Chapter 7: The Dark Lord and Mary
In the middle of the Ninth Era, under Queen Marguerite of the Lerois dynasty who laid the foundation for Santeneri’s unification, there was a woman named Marie. Likely of common birth, she distinguished herself on the battlefield and became a maid commanding the Queen’s unofficial guard, later being granted lands in Barois. For approximately eight hundred years since that enfeoffment, the House of Barois founded by Marie and its retainers served as the sword of the royal house, always at the King’s side. The nameless guard proved so useful that it repeatedly expanded, eventually becoming the Royal Guard that exists today. It is the King’s personal army, separate from the national military.
The Royal Guard’s duties are diverse. Centered on protecting the King and royal family, they also serve as ceremonial guards during palace rituals. They arrest nobles who disobey the King and suppress those who raise armies in their territories. They are the King’s bodyguards, the King’s police, and the King’s army.
Eventually, as nobles were absorbed into the court, the duty of suppressing rebellions nearly disappeared, replaced instead by foreign wars. Especially when the King personally led campaigns, the Royal Guard fought on the front lines. It became standard for them to fight the most formidable enemies on the most difficult battlefields. Befitting this role, the soldiers’ treatment and equipment far surpassed the national army. Having become symbols that proclaimed the King’s authority throughout the realm, they were the common people’s aspiration and pride—one could say they symbolized Santeneri’s military might.
In the House of Barois, which had led the Royal Guard for generations, not only men but women customarily entered military service. Since the house was founded by a woman who distinguished herself in battle, it was natural for Barois women to join the military. The House of Barois explained it this way both internally and externally, and society accepted it without particular discomfort.
However, this was clearly just pretense.
Barois women never actually went to battlefields. They customarily attended closely upon the King. They assisted the head of the Barois house who also served as Commander of the Royal Guard, and protected the King’s person. That was their actual role.
And even this explanation isn’t the essence of it. The women who should have served as bodyguards were never trained in martial arts from childhood. Therefore, they couldn’t actually guard anyone. The practical work was the role of carefully selected Royal Guard soldiers.
So what role was actually required of Barois women? It was to be “the woman closest to the King.” Due to their count house origins, they couldn’t become the principal consort, but many throughout history became secondary consorts. If one looks back through history, there were even male children born to Barois women who ascended to the throne as King.
This arrangement benefited both the royal house and House of Barois. The royal house needn’t fear betrayal by the Royal Guard, and the Royal Guard had no intent to harm the royal house. The blood bond with the King was the Royal Guard’s backing.
Mary-ene-en-Barois was born as the eldest daughter of such a house. Above her was an older brother, below her a younger brother and sister. Her older brother would inherit the family headship and position of Commander of the Royal Guard. Her younger brother would become an officer in the Royal Guard. Her younger sister would marry into another house. And what of her?
The name Mary was a modern reading of “Marie.” As one who inherited the founder’s name, she wished to ride across battlefields. Without anyone forcing her, she participated in drills and studied military science. Her results were exceptional, and her father lamented that she was a woman. But whether fortunately or unfortunately, in the six years from when she joined the military at eighteen until now at twenty-four, no war large enough for the Royal Guard to participate in had occurred.
Mary served as adjutant under her father. Being intelligent, she clearly understood what was expected of her. But understanding and acceptance are different things. She had considerable pride. If she once led troops under the Shield and Serpent Banner of the kingdom’s flag, she would surely achieve military glory. Witnessing her clearly less capable brothers and Santeneri national army officers, her hope became conviction.
And then she met the Crown Prince. Mary was twenty, the Crown Prince sixteen.
The Crown Prince already showed bellicose tendencies even then. A boy who idolized his great ancestor kings and proclaimed he would sweep across the central continent. There even happened to be a contemporary king who could serve as his model—King Fleisch III of Prosan. His ideal king was his ancestor Grois VII, and his nearby goal was Fleisch III. She felt favorable toward the Crown Prince who wished to become like them. She fantasized about herself leading the Royal Guard under the Crown Prince in battle.
Two years after their first meeting, one day the Crown Prince came incognito to the Royal Guard barracks, exchanged drinks with her father and brother, and was in high spirits from intoxication. Noticing her approaching, Grois declared:
“Oh, you’ve come at just the right time, Mary! When I take the field, it shall be a decisive battle with all the Guard. I’ll fight side by side with Lord Fleisch and strike down Estvilg!”
Raising his wine goblet high with theatrical gestures, he shouted thus.
Under Prince Grois—who would surely be King by then—I too…
“At that time, please by all means entrust this Mary with the vanguard!”
She can never forget the Prince’s response for even a moment.
The Prince looked at her with genuine puzzlement. Her father and brother awkwardly averted their eyes from her.
“What are you saying, Mary? You stay in the palace. War is men’s work. I’ll protect you.”
For two years, she struggled to forget these words.
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Admitting impossibility is the behavior of a loser. You won’t know unless you try. I’m not a candidate for the Prince’s secondary consort. I will become a general leading one of the Guard’s armies. I have the appropriate ability. She told herself this. Meanwhile, she dimly realized it would likely be impossible. The soldiers wouldn’t follow a woman’s command.
Mary had taken the field several times. The soldiers and officers all treated her as a commander.
One day during exercises, Mary was leading a charge with rifle in hand when she tripped on a small stone and fell. Something that happens often on battlefields. Just a scraped knee.
The exercise was immediately halted.
A doctor was summoned and she was carried away on a stretcher. Having merely scraped her knee slightly, she was half-forcibly made to lie in bed and received examination and treatment. Of course—the young lady had been injured. She was not a glorious general of the Royal Guard, but the daughter of the distinguished House of Count Barois. Yet still she averted her eyes from reality.
Those with scars on their shins easily notice others’ wounds too. She came to view Grois with cold eyes as he spoke with the same vigor about the coming Estvilg campaign. That plan was clearly impossible to anyone’s eyes. Having gotten mired in the quagmire of the New Continent conflict with bleeding that wouldn’t stop, Santeneri had no capacity for further large-scale military action. She could imagine the treasury was on the verge of bankruptcy. Though it was obvious things were impossible, why did the Crown Prince only speak of pipe dreams? Her feelings accelerated away from him.
The King collapsed, and the Crown Prince rose as the new King. Grois XIII.
He spent the first year of his reign preparing for the Estvilg campaign. More precisely, he ordered his subjects to make the Estvilg campaign possible. The Royal Guard would expand even further in size. From her perspective as adjutant to the Commander handling the military’s accounts, this was no joke. The budget was unchanged from before, yet they were to double the troops.
Watching her father’s pained expression, initially she indulged in a certain pleasure. Seeing this organization that excluded her as a woman—the Royal Guard—suffer felt gratifying. However, soon even that emotion dissipated. Watching her father negotiate repeatedly with the Finance Minister, the Steward, and the Army Minister, she realized. Her father was also suffering trying to accomplish the impossible. That figure was Mary’s own reflection.
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