The Holy Grail of Eris - Vol. 11 Ch. 51 - Ernst Adelbide's Reminiscence (Part 2)

[apasam]

[Puts on my annoying urbanist hat]

It really is a sign of how terminally car-brained we've become, even in places like Japan with good public transport, that you can just kill off some characters in a medieval setting in an unspecified "carriage accident" and we're all supposed to accept that as natural.

[Rants about unprotected bike lanes]

 

[1idd0kun]

I don't think this one will ever get an anime. The novel only has four volumes and the third one basically finishes the story. The 4th one, for all intent and purposes, is just a side story. Beyond that, as much as it pains me to say so, this series is not really that popular in Japan.



The plan was to use Scarlet's ridiculous amounts of royal bloodlines. Her ideas, person or wants didn't matter. You destroy the country with the totally legit casus belli you created, secure her and then marry her off to one of your crown princes. With that, you get all the shit her bloodlines gives her and quell any sentiment in Adelbide itself, after all the new empress is from there.
About Scarlet herself, there are methods to keep her in-line. She has a really weird reaction to Jackal's Paradise, and I wouldn't put it past Faris to just drug her into oblivion regardless of how much it would hurt her.

Problem is, when you get down to it it's obvious that having Cecilia married to the crown prince is better for Deagaz than having Scarlet in that position, because whether Deagaz could control Scarlet is debatable but they sure as hell can control Cecilia. That considering, while killing Scarlet might have prevented the war in the short term, it ultimately left Deagaz in a better position. Not only that, but they didn't even solve the peripheral problems: the drug is still being distributed, for example.

I'd like to see how Adelbide can get out of this now, considering how incompetent they are.

 

[TheGodEmperor]

This nation deserves to fall, imo. If they would go as far as they did to protect it.

 

[Kamui]

Problem is, when you get down to it it's obvious that having Cecilia married to the crown prince is better for Deagaz than having Scarlet in that position, because whether Deagaz could control Scarlet is debatable but they sure as hell can control Cecilia. That considering, while killing Scarlet might have prevented the war in the short term, it ultimately left Deagaz in a better position. Not only that, but they didn't even solve the peripheral problems: the drug is still being distributed, for example.

I'd like to see how Adelbide can get out of this now, considering how incompetent they are.

Cecilia was never meant to marry Enrique. It was yet another of their little schemes to weaken Adelbide's nobility. They expected Scarlet to do what she always did: her duty. Problem was they didn't think Scarlet would see through Cecelia's hatred and because of that she and Lily zero'ed on her. Basically, their plans never accounted for Scarlet becoming a liability and then everything crashed down when the execution happened.

 

[1idd0kun]

Cecilia was never meant to marry Enrique. It was yet another of their little schemes to weaken Adelbide's nobility. They expected Scarlet to do what she always did: her duty. Problem was they didn't think Scarlet would see through Cecelia's hatred and because of that she and Lily zero'ed on her. Basically, their plans never accounted for Scarlet becoming a liability and then everything crashed down when the execution happened.

It doesn't matter that she was never meant to marry the prince. This arrangement is ultimately really convenient for Deagaz all the same. It's the reason they have been able to infiltrate Adelbide so deeply.

Right now Deagaz is in a much stronger position than 10 years ago. And after kidnapping the Faris prince, war is sure to happen sooner than later.

 

[LoyaltL]

Jeez. That's a lot. Atleast they've adequately explained why sacrificing Scarlet was a thing.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

The plan was to use Scarlet's ridiculous amounts of royal bloodlines. Her ideas, person or wants didn't matter. You destroy the country with the totally legit casus belli you created, secure her and then marry her off to one of your crown princes. With that, you get all the shit her bloodlines gives her and quell any sentiment in Adelbide itself, after all the new empress is from there.
About Scarlet herself, there are methods to keep her in-line. She has a really weird reaction to Jackal's Paradise, and I wouldn't put it past Faris to just drug her into oblivion regardless of how much it would hurt her.

But it can be ridiculously hard to use someone as a banner when they're opposed to you and not currently under your control. Scarlet could start pretending to go insane by starting big commotion in public, which would usually make her unsuitable as any ruler, they could make fake accident and hide her pretending that she's dead for some years, until they secure the border, or make better plans. Maybe even make fake scandal with fake pregnancy with stable-boy, though that could be too much for prideful Scarlet, but would definitely kill her value as Faris princess.

On the other hand, once she was dead, Faris could just claim her execution under falsificated crime as casus belli, without even needing to control her. Hell, they could make fake Scarlet like there were fake Dimitris or fake Anastasias, and claim they saved her from execution and can't show her due to fear of Abelbide's assassins. Historically it was much more common to use fake pretenders to the throne you wage war to get, rather than force real one but opposed to you to serve as your cause. Dead Scarlet should be actually more convenient for Faris then live one, since she can't oppose them any longer as her real self.

Frankly, they should even be also able to marry her off to some faraway country, beyond the reach of Faris - I don't remember the precise geography of this world, but if Faris is former empire, with severe money problems, they shouldn't be able to invade bigger countries on other continents just for to get their missing royal scion, especially landlocked ones that would need you to conquer or go through with your army through coastal country on another continent first. And another big country could want to keep Faris away from symbol of their former glory, while giving themselves option to keep the famous bloodline in their aristocracy.

 

[beThereShortly]

Ah politics... Just as I start to get bored of you in real life, you invade my reading as well.

I'm (mostly) kidding. Thank you for the translation, I really love the intrigue in this series, though these past few chapters are a bit lacking when it comes to ghost-tits.

 

[Kamui]

But it can be ridiculously hard to use someone as a banner when they're opposed to you and not currently under your control. Scarlet could start pretending to go insane by starting big commotion in public, which would usually make her unsuitable as any ruler, they could make fake accident and hide her pretending that she's dead for some years, until they secure the border, or make better plans. Maybe even make fake scandal with fake pregnancy with stable-boy, though that could be too much for prideful Scarlet, but would definitely kill her value as Faris princess.

On the other hand, once she was dead, Faris could just claim her execution under falsificated crime as casus belli, without even needing to control her. Hell, they could make fake Scarlet like there were fake Dimitris or fake Anastasias, and claim they saved her from execution and can't show her due to fear of Abelbide's assassins. Historically it was much more common to use fake pretenders to the throne you wage war to get, rather than force real one but opposed to you to serve as your cause. Dead Scarlet should be actually more convenient for Faris then live one, since she can't oppose them any longer as her real self.

Frankly, they should even be also able to marry her off to some faraway country, beyond the reach of Faris - I don't remember the precise geography of this world, but if Faris is former empire, with severe money problems, they shouldn't be able to invade bigger countries on other continents just for to get their missing royal scion, especially landlocked ones that would need you to conquer or go through with your army through coastal country on another continent first. And another big country could want to keep Faris away from symbol of their former glory, while giving themselves option to keep the famous bloodline in their aristocracy.

You are missing one big point: They don't care about Scarlet herself. She's a cup (a grail if you will ) full of legitimate Imperial Faris blood they really want. Marrying Scarlet off doesn't fix that. The empire is obsessed with their old bloodlines to the point of making this stupid plan in the first place.

About using Scarlet as a casus belli, they didn't have the time. Scarlet's execution was something no one expected and shocked them into stupor. They then were scared into hiding again because of Lily's antics.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

You are missing one big point: They don't care about Scarlet herself. She's a cup (a grail if you will ) full of legitimate Imperial Faris blood they really want. Marrying Scarlet off doesn't fix that. The empire is obsessed with their old bloodlines to the point of making this stupid plan in the first place.

About using Scarlet as a casus belli, they didn't have the time. Scarlet's execution was something no one expected and shocked them into stupor. They then were scared into hiding again because of Lily's antics.

If that was true, than Scarlet's death would actually solve the issue for good. But it didn't, they wanted Adelbide and still want it, so Scarlet clearly wasn't needed alive as casus belli, and killing her didn't solve anything, and could as easily lead to different pretext for war. Faris is only growing more dangerous and has way more influence in Adelbide than it did before. If danger didn't stop at all with last of the bloodline dead, then it means that her royal blood didn't actually matter all that much. And if it didn't, then Scarlet would be of much better use alive.

The explanation why this sacrifice was necessary is stuff like "Faris didn't expect and was shocked for few years", "public was shocked by her death and that helped general to avoid death", that's shit-ass weak plan for saving country, based mostly on hoping for temporary change of hearts or confusion. What if public wouldn't get shocked by Scarlet's death and still wanted Duran to die? What if Faris and Daegaz didn't got "shocked into stupor", seeing as they're good at intrigue, even if their cause is dumb, and instead improvised another cause for war out of Scarlet's death?

In a way, Faris did use her death to get their agent next to the throne, place that could be Scarlet's to advice the prince, and now got the Faris prince kidnapped in the Adelbide's capital only decade later. And Lily's antics was just lucky accident, nothing that was plotted by shitty father and king pair, and still resulted in another bright young noble dying.

They sacrificed gifted woman that could help lead the country in horrific way, and daughter to one of them, just to create temporary confusion that didn't solve anything except making their country even weaker in long run. That's just shitty cowardly joke of a plan, flailing around, not a way to save country.

 

[Kamui]

If that was true, than Scarlet's death would actually solve the issue for good. But it didn't, they wanted Adelbide and still want it, so Scarlet clearly wasn't needed alive as casus belli, and killing her didn't solve anything, and could as easily lead to different pretext for war. Faris is only growing more dangerous and has way more influence in Adelbide than it did before. If danger didn't stop at all with last of the bloodline dead, then it means that her royal blood didn't actually matter all that much. And if it didn't, then Scarlet would be of much better use alive.

The explanation why this sacrifice was necessary is stuff like "Faris didn't expect and was shocked for few years", "public was shocked by her death and that helped general to avoid death", that's shit-ass weak plan for saving country, based mostly on hoping for temporary change of hearts or confusion. What if public wouldn't get shocked by Scarlet's death and still wanted Duran to die? What if Faris and Daegaz didn't got "shocked into stupor", seeing as they're good at intrigue, even if their cause is dumb, and instead improvised another cause for war out of Scarlet's death?

In a way, Faris did use her death to get their agent next to the throne, place that could be Scarlet's to advice the prince, and now got the Faris prince kidnapped in the Adelbide's capital only decade later. And Lily's antics was just lucky accident, nothing that was plotted by shitty father and king pair, and still resulted in another bright young noble dying.

They sacrificed gifted woman that could help lead the country in horrific way, and daughter to one of them, just to create temporary confusion that didn't solve anything except making their country even weaker in long run. That's just shitty cowardly joke of a plan, flailing around, not a way to save country.

The plan was grinded to a halt because its center piece was destroyed. Faris still wanted Adelbide, though. We are told early on that out of all the old Faris territories, Adelbide is the most successful one.

I don't think the narrative disagrees with you, though. Sacrificing Scarlet, for whatever reason, only bought them some time. Yes, Adelbide is now a more powerful country (whatever that means). Yes, they are now years into planning a counter offensive in case things go south, but at what cost?
They threw away someone who could have become the best queen in their history and her death lead directly to the nation losing another brilliant noble woman. I guess you could see it as a commentary on how women are always expendable. We never really see it on the manga, because all the important characters are powerful women, but Lily was a transgressor for their culture precisely for daring to work instead of staying home and having children.

 

[Haezer]

I don't think this one will ever get an anime. The novel only has four volumes and the third one basically finishes the story. The 4th one, for all intent and purposes, is just a side story. Beyond that, as much as it pains me to say so, this series is not really that popular in Japan.

WTF?! What kind of slop of a manga do the japanese consume these days? And how many? Because this manga is one of the best villainess manga out there bruh. Like how come this isn't popular? This is pretty much another reason why manga industry needs to completely do a complete globalization just like their automotive industry cuz I know manga like this is popular. You can get someone tweet a few pages of them girls doing badass things and people would reply with "Real".

 

[Kamui]

WTF?! What kind of slop of a manga do the japanese consume these days? And how many? Because this manga is one of the best villainess manga out there bruh. Like how come this isn't popular? This is pretty much another reason why manga industry needs to completely do a complete globalization just like their automotive industry cuz I know manga like this is popular. You can get someone tweet a few pages of them girls doing badass things and people would reply with "Real".

I'm sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, but the manga/novel isn't really popular in English either. There is basically zero discussion of it outside here. Hell, I was surprised it got picked up at all for an official English release.

 

[fflogschampion]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, but the manga/novel isn't really popular in English either. There is basically zero discussion of it outside here. Hell, I was surprised it got picked up at all for an official English release.

Yeah. I read it on my own because the PV announced both the manga and novel as being released together and it interested me as I was going into an otome stuff spree. This one is very high up but these otome series usually aren't popular enough to get an anime.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

The plan was grinded to a halt because its center piece was destroyed. Faris still wanted Adelbide, though. We are told early on that out of all the old Faris territories, Adelbide is the most successful one.

I don't think the narrative disagrees with you, though. Sacrificing Scarlet, for whatever reason, only bought them some time. Yes, Adelbide is now a more powerful country (whatever that means). Yes, they are now years into planning a counter offensive in case things go south, but at what cost?
They threw away someone who could have become the best queen in their history and her death lead directly to the nation losing another brilliant noble woman. I guess you could see it as a commentary on how women are always expendable. We never really see it on the manga, because all the important characters are powerful women, but Lily was a transgressor for their culture precisely for daring to work instead of staying home and having children.

There was also that, even if they decided Scarlet had to die, they could at least let her die in "accident", instead of letting her experience all the hate and being despised up until the last moment. Seems to me like the execution was just simpler option, and more shocking, making it also easier to save general? Still, it fits with Scarlet's father being someone willing to sacrifice even close people, as long as he thinks it's their duty, like that history with Ulsters and the boy (BTW I forgot, what was this whole Ulster thing about, except clearly sacrificial in some ominous way?)

I'd still say that threatening Faris with killing Scarlet in case of war, especially assuming she would be willing to suicide herself as well, should be better deterrent than killing her. Once she's dead, that Faris bloodline and piece of former glory - and also potential claim to other countries beside Adelbide - is forever gone, so as long as she was alive, she could be used as bargaining chip, while her death means that Faris "return to old glory" faction no longer has to care about her, and probably has a huge grudge against Adelbide anyway for ruining that, in addition to wanting to get their territory anyway. Grudge that could be also weaponized as "They executed last princess of our royal blood under fake pretense! Let's take back that fake country and execute their king!" if necessary.

They could even make fake accident and funeral, secure country while ensuring Faris could not easily kidnap Scarlet since she'd be kept hidden in safety and relative secrecy, possibly while insinuating to Faris that "maybe Scarlet isn't dead actually, but she'll surely be if you invade, and officially she's dead so you have no claims", then after enough years to be safe bring her back saying it was all for Scarlet's protection. They could even use Scarlet later to strengthen the peace faction that I think emerged in Faris ( that imprisoned princess and kidnapped prince) and ally closer to that faction at the same time.

I agree that they went for the simplest way of buying some time and safety, sacrificing brilliant woman and daughter in horrible way to get better chance of saving an important general, probably discounting the possible usefulness of Scarlet (and Lily), like you wrote, due to their gender, which got turned around of them since now another woman, Cecile is in Scarlet's place and working quite successfully for the enemy to keep weakening their nation.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, but the manga/novel isn't really popular in English either. There is basically zero discussion of it outside here. Hell, I was surprised it got picked up at all for an official English release.

I saw some discussion on Anime News Networks, and novel gets regular reviews there, while first volume of manga did as well, there aren't many comments but it's normal for ANN. I think I saw some discussion of it on light novel sites too. Still, it's sad if it sells badly in English too. It's great variation of seemingly isekai villainess story, but without the isekai part and with dual MCs working together despite differences, like in cop buddies movie.

 

[2hu_ism]

Faris plan got halted by scarlet's death because they're those "blue blooded noble" type that managed to pull lots of string due to "our last blood descendant , scarlet will be queen of new vessal country" hence why when scarlet die, the entire plan that involved scarlet being alive is flopped and took they 10 years to counterattack again.

I'm not brightest tool in the shed but isn't it mean there's candidate for Faris's puppet exists in this era? and she grew up enough to be their spearhead(same age as scarlet 10 years ago) or they entirely change the plan after last one failed and found other alternative way ?

 

[fflogschampion]

(BTW I forgot, what was this whole Ulster thing about, except clearly sacrificial in some ominous way?)

They're raised as spies, which is a quite harsh training on top of a fair amount of brainwashing.

Faris plan got halted by scarlet's death because they're those "blue blooded noble" type that managed to pull lots of string due to "our last blood descendant , scarlet will be queen of new vessal country" hence why when scarlet die, the entire plan that involved scarlet being alive is flopped and took they 10 years to counterattack again.

I'm not brightest tool in the shed but isn't it mean there's candidate for Faris's puppet exists in this era? and she grew up enough to be their spearhead(same age as scarlet 10 years ago) or they entirely change the plan after last one failed and found other alternative way ?

Faris plan would've continued faster if Lily didn't paralyze Daegaz with her maneuvers.

And for the second question: You mean the one who's about to marry the prince? The contingency plan kept going even if the original one fell through, Scarlet was just the best choice for the conservative nobility but usually when a country wants to take over another it's because there are more pressing matters so they couldn't just give up because Scarlet died.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

They're raised as spies, which is a quite harsh training on top of a fair amount of brainwashing.

Hmm, isn't it bad idea to have whole designated family name for spies? Makes it easy for enemies to watch out for them.

 

[ajiandra15]

Adelbide lacks strategist and manipulator huh, how could they let it passes under the rug even for bailing out Duran, jeez Ernst definitely not suitable for the king. Scarlett dad definitely has already research it behind and it's too late either they go war with faris or makes some sacrifice for delay it. This country even didn't have shadow organization.