Chapter 361: Side Story 2: Retirement

Returning home, Alfred felt at ease. He had wanted to return after killing Snowid and resting for a few days, but was delayed for weeks by various matters that kept arising. It was long, but seeing Isra standing at the door of the Palace with Edward in her hands, made the wait worth it. Getting out of the carriage, Alfred walked over to them and held his hands.

Edward, the young boy’s expressionless face lit up slightly at the sight of Alfred. "My poor boy." Kissing his head, Alfred rubbed the back of his hair, "I’m home now. You’ll never be in danger like that again."

Isra took a step forward and reached around to hug Alfred. Looking up, she kissed him on the lips and smiled. Alfred smiled back, but his eyes went cold. "Did you deal with who did this?"

Isra looked at him with an equally cold look and nodded with a thin smile. "Of course. Replacements have already been prepared."

"Good." Alfred nodded in satisfaction. "We have work to do." Alfred started walking into the Palace with Isra at his side. Beyond the wide double doors, the servants of the Palace lined up into two neat parallel lines and bowed towards him. Paying them no attention, he frowned, "We need someone to be in charge of the servants."

"We already have one," Isra replied in confusion, but Alfred shook his head.

"I need someone I trust, not affiliated with any noble house." Alfred squinted and fell into thought.

"It’s nearly impossible, Alfred. The peasants won’t have anyone who will be trained enough to take that role, and even if there were one, you can’t trust them unconditionally." Alfred sighed and nodded.

"I sometimes wish I had five Esmonds. That unconditional loyalty is such a good thing." Isra chuckled and shook her head.

"Then you have to make five Esmonds."

"Just because I want it doesn’t mean I would do that to someone. I’m not that cruel." Alfred shook his head and thought about the Underwell family. Whilst he didn’t know everything about how the children of the family were brought up, he knew enough to never want to inflict that on more people than necessary.

"I’ll have Esmond and Horace look into it."

"Alright. Thank you." At the top of the steps, he paused and looked at Isra. "Also, William will be retiring. He has invited us to the SilverHaven after it is finalised." Alfred chuckled to himself, thinking about it, "He says he hates parties, and he throws a retirement one."

"It will be nice to go. Amelia has been sending me letters to come visit her for a while now. I just haven’t had time." Thinking of William’s wife, Isra smiled, "Oh, we must give Issac a break. Have Desmond take over his duties while we are gone. It will only be for a week, so it should be fine."

"Desmond." Alfred thought about it for a second and nodded, "He’s a good bureaucrat. It should be fine."

Isar smiled and looked down, "Talking about Desmond, there are a few things we must discuss. It related to the clean-up I did when I came back." Alfred was expecting it. He knew Isra wouldn’t be able to control herself when she came back and wondered how many of the nobility had been purged. Whilst he wanted to break down the nobility and move on from it slowly, he knew that for the next few decades, they were still necessary to run the Empire.

"We’ll talk later about it. Let me settle in first." Walking up the steps, Alfred went to his room. After so long away, all he wanted to do was lie in bed and relax.

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"Men." William sat at the head of a long table. All around him were the different commanders of the Ammary military under his command. "I’m sure all of you know why I have gathered you here. Seeing all of you around this table, I am reminded of the day I was tasked to build a standing army for His Majesty and the Empire. All we have accomplished has been one of the proudest achievements of my life, but my time is coming to an end."

William took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Opening them, the aura of a General was gone, replaced by a tired old man, "I will be stepping down as General. In the next room, there is a stack of paper and a pen. Cast your votes. His Majesty has already told me his vote."

William leaned back and closed his eyes. Marcus was the first to stand as his second and leave. No one spoke, and in the next ten minutes, everyone got up, left and returned in silence. When the last man returned to the room, William opened his eyes and got up, coming back with a small box.

Opening it, he took out the papers and counted their names. William stood up, "Commander Marcus Hardly." Marcus got up and looked at William. "By majority vote, I hereby declare you General of the Ammary Military, second only to His Majesty." The men got up and clapped, looking at Marcus with expectant eyes.

Everyone knew this was how it would play. They all had the opportunity to write their names down as candidates, but none of them did. They knew they weren’t worthy of taking William’s place. Only Marcus had proven himself to be the one. He was willing to make the choices none of them wanted and had the skill to back it up.

William stuck his hand out. Marcus looked at it and felt strange. He was a commoner. A man, who before the military was created, believed he would live and die as a farmer. Now, even without a single noble title, he had become one of the most powerful people in the Empire. No matter who he faced, everyone would have to show him respect. His head could only be made to bow by one person.

"Thank you, Your Grace." It was strange to call William His Grace. He had been calling him General for so long. Reaching out and grabbing his hand, the two shared a firm handshake and smiled.

Breaking away and sighing, William looked at the people who, a second ago, were under his command. "I will take my leave, gentlemen. It has been an honour." Proudly saluting towards them all, he smiled, "Glory to the Empire."

"Glory to the Empire." All of the men got up and saluted back, not dropping it until William left the room. Marcus walked behind the head seat and stroked the back of the chair. His lips curled into a thin smile, and taking a seat, he couldn’t help but feel proud that he had finally achieved the head seat.

"Men." Marcus leaned on his hand and looked down at the remaining commanders. His gaze was filled with respect for the people before him, devoid of arrogance. "We have work to do." There was no need for thank yous. Everyone knew he was thankful already. The best way to be thankful was to prove he was worthy of the seat.

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William walked out of the building and looked up into the sky. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, it was as if a massive weight had left his shoulders. The threat of constant death, the fear that he would never see his Grandchildren grow up, the obligation he had towards the Empire. All of it was gone.

He was still a Duke, but even the obligation as one he planned to hand to Issac. All he wanted to do now was watch his wife garden, help with his grandchildren and nag his daughter about her marriage. It was freeing.

"William." Charles walked over from a carriage. With a small smile, he brought his old friend in for a hug. "You managed to escape."

William chuckled and broke the hug, "Forgive me, my friend, but I’m an old man." Charles chuckled and went to the carriage. Opening the door for William, he climbed in after.

"I still remember that day. Me, you, my brother and His Majesty. That day, we promised to follow him and help him change the world. God, it’s stupid. We should have been responsible adults and not indulged a child’s fantasy."

"Do you have any regrets, Charles?" William looked at him, and the man scoffed, shaking his head.

"I was a man who was willing to hide in a forest and die. Let my brother handle everything. Don’t get me wrong, part of me wishes I had never left it, but we helped create an Empire. How could I have regrets?"

"The original inner council is now down to two," William said with a deep sigh. Charles bitterly chuckled.

"You managed to leave alive. I’m sure my brother doesn’t care that he is dead; in fact, he is probably happy that he got to go to Sol’s kingdom."

"He was always a strange guy, Raven. I respected him, but he was." Charles couldn’t say anything and smiled, thinking of his brother.

"Don’t think it’s over yet. If his Majesty needs you, you better come."

"Of course, Charles. I just hope he doesn’t need me going forward." Reaching into a box hidden under a chair, Charles pulled out a large bottle of alcohol. Popping the cord, he took a swing at it.

"To retirement." William snatched the bottle and drank a large gulp.

"May we all live to see it."