Chapter 21: Seeds of an Empire
After the cannons were taken and the bulk of the Panish forces were encircled by the newcomers and the defenders of the citadel, the Paniards quickly capitulated while the army's general; Julio Del Pieto fled the siege.
Soon after, the Citadel of Briegkhoven fell firmly into the Dunnwal's control.
"Maxwell!"
Frederick immediately shouted Maxwell's name as he stormed his way into the study of the citadel's keep.
His shout was met with another similarly fearsome shout.
"How dare you address Maxwell that way!"
As per usual, Erika was standing by Maxwell's side as he sat at the study's table. She glared at Frederick with furious eyes as she continued to unleash her anger.
"Watch your tone! Do I have to remin-"
"Let him be."
Erika was left speechless by Maxwell's order. It took a short while before she was able to respond.
"... But... My lord..."
"It is fine... It seems that I have done something that Frederick slightly disagrees with."
Maxwell leisurely relaxed on his seat as he answered Erika.
"Slightly disagrees with!?"
Although Frederick knew that his actions were in complete disregard for proper etiquette, he could not hold back his anger.
"So this is what you were planning!"
Maxwell responded in his casual, uninterested tone, much to Frederick's chagrin.
"Of course this is what I was planning? What is there to get so worked up over?"
"Don't act like I'm unaware of what you did!"
As Frederick continued to berate Maxwell, the latter continued to lean back on his seat. On the other hand, Frederick could see the resentment leaking out of Erika's eyes who seemed to only be barely restraining herself.
"Do you really expect me to believe that Theon succumbed to that stray cannon shot!? When I checked on his body, it seemed that he was alive until someone came along and smashed his head in with a large stone! Don't lie to me! You set your sister to it didn't you?!"
Frederick was so mad that everyone could see drops of his saliva ejecting out of his mouth. Nevertheless, Frederick continued to reproach Maxwell.
"Now I know the reason why you held back the attack until the walls were breached. All of this was part of your plot."
Frederick pointed his finger at Maxwell as he shouted.
"You killed the last heir of a great family... A Drussian great family! He was supposed to inherit the family when his father died in the battle but no... you just had to intervene with fate didn't you?!"
Once again, to Frederick's chagrin, Maxwell casually shrugged before he responded in a somewhat condescending tone.
"I'm surprised Frederick... you had no qualms about Sebastian's execution, another noble-born much like Theon. Why do you care so much about Theon's unfortunate demise when you had no problems with Sebastian?"
Like before, Frederick continued to shout as he responded to Maxwell.
"Sebastian is a Panish scumbag! He deserved what he got!.. but Theon? Theon is one of our own! A fellow Drussian! And you had him murdered!"
"Is Theon really one of our own?"
To Frederick's surprise, Maxwell didn't respond in his casual voice. Instead his voice grew cold and sharp. When Frederick glanced at Erika, he saw that she was just as surprised as he was.
"As you said Theon was the last heir to a great family. The Guiltfort family to be precise. Who exercises complete and utter control over their own provinces without any oversight from any higher governing body. Their region might as well be considered as their own nation."
Maxwell spoke in a clear and serious tone. Neither Frederick nor Erika ever witnessed this side of Maxwell before and before then, they didn't even think that this side this side of Maxwell even existed.
"The same goes for all the other major families. In truth, Drussia is divided among the five major Drussian families, each governing their provinces in their own distinct way with administrative power concentrated onto the respective great family."
Maxwell stood up to match Frederick's height as he continued speaking.
"You can say that Drussia is 'united' under the Drussian Union... but are we really? Is Drussia truly united?.. I doubt that Drussia would have lasted longer than a few years before succumbing to civil war without the external common threat of the Paniards."
"..."
Frederick was unable to answer Maxwell's response. He just could not believe what Maxwell was saying. Especially since that deep down inside, Frederick knew that what Maxwell was saying was true.
"With the Guiltfort family gone, who will step up to fill the power vacuum?.. Do you really believe that Cromwell stayed at Maximinus to simply continue governing our territories??"
Maxwell shook his head as he said this.
"Of course he wasn't. While we were off on our little expedition, Cromwell has been laying the foundations for a... relatively smooth takeover of both the Guiltfort and Guzzlow territories."
Somehow, someway, Maxwell seemed to be appear more threatening than he actually is. Perhaps it was because the way he is now was so radically different to how he normally is that Frederick was caught completely off guard.
"What I did was the most efficient method to secure the future of Drussia. It was horrible yes... you can even call it 'evil' if you want... but you can't deny that it was also the most efficient method."
Maxwell walked over to a map of the mainland continent that was hanging on the wall as he said this.
"I don't need to remind you that we are at constant war. Not just with the Paniards... but with the whole world. The Fench, the Roshans, the Breetish, the Ostrians, the Hongurians, the Porish, the Dames."
Maxwell pointed to each nation on the map as he said their names.
"They may not be invading Drussia today... but what about tomorrow?"
Maxwell paused for a short moment to let what he said sink in before he continued explaining.
"Drussia cannot continue in the state it is now if want to ensure its future and its prosperity. The power of Drussia needs to be centralised into a single entity... not multiple."
As Maxwell spoke, Frederick felt a sort of ominous aura that enveloped Maxwell's entire body.
"And that entity will be us. Or more specifically... the new empire that I'm going to build out of the ashes of the Drussian Union once the Paniards are finally out of the way."
As Maxwell concluded his short monologue, he moved to return to his seat before he sat down.
"And no one... And I mean no one... is going to stand in my way."
The room was filled with silence for a few short moments before Maxwell spoke up again.
"Anyway, that's about it. Do you have anything else that you wanted to mention Frederick?"
Once again, Frederick was surprised by Maxwell's abrupt change of expression. Within a snap of a finger he quickly returned to his casual, uncaring tone.
"Well?.."
"No my lord... I believe that what you have said does hold truthfulness. If we want to secure Drussia's future these..."
Frederick couldn't help bitterly gritting his teeth together for a moment before he continued.
"Actions are necessary."
"Good. Then we're in agreement... Well off you go."
Frederick could only salute silently before complying with Maxwell's orders and leaving.
...
"Geez... People can be really ungrateful nowadays."
Sicilia pretended to look offended and disheartened as she walked out of the shadows to speak with Maxwell.
Although she wasn't supposed to leave the shadows, she just felt the sudden urge to do so after what just occurred.
"My hands got all bloody and some of the blood even dirtied my clothes. Doesn't he have any idea how annoying it is to get rid of bloodstains? Half the time I'm forced to throw away my clothes."
"Your jokes are in bad taste. Can you give the poor man a break?"
Sicilia shrugged jokingly in response to Maxwell's casual remark.
"It's not like he's gonna hear any of it. Unless little miss Pollorov here ruins the fun."
"I will never do such a thing that may inconvenience my superiors in any way unless explicitly ordered to, lady Dunnwal."
As Sicilia expected, Erika replied to Sicilia in her respectful tone.
"Ahh... I expected as much from you. "
"First you tease Frederick and now you tease my first lieutenant?"
Sicilia went to respond to Maxwell only to discover that she had nothing to say.
After a short moment of awkward silence, Maxwell spoke up.
"By the way... Do you remember how I mentioned that we're going to reform the remains of the Drussian Union into a new empire once we expel the Paniards out of Drussia?"
"Yeah... You literally said it a couple minutes ago..."
Sicilia was confused by what Maxwell meant with his question.
"Why are you asking?"
Maxwell once again shrugged casually before he replied.
"Well I've been thinking... What how should we name this new empire?"
Sicilia's eyebrows raised in slight confusion after she heard Maxwell's question.
"What we should name the empire? Wouldn't it be something like the 'Drussian Empire?'"
Maxwell sighed before he continued.
"It's just that I feel that it would be quite underwhelming if we name it the Drussian Empire. It's an incredibly generic and... well boring name."
To Sicilia's surprise, she found that as silly as it may seem, she actually agreed with Maxwell. However, try as she might, she could not come up with a name.
"I'm... actually not too sure... Have you thought of a name?
Instead she had to rely on Maxwell to think up of a suitable name.
"Yes actually, what do you think of the name; the Imperium of Drus-"
Before Maxwell could say the name, he was instead interrupted by a knocking on the door.
Within moments, Maxwell took a quick glance at Erika, telling her everything she needed to do.
Erika moved to the door before questioning the person who knocked.
"Who is it?"
After a few short moments, Erika was given a response.
"This is Colonel Riker of the 10th Regiment. Requesting permission to enter."
"Permission granted."
As soon as Erika said this, the door of the study was slowly opened before Riker entered. He immediately approached Maxwell with what seemed to be a letter in his hands.
"A letter from Kliensburg has arrived my lord."
"Kliensburg?.. That's the capital city of the Orburns. What could the letter possibly be about?"
The colonel shook his head as he answered Erika.
"I do not know. I have only been ordered to pass on this letter to Maxwell."
Soon, Riker softly placed the letter on the table in front of Maxwell before saluting and leaving the study.
After Maxwell picked up the letter, both Sicilia and Erika crowded around him as he held the letter in his hands.
They quickly identified that the seal of the letter did not belong to a Drussian family.
The seal was that of a golden hawk that was enveloped in a pitch black background.
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