WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

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◈ The Medieval Heretic King is Too Good at Developing ◈

Chapter 70: János Hunyadi

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Late afternoon, after the meeting had ended and all the vassals had withdrawn.

I remained alone on the terrace of Prague Castle.

With the guards stationed far away, I leaned against the railing and took in the snow-covered city of Prague.

The streets below looked nothing like the medieval cities I knew.

The roads, their sewer construction complete, were neatly paved. Alleyways that had once reeked of filth were now filled with the scent of soap and clean air.

Perhaps because it was time to prepare supper, white smoke rose from the chimneys of the tightly packed houses. The rich scent of freshly baked bread drifted faintly on the wind.

It was peaceful.

Beyond the border, the Empire screamed as it was consumed by rebellion. Yet only Bohemia enjoyed this strange, almost excessive peace and prosperity.

Whoosh.

The cold December wind brushed my cheek. It was cold enough to cut through flesh, but for some reason, I didn't dislike it.

'Has it already been a year?'

There was no need to check the calendar. This familiar chill, sinking into my bones, told me the time.

It had been exactly one year since I opened my eyes on the cold stone floor of Sternberg Castle.

Back then, I had been nothing more than a penniless lord with nothing to my name.

A chess piece Emperor Sigismund had used and cast aside.

A pathetic man fated to be trampled by the Hussite rebels and vanish from history.

But what about now?

That discarded pawn had not merely become a queen. It had overturned the rules of the chessboard and become king.

The Emperor who had thrown me away like an old shoe, on the other hand, was screaming with a blade buried in the heart of his Empire.

'You never know where life will take you.'

Looking back, it was quite moving.

Knock, knock.

Just then, the door quietly opened, and János entered.

"My lord. I have something to report."

"Is it about the Royal Information Service (KIS)?"

"Yes."

János came over and gave his report.

"As you instructed in the proposal, mixing the Taborite radicals with the Jews under old Abraham has made for a rather useful intelligence network. Add the drive of fanatics to the information-gathering ability of merchants, and they'll be ready to catch every rat that crosses the border."

János took a small piece of parchment from his coat. It was a report written in code.

"And... some very interesting news has arrived from Hungary. Rumors have leaked from deep inside Buda's royal palace that the Emperor has collapsed from anger."

I pushed myself away from the railing and turned around.

"Sigismund collapsed?"

"They say he foamed at the mouth and fell over after hearing about the rebellion in Germany. He hasn't appeared in public for several days, so some are even saying he's already dead."

Sigismund's death.

If the intelligence János had brought was true, it was a massive variable that could overturn the course of the war in one stroke.

It would mean that the only center holding the giant known as the Empire together had vanished.

But I didn't celebrate prematurely.

"So there is no definite proof."

"Yes. Security inside the palace is extremely tight, so we have not confirmed whether he is alive or dead."

"Find out more. We need second and third rounds of verification."

Medieval rumors were usually not worth trusting.

A slight breeze could change their shape, and every time they passed from mouth to mouth, more was added until they became unrecognizable monsters.

If a king so much as coughed, rumors would spread the next day that he had died of consumption. If an army lost a small battle, people would claim an entire legion had been wiped out. That was simply how things worked in this age.

Take the intelligence from the southern region of Rattay a few months ago.

It claimed that around a hundred surviving Cuman soldiers who had fled after their defeat at Malešov Hill had been found wiped out in a forest near Rattay after only one night.

The locals were spreading stories that some blacksmith's son had slaughtered the Cumans alone, but to me, it sounded like nonsense invented by a third-rate minstrel.

'It was probably an epidemic.'

As nomads, the Cumans had no sense of hygiene.

They probably hadn't even dug proper latrines while camped in the forest. They would have drunk water contaminated by their own waste and huddled tightly together to escape the cold.

Wounded, they ate and slept beside pits of filth. It would have been stranger if dysentery or typhus had not broken out. If they had all died overnight, acute waterborne disease was the most likely explanation.

That blacksmith's son had probably stumbled upon a camp full of sick men soiling themselves and merely finished off a few who were already dying.

"Either way, don't take wandering rumors to heart. Only what you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears is the truth."

"I will remember that."

I lightly waved my hand as if telling him to leave, then turned back to gaze at the snowy view beyond the railing.

Yet the presence behind me remained.

Feeling puzzled, I turned around again.

"What? Is there something else you want to say?"

"Well..."

János stood awkwardly in place, his lips working soundlessly in an uncharacteristic manner.

His gaze dropped to the floor, then returned to me several times.

He finally broke the uncomfortable silence and spoke carefully.

"My lord, are you really sure about this?"

"About what?"

"Giving me such an important position as Director of the Royal Information Service (KIS). Of all people, someone like me."

János scratched the back of his head with an uncertain expression.

"Being the Director of the Information Service means leading the shadows and serving as the king's eyes and ears. Giving that authority to a foreigner, one whose loyalty has not even been proven... people at court will certainly talk."

"Are you worried about what people think, now of all times?"

"I'm not saying it for my own sake. I'm saying it for yours, my lord."

János's expression grew serious.

Nothing remained of his usual playful expression.

"The nobles are whispering. They ask why a Hungarian brat like me is so close to the king. They ask why you trust an outsider whose origins no one even knows."

"..."

It was all true.

János was Hungarian. In the current Bohemian court, where Czech nationalism was rampant, his presence was clearly foreign.

In fact, petitions telling me to keep János at a distance had already appeared on my desk several times.

"So? Do you want me to dismiss you?"

"I'm only telling you to be careful. A dog that doesn't know its master will bite even the hand that feeds it."

He gave a faint laugh and returned to his usual cynical expression.

Leaning against the railing, I studied János's face.

Sharp eyes, a sturdier build than most boys his age, and extraordinary intelligence hidden behind an indifferent mask.

"What are you worried about? That you're too young? That you're Hungarian?"

"Well, those things too..."

"Or is it because you're a spy Sigismund sent?"

Snap.

The smile vanished from János's face as if it had never existed.

His hand froze in midair.

The terrace grew colder in an instant than the cutting December wind.

"...You knew?"

"How could I not?"

I answered calmly.

"The Emperor sent you as a squire to the House of Sternberg to watch Bohemia... no, to be precise, to watch me, the heir to the throne. You, of the House of Hunyadi, a minor Hungarian noble house."

János did not answer. His silence was answer enough.

His fingers twitched faintly near the dagger at his waist. It was likely the instinctive defense of a spy whose identity had been exposed.

But he did not draw his blade. Instead, he clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.

"You knew, and yet why...?"

Grinding his teeth, he forced out the words.

"Why did you keep me at your side? Why did you trust a spy who could stab you at any moment to guard your back?"

My answer was simple.

"Because you didn't stab me."

Trust is not built with words.

It can only be proven through actions.

"You had more chances to betray me than I can count. If you wanted to run, the best time was one year ago, when the Hussites surrounded the castle. Back then, I was only a penniless lord with nothing. But you didn't run."

I took one step closer to him as he stood frozen.

"When the Emperor's army advanced, you could have secretly opened the castle gates. You could have cut off my head while I slept and presented it to Sigismund. As a spy, there could have been no greater achievement. But you didn't."

Instead, you had stayed by my side atop Sternberg's walls, rolling through mud and pools of blood. You had swung your sword against the army of the Emperor who sent you, all to protect me.

Of course, I knew his future.

János Hunyadi. The shield of Christendom who would one day be called the White Knight and defend Europe from the Ottoman Empire.

The thought that such a great figure from history would never commit a cowardly betrayal had certainly existed somewhere in my mind.

But that was not why I trusted him now.

I trusted the boy standing before me.

The one who grumbled and complained every time he opened his mouth, yet always stepped forward first to protect me in moments of danger.

The one who swung a sword with blistered hands and had never once abandoned his duty...

My squire, who called my mad plans absurd but always carried them out more perfectly than anyone else.

This János.

"I wasn't trying to deceive you..."

János muttered in a hoarse voice, almost as if making an excuse.

"At first, I was only ordered to watch you. I truly had no intention of harming you, my lord. Then, at some point, I missed the chance to tell you..."

"Enough."

I reached out and firmly gripped his stiff shoulder.

"The spy sent by the Emperor died that day atop Sternberg's walls. The one standing before me now is a knight of Bohemia and a loyal squire I can trust to guard my back. Am I wrong?"

János's eyes trembled violently.

He bit his lip hard, then lowered his head with a deep sigh. The fist he had clenched slowly relaxed.

"...My lord, I really can't deal with you."

His voice was thick, as if wet with tears.

"I knew you were mad, but I didn't realize it was to this extent. Sleeping beside an enemy spy..."

"They say genius and madness are separated by only a fine line."

"That wasn't praise."

He let out a small laugh.

I shrugged and smiled back.

"Prove it, János. If it truly bothers you that you deceived me for the past several years, repay me with results. The price you owe me can be secrets, intrigue, and the necks of our enemies."

"Ha..."

János gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

The anxiety and tension that had filled the depths of his eyes vanished as if washed away. In their place was a different kind of resolve, cold and firm.

"As you command."

János dropped to one knee and answered resolutely.

"The eyes, ears, and sword of this János Hunyadi will exist only for my lord, Ulrich von Sternberg. So that the Empire's rats never dare tread even upon your shadow... I will be the first to cut their throats in the darkness."

Footnotes:

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