Reborn As Noble

He caught the subtle shift in his father’s expression.

That hidden smirk again. And the faint glow in his right eye.

Inside Javier’s mind, a resigned thought surfaced.

Ugh... he’s using the Eyes of Truth again. He probably saw through my entire explanation before I even said it...

He sighed softly and continued, forcing himself to keep his tone even despite that calm, piercing stare watching his every word.

He exhaled quietly and pressed on.

”...Or we could choose another option.”

”We could send humanitarian aid. Food, medicine, and a healer unit to assist. It would save lives and help stabilize the refugee flow, at least temporarily. But that’s not the best option.”

He paused, his voice lowering.

”Because the war zone itself is still active. The areas under conflict can’t properly receive or distribute aid. Entire towns are trapped between raids and skirmishes. There’s no safe route, no guarantee those supplies would ever reach the people who actually need them.”

Javier drew in a slow breath, collecting his thoughts before continuing.

”Even if we dispatch armed escorts to protect the convoys from bandits or rogue knights, it’ll drain our resources. Manpower, supplies, maintenance....everything. And once Armand gets involved, even indirectly, we’ll become a target. Opportunistic nobles will claim we’re interfering and use it as an excuse to strike at our borders.”

Another sigh escaped his lips.

”And even then... it wouldn’t stop the flow of refugees. Those nobles fighting over Arjam were promised land by the new king, land with no appointed lord. But instead of granting it, he’s letting them tear each other apart. Letting them bleed themselves dry.”

Javier’s tone hardened slightly, his eyes narrowing.

”He’s not uniting them. He’s cleansing the board. When they’ve all exhausted their armies and gold, when there’s nothing left to fight for, he’ll step in and claim what remains. That’s his plan. He’s not giving those lands away, he’s waiting for the vultures to kill each other so he can rule over the carcass.”

He glanced down briefly, then lifted his gaze again.

”That’s why... just sending aid isn’t a solution.”

Garius smirked.

Every eye in the chamber shifted toward Javier.

Javier blinked. Confused.

Eh? Why is everyone looking at me like that?

He glanced around helplessly. ”Errr... Esteemed Father? Everyone?”

Garius leaned back slightly, a quiet chuckle escaping him.

”No one in this council has yet spoken of how our King truly plans his moves, or why. And yet you already seem to understand his intentions.” His tone carried amusement, though his gaze stayed sharp. ”Interesting.”

Javier swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

”Ah... well, it’s just...uh...something that came to mind...”

He spoke slowly, voice low as he gathered his thoughts.

”It just feels off. He’s the king now, right? He controls the remaining lordless lands. If he really wanted to strengthen the Kingdom, he could just assign those territories to anyone who has the means to govern them properly.”

He hesitated a moment, then continued.

”But instead, he didn’t.

So either he couldn’t decide who to reward, or... he never intended to. He’s letting the nobles fight over it on purpose. Letting them think they can claim those lands if they have the troops and coin to do it.”

He exhaled softly, his voice lowering further.

”And knowing his greed... I doubt he ever planned to let anyone keep them. He’s letting them destroy each other first. Then, when they’re all too weak to resist, he’ll take everything back under the crown’s control.”

The room stayed silent.

Only Garius’s faint smirk remained, his glowing right eye narrowing slightly in quiet pride.

”That’s the reason why I refused to vote for him,” Garius said, his tone calm yet edged with quiet disdain. ”And why I insisted that we, the Armand, stand behind Princess Kliatana as the rightful successor. But he used that bait to buy his crown. Because I know exactly how Kimar thinks... and how he plans.”

A deeper smirk followed, colder this time.

”But that’s not the point here.” Garius leaned back slightly, his voice settling once more into that composed authority. ”Now, continue with the several options you mentioned earlier, how should we act regarding the Arjam Region?”

Javier sighed softly.

Ugh... see? I knew it. Father already knows everything. Does his brain have a simulator or something? Like...if we do this, then that happens... or if we try that, this happens instead?

He straightened a little, forcing his voice steady.

”Well, there’s the Peacekeeper Option,” he began. ”Where we’d step in only to enforce a ceasefire and protect civilians. But...”

Javier rubbed his chin thoughtfully, ”considering no other noble besides the Rolland Household of the Rolland Region supports us, I don’t think it’s a viable choice either.”

He looked around the table, his tone growing more serious.

”The other nobles’ courts already label any Armand intervention as an illegal occupation. Since we refused to acknowledge Kimar’s coronation, they’d use it as justification to accuse us, or worse.”

The moment Javier said that, several senior officers exhaled heavily, exchanging quiet, uneasy glances.

Garius’s smirk deepened slightly as his gaze swept toward them.

They avoided his eyes immediately.

Javier continued, rubbing his chin as he spoke.

”Proxy governance is also an option. We could secretly fund one of the Arjam factions and support them from the shadows... err, no.” He frowned slightly, shaking his head. ”That wouldn’t work. With the war still going on, it would still require intervention from our side...”

He rubbed his chin again, muttering to himself as his thoughts spilled out.

”Even if we fund them, build their forces, train them... we’d still have to spend our own resources. Wait... isn’t that basically the same as sending our army?”

Without realizing it, Javier had wandered toward the large map spread across the far wall. He pointed at several marked borders, still mumbling to himself as if no one else was in the room.

”Hmm... they could betray us once they gain power. Side with other nobles. All our effort would end up wasted. They might steal the funding or worse, expose our magic tech...” He scratched his head, sighing. ”Well... I doubt they’d even know how to build anything anyway.”

The entire room watched him in silence.

Francesca covered her mouth to hide a quiet laugh.

( End Of Chapter )