Convening the Noble Council

"Although it will take some time, we will soon be able to find out the truth through the internal security forces' investigation."

Mora addressed the two of them.

"The investigation will take time, but I think we should all have a guess as to who did it," said Count Lagos.

"Is there even a question? It must have been that old bastard Colt who sent people to do it," Mora said angrily.

Viscount Borey nodded in agreement.

"In that case, Your Highness, I suggest that there are some things we should do immediately."

Mora immediately interjected, "I understand. Viscount Borey, immediately give me the order to mobilize the Imperial Guard Legion and set out on the battlefield."

Count, sweating profusely, hurriedly stopped him, saying, "That's not how it is, Your Majesty! We are not prepared at all. We haven't even finished assembling our troops. It would be far too hasty to set out on an expedition now!"

"So what should we do now? I'm really angry right now. I really want to send someone to cut off that Colt's head and use it as a chamber pot."

"Your Majesty, leave it to our Imperial Guard Legion. We will surely kill Count Colt and raze the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier to the ground."

"You guys are just..."

Count Lags was speechless at the sight of the two men's behavior.

"Your Highness, do you know that the national treasury is empty? We don't even have enough food to start an army. Going to war now would be a disaster."

"Then what should I do? What should I do? Grandpa, don't keep me in suspense, just tell me."

"Although we did not obtain the secret agreement, the Raine Kingdom has provided us with a great deal of evidence to prove Count Colt's treason. I suggest that Your Majesty convene Noble Council in your capacity as Grand Duke."

"Publish this information in the Noble Council, call on all nobles to support you in suppressing the rebellion, and levy special military funds from these nobles for this purpose."

Upon hearing this, Mora's face flushed with excitement.

"Yes, well said. Now I'm going to show those nobles what Count Colt is really like."

Mora paced back and forth excitedly, muttering to herself repeatedly, "I want more..." "I want more..."

Looking at the Grand Duke before him, Viscount Borey felt very worried. He asked the Count Lagos in a low voice, "Prime Minister, I think it is right to announce Count Colt's crimes now, but will the levy of special military funds work? After all, His Majesty's previous attempt to remove the nobles who supported Grand Duke Jola from their ranks in Parliament was rejected by Parliament."

Count Lagos confidently replied, "I know all that, but Count Colt and his Northern Frontier nobles are an exception within the duchy. Although his prestige has soared domestically thanks to his achievements in the Civil War, and he has garnered many allies, he is far inferior in both numbers and strength to the loyal nobles who are devoted to the Ducal House. Moreover..."

Count Lagos wanted to say something to Viscount Borey, but Mora suddenly interrupted him.

"Wait a minute, Grandpa, the Noble Council has always been against me. Do you think they'll let me collect special military funds so easily now?"

Mora then noticed the problem with Count Lagos's words.

"It's actually very simple. You need to know that nobles like to stick together. The reason they opposed you before was because they didn't want you to use your power as Grand Duke to interfere with the Noble Council."

But Count Colt did something different; he wanted to start a rebellion.

You should know that after the Civil War, in order to thank the Northern Frontier Allied Army for their help and to fill the deficits in the national treasury and the Inner Treasury, you had already obtained a lot of benefits from the nobles in various places, half of which were given to Count Colt and the Northern Frontier nobles under his command.

"If you were to offer a portion of these profits, along with a share of the post-war fiefdoms of the Northern Frontier nobles, to those nobles who suffered losses in the Civil War during this meeting, they would certainly be willing to support you."

The Count Lagos expressed his thoughts.

"But didn't we send people to contact those Northern Frontier nobles who are not direct descendants of Count Colt? Should I also include their fiefdoms as spoils to be divided in the future?"

"My lord, have you forgotten that we contacted these Northern Frontier nobles because we were able to obtain the secret agreement signed by Count Colt from the Raine Kingdom, to prove that the Leon Kingdom would not support Count Colt's rebellion."

But now that secret pact is lost, and most likely never to be found again, those Northern Frontier nobles might not be willing to help us. Since that's the case, why not use them as leverage for the future?

Upon hearing this, Mora nodded, agreeing with what Count Lagos had said.

"But Grandfather, even so, I need to get enough votes in the Noble Council to pass the bill to levy special military expenses. Count Colt has also won over many nobles from other places, and these people will definitely vote against it."

Lagos smiled; he knew Mora would ask this question, and he had previously tried to explain it to Viscount Borey.

"You don't need to worry about the votes. After you publish the evidence of Count Colt's treason, you can remove the representatives of the Northern Frontier nobles from the Noble Council in the name of Colt's accomplices. This will basically eliminate half of the opposing votes."

If you then express your willingness to return the rights and interests of the eastern and Central nobles that were lost in the Civil War, most of them will support you.

Then there are the southern nobles. Count Lloyd had been secretly contacting Count Colt, thinking we didn't know. In fact, his nephew had secretly informed us, which is perfect for announcing this in Parliament and getting him and his vassals kicked out of Parliament.

Finally, there are the Western nobles. Although they suffered heavy losses in the Civil War and have always had grievances against you and me, Count Colt has done us a great favor. His men's act of murdering Baron of Woven Fern will surely unite the Western nobles in their hatred.

In this way, you'll definitely get the required number of votes, and our bill will pass.

"But Baron of Woven Fern has disappeared, hasn't he? It hasn't been proven that he's dead yet; we need to wait for the investigation results."

"Your Majesty, we can confirm whether he is dead or missing; there is no need to wait for the investigation results."

Mora nodded thoughtfully.

"That's right, if we do it this way, the levy of special military funds will definitely be approved, but how much should be levied?"

"Let's calculate based on the average annual output of the territory: 800 gold for a baron, 1,500 gold for a viscount, and 3,000 gold for Count. This way, the remaining 150 noble families can collect gold, which is more than enough to replenish the army and prepare supplies, and there will still be a lot left for the national treasury."

"But if that's the case, you, Viscount Borey, and several other court ministers will all have to come up with a lot of money!"

"It's very simple. We just pay the money as usual, and they'll refund it to us after they collect all the money."

"Grandpa, you're so smart."

Viscount Borey watched the two men flattering each other, but he became worried. Although he didn't think there was anything wrong with what they were doing, they seemed to be taking the defeat of Count Colt and the Northern Frontier Allied Army too lightly. He knew that no matter how well they planned, the outcome would be decided on the battlefield.