The Betrayed Master Betrays In Turn

Chapter 27

As soon as Viktor assumed the position of council leader, he swiftly began the process of stabilization.

First, he deployed the entire military to sweep through Zabinsk in search of any remaining traitors. Regardless of whether they were nobles attempting to flee or unaware and sleeping peacefully in their homes, all were transported to the royal palace.

After sending out over ten thousand soldiers throughout the capital, Viktor officially announced the assassination of the king and the formation of the council.

Those with rebellious intentions were largely quelled by the intimidating presence of the soldiers, and afterward, Viktor himself, along with the other corps commanders, personally reassured the populace.

As a hero of the Kingdom of Rus, Viktor promised to stabilize the nation as quickly as possible and then step down. Thanks to this vow, the people accepted the military-led council without much resistance.

Viktor sent a letter to the Empire, outlining the kingdom's current situation and reaffirming his promise to follow through on his commitments. However, he ensured that the fact that he had sent such a letter was kept secret, for future use.

The nobles gathered at the palace were classified based on Vladimir’s testimony and the council's judgment. Nobles with significant power, such as Mikhail Kapayev and Nikolai Similov, were declared traitors based on Vladimir’s confession. The nobles associated with them were also branded as rebels.

Among the Royal Guard, only those who directly participated in the assault—Andrei and a few of his subordinates—were categorized as traitors. The rest of the Royal Guard was spared severe punishment for cooperating with the palace during the crisis, though they were disbanded for their failure to protect the king.

Since Vladimir’s guilt was undeniable, and the punishment for treason was death, a public execution was scheduled and carried out later that very day.

Dozens of traitors had their heads severed at the execution grounds.

The executed were mostly nobles with poor reputations, so the crowd that had gathered at the execution grounds cheered their deaths.

The property and lands of the traitors were confiscated in the name of the state, and their families were either executed or stripped of all titles and banished from Zabinsk, depending on the degree of their involvement.

With the nobles and the king who had once ruled the country now gone, albeit temporarily, all power in the Kingdom of Rus was concentrated in the hands of the council. Some feared that the military now wielded too much power.

In response, Viktor quickly reassured the people by gathering nobles who were not involved in the rebellion to fill the empty positions in the court and began searching for a suitable candidate to take the throne.

Though most nobles connected to the former royal family were implicated in the rebellion, there was one noble, albeit distantly related to the royal bloodline, who had no involvement.

The council decided to crown him as the new king.

The coronation process for a new king is usually long and complicated, but Viktor shortened the proceedings as much as possible, citing the need to bring the chaos to an end quickly.

At the same time, he publicly announced his intention to dissolve the council immediately after the coronation, gaining even more public trust.

With both the military and the civilian population supporting Viktor, and given his legitimate aim of quelling the rebellion, no one dared oppose him.

The entire process moved smoothly, and within two days of the rebellion, most of the situation had been brought under control.

The new king of the Kingdom of Rus was scheduled to ascend to the throne two days later, following a day of rest.

At the height of Viktor’s popularity—after having successfully dealt with the rebellion and just before the dissolution of the council—Viktor, as council leader and supreme commander, announced that he would deliver a speech on the eve of the coronation and called for the gathering of the entire army.

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The council had always been a means for me to legally take control of everything.

During the process of suppressing the rebellion, I had remained in the position of a cooperative figure, exerting no direct control over the military except by influencing Anna.

But now that the council had been formed by the agreement of the corps commanders, I, a man with no formal ties to the military, had been given the authority to manage the kingdom as I saw fit.

The council leader must hold power comparable to the king without the legitimacy of the crown. As soon as stability is achieved, they are expected to step down.

Though the council leader wields great power, that authority is fragile, and if stability is delayed even slightly, public resentment could quickly arise.

For these reasons, appointing someone like me—respected and trusted by the people, soon to return to the Empire, and a commoner with no ambitions for the throne—as council leader made perfect sense.

Moreover, even with a temporary council, the seats left vacant by the nobles could not be fully filled.

It was far more reasonable for the ambitious ones to wait for the new administration to consolidate power rather than vying for a temporary leadership role in an interim council.

There was no need to persuade my closest confidants, including Anna.

“In my speech, I will persuade the soldiers. I need your support.”

“Yes.”

I spent the entire day visiting hundreds of soldiers across all four corps, speaking to them directly, so that they could act as “plants” during the speech.

Though I couldn’t control where they’d be placed, I made sure to talk to a diverse selection of soldiers from the 1st to the 4th Corps.

Since I had often wandered the camps to motivate the soldiers in the past, no one found it suspicious that I was doing so now.

Some might spread rumors about what I said, but that wouldn’t be an issue.

I had mainly spoken to those likely to be persuaded, and even if rumors did spread, my influence was solid enough to withstand them.

Time passed, and by 10 a.m. the next day, the time for my speech had arrived.

“Waaahhhh!”

The cheers of the soldiers echoed in the waiting room.

“Hoo...”

At moments like this, the tension and fear of failure crept in.

A sigh escaped me, cold sweat trickled down my back, and my fingertips trembled.

“...Ha!”

But Viktor must always remain confident.

I clenched my fist, shouting briefly to shake off the negativity.

I steeled myself with trust in the version of me that had prepared for this

moment, regaining confidence by recalling past successes.

“Let’s go.”

And with that, the anxious man vanished, and in his place stood Viktor, the great general of the Kingdom of Rus.

After one last check of my attire, I strode boldly out of the waiting room and stood at the podium prepared for the speech.

“Waaahhh!”

“Viktor! Viktor!”

The soldiers roared and chanted my name from below.

Aside from a few guards, all 28,000 soldiers of the Kingdom of Rus were gathered here.

I grabbed the magical amplification device placed on the podium.

“Soldiers.”

With a solemn voice, I began my speech—one that would mark the end of the Kingdom of Rus.