The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 73

73. Like Edward I (1)

—1187, Ireland—

Mortain. And Safe John, the master of Ireland.

Born the youngest prince of a chaotic family, I’m gradually establishing myself as a significant noble. Even though my territories are only Mortain and Ireland, I’m a pretty grand-looking lord!

‘Still, I’m a reasonably hard-working, elite John.’

Born the youngest prince of England, cherishing the ambition of a great man, I luckily gained fame in Egypt. Then, using the suppression of the Scottish rebellion as an excuse, I returned to my territory and rested diligently.

I received a letter from my brother Richard.

It simply said in French, [John, you probably don’t need my help, right?]

That was the entire letter, without any added details from my end.

‘Well, I don’t need Richard.’

Anyway, I replied to Richard, [That’s right. Please return safely to your territory and keep an eye on that Philip fellow.] Immediately after, I headed to the Guinness Brewery, which belongs to the Safe Guild, because there was beer there.

Anyway, after sampling the newly made beer.

“Yes, this is the taste. This taste… I can feel the nostalgic scent of Britain in this beer.”

I missed Britain.

“Your Highness, are you truly satisfied with this beer?”

A clergyman asked with a face that seemed to say, ‘Is this beer project really over without any more revisions?’

Well, I had rejected it more than once or twice, hadn’t I?

But today, it’s a pass.

“There’s no need to touch it anymore. This beer is a ‘finished’ product.”

The priests from the youngest club, priest friends who are amazing at making alcohol, and the executives of the Guinness Guild that I newly created, all worked together to create a new beer brand called Blanc1187.

Now, this beer will remain as Safe John’s achievement even after hundreds of years.

Of course, this savory beer was lacking compared to the cold, excellent beers of the 21st century. But to make this level of beer with the poor technology of the Middle Ages…

My heart swelled up like a lager beer.

‘Of course, good alcohol needs good snacks.’

And I went to the Safe Guild that I directly manage and generously prepared sausages made from sheep and pigs raised on pesticide-free grass in our Ireland.

I, as a peaceful great lord of a peaceful island, issued a command.

“From today, the territories of Ireland and Mortain under my jurisdiction will hold a festival. A festival where all those who have suffered are comforted. Eat, drink, and enjoy.”

The justification for holding the festival was sufficient on the surface.

The soldiers who suffered in the Crusades, and the territory residents who worried about their fathers, older brothers, younger brothers, sons, and nephews who were in the Crusades. Even the knights who suffered alongside me.

A festival held on a territory-wide scale, beyond a mere banquet, for all those who have suffered.

It was also a festival to comfort the soldiers who would suffer during the suppression operation that would take place soon.

Thanks to this, my pockets became lighter, but I could borrow money from the Jews and my mother.

Of course, I, the host, only enjoyed the festival for exactly one hour.

That one hour was for the sausage & beer-eating contest hosted by Safe John.

I participated in the beer-drinking contest. I drank beer faster than anyone else.

Cold and dry beer was fine, but lukewarm medieval beer was like a soft drink.

I drank beer straight from the oak barrel.

“Thor is here!”

“Even the lecherous King David couldn’t drink this fast!”

“This is the first time we’ve seen our lord like this.”

“The winner is Prince John, the great lord of Ireland!”

With the quick-quick skills inherited from my father’s country, Korea, in my past life, I won.

And I even won a 1-year Guinness usage ticket as a prize.

“John, is this really you?”

Mary looked at me disdainfully, but I didn’t care. I am the great John.

The winner of the sausage-eating contest was Ak Bul-hoe, an Eastern knight (really) who had opened his eyes to the taste of the West.

“Ak Bul-hoe, is this really you?”

“A nobleman never misses first place, Your Highness.”

The descendant of the highly esteemed General Ak Bi had fallen for Western sausages.

* * *

—Scotland—

Scotland, the land of the Highlanders in rugged mountains.

The rebels who seized the entire Scottish region, or rather, the Scottish Liberation Army from their perspective, were gradually increasing their forces.

Once rebels secure a base, they generally choose one of two options.

Should they stabilize their base of operations and seek independence? Or should they push south immediately?

However, the Scottish Liberation Army does not have the strength to carry out the latter operation. The commander-in-chief of the Liberation Army, Robert, was well aware of that.

But even so, Scotland, with its increased morale, had more power than expected.

“Wow… they’ve captured York Castle.”

They had captured York, a northern city of England, a military base to check Scotland, and one of the largest wool production sites.

“Wow!”

“This is Scotland!”

“English barbarians!”

But Robert felt strange.

‘York Castle is being captured this quickly? Moreover, securing the William royal family.’

The Kingdom of Scotland was destroyed during the Lionheart’s [Richard I’s] great campaign. Also, the royal family was taken somewhere during the Edinburgh exile.

However, since then, news about the former Scottish royal family has been cut off, so various rumors have emerged.

But the most common rumor was:

Wouldn’t the cunning Henry II have severely abused and killed the royal family, just like Nebuchadnezzar II, the emperor of Babylon, who destroyed the Kingdom of Judah in the Bible era and took the family of Zedekiah, the last monarch of Judah?

Then someone said.

“Your Excellency, we have obtained York. So, we should think about it. Rather than finding a missing king anyway, wouldn’t an oligarchy be better?”

Now is the Middle Ages! Except for certain countries, the influence of nobles is stronger than that of kings or monarchs in the Middle Ages. But what the adjutant is saying to Robert now…

If this is the case, it is no different from following the legitimacy of the aristocratic republic during the ancient Roman era.

An aristocratic republic where nobles run the country instead of the king. It is an era where the nobles’ hearts are filled with grandeur.

But Robert, who had risen to the commander-in-chief of the Liberation Army, asked back with a bitter expression.

“Why do you already anticipate victory?”

“Your Excellency?”

“Why don’t you know that we won because they were careless, not because we were strong? No, maybe even us getting York could be a strategy.”

The surprise rebellion was successful due to various strokes of luck.

First of all, the commanders of England who had some power went to the Crusades. The remaining core nobles of England prioritize their fertile lands in West France over the English mainland on the British Isles!

Recently, the momentum of the Liberation Army has increased, like Joshua’s army that captured Jericho [a biblical city].

But Robert was pathetic to see the commanders already thinking about the aftermath as if they had already won and Scotland was completely liberated.

‘Even Saladin [Saphadin], who did not underestimate Prince John, was defeated by Prince John. But they still think of Prince John as just the youngest prince of England.’

A good commander always thinks of the worst-case scenario in advance.

Robert was puzzled by Prince John’s sudden festival after stopping coastal looting. But his aides predicted that Prince John was either frightened and avoiding a fight or planning to receive help from his brothers, specifically Richard, who was returning to Normandy.

As Robert smiled bitterly at the already excited nobles.

One of the people planted by Henry II was thinking of his lord Henry II in Jerusalem, watching the Scottish Liberation Army, which was already anticipating victory.

‘It will be as King Henry wishes. The problem is the quick suppression.’

But the one who infiltrated this is not the only one.

‘It’s as Prince Geoffrey said.’

‘How much does young King Henry…’

‘It’s as Duke Richard expected.’

There were too many eyes and ears watching the suppression of the Scottish rebellion.

* * *

—Kingdom of Jerusalem—

When the Scottish Liberation Army’s intoxication was swelling like nitrogen in a bag of chips, Henry II went to find young King Henry and Prince Geoffrey.

Unlike Richard, who had already left for Normandy, because the hateful sons, young King Henry and Prince Geoffrey, were loafing around and staying in the Middle East.

“When are you going back to your country? There’s a mess in Scotland; shouldn’t you help John as brothers?”

Henry II immediately got to the point.

‘My younger brother is having a hard time suppressing the rebellion; what are you doing?’

Then young King Henry, looking at Henry II, who had appointed himself as a nominal co-king, said.

“The William issue is a bit big.”

“We are very concerned about our cousin who will become the master of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.”

But the two sons had plausible reasons.

That is, from the moment William, the son of the Earl of Salisbury, became a candidate for the successor to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, he had to work as a member of the Angevin family [the ruling dynasty of England at the time].

‘These guys are talking nonsense.’

But Henry II scoffed.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is valuable land, if Egypt had not returned to the Westerners.

But when the fertile lands of Egypt were divided into pieces and returned to the arms of the Westerners, the already rotten Jerusalem was not a country that attracted them.

“I don’t think that’s all?”

“Father, we are not in a hurry. And don’t you know? We have quite a few things left to do.”

“My brother is right; we have many things to do to distribute the profits of the territory we have obtained with blood and sweat to our vassals, right?”

Henry II, looking at his sons who resembled him and were cunning, said with a pitiful expression.

“Still, shouldn’t you help John?”

Henry II, thinking of his beloved youngest son John, compared to his other sons who were aiming for the crown.

Although he appointed John as the commander of the suppression army of the Scottish rebels after much deliberation, he was still a father who had many worries about John.

But after the once easy-going youngest son joined forces with Richard and became their enemy, young King Henry and Prince Geoffrey, who could no longer see Prince John as just a cute younger brother, had many worries about Prince John.

But young King Henry said, as if mocking such a father.

“Congratulations on the success of Father’s scheme to legally give Scotland to John’s territory.”

“Why are you already talking as if John, that child, has won?”

“Father, John is your son before he is the brother of me and Henry.”

‘These guys… they know John’s abilities.’

John, who used to be just a cute son, but is now a cute son who shows his abilities.

The problem is that while he is pleased that the sons of this hateful wife recognize John’s true worth, what kind of conspiracy are these guys plotting?

Anyway, Henry II was curious about how his distant son would suppress the rebellion in Scotland.

* * *

—Ireland—

“Your Highness, all preparations are complete.”

“Okay, then. Dress me in armor, Godfrey.”

At that time.

“Sir Godfrey, just a moment. I’ll do it.”

Mary, who had been quietly standing by, stepped forward and personally put on the armor.

Throughout the East and West, in pre-modern times, a wife personally putting on her husband’s armor has various meanings.

For the wife who directly puts on the armor to protect her husband, she puts on the armor and wishes that this armor will protect her husband from death.

Mary, who is quietly touching the armor now, must be thinking that way too.

At that time, my mother, Queen Eleanor, who was quietly looking at me with a disappointed look, said.

“John, don’t you have anything to say to this mother?”

“I think I need a little more allowance, my love.”

“Ha, anyone would think you’ve entrusted money to this mother. You Jewish son.”

“I’m so sad that you’re swearing so harshly while smiling. Besides, didn’t I give you interest on the money I borrowed last time?”

I am Leverage John, who faithfully repays even borrowed money with interest and principal. My mother is also a person who invested in me and received a lot of interest!

“You need a lot of military funds. Good, but I can expect it this time too, right, son?”

As expected, our mother. She can’t resist the mouth-watering interest.

Even though I received a lot of money from Peter’s biological mother, Lady Rosamund, suppressing the rebellion is also a military activity.

It’s the same as a money-eating hippopotamus.

“John, how are you going to suppress the rebellion?”

“I will give forgiveness and reconciliation to the people of Scotland and the most terrible judgment to the nobles of Scotland.”

“Oh, I have something to look forward to, son.”

—Hee-heeing.

I got on the back of Cromwell, who had regained his strength after enjoying himself with Nefertari, the mare I had newly brought in.

Anyway, it’s time.

From the time I started preparing to suppress the rebellion until now, when I am about to start the suppression.

My close aides stayed up all night with lamps, knowing my ‘true intentions.’