Chapter 23: The Duchess is the Problem

3rd Pov

Drabeuge, personal territory of Maria Di Aiello, the Duchess of the Duchy of Hyarlia and the Duchy of Gisla, a beautiful city that is the administrative center of both Duchies that, while technically independent, are in a Personal Union, a city considered peaceful, even during the times of war against the Principality of Razia, but this peace was shattered when they learned of the war they were having against the Lordship of Duloc.

While the population was outraged by the actions of Counselor Adam along with Barons Vasgi and Di Maria, everyone thought that the war would end quickly, with the Nobility sending troops to prevent the continuation of the Dulocian Invasion, with the Lordship signing a Peace Treaty soon after, well, at least that would be true if it weren't for the... explosive superiority of Duloc, with only the Nobility and the Duchess knowing about the real situation.

In the Di Aiello Palace, we can see the Duchess in the Throne Room, she is a young woman of no more than 20 years old, red hair with dark tips, a slender figure, a delicate face, and brown eyes, with her beautiful face becoming ugly because of her angry expression as she looked at her Commanders, who were kneeling.

"We are losing the war against a mere Lordship! A LORDSHIP! What the hell are you doing to have such incompetence?! We have already lost several Barons and even a Count in Hyarlia to these Dulocians, they are taking the entire Southern Region of both Duchies for themselves, have you lost the ability to command?!" Shouted the Duchess angrily as she pointed at the kneeling Commanders, who had worried faces.

"M-my Duchess! We don't know how to deal with Duloc, they have armies that hold long iron sticks that release smoke and a drum sound before killing several, as well as pieces of wood mixed with iron but smaller, which do the same thing, Duloc clearly has an army of Sorcerers!" Said one of the Commanders in a hurry, trying to justify the failures they were having currently.

".....What did you say?" The Duchess asked seriously, while looking at the Commander who was worried.

"A whole army of sorcerers?! How would Duloc have money for that, not only that, what did they promise to make sorcerers serve Lord von Farquaad?!" The Duchess spoke worriedly as she began to sweat, now she was the worried one.

"We don't know, my Duchess...." Said another commander while he had his head down, wanting to understand how this had happened.

The Throne Room fell into complete silence after that, with the Duchess thinking about how to deal with this situation, while the Commanders did not dare to speak anymore, afraid that it would anger the Duchess even more, as they could be arrested or executed if the Duchess was in those days.

'Damn Adam and those two Barons on the Border, they brought this fate to the Duchies' Thought the Duchess angrily as she clenched her fists.

"...we will continue to fight, send as many troops as necessary but we must win this war, this is vital to ensure that the Duchies remain alive and independent... the sacrifice of the soldiers will not be in vain" Said the Duchess as she looked seriously at the Commanders, who nodded, understanding her orders.

"At your command, my Duchess!" The Commanders said in unison to Duchess Maria, who nodded in satisfaction before dismissing the Commanders, who soon left.

In the corridors of the Duchess' Palace, we can see some Commanders walking together with angry expressions on their faces.

"This is suicide! If we continue to fight against Duloc, even if we win, our people will be destroyed, what's the point of the Duchies if don't have a people?" Said one of the Commanders angrily, this commander had black hair and blue eyes, with a scar on his left cheek.

"Yes, the Duchess clearly just wants to maintain power while the rest can die at will, the Nobility is also becoming dissatisfied with her, even more so now that they know about the plans about Duloc, the Principality of Razia has gained a powerful ally because of us!" Said another commander angrily, with him restraining himself from speaking loudly.

"The Count of Amberkeep was smart not to send troops to help the Southern Nobles, the way things are, I have no doubt that in a few months, Drabeuge will also be taken if they continue to advance without stopping" said an older commander who had a beard starting to turn white, with him having a scar over one of his eyes.

"My friends, as things stand, we only have one option: Surrender to Duloc. The Nobility of the Central and Northern regions of the Duchies are considering the idea of ​​surrendering to Duloc, with the Central regions being the most inclined towards such action, so it is better to remove the Duchess from Power and survive than to fight needlessly and die." Said the commander with the scar on his cheek as he looked at the other Commanders who nodded their heads.

"I will speak to the Nobles who are in Drabeuge and the nearby regions about this, the Count of Amberkeep will clearly be inclined towards the idea, he will not accept losing his family's County simply because the Duchess sent him to face Duloc." Said a commander as he left, with each commander then going their own way.

With this, the seeds of the Rebellion against the Government of Duchess Maria Di Aiello began to emerge and grow, with the Commanders being the first before the Nobility near the Seat of the House of Di Aiello also began to take up arms to depose their Duchess.

Duloc City, Lordship of Duloc

We can see in Joseph's "Palace" him discussing some strategies with Oliver about the advance of the Dulocian troops in the South, which is almost all taken, missing only one Count who had decided to protect himself in his city and fortify his positions rather than go to the battlefield with his troops, in addition to some last Barons.

"We will attack the eastern part of the Ligrion and Ayn Barons, cutting off their supply lines and being able to soon surround Count Yusni's positions, Mi'lord, with Hauptmann I Klasse Henry going North with his troops to be able to attack some Nobles from the Central regions, possibly taking territories to be able to surround the last forces from the South, giving them no escape" Said Oliver as he moved certain Chess pieces to symbolize Duloc's troops and the troops of the Nobles from the Southern Region.

"Hmmm, that's interesting, with the explosives that the hunter troops have with them, advancing won't be a problem, the only problem is that the central regions have 2 Counts in the Duchy of Hyarlia and 3 in the Duchy of Gisla, which may be a bit challenging to deal with the enemy troops there, but I believe they will succeed" Said Joseph after thinking for a bit and nodding his head, agreeing with Oliver's plan.

"When this war ends and we begin the process of integrating the territories into the Grand Duchy that will be declared, we will also begin to further develop the Duloc Industry. With the new territories, we will have resources to begin the development of Vaterland. The areas that will be under military control even after the end of the War because of the resources of the regions must be developed accordingly, understood?" Joseph asked as he looked seriously at Oliver, who nodded also seriously.

"Good, dismissed." Joseph said as he signaled for Oliver to leave, to which Oliver bowed to Joseph before leaving the room, leaving our protagonist alone.

"I need to decide the name of the Grand Duchy when it is declared...that will be a headache," Joseph thought as he sighed tiredly.