Two Brothers

"Friedrich?"

The moment this name was spoken, another wave of suppressed gasps and murmurs swept through the great hall! The ministers, who had relaxed slightly when Count Bolesken had agreed to take over, now all wore complex expressions of shock, disbelief, and deep concern.

Many of the old ministers' gazes swept back and forth between the beaded curtain, Boles, and the empty hall entrance, as though confirming whether they had heard correctly.

Behind the beaded curtain, Empress Dowager Katerina's fingers, which had been rolling her prayer beads, suddenly stopped. An extremely complicated light flashed through her eyes.

Friedrich! This candidate was truly too subtle, too unexpected, and yet... it seemed to make perfect sense.

Friedrich von Schmidt!

To the nobles present, this name signified far too many things.

Half a year ago, it had been this young fierce general who had created a miracle beneath Carnford City, defeating superior numbers and turning the tide of battle. His fame had soared.

Yet it was precisely these overly dazzling military achievements that had aroused Empress Dowager Katerina's deep wariness from within the imperial palace.

She absolutely could not sit by and watch the two sons of the Schmidt Family—Karl, who commanded Carnford's powerful forces, and Friedrich, whose prestige within Eagle's Nest City's cavalry system was steadily rising—form a potential and formidable military alliance.

Moreover, the Eisenberg Family had long intended to suppress the non-main branch forces of the Schmidt Family.

Thus, after taking power, the Empress Dowager had issued a transfer order. She had ostensibly promoted Friedrich, who had rendered great service, while actually demoting him and sending him far away to Herwenham, a place plagued by chaos and entrenched power struggles. There, he had been appointed to the nominal position of "Deputy Pacification Commissioner," an idle post with neither troops nor