How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 274: The Elector (1)

"You must not accept their proposal, Count! With just a little more effort, we can end the war!"

"No. This is the opportunity to end the war. Looking at the conditions, we’ve essentially won, haven’t we? Such autonomy and religious freedom... almost all the conditions we wanted have been achieved!"

"..."

A heated debate was unfolding before the Earl of Tyrone, O’Neill.

Some insisted they should hold out until complete independence was achieved.

Others claimed that accepting the proposal itself was equivalent to achieving complete independence and their goals.

And the Earl of Tyrone’s own thoughts...

’This is an absurd proposal.’

That’s what they were.

It was an absurd proposal.

From the moment he accepted this proposal, some nobles would accuse him of being a traitor who betrayed Ireland to England and cause trouble. Despite the fact that no one had fought against England more vigorously than he had.

At the same time, Spain might label him a Catholic traitor who abandoned his alliance and faith by submitting to a heretic witch. Despite his achievement of religious freedom, simply because he withdrew from the war.

"..."

No one could predict what would unfold afterward. That was the trap laid within that proposal.

Even the Queen herself, who had laid the trap, couldn’t predict the outcome.

He would walk a thorny path.

The crown he would wear after accepting that proposal would be made not of gold, but of thorns.

But...

...

...

...

The Earl of Tyrone O’Neill returned to the meeting place in the neutral zone the next day.

After politely escorting Elizabeth outside the meeting hall, he said:

"Twenty years, Your Majesty."

"..."

"For twenty years, throughout this land of Ireland, the soil has absorbed the blood of countless free people, and using that as fertilizer, death has bloomed disgusting flowers everywhere."

As he spoke, the Earl of Tyrone O’Neill pointed to a corner of the seemingly empty neutral zone.

"I cannot remember how many battles were fought here, but one thing is certain."

In that corner, the remains of burned-down houses were visible.

"People once lived here too. Where have they gone? They are probably dead. This is the result of English oppression."

"So? Because you cannot forget that resentment, you desire complete independence?"

"..."

The Earl of Tyrone O’Neill shook his head.

"I value the blood yet to be spilled more than the blood already shed."

At O’Neill’s words, the Queen appropriately remained silent. O’Neill’s fist trembled slightly, and his voice carried a metallic edge.

"But I cannot let the blood already shed be forgotten. So, in exchange for accepting the treaty, promise me one thing."

"Speak."

"...You killed them."

O’Neill looked up at the sky with reddened eyes. The bright morning sun floating in the dawn air met his gaze.

"Do not forget the many souls you have killed."

"..."

"This peace is not your mercy. This is our victory, gained at the cost of much blood.

I don’t care how much you and King James check each other. Nor does it matter to us how you intend to defeat Spain.

...You came forward like this with your own purposes in mind, but that doesn’t matter.

We have paid the price with our blood and in return gained freedom.

Do not forget them."

For a military commander, these were quite sentimental words. But O’Neill couldn’t help being sentimental in this moment.

Looking back, he saw the Queen open her mouth with a bitter smile.

A struggle that had lasted 20 years was here...

"I understand."

...coming to an end.

Ireland had finally gained freedom.

Soon, news of the agreement spread throughout Ireland. The Irish weren’t confused by the strange situation of suddenly serving three monarchs simultaneously.

They quickly understood. Despite having to serve Elizabeth as Queen again, there was surprisingly little psychological resistance, partly due to the relief efforts of the past.

At the same time, it was also due to resentment toward foreign armies that had continued "local requisitioning" during the prolonged war.

Spanish forces suddenly found themselves chased by attacks from the Irish coalition forces who had instantly changed from allies to enemies, as well as by raids and looting from the populace everywhere.

Spanish ships docked in Irish ports were immediately treated as ownerless vessels and seized.

Spain had no choice but to withdraw from Ireland, suffering enormous losses.

All of Europe watched Spain’s defeat.

And all of Europe was shaken to varying degrees by that defeat.

"Ah, finally...!"

For instance, here was Elector Palatine Friedrich, reacting in such a manner.

==

"You say Spanish forces are retreating from Ireland after a major defeat? My father-in-law is winning!"

"Shh, my father doesn’t like it... the woman, the Queen of England, decided this unilaterally."

"Wasn’t Ireland almost a lost territory anyway? If the Queen handled it on his behalf, shouldn’t he be grateful!"

Friedrich exclaimed with joy after hearing the news from his wife, Elizabeth Stuart.

Of course, his father-in-law, James of Scotland, was actually grinding his teeth over Elizabeth arbitrarily dividing and selling off the Irish throne, but that wasn’t his concern.

It wasn’t as if he would inherit the Irish throne.

What mattered to Friedrich was the news itself that Spanish forces were fleeing Ireland with their tails between their legs.

Friedrich von der Pfalz was one of the seven Electors who held the right to elect the Holy Roman Emperor.

As a Calvinist believer, he had come to represent the position of Calvinists within the Empire... and was also a spirited young man in his late teens.

Just last year, in 1613, he had married the Scottish princess Elizabeth, and neither knew much about the affairs of the British Isles, nor felt the need to know.

"Look, my dear wife. Aren’t the Spanish Catholics finally fleeing from my father-in-law’s territory like cowards? Isn’t that what matters?"

The Habsburg forces, the Catholic forces, had been defeated once again.

The Emperor of the New World had stranded them once, and England, ruled by his father-in-law, had shattered their ambitions once more.

It would likely take them a long time to recover their strength and raise funds again.

If you asked Kin Issei about him, he might respond, "Friedrich... what? Oh, was he in the catalog?" But in truth, he was someone who had greatly benefited from Virginia’s birth.

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