My villain wants to save himself, but the yandere heroine disagrees

The reason for this is partly due to the good relationship between the emperor and the dukes. After all, when the land was divided and granted titles, the dukes often had the best relationship with the emperor and were able to obtain large amounts of land.

Of course, as time goes by, the friendship between one generation may be passed down to three or four generations, but it will gradually fade away after that.

The key to maintaining this relationship is the relative balance of power among different regions.

The Royal Duchy is undoubtedly the richest and most powerful territory, but it does not mean that the Royal Duchy can sweep the other duchies with overwhelming advantage.

In fact, if the combined strength of each region is converted into a numerical value, the combined strength of the royal territories accounts for about one-third of the empire, while the remaining two-thirds is made up of the other six dukes.

If the Duchy of Prussia and the Duchy of Naples cooperate, their combined strength will account for about one third.

In this case, if the empire can maintain stable development and no one force can gain absolute advantage over the sum of other forces, relative peace will be maintained.

Well, the contradiction between the central government and local governments is relatively stalemate due to power reasons, but what about between local governments?

Won't there be conflicts between dukes?

it's not true.

In history, the Duchy of Lucia once had a Duke Peter, who was ambitious and talented. During his reign, the Duchy of Lucia developed rapidly, and therefore his ambitions also expanded.

In his later years, he joined forces with the Duke of Orleans and attacked the Duchy of Prussia from both sides. The emperor at the time was happy to see the Duchy of Prussia being suppressed, so he did not choose to support it. The remote Duchy of Aragon and the Duchy of Naples could basically not help the Duchy of Prussia because their territories were not adjacent to each other.

Of course, they would not allow the Duchy of Prussia to be annexed like this. After all, as one side gains, the other loses, so they secretly supported Prussia.

Fortunately, the ruler of Prussia at that time was not incompetent. He adopted the strategy of attacking the west first and then the east. After repelling the Duke of Orleans, he focused on dealing with the Duke of Lucia. He defeated the then arrogant Archduke Peter and seized a large amount of Lucia's land. If the royal family had not wanted to break the balance and was forced to intervene, Lucia might have been annexed.

Even though Prussia later returned a lot of land, the plunder during the war and the reparations after the war still established the strength of the Dukedom of Prussia as the number one.

In the laws of the empire, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects is clearly defined, but there is no strict law to deal with the conflicts that arise between people of the same level. Such conflicts will eventually intensify and turn into war.

Wars between dukes are relatively rare in the history of the empire. After all, once such a war occurs, it involves the entire empire. However, wars between earls are not uncommon.

Often, earls would fight each other over tax issues in several villages. Although the winner would not get any land, he or she could plunder a large amount of wealth from the opponent's land, or get a considerable amount of war reparations and hostage ransom.

The number of times this kind of war occurs is related to the ability of the ruler.

If the ruler has a strong hand, the nobles under him are willing to mediate conflicts, and he has enough military force to deter all his vassals, then wars will decrease; otherwise, they will increase.

At this moment, a war was about to break out between the Duke of Naples and the Duke of Antica.

On the border of the Dukedom, both sides have mobilized more than 100,000 troops and are confronting each other on the border.

Just waiting for the right excuse to appear.

……

Saint Laurent City, inside the Imperial Court.

Elsa was looking at the documents on her desk with a frown on her face.

This is about the investigation into the last Mudrick incident.

All the information was linked to a man named Rody, but no one knew where he was hidden.

Therefore, during this period, the decisions made by the courts and the public security bureau were consistent.

Because they couldn't find the person, the police decided to classify the incident as Mudrick's personal act, and the court suggested to put it on hold temporarily until Roddy appeared again or other rumors about the devil were discovered, and then combine the two cases for investigation.

Now, Elsa needs to choose one of the two documents and sign her name on it.

At this time, the side effects of power come into play.

Signing the document from the Public Security Bureau can certainly resolve the case quickly, but no one will be satisfied with the final result, and it can only be said to be an unsolved case.

Signing the court documents would inevitably make Odysseus question his own abilities.

Just when she was still frowning, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

"Princess Elsa!" The person who came in was her follower Afro.

"What happened?"

"Outside the court, there is a man who calls himself Lodi and wants to see Your Highness the Princess."

"Lodi!?"

When Elsa heard the name, she instantly became alert, then quickly stood up and walked out with Afro.

A few minutes later, in the interrogation room, Rody sat properly on the chair, looking at Elsa in front of him and the interrogator beside him, with an expressionless face.

"Lodi, I heard that Mudrick's mercenary group has cooperated with you many times before. Is that true?"

"Yes." Lodi nodded. "According to my master's orders, I have carried out a lot of cooperation with the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group. I am responsible for conveying my master's intentions, and they are responsible for taking action."

"So, during the time we were investigating the Mudrick case, we didn't find you. Where were you?"

"..." Hearing this, Luo Di was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Sorry, interrogator, I only want to tell Her Royal Highness the Princess about this matter, okay?"

The interrogator frowned.

Logically speaking, this matter was against the rules, after all, the princess was just an audience, but she was a princess, and she couldn't really offend her.

In desperation, he turned his gaze to Elsa beside him.

"Your Highness, I'm worried that this person may be harmful to you..."

"It's okay, you can go out first." Elsa said this and shook her head to indicate that it was not a problem.

"Well... okay then." After hearing what Elsa said, the interrogator didn't know what to say, so he just stood up and left. Before leaving, he handed the notebook with the confession to Elsa.

"Okay, now that the person has left, you can tell me alone, right?"

Elsa looked at Lodi in front of her and spoke.

"Yes." Rody nodded. "During the time I was away, your partner hid me."

When Elsa heard the word "partner", her eyes widened.

"Why...why did he do this?"

Chapter 66: Excommunication

Duchy of Naples.

Giovanni frowned as he looked at the information sent by his subordinates.

"When will the Dukedom of Antica be able to mobilize so many troops?"

"It is said that there is support from other forces, perhaps from Prussia, or the royal family." Beside him, Tony spoke slowly.

Ever since being taught a lesson by Giovanni last time, Donny has become much more restrained and behaves like an obedient and sensible child in front of Giovanni.

Because of this, Giovanni still kept Tony by his side, at least as his adjutant, and Tony would never make mistakes in matters like passing orders up and down.

"Antica is originally located in the border area, and the people there are tough. Now that we have given them weapons, equipment, food and financial assistance, it looks like this battle will be difficult to fight." Giovanni said this and sighed.

"Father, why are you so sure that Duke Antica will attack us?" Donnie asked in confusion. "They have no reason to start a war. If they rashly attack us, the other dukes of the empire will not sit idly by."

"Well, if they really don't have a suitable reason to declare war." Giovanni said and looked at Donnie.

"Donnie, there are some things I don't know whether I should tell you."

"I was originally planning to tell you after you were able to take over my position, but now it seems that it is difficult to solve the current crisis."

"Father, please go ahead." Donny didn't know why Giovanni always looked at this matter with a pessimistic eye.

The Duchy of Naples is obviously ranked second among the six duchies in terms of strength, so it is not afraid of the Duchy of Antica, which is at the bottom.

Looking at Donny in front of him, Giovanni opened his mouth but shook his head.

"Forget it. Knowing this won't do you any good. You should just pass on what I told you to do." After saying that, Giovanni waved his hand, motioning Donnie to leave.

"Okay." Donnie nodded and left Giovanni's office.

Sitting alone in the office, Giovanni opened the drawer, took out a yellowed book and slowly opened it.

It contains the roster of the Imperial College.

I opened a page and saw the names of three people clearly written on it.

"It's been decades." Giovanni sighed, his tone full of emotion.

……

After leaving the room, Donnie followed and got into his own carriage.

At this moment, in addition to Tony, there was a man with short blond hair in the carriage.

"Master Tony, you seem to be in a bad mood?" The blond man looked at Tony opposite him and asked tentatively.

"Yeah." Donnie nodded. "Father is hiding something from me. We are obviously a family..."

"Perhaps the Duke is afraid that Master Tangni will have a bad influence after knowing this. Anyway, Master Tangni, please understand the Duke's painstaking efforts."

"Of course I understand, but my father never understands me. In the academy, I followed his instructions and tripped up the two guys from the Stranik family. As a result, I was kicked out of the academy and lost face."

"Now I'm old enough to manage family affairs. Look at what Orson next door is doing, and then look at what I'm doing." Donnie couldn't help complaining.

"Osen is not even his biological son, but he has gained such trust. But what about me? Zenit, do you think I am incompetent?"

"Mr. Donny, your abilities are not bad at all. People around you have wrong views of you." Zenit said this and quickly shook his head.

Shortly after he submitted his allegiance to Giovanni, he arrived here with the news that the Duchy of Antica was mobilizing and preparing to declare war on the Duchy of Naples.

After learning the news, Giovanni did not dare to delay at all and immediately ordered the territory to expand its military and prepare for war.

Of course, Zenit, who brought this information, had no way to go back. Giovanni thought about it and gave him a random position and sent him away.

However, Zenit relied on his own abilities to gain Donny's appreciation in a pub and was chosen by Donny as his aide.

However, Giovanni didn't know all this. He only knew that his son's behavior had been increasingly unlike what he expected, as if someone was directing him from behind.

"Well, it's all thanks to you, Zenit." Tony said this, looking at Zenit with some gratitude in his eyes.

"If it weren't for you, I would probably still be being scolded by my father now."

Although he is currently only a deputy, responsible for communicating information, he does have some power after all.

My father's attitude and evaluation of me has also changed from being disappointed in me to being just so-so now.

All this is inseparable from Zenit.

"Nothing, I just did what I was supposed to do."

"Don't worry, Zenit. When I inherit the dukedom, I will grant you a piece of land so that you can establish your own family and pass it down from generation to generation." Tony said this and patted Zenit on the shoulder.

"Then, I will stay here. Thank you, Mr. Tangni."

……

Saint-Laurent Cathedral.

The choir had just finished its performance and the devout believers were sitting on chairs praying.

Led by a nun, Orson walked into the church from the side and then met the person he wanted to see.

"Your Holiness the Pope." Orson said this and looked at the kind-looking old man in front of him.

"Mr. Orson, long time no see." Pope Levi said this and came forward with a smile.

Beside Levi, Saint Lilia also walked up.

"Mr. Orson, are you here to pray this time?"

"No." Orson shook his head, and then said: "I want to ask the Pope something."

"Go ahead." Levi heard this and waited for Orson to speak.

"I would like to ask, if a great noble teamed up with foreigners and brought them into the country, what should we do?"

"Mr. Orson, you suddenly ask this... Could it be that you have discovered this kind of person?" When Levi heard Orson say this, the smile on his face faded.

This is the most sacred place for human beings and a holy place in the hearts of believers of the Goddess of Life. Mentioning words like aliens and pagans here is no joke.

"If there really is such a person, even if he is a noble, he should be excommunicated."

"Really?" Orson heard this and nodded with a smile.

"So, Mr. Orson, can you tell me now who it is?"

"You should receive news about this in a few days." Orson said this, greeted the two of them politely, then turned around and left.

Levi frowned, he knew something was definitely wrong, so he turned his gaze to Lilia beside him.

Lilia and Levi looked at each other, then she nodded and followed him out.