Vladimir had stabbed the king.

Although this was an entirely unexpected situation, it wasn’t necessarily bad for me.

“General?”  
“Vladimir!”

Instead of panicking, I immediately snatched the sword from Anna’s hand, acting as though I were blinded by rage. I yelled out Vladimir’s name, making it seem like I was about to charge toward the throne to kill him.

Not reacting with anger in this situation would be strange.  
Though I could have expressed a cold, calculated fury, that might make it seem, to those unaware of the situation, that I wasn’t truly angry.

“...You must calm down, General!”  
“Let me go! I’ll kill that bastard right now!”

There was a downside to acting like I couldn’t control my emotions, but since Anna was there to restrain me, the risk was low.

I had forcibly grabbed Anna’s sword to provoke her into action. If I had calmly asked to borrow it, given her usual demeanor, she might have just handed it over.

However, if I acted as if I had lost control?

Anna was quick-witted and sharp. She knew that it would be better to capture these treasonous nobles alive, extract their confessions, and then execute them publicly, rather than killing them immediately.

“Restrain him!”

Once the soldiers had gotten close enough to hold me back, I pretended to resist, making it seem as though I was desperately trying to break free and kill Vladimir.

“They all must die, every one of them!”  
“Not now! Tie up those traitors first!”  
“Yes, ma’am!”  
“Let me go!”

While I was putting on my show of rage, Anna gave orders to the soldiers, who quickly restrained Vladimir and the other nobles, who stood in shock and confusion. These nobles, too cowardly even to attempt suicide, were easily subdued without any meaningful resistance.

After a bit of struggling, I decided it was enough and let myself relax.

“Have you calmed down now?”

As I appeared to regain my composure, Anna approached quietly after issuing instructions to the soldiers.

Now that I looked around, I realized four soldiers had been restraining me. I had tried not to hurt them too much while struggling, but they were drenched in sweat from holding me back.

“My apologies. That was quite an unsightly display.”  
“...Those traitors will be executed in public soon enough. There is no need to dirty your hands with their blood.”  
“You’re right. They deserve a much worse fate for what they’ve done. Thank you, Anna.”  
“...Yes.”

I watched for a moment as Vladimir, who had contributed most to this mess, was dragged away, bound in ropes.

The man who had been one of the most powerful figures in the kingdom was now a traitor.  
The sight of this symbol of noble power being led away by soldiers stirred strange emotions.

Unlike the other nobles who tried to make excuses, claiming they had no part in the rebellion, Vladimir remained silent. His face was calm, almost relieved, as he quietly accepted his fate.  
Covered in the king’s blood, he had no room for excuses.

Some soldiers, along with a few attendants, carefully handled the king’s body, which lay beneath the throne. Since our mission was to root out and punish the traitors, we had to treat the body with some respect.

“Ha…”

Thanks to Vladimir, the king who had bound me was gone, and I now had a solid pretext to purge the nobles I disliked.

All that was left was cleaning up the aftermath.  
Once I dealt with this situation and organized my forces, I would be on my way back to the Empire.

Conveniently, several large groups of red, gray, and green dots were moving toward the palace on the minimap.

“It seems I’ll have to speak with the other corps commanders.”  
“...Understood.”

With the legitimacy of our actions established and the palace under control, all that remained was to secure official authority and wield it as needed.

---

Since Anna was still the official commander of the 1st Corps, Viktor moved the troops by advising her.

The Royal Guard was disarmed entirely and confined to their barracks under heavy surveillance. Though they had cooperated, Viktor insisted that they could still betray us at any moment, and his advice was followed.

To avoid provoking the approaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps, the 1st Corps pulled most of their forces back, leaving only a small detachment at the palace.

As a result, the other corps halted their forces a short distance from where the 1st Corps was stationed and sent messengers to the palace.  
The messengers reported that they had received orders to suppress the 1st Corps’ supposed rebellion. In response, Anna showed them the dead king and Vladimir as proof, persuading them otherwise.

The messengers quickly accepted this, and after Anna explained the situation in detail, she proposed a meeting with the corps commanders.  
To avoid making them feel threatened, the meeting place was set in the plaza in front of the palace, at a distance from the main force of the 1st Corps.

Anna and Viktor, along with a small group of officers, waited for them in the plaza.  
Viktor kept a close eye on the minimap, prepared to regroup with the main force if the other corps made any sudden moves. Fortunately, the commanders accepted the invitation and began heading toward the meeting.

Before long, the commanders arrived at the meeting place with a small escort.

“...Viktor. I heard you had returned to Zabinsk, but I didn’t expect to see you here.”  
“It’s been a while, Alexandrov Kalichin. As luck would have it, I was with the 1st Corps when the attack occurred. I requested permission from the commander to join them. With accusations of treason, I couldn’t just sit idly by.”  
“I see…”

The commander of the 4th Corps, who had been friendly with Viktor in the past, quickly dropped his suspicions after their brief conversation.

The other commanders, already aware that Viktor had been with the 1st Corps, didn’t find it strange that he was present with Anna.

“Treason, you say? What exactly happened?”  
“Vladimir Savinkov led a rebellion and assassinated His Majesty the King.”

Once all the corps commanders had arrived, Anna explained the rebellion in detail, beginning with the Royal Guard’s attack.

“...Unbelievable.”

To dispel any remaining doubts, she brought forth Vladimir and the other captured nobles as evidence of their treachery.

“Vladimir… Did you really…?”  
“...”

Even Yuri Igorev, the commander of the 2nd Corps, who had been the most skeptical, was convinced by the sight of Vladimir standing quietly, drenched in blood, with his head bowed.

“Good heavens, it’s true…”  
“This is troubling. There’s no clear successor.”

While the other commanders were still reeling from the unprecedented situation, Anna spoke up.

“The reason I’ve called you all here is to propose the formation of a provisional council to prevent further chaos and to root out the remaining traitors.”  
“A council?”  
“And how would this council be composed?”

“According to Vladimir’s confession, most of the nobles residing in the capital were involved in the rebellion. For now, we, who are confirmed not to be involved, must take charge of the situation.”

Though Vladimir’s rebellion had been suppressed, with the king dead and the nobles unable to govern, Anna argued that the corps commanders should form a provisional council to lead the Ruth Kingdom until a rightful leader could be chosen according to the law.

“Once the government stabilizes, this provisional council will also be dissolved.”

Following Viktor’s advice, Anna continued the discussion with the poise of a true corps commander, despite it being a temporary measure.

“I see.”  
“I agree.”

Even though the 1st Corps had withdrawn some of their troops, they had been the first to respond to the rebellion.  
Given that the 1st Corps was the most powerful at the moment, the other commanders, initially worried that the 1st Corps might seize control, quickly agreed to the formation of a council.

After everyone agreed, Yuri Igorev, the commander of the 2nd Corps, raised his hand.

“And who will lead the council?”

At his words, all eyes turned toward the speaker.

The council leader.

Since the council would consist of the commanders of each corps, whoever was chosen as its leader would essentially control the kingdom’s main military forces.

Depending on who held that position, the council’s direction, as well as the kingdom’s future, would be decided.  
Because of the weight of this role, even ambitious men like Yuri and Pavel were reluctant to nominate themselves.

“...I have a candidate to propose.”

As everyone was lost in thought, Alexandrov was the first to stand.

“There is someone who can serve as the unifying force for the military, someone the people of the Kingdom of Rus would wholeheartedly support.”  
“...Surely, you don’t mean…”

As Anna’s gaze turned to him, Alexandrov nodded and spoke.

“I nominate Viktor, the former supreme commander, to lead the council.”  
“Viktor?”  
“I support this proposal.”

As soon as Viktor’s name was mentioned, Anna immediately voiced her agreement, and none of the officers who accompanied them objected.

Though it was a unique situation due to the ongoing war, Viktor had already led all the corps as the supreme commander.  
Given his proven leadership, skills, and reputation, there wasn’t a more suitable candidate.

Yuri and Pavel hesitated.

They didn’t want to stop at merely stabilizing the chaos.  
With their ambitions for power, they were already thinking about what would happen after they restored order in the Ruth Kingdom. They saw the current situation as a temporary opportunity, waiting for Viktor to leave, after which they planned to seize power for themselves.

“I also agree.”  
“We should restore Viktor to his position as supreme commander and elect him as the leader of the council.”

After thinking it over carefully, the other corps commanders eventually agreed to appoint Viktor as the head of the council.

Though the council was supposed to be temporary, with many nobles implicated in the rebellion, it was likely that the council would remain in place for quite some time.  
With no other significant factions to oppose them, the council leader would wield almost king-like authority.  

What made Viktor the ideal choice in this chaotic moment was his pending return to the Empire.

The Ruth Kingdom was in a deeply unstable state.  
If Viktor didn’t return, the Empire could quickly use this as an excuse to break off negotiations and launch an invasion, and everyone knew the risk this posed.

It was highly likely that Viktor would return to the Empire of his own accord. Even if he didn’t, the threat of the Empire could be used as a justification to send him back.

Yuri and Pavel reasoned that they could stabilize the kingdom for now by allowing Viktor to lead. Once he returned to the Empire, they could rise to power by taking his place as the council leader.  
They also believed that since Anna, currently in a favorable position as the 1st Corps commander, was of common birth, they, as high-ranking nobles, would eventually have no difficulty taking over the leadership.

Without knowing Viktor's true intentions, they settled on making him the council leader.

“With everyone in agreement, we will reinstate General Viktor as supreme commander and elect him as the leader of the council.”  
“Good.”

Without saying a single word himself, Viktor became the leader of the provisional council, placing the entire military force of nearly 30,000 soldiers in his hands.

Barely suppressing the urge to laugh, Viktor remained humble, insisting that he was not suited for such a position, though in the end, he reluctantly accepted the leadership at the officers' request.

“We will declare a state of emergency and deploy soldiers throughout Zabinsk to root out any remaining traitors.”

Thus began the final steps toward the collapse of the Kingdom of Rus.