thing about the Duchess vs the Duke is the Duke would kill you and that would be the end of it, scary yes but your death would be swift and painless. The Duchess liked to watch as you suffered, she would give you a small amount of hope only to crush it in your face.

The Emperor continued to enjoy his pastries as the Duchess already sent silent signals to stop trade with the Southen parts of the Empire. The Borders were shut down no one in no one out, she was gonna starve the Empire. While some parts of the Empire produce food it was nowhere near enough to sustain the Population, and without the permission from the Duke or Duchess, the surrounding nations wouldn’t dare poke the hornet’s nest.

While all this was happening the Ball was still ongoing, Tatsuo sat on his throne Smiling at his children as they danced with the others. He looked out at the balcony where he and Nel made eye contact, she nodded her head so he moved on to the next step.

Like a vortex, the Surrounding mana was sucked from the atmosphere into the Duke as he sat on the Throne quickly attracting everyone’s attention as the temperature dropped a few degrees due to the sudden absence of mana.

“Now that I have all of your attention I would like to announce a few things. The Emperor is here today to join us in the festivities which was a surprise to me because months ago it was this same Emperor that banished my family to die. Now I stand before you all a Duke, a much more lucrative title compared to my family’s former Margrave title. As a Duke, I am permitted a certain degree of autonomy while I am indeed a Noble of the Empire that has to lower my head before the crown I am given the Privilege to ignore an imperial decree 3 times. With that being said The Emperor seems to have forgotten an Imperial decree which was written by his father which stated ‘Nobles Duke and Below are forbidden from making a claim to the throne while the current Emperor lives.’”

Everyone immediately understood what the duke was saying.

“So from this moment forward, I would suggest you all pick a side as it will get bloody.”

Tatsuo raised his Glass and looked the Emperor directly in the eyes.