OR1-EP3: The Bloody Coat of Arms (12)

So far, Michael McNeil is not sure of the official EU attitude towards the civil unrest in the Britannian Empire. Whether it was Governor-general Herzog or François Malcal, neither of them could truly represent the Senate and Consuls in Paris, even François Malcal, who was known as the Uncrowned King in the EU, had his own selfishness, and he didn't have the same thoughts as the Consuls. Therefore, McNeil desperately wanted to know the true intentions of the EU, would the consuls choose to support the Emperor of Britannia or those magnate nobles who were the opposition? Father Alexandros Palaskas was also anxious about this, the pudgy cleric spent his days speculating on the Senate's next move based on the news of what was happening in the two countries, but speculation was just that, speculation, and couldn't be used as evidence.

"McNeil, we need to plan ahead." The priest purposely called McNeil to confer, "You see, we both believe that the internal problems of the Britannian Empire will develop into the next civil war, then the EU must take a stance, and being completely neutral will only be suspected of placing bets on both sides of the fence."

"The Emperor has less of a chance of winning, but I would suggest supporting the Emperor." McNeil said, "There are two main reasons for this: one, the large noble group that opposes the Emperor is not unified, and whatever promises they give will not be honored due to their internal divisions, and such conditions are tantamount to a blank check; two, the citizens of the Britannian Empire have been living in pain and suffering for a long time, and the culprit for this situation -at least in their eyes- is the great nobles and not the Emperor. If we EU ourselves support the slavers who have enslaved our citizens, how do we have to face our own countrymen?"

"It depends on shamelessness." The priest smiled, "You're an honest man, but some people have the ability to turn black and white upside down, and they won't mind using a complex set of standards to rationalize their actions."

"I know you are not one of those people." McNeil looked firmly at the priest, "Or else count me out."

Priest Palaskas might compromise on many occasions, though he ultimately compromised as a means rather than an end. Since McNeil believed that the Emperor was more valuable than the great nobles, Father Palaskas was determined to lay out a plan as McNeil said, making sure that the EU would be able to maximize the benefits of this upcoming civil unrest.

The other day, McNeil had gone to help a distant relative of the Duke's sell his family's possessions, as invited by Duke Bradow von Breisgau. He transported many worthless collectibles to a nearby warehouse and prepared to market the rags to nobles who were interested in such fake antiques. Before this plan could be put into practice, McNeil received a new invitation, which turned out to be an invitation from the Duke to be his guest. McNeil does not like noisy party, he asked the duke about the size of the party, when he heard that the number of the party will not be more than ten people, McNeil gladly accepted the invitation.

The nobles still maintained the usual harmony amongst themselves. This kind of mildness won't remain for a long time, when the moment of the dagger comes, all the lies will be exposed for what they are. These silver-tongued guys might have utilized their skills of collusion to the extreme, so much so that they were no longer able to help the Britannian Empire fight against the threat from the EU or other countries. McNeil didn't sympathize with these nobles at all, sometimes he even thought that these people didn't deserve to get a disdain, and those who would eventually be buried by history shouldn't get too much attention.

Always punctual, McNeil was the first to arrive at the Duke's mansion, where Duke Bradow and Duchess Claudia greeted him in the parlor and discussed with McNeil some of the recent news that had occurred in Pendragon. Bradow and Claudia had been married for several years and were currently without an heir, which meant that the main branch of the House of Breisgau now had no legitimate heir. If anything were to happen to Bradow himself, the title of Duke would more than likely fall into the hands of another family.

"They still have no intention of releasing anyone." Bradow said in a deep voice, "Luckily, those who really intend to use the opportunity to abscond are stealthy enough, or else this matter wouldn't be able to end."

"I'm curious, since you are loyal to the Emperor, then you should also know that among these exiles there are quite a few big names who hold classified information, and there is no way that what they do after leaving the Empire will be beneficial to your country." McNeil raised the question that had been buried in his heart, "So why would you decide to assist them in their escape?"

"McNeil, those who want to leave cannot be stopped. Even if they can't escape due to some accident, if they stay in the Britannian Empire and collude with foreign countries with the help of their own power, that would cause more harm than exile." Bradow never considered himself a traitor to the Britannian Empire, all he did was to remove the hidden dangers for the Empire, so that those true loyalists would stay in the Americas to serve the Empire, "Let them go! If the empire would crumble just because of the lack of so few people, then that is a fate we cannot escape, and I will accept this with open arms."

Not wanting the Duke to think he was a diner who had come to eat a bully's dinner, McNeil volunteered to help the servants with their work. This move surprised the duke, who had always thought that a member of the social elite such as McNeil would not bother to do so - how could he have imagined that McNeil was actually a hobo with no legal status? Soon enough, McNeil and the servants got to know each other well, and the servants realized that McNeil was a good worker, more skilled than the professionals who specialized in this job.

It wasn't long before other guests arrived, and the second to arrive was a middle-aged man in military uniform, wearing a gown that reminded McNeil of a style that had been popular in Europe more than a hundred years ago. The front of this hussar's dress had ribbons arranged like ribs, and the color of the ribbons marked the status of the owner, generally speaking, the gold ribbon and red coat symbolized a general or high-ranking nobles in the Britannian Empire. Luckily, he didn't wear the cloak that was often used in conjunction with such gowns, the kind of bedsheet that only appeared in portraits was certainly not suitable for the modern world.

"It's been a long time, Bradow, I thought you'd gone into hiding lately." The middle-aged man looked at the Duke who was sitting upright in the living room, "However, the tens of thousands of house slaves in your house will surely not watch their master fall into danger and see them die."

"Now is not the time to run away from the battlefield, all the ways of retreat are blocked." Bradow said frankly, "Please sit down, we will discuss the next decision later."

When McNeil was introduced to this guest by Bradow, the crowd assumed that McNeil was also one of those servants. The guest was incredulous to hear that McNeil, who was a successful businessman, would work with these servants who did odd jobs. The nobles were not good for their labor, but few of them were willing to cross paths with such menial jobs, as if it would taint their noble lineage.

"This is Major General William Ashford, Inspector General of the War Department's Secret Service." Bradow introduced to McNeil, "His Imperial Majesty intends to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force into one department, and at that time, the Secret Service Bureau may become independent and have greater authority."

McNeil was curious if this Special Service Bureau was directly responsible for the Brittany Empire's infiltration activities in South Africa, but this was the Breisgau family's home turf, and he didn't want to make Bradow lose face, so he reluctantly pressed down the urge to press for details. The officer didn't notice McNeil's abnormality, and just assumed that he was a kindred spirit with some special hobbies. Soon, other guests arrived one after another, and McNeil realized from their identities that the Duke was conducting a curate or a gamble. Among these people, there were nobles who were loyal to Emperor Charles III, and there were also nobles who were in the opposition, and the two sides were incompatible, and Bradow, who was in favor of the Emperor, would inevitably choose to use this opportunity to convince those who were in opposition to return to the Emperor. Rebellion has no future, winning is just to start the next round of the game.

After drinking some wine, Bradow, who was full of red face and had been sitting on the main seat said: "Today here you are the pillars of the empire, also representatives from the noble families with a long history. It has been a few months since the death of the late Emperor Stephen II, but the empire is not at peace, and there are some rumors that a handful of berserkers plotting against the emperor. I have invited you all here today, partly to catch up on old times, and partly to make a statement. The nobility and the Emperor are one and the same; without the Emperor, the nobility has no reason to exist, and to oppose His Imperial Majesty is to oppose our own family and ancestors."

Seeing this, Major General William Ashford was the first to stand up and said:

"Your Excellency is overstating the case, we have always been loyal to His Imperial Majesty, there is no such thing as opponents. This kind of foolishness is pure fiction, and I don't believe that anyone would actually fight against the Emperor at a time like this."

Unexpectedly, someone soon raised an objection. A young man two seats away from the Duke stood up, he had short blonde hair and looked so much like a thousand nobles in those standard portraits that McNeil couldn't accurately distinguish the difference between him and the characters in those portraits.

"Your Excellency is wrong. The Britannian Empire is not the private property of the royal family, besides, the royal family also established the empire by replacing the Tudor dynasty in the first place, without the assistance of us nobles, this empire could not have existed from the beginning." The youth said arrogantly, "Now that the emperor has forgotten the lessons of his ancestors and instead wants to dig up the pillars that truly support the empire, he's pushing us to the brink of extinction, so we'll replace him."

Replacement. McNeil watched the crowd with iron heart, this play was both Bradow's play for both factions and McNeil's. McNeil was the only outsider, he represented the EU, and Bradow hoped to use this opportunity to bring the EU into the Emperor's camp as well. Charles III's chances of winning were too low; he wanted to eradicate the privileges of the nobility, thus offending the vast majority of them. Bradow saw the hope behind this reform, and even if a great noble like him would bear the brunt of the victimization, he was willing to do so because in his eyes it was the necessary price for the Britannian Empire to come out of its decline and division. If the commoners ruled by the nobles were never able to become the builders of the empire, the empire would only ever become a fat sheep in the eyes of other countries.

Thinking of this, McNeil couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" The youth looked at McNeil with dissatisfaction.

McNeil stopped laughing and replied indifferently:

"Who allow you to talk? Shut up."

This rude attitude surprised the crowd, who all turned their eyes to McNeil, who was sitting next to the Duke (and the Duchess on the other side), wanting to know who this foreigner in a leather jacket was.

"You-" the youth was momentarily speechless; he had never been so offended in public before.

"Settle down!" McNeil stood up and extended his right hand to point at the youth, "Let me ask you, did His Excellency let you speak? In public, the Breisgau family is a credit to the Britannian Empire and a benefactor to all the nobles within this empire; in private, he is the host of this banquet today, and it is he who has invited you to attend the meeting rather than begging you to come to his door. Since you have refuted his idea so bluntly, you should think of what consequences you will have to bear."

This stirred up a hornet's nest, and immediately three people stood up to vocally denounce McNeil's rude behavior and demanded a statement from the Duke. Without a word, the Duke watched McNeil debating and decided to sit back and watch.

"You are intelligent men; I think you should know more about these issues than I do." McNeil sneered and picked up his wine glass, "Well, I can't afford to waste all this good wine ... You guys say, who stipulated the power of the nobles?"

"The law!"

"Who makes the laws?" McNeil asked himself, "It's your Imperial Parliament, the House of Lords made up of nobles appointed by the Emperor and the House of Representatives made up of elites selected from the commoners. In other words, all the power you self-righteous nobles were born with was rewarded to you by the Emperor and conceded to you by the commoners, and it's simply sickening to see you brag about yourselves when you don't have any measure of power." Here, McNeil's tone snapped up an octave, "You don't know what you're doing, let me teach you: it's only right and perfectly reasonable that the Emperor should take back his reward, and that the commoners should no longer concede. How much is your opposition worth?"

"Bold commoner, how dare you provoke the nobles?" That young man was exceptionally annoyed, "I see that you don't know the wrath of nobles."

"In my opinion, that happens to be you, Your Excellency." McNeil flung his glass, splashing red wine onto the youth's face without a single drop, "I'm an orphan with two dead parents who started from nothing and earned twenty million euros before the age of thirty. What would you have? You're dead, you're nothing without your forefathers, you can't even feed yourself, and you have the audacity to talk nonsense here ... What kind of a thing are you?"

The party broke up unhappily, and Bradow later apologized to McNeil repeatedly, saying that he had not meant to invite McNeil to a dinner that was destined to go awry.

"Your Excellency, who do you think is the best candidate for the change of emperor they are talking about?" McNeil accepted the Duke's apology, and then discussed the Emperor's relatives with the Duke.

"Perhaps the Crown Prince Odysseus, he is only ten years old and is an honest man with a weak character." The Duke speculated.

"It may not be. That uncle of the Emperor's, by my thinking, is highly suspect." McNeil drew a heavy line on the Emperor's genealogical chart.

TBC

Chapter Summary:

We have no way of knowing whether the Britannian Imperial Armed Force established a joint command and administrative structure at the end of the 20th century of the A.T.B. calendar. The fact that Clovis served as deputy Minister of Defense proves that it existed at least during the time of Emperor Charles.

The Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament in the Britannian Empire are known as the House of Lords and the Senate, respectively. However, the name Senate is far too republican compared to the ethos of the Britannian Empire (especially considering that it is the official name of the North American rebel legislature and the common name of the EU legislature), and perhaps the representatives of the public opinion are a bit more neutral. When the production team originally designed this material (probably in a very casual frame of mind), they directly parroted the real-life U.S. state legislature and senate identities, forgetting the particular circumstances of the Britannian Empire.