The Difference Is Like Between a Dog and a Cow

76 – An Unexpected Journey (3)

Can you see that as a misunderstanding?

From anyone’s point of view, the atmosphere was on the verge of kissing right away. Even if Ekaterina had no experience with men, she knew what that atmosphere meant.

The terrace at night in the low darkness. What you see is a sparkling night view. A woman in a dress and red wine in her hand.

“So that’s a real misunderstanding. He was about to tell us about our unit’s operations…….”

“Umm, then I will do that. Because the lieutenant insists so strongly.”

“Thank you, Ekaterina.”

“For some reason, he was unaffected by the attention of all the young ladies, and it would be natural if he had a royal family.”

Enoch Levandel put his chin on her forehead, feeling like he couldn’t get it right no matter what he did, and Jacques Pedro, who was watching him, burst into laughter.

“If you’re a hero like this, there’s no reason you wouldn’t be attracted to.”

A separate reception room inside the banquet hall.

The reason Ekaterina came to the terrace was because her father, Jacques Pedro, wanted Enoch Levandel alone as her banquet was ripe.

“Anyway, I finally got to meet you a little more leisurely.”

Jacques Pedro.

Honorary lord of Bjartok, former Marquis.

He neatly brushed back his platinum-colored hair, the same color as Catherine’s, and despite his age, he was strong in his movements.

“I am truly grateful to you for your kindness in preparing even such a luxurious banquet.”

“hahahahaha, it’s nice to see that even though he is a first-class officer, he has a sense of dignity in his spirit. Was he originally a son of an aristocrat?”

“I’m sorry, but I grew up in an ordinary commoner’s family.”

“What…… Nobility is no longer the same as before. At least as long as you know how to follow proper etiquette, there won’t be much of a problem.”

So said Count Jacques Pedro. As the real Bell said, he hangs himself on etiquette. Enoch Levandel thought it was strange, but he was even more nervous.

At least for now, he’s showing a favorable attitude, so he’ll have to be careful not to do anything reprehensible.

Looking at Enoch, who stretched out his body to the fullest and straightened his posture, Count Pedro leisurely continued his words.

“However, the fact that such a young officer wanted to find me, who was nothing more than an honorary lord of the province… ….”

Those eyes flashed.

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“You mean I want to be your sponsor?”

“…… You are amazing.”

“Looking back, I was also an officer in the Ukrnian army. Our Count Pedro family has been a military family for generations.”

He is good at the logic of nobles, but also good at the logic of soldiers.

Certainly, the title of count is not decoration. He had already seen through what Enoch Levandel really wanted.

“I heard that Prince Orlando also directly congratulated His Excellency for the feat. There is no reason for us to reject the sponsorship of a promising officer.”

Count Pedro penetrated the core of the proposal before he even brought it out and readily accepted it.

Enoch Levandel was amazed, but bowed his head in sincere gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“Of course I put the price on my daughter’s life as well.”

If Enoch’s intentions were clearly seen through, it means that this kind of proposal was assumed from the time the celebration was planned.

But nothing is free.

As much as it is said that she put a price on her daughter’s life, she will not support her without any conditions.

Then what are the conditions that Count Pedro will bet on?

Enoch listened to his next words.

“Our Count Pedro family has been the family that manages Villatok, which has been the frontline territory for generations. After King Orlando I firmly established himself as duke, the only thing left for our family is honor.”

In short, access to central power? Even without listening to the end, Enoch could roughly guess what the count was thinking.

“Every noble in the duchy knows very well that Colonel Sonny Zeppelin and the current King have a very close relationship. But even more than Sonny Zeppelin, I’m looking for greener possibilities.”

“You think that would be me.”

“There is no more hope for our family. If this continues, the Pedro family will fall as mediocre honorary lords.”

The Count looked at his daughter with bitter eyes. Ekaterina, too, had a not very comfortable expression.

“The reason why this child was put into such danger was to secure the support of the local people. As the eldest daughter of Count Pedro’s family, she was acting for the revival of her family.”

“Ummm… ….”

Enoch also thought that Catherine had not moved to that village simply out of sympathy.

Since the regional administration had already failed to subdue the town of Modor, she, the eldest daughter of her honorary lord, tried to put pressure on her administrators by stepping out herself.

It is a kind of containment. The meaning of Ekaterina Pedro in Villartoque must be more than that of an ordinary aristocratic lady.

However, before she could even reach the village, she was captured by bandits, leading to not-so-good results.

When she heard the story, she hadn’t been captured for a few days, so it must have been unclear whether she had been kidnapped yet.

The count must have been quite surprised to see that her daughter, who had left the road like that, had suddenly returned after being rescued.

“Since all the thieves have been subdued, even if the result is good, there is no benefit to our family except for Catherine risking her risk. Rather, if it is thread, it will be thread.”

“Sorry, Father.”

“There is no need to apologize. How can life ever go according to plan?”

Count Pedro tapped the desk with his fingers and then added, looking at Enoch.

“In return, I got to look after such a promising officer. Could it be that she has obtained a relationship that is far more valuable than the support of ordinary residents?”

“I promise you, Count. Five years later, Count Pedro’s family will be able to enter the central power once again.”

“…… Oh, there is not even an inch of hesitation.”

“I am so confident.”

Five years later.

The Principality of Ukraine is engulfed in the flames of war.

The Soviet Empire will push its forces through the northernmost part of Villatok and the northeastern part of Chernaos (where the city of Cherno exists).

If Enoch Levandel had planned the development, the guards of Villaltok would succeed in completely blocking the troops in the northern part of Sobi, based on the Mzensk Fortress.

With the preservation of troops as much as possible, it is planned to become the spearhead of the Ukrnians along with the reserve forces that launched a counterattack.

‘If you succeed in blocking it, all majors will go back to Pedro Ga, honorary lord of Villatok. Even the king will never be able to throw me off.’

That was a natural guess. Tosa Gupaeng is something you can only do when you have enough time. It was clear that the Pedro family would never be abandoned by the Ukrnian royal family, who would have consumed enormous national power simply by blocking the empire’s offensive.

“But there is a part that is a bit difficult to understand. No matter how far you go on the promotion road, how much can you be promoted in 5 years?”

Certainly sharp. As a former soldier, at least he knows how the military works. Enoch Levandel was still a young enough and promising officer, but five years is not that long. It was a natural question.

Then what card should I show here?

Enoch Levandel quickly began to roll his head.

‘It was something that had to be solved at some point. The story of the world war.’

The full-scale invasion of the Soviet Empire can never be prevented by Enoch Levandel alone. From Sonny Zeppelin to Prince Orlando Ruth III.

A tragedy in the future that should not be known to many people, but at the same time key personnel must be aware of it.

There is no need to keep such a plan hidden. Count Pedro and Enoch Levandel became ‘business partners’ as of today.

‘I’ll have to embellish this and say it.’

Enoch Levandel glanced at the door and pretended to be wary.

I approached it with a much more serious and worried attitude than before.

“Count Jacques Pedro, I apologize for the rudeness…… As you take my faith, please promise me that you will not tell anyone about this.”

“I am willing to do that. Tell me.”

“Ekaterina Pedro, please.”

“I, I promise you too. I put my name on it.”

Enoch Levandel took a deep breath. Then he threw out a shocking prophecy.

“Ukraine will be subjected to a major invasion by the Empire of Soviet.”

Perhaps this was an unexpected answer, Pedro and his daughter’s eyes widened.

***

“Father…… Are the words of the officer really true?”

It is late at night when all the banquets have ended and all the guests have returned to their quarters. Count Pedro’s bedroom, illuminated by candlelight and moonlight.

Ekaterina Pedro still had an expression of incomprehension.

“Aren’t we originally a country that broke away from the consumption empire? I know that the relationship between countries is not so bad…….”

Now it is Ukraine with its own autonomous administration, but until just a few hundred years ago, Ukraine was a domain of the Soviet Empire.

To be precise, it was the beginning of the Duchy of Ukraine when the ‘Russian Empire’, the predecessor of the Soviet Empire, collapsed, and the newly crowned Sobie Empire guaranteed its rights as an independent and vassal state.

Therefore, there was no particular reason to have a bad relationship with the empire. Although the empire sometimes intervened in internal affairs, it did not directly use force or actively pursue a policy of pressure.

Unlike Ekaterina, who was quite skeptical, Count Jacques Pedro thought the argument very plausible. He pondered for a while on how to explain it to his daughter, who was still lacking in his knowledge, and then brought up a Western political theory that was being actively discussed recently.

“It is expansionism.”

“Are you talking about expansionism…… ?”

“The international situation has changed a lot in recent years. The Liberal Democracy of Prüt and the United Kingdom of Breton, which were at odds with each other, even formed an alliance.”

“I know that too.”

Ideology.

The world has undergone the development of magic and technology at the same time, and has achieved a tremendous level of civilization development.

The authority of the nobility, which was evenly distributed all over the world, disappeared frighteningly quickly.

Nearly most countries have a strong centralized system, and it has come to occupy a considerable proportion in the real life of the general public. In all areas of economy, military and politics.

As a result, a group of nations formed a special form of union for mutual benefit.

An imperial alliance centered on the Soviet Empire and the Reinhardt Empire.

On the other hand, the Freedom Alliance, led by the United Kingdom of Breton and the Free Democratic State of Prüh, was formed by dividing it into East and West based on Ukraine.

A few countries, including Ukraine, which are caught in the middle, claim to be a ‘political buffer zone’ and remain neutral.

Until now the balance had been held at the precipice, but Jacques Pedro was convinced that the time for the scales of peace to tip to one side was not far away.

“Peace makes people rich. But resources are limited. Then, naturally, the state pursues expansion. Isn’t that the same as Yeongji?”

“Right… ….”

“Ekaterina, think carefully about why our ancestors occupied most of the northern part of Ukraine. That, too, was the result of expansionism.”

Only then did Ekaterina realize what her father was talking about. The ancestors of the Pedro family were conquering lords. Although he later swore allegiance to the emperor of the Rus Char Empire, the fact that he expanded his land by raiding and exploiting weak territories did not change.

In other words, the larger the country grows, the more it will covet the resources around it.

“If that’s really the case, we Ukrnians should join an alliance even now…….”

“I can’t do that. Only then will it not be able to exist as an ally on an equal footing.”

If you board late, you will be treated as an uninvited guest. A satellite country that, at best, retains some sectoral autonomy. Otherwise, there was a high probability that even ethnic identity would be forcibly assimilated, and that it would remain as an empire rather than a Ukrnian principality.

Perhaps the Ukrnians have already crossed the irreversible river.

“…… An officer who foresaw and prepares for the country’s disastrous future in a time saturated with peace.”

At first, the count approached as a token of gratitude and curiosity.

He was seriously considering whether to marry her daughter to Enoch Levandel.