Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Just as all those who commit evil deeds fear retribution upon themselves, after the King of the North instigated the Wars of the Roses and brought the flames of war to the gates of Londinium, the newly crowned King issued a decree that no noble of duke rank or above may enter Londinium except by the summons of the Emperor.

Therefore, although he is one of the three most powerful dukes in the empire (and currently only one remains standing), Ernest was only granted a mansion in Londinium by Wayne through a special arrangement. Under normal circumstances, it would be better to try one's luck at the bar of the Triumph Tavern or at Wayne's villa in the western suburbs if one wanted to see him.

But today's situation was clearly not so normal. Ernest was waiting early in the mansion, which was more like a temporary office than a "home," to receive his adjutant, Anhalt.

Today is the day Anhalt promised to submit the files on Bruce, a cadet of the Royal Guard Academy.

With a furrowed brow, Ernest stared at Anhalt, who entered the mansion empty-handed and looking defeated, and questioned him:

"Where's the data?"

Anhalt shook his head helplessly.

“I’m sorry, Marshal, but… I really don’t dare to collect information about [Bruce].

"You dare not collect them?"

Ernest repeated the syllables softly, looking somberly at Anhalt:

"On Victoria's soil, there are information that even our General Staff can't collect? That's impossible. Who's blocking your operation? Some local noble from a remote area? Or some ignorant newly powerful figure? Or perhaps those arrogant dukes?"

Ernest warned in a cold voice:

“Anhalt, remember your place. Before you pay attention to those decadent social parties, you must first remember that you are a soldier! No matter what stands in your way or who it is, your highest priority is to obey my orders!”

He glanced at the servants who were either flustered or standing frozen in place, stunned by his words, and nodded in satisfaction.

Since the other two major families suffered misfortunes and declined, the Norfolk family has become the dominant force. Ernest knew that this was not necessarily a good thing, but his control over the situation was limited.

As far as he knew, his adjutant, Anhalt, had recently been invited to several aristocratic parties and had even seduced the daughter of an earl of Falfolk. His servants and maids, seemingly harboring the idea that one man's success would bring honor to his entire family, had begun to become increasingly arrogant, using their ridiculous status as "servants of the greatest nobleman" to create a hierarchy within their own circle.

Ernest was furious but helpless. As the "wise Norfolk," how could he not know where his current status came from? The so-called "greatest nobleman" was actually just the "fattest camel." If he was useful, he could still share the burdens of Prince Wayne, and then Prince Wayne might still need him, this tool that could run. But if one day he became arrogant and conceited, and turned into a fellow who only knew how to grunt and puff after eating gold coins, then it would be time to slaughter him and eat him.

Ernest was very clear-headed, so he had been trying his best to slow down the rate of corruption among his subordinates and remind them to keep in mind the noble ideal of "being dutiful and loyal to the people." But now it seemed that he had been a little too soft-hearted.

A cold glint flashed in Ernest's eyes. The burly Vaivavan man rose, his tall figure casting a shadow before Anhalt. His military background instilled a powerful, imposing aura as he coldly spoke:

"Get your attitude straight, Anhalt, and then tell me, who is so reckless as to obstruct the General Staff from finding someone!"

Anhalt blinked, shrinking back timidly, unsure why Marshal Ernest had suddenly lost his temper, and simply reported in a low voice:

"I can't say."

"How dare you!"

"I really can't say, Marshal, please take a look."

With a mournful face, Anhalt pulled out a rather metallic token from his pocket in front of the furious Ernest.

The token reflected a cold light under the lamp, momentarily blinding Ernest, but before that, the emblem on the token had already been reflected in his wide pupils.

--unicorn!

"A secret order from the Unicorn?!" Ernest sat back down in shock, waving away all the puzzled servants. "Does this involve the royal family?"

"I don't know, but none of the scouts I sent out to investigate have returned, and all we found at the scene was this..."

Anhalt swallowed hard.

"Please do not doubt its authenticity, Marshal. You cannot imagine where our search team found this token—in the throat of a scout..."

The sharp metal token was shoved down the scout's throat, choking him to death, as if to warn him to "shut up!"

How could a student from the Royal Guard Academy get involved with the royal family? There are only two members left in the royal family now...

wrong!

Ernest had a sudden flash of inspiration, remembered something, slapped his forehead, turned around and sighed.

He knew where the problem lay.

Your Highness Wayne!

He desperately wanted to avoid offending anyone, desperately wanted to be loyal, and desperately wanted to become the man who rode that diligent camel. Half a year ago, he gave him an ambiguous order: to use his connections in the military to get him into the graduating class of the Royal Guard Academy under the alias "Bruce."

At the time, he also asked him for information on three students. Ernest had forgotten their names, but he remembered the incident perfectly.

Bruce, Bruce, not a first name, but a surname, the family name of the emperors who ruled Victoria!

Damn it, after all that investigation, it actually led back to that person. No wonder it alerted the unicorn.

He should have realized it sooner. There might be a second person in Victoria who pioneered that kind of infantry warfare that could almost be proven to be epoch-making, but there is absolutely only one named Bruce!

Ernest felt a chill run down his spine, hoping that the General Staff hadn't gone too far and incurred the prince's displeasure. Otherwise, the executioner's blade might be silently placed at his throat at any moment.

The greater the power, the more precarious one's path. There is no doubt that even though Ernest is now the most powerful duke in Victoria, he knows that if Wayne can eliminate the other two major families without bloodshed and manipulate Lateran at will, then eliminating him will be no more difficult for him.

"Notify the General Staff to immediately cease all reconnaissance operations against His Highness Bruce. I don't want to be implicated by Unicorn for a blunder."

Ernest hurriedly gave the order, ignoring Anhalt's confused expression, grabbed his arm, quickly put on his coat, and walked out the door despite the late hour.

"Come with me to the palace to see Prince Wayne. Hopefully, we can still make it in time!"

As for the northern border extermination operation, although I would very much like Your Highness to participate, it is more important to save your own life at this moment.

Chapter Twenty-One: Wait for me, Bruce! (Please subscribe)

"Therefore, I beg you to punish me, Your Highness Wayne."

Ernest placed one hand on his chest and bowed solemnly.

Wayne stroked his chin, not responding immediately.

He learned this afternoon from the Unicorn's liaison that the military personnel of the Victoria General Staff were secretly investigating the royal family. These immortals stationed in the clock towers scattered throughout Victoria were far more efficient than ordinary mortal armies; Wayne received the news almost the instant the unfortunate scout was killed.

To be honest, he was genuinely startled at the time. The Victorian military had always been controlled by Ernest, and now they were secretly investigating him—Wayne hadn't expected this at all. At the same time, this served as a wake-up call; even if military power couldn't be completely under one's control, it certainly couldn't be entirely controlled by one person, otherwise it would ultimately be unsafe.

Although Ernest has now come to him, trembling with fear, saying it was a terrible misunderstanding and begging for his punishment to prove his loyalty, if Ernest is loyal, what about the others?

There isn't just one voice in the army. Ernest's power has suppressed them, but if something happens to Ernest, will his successor be absolutely loyal?

Loyalty that is not absolute is absolute disloyalty. Wien believes that a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall, and he will never take any risks that he can avoid. In this case, it seems that he really needs to select some military talents as soon as possible.

Wayne's first thought was the talent at the Royal Military Academy, the elite of the Victorian Empire, each of whom had received the most advanced military tactics training in Terra. Naturally, the selection of new military talents should start from among them.

The problem is that they are also, to some extent, Ernest's people, who also serve as honorary principal. Although Ernest will not try to blackmail them for this favor, it is equally difficult to guard against newcomers!

Then we can only introduce a new force to counterbalance them.

At this moment, Wayne thought of Theresis of Kazdel, the regent Theresis who, if Wayne hadn't transmigrated and had been hanged, would have taken advantage of the chaos to enter Victoria. Theresis was currently General Theresis of Kazdel, using force to clear obstacles from the road to rebuilding Kazdel. Unfortunately, Wayne hadn't yet had any contact with him, but he believed that soon, when Theresa officially came to Victoria for the marriage alliance, he, as Theresa's only relative, would attend the banquet.

The plan to divide and balance Ernest's power had been decided. Wayne looked at Ernest, who had been bowing the whole time, and nodded slightly.

"Honesty is a good thing, so let's talk about the punishment we're going to give you in advance later."

Without making a sound, and feigning complete confidence, Wayne asked:

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Ernest straightened up and let out a long sigh of relief.

If Wayne doesn't punish him and just lets him leave, then he'll really have to consider whether it's better for him to save face or for Wayne to save face for him when he gets home tonight.

Fortunately, Wayne only postponed the punishment and asked him about his purpose, which at least shows that Wayne still trusts him.

"That's a good thing," Ernest said reassuringly, clearing his throat and steer the conversation back on track:

"Your Highness Wayne, may I ask, did you write that paper about the 'Three-Thirds System'?"

Three-thirds system?

Wayne paused slightly, then recalled his graduation thesis from the Royal Guard Academy, and nodded imperceptibly.

"it's me."

Ernest's face lit up with delight.

It's good that it was written by Wayne. Although it's not the best outcome—the paper was written by a poor student with no background, no family, and no affiliated faction—it's not the worst either: the paper was written by the offspring of a powerful figure. The former is easy to win over and make him stay in Victoria willingly and gratefully to serve. The latter is much more difficult to win over, and if necessary, they would have to take action to prevent such talent from flowing abroad.

It's neither good nor bad that it came from Wayne's hands; at least His Highness won't lead a rebellion, and it certainly won't end up in another country.

Ernest organized his thoughts and replied:

"Your Highness, it's like this. The Royal Military Academy has an unwritten rule: every graduation season, we select outstanding students from various academies and offer them the opportunity to be specially admitted to the Royal Military Academy to pursue postgraduate degrees. This opportunity involves participating in the Royal Military Academy's final examinations alongside other students and gaining the instructors' approval..."

At this point, Wayne probably understood what Ernest meant, and an amused expression appeared on his face:

"So you've taken a liking to me this year?"

"Yes, and then, as is customary, we will check the student's background..."

"And then you traced it back to the royal family. You were warned by the unicorns and lost a scout?"

Wayne, both amused and exasperated, added:

"Give that scout's family ten times the compensation, and you'll have to pay the rest yourself. You're just sending him to his death for nothing. You know perfectly well who [Bruce] is."

Ernest sighed innocently. Of course he knew who Wayne Bruce was, but Bruce could be a surname or a first name. It's no exaggeration to say that if you walked down the street in Lentinium and shouted "Hello, Bruce," at least three people would turn around and answer.

But to say such a thing would be a mere excuse. He felt guilty for not immediately connecting the dots to the fact that Wayne was indeed his fault, and he nodded seriously: "Understood."

"So what is the research topic this year?"

Wayne asked, and to be honest, he was very interested in this matter. He had just been struggling to find a suitable person to divide Ernest's power, but now he had been given the opportunity to observe the academy's chosen ones. Why wouldn't Wayne take it?

Ernest replied, “The North, the territory of your father, the great King of the North. A horde of infected creatures of moderate size has appeared there, and the Northern Guard was planning to wipe it out, but I intercepted it and used it as part of this assessment.”

"I will give graduating students the opportunity to be assigned to a combat team consisting of one steam-armored heavy artilleryman and two elite soldiers to form a combat group to carry out extermination operations against infected creatures. Under the premise of ensuring safety, I will give them a graduation evaluation based on their performance."

Ernest looked at Wayne and asked cautiously:

"Would Your Highness be willing to go and observe?"

"can."

Wayne readily agreed, but he also made his own request:

"However, I will not join as a special admissions student. You can choose a qualified student after me in the order of priority. Don't waste the opportunity that others have worked so hard to obtain."

Ernest nodded happily and gave a standard military salute:

"clear."

...........