Road to the Crown

Chapter 292: Round-table meeting

14th September 1574

"This is bullshit!"

Sitting down in a special chamber that the senate prepared for us, I could see the other candidates finally speaking up. 

"Why should we risk getting the crown if, in the end, it would ultimately bury our families? How are we expected to get the support from the rest of our household for that?!"

Looking to my side, I could see one of the youngest participants in the royal election. His face all in red, his fist clinging down on the edge of the table Rather than answering his dumb question, I simply reached for the cup with my own beer that already became the luxury drink of the capital before taking a small sip of it.

"On the other hand, who could've thought that we would get the chance to become the king? Anyway, it's nice to meet you guys. I'm Jan Ossolin, of the Axe crest. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir Mike. My father told me a lot about your exploits already!"

While the Ossolin family was familiar to my memory as one of the powerful magnate households of the commonwealth, I had absolutely no idea what this young man was speaking about right now! How could his father know about my actions? How would he know about me, if I never heard about him?

"Excuse me, sir brother, but would you mind telling me where did your respected father hear about me? With all the stuff that was recently on my plate, I have to apologise but I didn't pay any attention to the people I was meeting with."

Even though I was sure that I never directly met this man's father, I still had to act as cultured as humanly possible. Even if I were to lose the elections, then one of the candidates sitting around this table would become the damned king! In fact, as long as I could find someone suitable, I wouldn't mind giving him my full support in exchange for a free reign about installing all my investments and innovations across the country!

After all, the crown itself didn't have that much of allure behind it as one might think. Even while ignoring all the restrictions that the senate would place on the newly elected king, becoming the ruler still meant that rather than continuing my efforts at improving the country, I would have to dabble in the minute politics of balancing the power of each noble household, bother myself with both internal and external diplomacy, grant titles, judge the trails 

In fact, reaching a position of the grey excellence behind the King would give me way more opportunities!

"Ah, I don't mind it at all! In fact, my father always laughed how even the governor would have a lot of trouble trying to find you in order to meet you, sir brother!"

Suddenly laughing up, the young man hit his hand against the table in a moment of typical polish joy. If not for the fact that I raised my cup in a timely matter, just the vibrations of the table would be sure to spill some of its delicious content!

"But to make it clear, my father is the Castelan of the Sandomir castle. Due to the nature of his work, he tends to stay confined to his office. But I will tell you that, the number of praises that he sang about the reaper guns that you gave away to the governor? I thought he was about to drop the noble life and turn into a bard!"

Only now did I realise just who the heck did that man was speaking about. While Jan Bone was Sandomir's governor, it was apparently his father that was responsible for managing the local fortress along with several small villages attached to it! But thinking about it now, didn't it mean that Jan's father was already on the frontlines?

"So that's the case. I guess he must've had a lot of fun watching how the entire area was changing due to my investments."

Nodding my head while bringing my cup forward, I toasted to the fellow noble before taking a huge sip to flush the dirt out of my throat.

"Are you done chit-chatting now? Don't you fucking realise how important this meeting is?"

Suddenly, our pleasant conversation was broken by the same guy that was trying to start the rant before. Calmly raising my sight at him, I took another sip before putting my cup down on the table and standing up.

"Fellow brothers, if that's the man that's chosen as the royal candidate, I have no choice but to start to doubt the sensibility of this entire event. How would our country look like in the eyes of others if he got insulted during a diplomatic ball and acted as he does now?"

While I was already close to deciding against aiming for the crown myself, that didn't mean I shouldn't at least try to decrease the number of rivals that could compete against the candidate that I would choose to support!

"You!"

Flaring up due to my words, the young man stood up, openly placing his hand on the handle of his sabre.

"What, are you going to attack an injured man? Is that how much your noble honour amounts to? Or are you going to act like that every time nobles won't agree with you after you would potentially become the ruler?"

Those few words were enough to make this unknown young man to shut up, focusing on gripping the handle of his weapon to the point of the bones of his knuckles showing up under his skin.

"Okay guys, calm down. We are not here to argue, but to discuss the situation."

Standing up, the same man that struck me with how familiar he looked, stopped the argument before I would be forced to use my handgun to stop that young idiot advances. Just this alone was enough to prove that this man looked at the situation not from the point of his personal gain, but by focusing on what was the best for the commonwealth. 

After all, if he were to be super calculative about it, then escalating this conflict would bring him far more benefit. Not only would at least one of us most likely die, but the other one would be quickly disqualified from the elections for killing the other candidate, limiting his rivals to just two more! But as doing so would mean that two of the missions would lack someone who would be determined to fulfil them, this man still stepped out!

"You might not hear about me, so let me fix that situation right away. I'm Lew Sapieh, of the Fox crest. My family might not be as great as yours, so you could say that I'm risking the least amount of wealth in case of becoming the king, but with how I managed to triple the general worth of my possessions, not to speak about taking nearly all of the governing titles in my region, I dare to say that I'm just as qualified to stand in this room as the rest of you are."

Only when I heard the name of this man did I realise just where the heck did this strange feeling of familiarity came from. 

That's because I saw the pictures of his grandson all over the history books in the parts detailing the beginning of the fall of the commonwealth!

As for the Lew himself, he was kind of a legendary figure. While not being a founder of the household by any means, the deeds that he just detailed would normally be just a small part of what he managed to achieve in the original timeline. 

By amassing nearly every single important position in the great Lithuanian princedom, this man managed to singlehandedly wrestle his family's way up to the very top of the noble's social ladder, to the point that in just a bit over a hundred years, one of the most disastrous commonwealth civil wars would erupt against the overwhelming dominance of his grandson, holding nearly every single important function and title within the borders of the Lithuanian princedom!

Yet, for this man today, I could tell that outside of being a great politician, he was also an insanely efficient governor, capable of far more than what he just flexed about himself!

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir brother. While I'm only meeting you now, the tales of your exploit already found their way to my ears in advance."

Hearing my words, a small blush appeared on Lew's face as he sat back down on his seat.

"With that said, can we focus on the current situation? If I may, the terms that the Senate offered for the election are really restrictive for the soon-to-be king. As such, I assume that some of you might decide to pass on this opportunity, unwilling to risk your family's wealth for that. If that's the case, then please, step up and claim so, so that the rest of us could learn what your mission is, and solve it before it would uproot the stability of the entire country!"

With this speech, I confirmed one thing. Not only was this man a great administrator, but he also appeared to be a true patriot in the age where this kind of feelings was scoffed upon. Unless it was all a play aimed at improving his own position, then I could tell that I found someone that I was willing to support on his way of reaching for the crown!