The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 155

155. Messenger of Peace (1)

-1202, Kingdom of Denmark-

Competent monarchs govern their kingdoms with an eye on the ever-changing world. Knud VI of Denmark was such a monarch.

Even in his weakened state, he calmly observed the state of Europe.

The great victory of the Crusades, the decline of Islam, the resurgence of England, the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Poland, the civil war in the Holy Roman Empire, and the revival of the Eastern Roman Empire.

“There is no need to conquer more lands. We, Denmark, must simply raise our shields and focus on internal affairs. Only then can we keep pace with the changing world!”

Frankly, King Knud VI of Denmark had no intention of confronting England. Therefore, even though he disliked the Poles and their trade with England, he let it pass.

The fact that Knud VI’s wife was the daughter of Henry the Lion also played a role, as there were other countries to keep in check before Poland.

‘Going further would be a disaster. I already have to keep Sweden in check. I can’t waste precious resources on pointless endeavors.’

Knud VI, known as a great ruler who expanded Denmark’s territory, understood that pushing further into international conflicts would only deplete Denmark’s national power.

It was time to focus on internal affairs.

The issue of succession also needed to be resolved. Since the king had no children, the crown had to be passed to his brother. To ensure his brother’s succession, he even overlooked the recent missteps of the Jutland peninsula council, as their cooperation was necessary for a smooth transition.

Denmark needed to become stronger, and his wise brother would be a capable monarch to lead a strengthened Denmark.

“Your Majesty, you summoned me?”

“Brotherly inheritance, it is unavoidable. But I believe in you, Valdemar.”

The king’s ailing eyes were filled with trust for his capable brother. If the king had a crown prince of his own, he would have been wary of such ‘ability,’ but for a king who had no heir, his brother’s outstanding capabilities were a source of great pride.

“Wait a moment…”

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

The king coughed for a moment.

‘I’m sorry, brother.’

He looked at his brother with a regretful expression, always feeling sorry.

For all the times he had politically restrained and used his brother.

“Brother, now you are all that Denmark has.”

“All that I have? How can you say such weak words? Your Majesty is the most needed enlightened ruler for Denmark.”

“It’s no longer the same; my body is not what it used to be.”

The king’s health was failing. He had neglected his body while working tirelessly for Denmark for so long.

Conquest, suppressing rebellions, and then conquest again, suppressing rebellions.

The repeated turmoil in the Kingdom of Denmark had aged the ambitious king.

But the world did not grant the great King of Denmark a moment of peace.

“Your Majesty, a grave matter!”

“Speak.”

“Your Majesty, it seems that those under the command of the Jutland peninsula council are plundering Polish merchant ships.”

The shocking news caused the king to frown, and his lungs began to ache.

“Cough, stop them quickly! Quickly… What is the council doing?”

Did they know who the main customer of the Kingdom of Poland was? It was England! How could they touch Polish merchant ships knowing that?

‘It’s definitely the council’s doing.’

Taking advantage of the king’s declining health, the council had gone rogue. Even when he tried to reason with them, they wouldn’t listen. He wanted to lead the army himself and beat those council nobles, but for now, he sent a message to the council, urging them to restrain themselves.

But a few days later.

“The King of England has stated that he cannot stand idly by.”

The council members regrettably did not cease their operation of fake pirates, and in the end, the King of England was furious.

[We, England, love peace. But enemies who disrupt that peace must prepare for downfall.]

He issued such a stern warning.

“…!”

The King of Denmark was driven to madness by England’s threat disguised as ‘peace.’

“Resolve this quickly! We must not give England a pretext!”

But a few days later, as the council was being lazy and trying to fix the situation, England moved first.

“Your Majesty, the Royal Navy of England has mobilized. The justification is to eliminate pirates rampant in the North Sea.”

“Ha… I have nothing more to say.”

The wise king knew exactly who the ‘pirates of the North Sea’ were. Weren’t they the fake pirates that the council members had diligently created by mobilizing their naval forces from their territories?

“The navy, including the new battleships, is led by High Admiral John.”

“John, John, you say?”

At the vassal’s cautious words.

“That’s a relief! Hahaha.”

The king laughed and then collapsed.

“Your Majesty! Someone, get the physician! Quickly!”

Gertrude, John’s niece and the Queen of Denmark, screamed the loudest she ever had in her life. It was a soprano tone.

But the fallen king woke up again, opened his eyes wide, and said to his beloved queen.

“Queen, prepare the armor. I must go and deal with the traitors who deserve to die.”

* * *

-European North Sea-

Swish!

Aboard the Santa Matilda, the new flagship, I felt the cold wind. Yes, no matter how much I bundled up, it was still cold. The North Sea was indeed harsh.

‘Do you have to endure these rough waves to be a Viking?’

Suddenly, I felt respect for my distant ancestors, the ‘Vikings.’

The cold North Sea. Sailing through the cold and rough sea, even when warmly dressed, was no easy task.

I felt a warm sense of justice within me. Of course, it was ‘justice’ that favored our England. But the justification of helping the weak Kingdom of Poland wasn’t so bad, was it?

Of course, I was no longer just anyone. I was John, appointed as the High Admiral, a title that made my heart swell with pride.

‘The position of High Admiral is naturally mine.’

Over the years, I had developed and built amazing warships and hired capable admirals. It was only natural that the Royal Navy of England was virtually under my control.

“Lord, it’s time to do some real piracy. What an incredible haul to plunder authentic Viking pirates!”

“Piracy? We are going to help the weak.”

“Ah, my apologies.”

From now on, the peace evangelist of the North Sea is Saint John.

“Lord Charles, let’s go spread peace.”

“Amen!”

In any case, our mission was to save the poor merchant ships of the Kingdom of Poland from the vicious pirates of the North Sea.

The rebuilt army of the Kingdom of Poland was not to be ignored, but their navy was as good as non-existent, like the Italian army in World War II.

Seeing them getting beaten up by pirates even with an escort fleet made my heart ache.

Of course, that’s why we were helping the pitiful and unfortunate Poland.

Where are those clueless pirates passing by?

“Your Highness, pirates ahead.”

“Good!”

I did an uppercut like coach Hiddink [Guus Hiddink, a famous football coach]. It was such a joyful moment that I momentarily forgot to maintain my composure.

This was the moment to show the evil pirates who invaded the trade routes the terror of England. Of course, this time we would launch a slightly terrifying attack.

“Lord Charles.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Fire.”

Perhaps I would be the first person in Europe to order naval bombardment. Richard I’s fleet would set sail a little later.

“Fire!”

As if he had been waiting for this moment, Admiral Charles commanded in a loud voice.

“Bang!”

The cannons were fired at the moving targets without question.

‘A monumental live-fire bombardment.’

“…!”

“Oh, Lord.”

“May Michael’s blessings help us!”

“Is this the power of England?”

The members of the Royal Navy of England, except for my closest aides, seemed to have their hearts swelling with the first naval bombardment.

The King of Denmark was sick, and the council members were out of their minds playing pirates. It was truly a heartbreaking situation.

Some time later, we were able to meet with the merchants on the Polish merchant ships.

“Now you can rest assured and continue your business.”

“Sob, thank you, Your Grace!”

“It’s nothing. Isn’t the Kingdom of Poland a friend of our England?”

To be honest, I thought we needed a reliable ally when those with the ‘Roman’ label decided to harass our England. Without useless noble councils and with a strong royal authority, modern Poland was a decent ally.

Now that we had shown them this favor, they would understand our intentions, right?

Come to think of it, wasn’t the traditional ally of the modern Kingdom of France also the Kingdom of Poland?

* * *

-Kingdom of Denmark-

After defeating the North Sea pirates and making the rebellious subjects of Denmark aware of England’s terror, I exchanged messages with the king for several days and came to the pride of the North Sea, the Kingdom of Denmark.

“Your Highness, it seems the traitors have been executed.”

I heard the news on the way. Some of the council members were executed for treason as an example. Tsk, tsk, tsk, they should have listened to their lord.

The heads of the traitors were hanging on the walls.

Soon after, King Knud VI of Denmark and his guards came out to greet me.

“Welcome, John.”

“Duke John of Normandy greets His Majesty, the King of Denmark.”

The King of Denmark’s mother-in-law was my own sister, Matilda. Knud VI was, in a way, my nephew-in-law. He was a great man, but also a tragic one.

Soon, Knud VI, who had been guided to a private room, began to speak.

“Our interests align, so I won’t argue, but wasn’t that a bit harsh? Even if they were the council members’ private soldiers, many Danes died.”

“Your Majesty, those who did not follow the great king are just traitors who don’t deserve to breathe. If it were the old days, they would have suffered the blood eagle execution [a brutal method of execution].”

“The extreme penalty of the homeland that disappeared in the past is not suitable for the topic of this conversation. What I’m curious about is something else. So, when are you going to attack Sweden?”

Were we crazy to fight Sweden directly? We had to warn them indirectly!

“We will not attack Sweden.”

“That’s a pity.”

I said to the king, who was openly expressing his disappointment.

“But don’t worry. The North Sea Merchant Alliance, which claimed to be Sweden’s new pocket, won’t be in good shape either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because the king will be going to discipline the North Sea Merchant Association.”

Richard I, aboard the SSS-class battleship Great William, was going to Lübeck!

‘Perhaps it’s not a fully formed Hanseatic League [a powerful medieval trading organization] yet, but rather a North Sea merchant alliance that is slowly forming. But if they stabbed us in the back, they have to be prepared.’

* * *

-Europe, Lübeck-

Even in the 13th century, the English had their unique DNA of being a nation of hypocrisy.

When they did something petty, it was an unavoidable cause, but the moment the other party did it, they interpreted it as a threat to humanity.

Richard I also knew that one of the reasons why the North Sea pirates were rampant was the North Sea Merchant Alliance’s wicked intention to attack England’s ‘economy.’

[We need to discipline them.]

So, he had his brother John eliminate the North Sea pirates through the waters near Denmark, and he himself boarded another new battleship, the Great William, and targeted the center of the North Sea Merchant Alliance.

In fact, the English are descendants of the Anglo-Saxons. Somewhere in the DNA of the petty English, the word ‘plunder’ was engraved.

The power of merchants comes from the fleet. Naturally, the Lübeck fleet, which was patrolling the coast to protect trade routes, had no choice but to confront the English fleet.

Immediately, the Lübeck fleet was in chaos.

-Hoo Yoo Woo!

-Ding. Ding, ding.

Horns and bells rang.

“Emergency!”

“The Royal Navy of England is ahead.”

“The English fleet is moving towards us!”

“They have invaded us with their fleet; we must fight back.”

Anyway, to counter the suddenly invading English navy, they tried to defend the sea off Lübeck.

“How dare they… ruin our England’s trade.”

Richard I muttered. Trade with Poland was an important business for England. In fact, the fact that surplus food was needed for the development of commerce and industry was common sense known even to people in the Middle Ages.

“Let’s show them a new terror. Fire!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Just like John’s flagship Santa Matilda had done, the Great William began the naval bombardment that people in the early 13th century were experiencing for the first time.

Flames erupted from the cannons.

-Bang!

The sound of cannons rang out.

People, startled by the unfamiliar explosion, trembled in fear.

They were familiar with the Greek fire [an incendiary weapon], the flame attack of the Eastern Roman Empire, but this unfamiliar ‘terror’ was new to them.

“Good heavens!”

“England is summoning Satan!”

“Mary and Christ, have mercy!”

“The allied battleship in front has been sunk.”

-Bang!

Unfortunately, the Great William still had plenty of gunpowder, so it continued to make cruel and terrifying cannon sounds.

Before long, the Lübeck First Fleet was captured or sunk.

“Defeat the English bastards who invaded our Lübeck; we have more numbers.”

Of course, the power of the North Sea Merchant Alliance was not only in Lübeck, so fleets from other regions formed an alliance and attacked the English fleet.

However, their fleet also raised the white flag, and all the ships except for the captured ones went on an underwater adventure to find Atlantis.

“Your Majesty, it’s a great victory. Our fleet is truly invincible!”

The moment the Champagne Count smiled brightly, Richard I thought of John.

“Weak… After all, the fleet that John modified was right.”

The English fleet, which had reinforced various ‘forces’ in addition to the new battleships, was strong, and the moment the North Sea Merchant Alliance’s fleet was annihilated, landing was easier than drinking wine.

“Let’s avenge our ally, the Kingdom of Poland!”

Richard I, who put the justification of avenging his ally in his mouth, began to plunder the coast to discipline them directly.