The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

099 Feud of the young emperor couple

The information reported by the informant in the grassland was confirmed through several channels and then passed on to the imperial palace.

The report was in several sheets, wrapped in a thick envelope.

Rudy carefully studied the letter and put it down on the desk.

After giving permission with a glance, the military officer who was familiar with the barbarians began to explain the recent situation and the characteristics of the barbarians.

“The barbarians are not a single nation. All the tribes in the northern steppes are called barbarians. There are many, but they are spread over a wide area, so it is difficult for outsiders to distinguish between them. In fact, from our point of view, they are all similar. They look similar.”

The military officer unfolded the map on the desk and continued the explanation.

Since the empire covers a vast area, there are many cases where the climate is different between one side and the other side of the same country.

Even at the same time of year, depending on the region, one side is dry and the other side is plentiful. Some areas were deserts, while others were fertile lands that benefited from rivers.

The northern part of the empire is mostly barren.

The savages lived in the eastern part of the arid northern region, in the vast grassland area.

Not a good place to live.

Unlike the weeds in other areas that grow thick even if left alone, the vegetation in the area where the barbarians lived was short overall. because there is little water

The long river that divides the grassland is the water source, and when the rain decreases, barbarians sometimes fight over the water from the river.

This year, due to water shortages that have been going on for several years, there is not enough grass to feed the livestock.

It was a matter of survival for the barbarians, who moved regularly in search of greenery and raised livestock.

That’s why the empire couldn’t easily raise a large army even though it was fed up with the plundering of the barbarians.

There are some tribes who habitually plunder, as if for fun in city goods and women, but most invade the empire for the sake of survival.

The savages who plundered for a living were as desperate and wild as they were.

Rather than wage war, simply plundering villages in the border area could have been a way to reduce the damage.

“But if the barbarians unite, the scale of looting also increases. It won’t be enough to break through the walls, but the burden on the city side is significant because you have to defend it.”

Merchants are particularly affected. But in the end, entire border cities were affected.

Although a city belonging to the empire, the border city with many barbarians had a great impact on the life of the grasslands.

Unlike in the past, these days even the savages do not make a living with only things from the grassland.

Various items brought from the city were used not only for basic living, but also when barbarian men gave their wives gifts or betrothed.

For that reason, barbarians often come directly to the border cities to sell goods.

The barbarians sold their goods in the border city and bought goods in the city with the price they received.

Barbarians’ goods are sold to other merchants or ordinary people.

While doing so, people ate and slept in the city and fed the horses for transport.

After all, it is not an exaggeration to say that the entire city lives on trade with barbarians.

However, when a plundering tribe arises, the area becomes impassable, and the activities of merchants are naturally restricted.

Even in border towns on the plains, plunder is a matter of survival.

“The barbarians all ride horses. Even five-year-olds ride just as well as adults. Even if you send soldiers from the border town, they’ve already plundered and run away. Besides, they shoot arrows and wield spears while on horseback. It’s hard to deal with because you use it.”

The military officer continued with a bitter expression.

“I hate to admit it, but individually they are stronger and faster than our Empire’s soldiers. In border towns, soldiers deliberately delay to avoid running into them.”

Indeed, is that so?

If you continue to plunder from a tribe, you will have gathered information about that tribe to some extent.

No matter how much a wandering nomad is, as long as there are livestock and women and children, the speed of movement is slow.

It is said that it follows a similar area every time it moves, so if you tried to catch it, you would have been able to track it down enough to catch it.

I thought it was strange that I hadn’t done that before.

‘It’s not that I couldn’t, it was that I didn’t.’

The soldiers of the border city, who have seen the barbarians for a long time, seem to be in a state of intimidation with their ferocity and strength.

Rudy rummaged through the report once more, checked a few places, and asked.

“How big do you think the barbarian allied forces will be? It’s not written in the report.”

“It seems that the number of tribes is still increasing. There are only three tribes that have been confirmed.”

Barbarian tribes vary in number from a few hundred to a thousand.

In the case of ‘Black Rock’, there are several clans in one tribe, so it is quite large.

The tribal chief who commands all the clans gathered together is called the warchief.

The aide who was listening quietly next to the military officer frowned and said.

“Black Rock, the tribe is a place of interaction with the Empire. It’s a shame to participate in the plunder when we have a lot of support.”

A civil servant who was gathering information about barbarians from a little away raised his head.

“The tribe used to swarm several years ago because they wanted to see the young empress. They asked her to be the wife of their warchief. The chieftain already knew that he had more than ten wives.”

Rudy is the first to hear it.

“Empress, you mean Lilitha? But she’s only nine years old now. Isn’t the Chief of the Black Rock over fifty, as written here?”

“That’s what’s staggering. The tribe is so brazen.”

It’s the same in the empire, but unlike the earth, the barbarian’s 50 years old is more like a grandfather. But asking for a nine-year-old child as a wife, is the old man crazy?

Fortunately, Rudy’s common sense seems to work in this world as well.

There were cases where old men took young women as concubines or wives, but most of them seemed to be viewed as lecherous.

Rudy sighed.

“As soon as you gather even a little bit of information about the barbarians and border cities, let me know.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

You can’t just cling to barbarians. Rudy put aside the paperwork on the savages and moved on to the next task.

Levin selected an urgent agenda from a pile of paperwork and put it in front of Rudy.

I went through the letters with my eyes and took notes if I needed additional data.

Levin rearranges the papers, leaving those that are confidential to himself and those that are not to another official, who turns them over to the appropriate department or manager.

While processing the paperwork one after another, Rudy’s head was still focused on the barbarian issue.

If the other side intends to carry out a large-scale looting, the border city alone cannot stop it. We need to send an army here too.

The problem was that the opponent was not a normal country, but a nomad.

The empire has a larger standing army than other countries, but when it grows in size, it must impose military service on the nobles who own the territory.

From nob le mt l dot com

Doing so will take a long time.

This is because, as on modern Earth, there are no armies that can act immediately when an order is given.

It took a considerable amount of time to issue a conscription order and gather soldiers, but it took a long time to walk to the northern border city.

On the other hand, nomads are conscripted and there is nothing. Just negotiate with the tribes and raid the nearby villages.

If it is plundered and then left far away, it will be difficult for the Empire’s army to find it, no matter how much they roam the land.

Even if the Empire’s troops luckily arrived at the right time, the fight would not be easy.

There was no way that the soldiers of the empire, which were mainly infantry, could catch up with the horse, but even if they did, it would not be easy to defeat the savages riding on horses and moving in all directions.

It’s a story I heard when I was on Earth, but someone went to Mongolia for sightseeing and learned to ride a horse for a few days.

When I arrived at the learning place and waited for the teacher to teach, a child less than ten years old came.

When the teacher asked where you were going and where you came from, the little boy replied that he was the teacher.

At first, I was stunned and all I could do was snort, but when I saw the kid actually riding a horse, I heard that he called me teacher without even making a sound. The little boy almost became one body with the horse and ran.

That’s about it even on the modern Earth.

In today’s world, I wouldn’t be surprised if a five-year-old child rides a horse and shoots an arrow through enemy lines.

The reason why this side has an advantage over the savage tribes is the magical weapons and the useless number of people.

However, it was not possible to recklessly provide magical weapons to soldiers under the imperial nobility. Of course, the numbers aren’t that many.

Rudy mechanically processed the paperwork piled up on the desk, then stood up.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing?”

The chamberlain approached and asked.

“I have to go to Sang Hwang. Levin, arrange the paperwork here. So that we can take care of it when he comes back later.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I understand.”

While talking with Levin, one of the attendants quietly left the office. It seems that he is going to say goodbye to Hwang Sang-je.

From the day of the coronation ceremony, Hwang Sang-je vacated the emperor’s bedroom and moved to another building. It is not too far from the main palace. It is a small palace connected by a corridor.

It was the same after the situation. The two are living in different palaces.

However, Rudy still stayed with Lilitha in the villa where he originally stayed, not in the emperor’s bedroom in the main palace. It was because Rilisha was too young to be left alone in the empress’ palace.

Not only is it pitiful to leave her alone, but it’s not good for Lilitha’s feelings when she’s still young.

Most of all, if you say you can stay together once you get married and then leave her alone, you will be called a liar for the rest of your life. It’s really difficult.

He thought about staying with the young empress in the emperor’s bed, but it was difficult.

The emperor’s bedchamber is not a private place. There, officials came in the morning to attend official business, and on rare occasions, they even held interviews.

If she stays there, every single action of the still immature empress will be leaked out.

In the end, the only place to choose was the detached palace.

Originally, it seems that it was unthinkable for the attendants and maids to live together in the same palace and in the same room as the emperor and empress, who had separate residences.

At first, when Rudy said that, everyone reacted in amazement.

Rather, Rudy was more surprised, as if he had thought he would leave a 9-year-old child alone in the palace.

When Rudi arrived at the palace of Emperor Taehyung, the attendant assigned to the residence bowed deeply and said,

“The empress has been in bed for about an hour.”

is it again Lirisha often visits the palace of Taehwangje.

When Rudy nodded in agreement, the attendant guided him into the room, slightly knocking down his mask-like face and smiling.

“The Empress has brought snacks. Shall we have tea together?”

“The empress brought sweets?”

Something seems odd. When Rudy asked, the attendant lowered his head and answered.

“Yes. I heard that Mama’s quarters brought out sweets that she liked and were very delicious. She told me to give out as much as I had, so she wrapped them in a cloth. They said they would take it. They packed it all up again.”

Rudy involuntarily laughed.

Behind him, the chamberlain is also smiling.

Since sweets were rare in the concubine’s mansion, Lilitha also worships sweets here as if they were a shrine.

I knew that the detached palace was doing this, but I didn’t know that it was distributed even to Taehwangje and his attendants.

“Come to think of it, last night I got baked bread.”

I secretly hid the bread that came with dinner and gave it to Rudy at bedtime. Although he was eating while rustling under the covers, he was eventually taken away by the baroness.

Tears welled up in my eyes, so I begged Rudy for help, but he turned away. It was because I thought the habit of eating while sleeping was not good, and because of that, I was in a slightly pouty state this morning.

“Okay, give me some tea. And take the empress for a while when I talk to Emperor Sang.”

“All right.”

The baroness and other maids who served the empress stood in front of Taehwangje’s room.

Seeing Rudy, he bowed deeply and lowered himself.

Out of curiosity, I asked the baroness.

“I heard that the empress came here, but have you finished your studies?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You have finished studying in the morning. But.”

“but?”

“I sent the message that we are heading here too late. We have to make an appointment at least a day or half a day, or at least an hour or two in advance, but the empress said as she departed. Be aware.”

When the baroness lowered her eyes and said, the palace attendant of Taehwangje smiled.

“It’s okay. When Emperor Tae Hwang has official duties, we will take care of it. Her Majesty Emperor Hwang is also happy when the empress comes.”

“I appreciate your words, but it’s not helpful for the empress to accept such foolishness. It’s the empress who gets criticized behind the scenes for not knowing etiquette.”

This seems to be the reason the baroness bothered to tell Rudy.

For some reason, Lilitha is very much loved by Taehwangje and the attendants.

The situation is so sly, so even if you do it to win Lirisha’s heart, even the attendants are sweet to Lirisha. It was to the extent that I wondered what had been neglected until now.

No matter how much I tried to talk to Tae Hwang Je and the other attendants, it seems that the baroness couldn’t see it and decided to appeal directly to Rudy.

“Okay. I’ll tell you once.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The baroness breathed relieved. She, too, is in great pain after coming to the palace.

“But what you say will be more effective than what I say. The empress fears the baroness the most right now.”

“…”

At Rudy’s words, the baroness made a complicated expression.

But it is true. To Lilitha now, the baroness is a terrifying opponent like King Yeomra of the underworld.

He couldn’t say anything to the baroness, but he pouted at himself as the emperor.

Rudy’s visit must have been announced in advance, and the door opened without asking for permission.

When Rudy went inside, Taehyungje was eating snacks with Lilitha.

She puts the cookie in her mouth while bending her body slightly forward. Lilitha was whispering something with her hands together in the ears of Taehyungje.

“Emperor, welcome back.”

With Tae Sangje still holding his ear to Lilitha, he waved his hand and called for Rudy.

I got closer, but Lilitha still seemed to be pouting. He turned his head away as if not to look at Rudy.

“I was just hearing from the empress what a bad person the emperor is.”

“…”

“You took the side of the baroness who took away the bread from the empress?”

“…”

Tae Hwangje smirked and lifted the snack from the plate and put it in his mouth.

“Still, the empress left a lot of sweets for the emperor. We shouldn’t treat such a wonderful empress condescendingly.”

Children are easily fooled. If this was all a play to win Lilitha’s heart, I thought it would be a bit pitiful. Lilitha must be really accepting this affection.

Rilisha suddenly raised her head. “Oh,” he said, then jumped up, grabbed the skirt with both hands, and lowered his body slightly.

“Hello, Your Majesty.”

It seemed belatedly that he came up with the idea of saying hello to the emperor.

However, wouldn’t it be a little strange to say with a pouting voice while keeping the body forward and turning the head to the side?

Tae Hwang Je, who was next to him, caught the slight stagger.

When Rudy held Lilitha’s hand and kissed her, her face turned red.

Taehyungje is watching as if it’s fun.

While exchanging a few words of ceremonial greetings with Tae Hwang Je, a servant came in and seduced Ririsha, saying that delicious fruit had arrived, and took her to another room.

＜ The discord of the young emperor couple ＞

author’s words

There were people who talked about the serialization time..

For the time being, it is fixed at 12:30.

These days, I’m trying to make reservations serially. I made a reservation today, but I accidentally posted the wrong time, so I deleted it and uploaded it again, so it’s a little late.

We will do our best to be able to go to full reservation series. thank you

＜ Magic Shield ＞