Imperial or French

After a secret discussion with his younger brother William, Marquis John IV of Montferrat immediately galloped to Milan to apologize to the Emperor and pledge his loyalty.

William, on the other hand, rode tirelessly to Chambéry, intending to conduct peace negotiations with the Duke of Savoy.

Near the city of Turin, William and his entourage rode swiftly along the road, and when they arrived outside the city, they found many encampments.

In this season of splendid spring, William saw the last thing he wanted to see.

French fleur-de-lis flags and Swiss flags fluttered over the tents, where over six thousand remnants of French and Swiss troops were gathered.

"Why haven't these damned invaders rolled back?"

William frowned and cursed in a low voice.

The attendant beside him quickly reminded him: "My Lord, we had better be careful; this journey may not be very smooth..."

William sneered, saying indifferently, "I actually hope he refuses the terms proposed by the Emperor, after all, the Emperor is still too restrained.

Savoy is now facing a pincer attack from the Emperor and the Duke of Burgundy; if he thinks he can challenge the Emperor with these remnants of troops, we might have a chance to take more land, not just Asti and Cuneo, but also Turin…

He already had an idea in his mind: he would do his best to make Duke Ludovico of Savoy reject the "generous" terms offered by the Emperor.

This way, it might be possible to completely destroy the Duchy of Savoy, and then he would only need to wholeheartedly pledge allegiance to the Emperor who rules Milan, and the future of Montferrat would be bright!

Having made up his mind, William no longer stopped to observe the encampments of the French and Swiss; he spurred his mount into Turin.

The residents in the city almost all looked worried; they feared that the Emperor would attack here because of the French, and they were also angry because the French and Swiss extorted the citizens' savings to support their armies.

The Duke was powerless to refuse the demands of the French, and even if they wanted to resist, they were no match for these French.

People did not know how long such days would last, and could only endure the torment.

William saw all of this, and his thoughts became even firmer.

The Duke of Savoy and the French colluded, seriously threatening the Empire's rule in Italy, and he absolutely could not be let off so easily.

To say who was most loyal to the Emperor in all of Italy now, besides Piccinino, it was him, William.

The Emperor's friendly attitude towards Montferrat moved him; after all, profit moves people's hearts.

Since Montferrat relied on the Emperor to restore its independence and recover lost territories, it naturally had to be loyal to the Emperor.

His elder brother John now also had this realization, which greatly pleased him.

The mountain road from Turin to Chambéry is one of the easiest routes to cross the Alps, and William and his entourage soon arrived at Chambéry, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy.

On the way, he heard that the Duke of Burgundy had already departed from Dijon with his troops and arrived in Geneva, preparing to launch a second siege on Chambéry, while the intensity of fighting between Switzerland and Austria in Outer Austria was far from fierce.

The Austro-Burgundian forces, under the command of the "Deposed Duke" Sigismund and Charles, the son of Burgundy, contained the expansion of the Swiss into the Alsace region.

After the Battle of the Ticino River, the Swiss completely ceased their offensive, only capturing two small castles of the Habsburg Family, which were insignificant.

Originally, everyone thought that Burgundy would join the war and directly fight the Mantua alliance led by France.

Unexpectedly, in the end, the Duke of Burgundy only tied up the forces of the Duke of Savoy and sent a small portion of troops to join the fighting in Outer Austria in the form of mercenaries.

The shrewd Duke Philip had never officially declared war on any of the Emperor's enemies except the Duke of Savoy.

However, now that all enemies except Savoy had been defeated or repelled, the role of the Duke of Burgundy became prominent.

On the western side of the Alps, by Lake Bourget, Chambéry, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, is nestled among the mountains.

William was no stranger to Chambéry; decades ago, when Montferrat and Savoy were at war, he and his brother John were imprisoned here.

Strictly speaking, it was only house arrest, during which their mother, who was also the aunt of the current Duke of Savoy, had always looked after them.

However, that memory was still quite bad for them, and now that their mother had passed away, he only had hatred left for the Duke of Savoy.

The attendant's voice gradually grew louder, and William finally broke free from his memories, entering Chambéry with a determined gaze.

William saw that the city walls were full of soldiers, there were many patrol teams inside the city, and even an area within the city had been built into a semi-permanent military camp.

Almost all the troops that Savoy could mobilize were here; previously in Geneva, the Duke of Savoy led his army to fight the Duke of Burgundy and suffered a great defeat.

After that, he became a reclusive turtle in Chambéry, and this year's war would probably be the same.

Inside the Duke of Savoy's mansion, Duke Ludovico and Prince Louis of France were planning military and political strategies.

At this moment, an attendant reported: "Your Grace, the Emperor's envoy has arrived."

Ludovico and Louis exchanged glances, both frowning; receiving the Emperor's envoy at this time was not good news.

When he saw William walk into the room, Ludovico's eyes widened even further.

"William? My dear cousin, how did you suddenly become the Emperor's envoy?"

Hearing Ludovico's sarcastic mockery, William immediately retorted, "I know who I should be loyal to, unlike some people who are willing to be dogs for foreigners, for the Empire's enemies!"

As he said this, his gaze was fixed on Louis, not moving for a moment.

This instantly made both people in the room turn pale.

Ludovico felt a bit embarrassed, and cleared his throat, saying, "Enough. I imagine you aren't here to argue. Speak, what did the Emperor send you for?"

"This is an internal 'family matter' of the Empire. It's not appropriate for a Frenchman—especially the Crown Prince of France—to be listening in, is it?"

William raised an eyebrow, his arrogant demeanor making both Ludovico and Louis want to punch him.

"You really know how to borrow prestige," Ludovico snorted coldly. "Louis is my son-in-law and now a general of Savoy. What can't he hear? Just speak."

Seeing this, William no longer quibbled. He took out a signed agreement from the bag slung over his body and handed it to Ludovico.

"This is the merciful Emperor's most lenient punishment for your unforgivable treason. You should kneel on the ground, weeping and thanking the Emperor for his grace."

Ludovico and Louis immediately examined the terms of the treaty.

One, revoke Savoy's suzerainty over Montferrat, and cede Cuneo and Asti to Montferrat, and Nice to Genoa.

Two, the Duchy of Savoy must pay the Emperor 300,000 florins in reparations within five years as punishment for rebelling against the Emperor.

Three, the Duchy of Savoy must sever all diplomatic relations with France, expel all anti-Emperor troops from its territory, and expel Louis, the Crown Prince of France.

There were only three articles in the treaty, but after reading them, Ludovico and Louis couldn't help but be enraged.

Ludovico laughed in anger: "I knew why you were so eager to pledge allegiance to the Emperor. So it was for this. Shameless!"

"Hmph, Asti and Cuneo were always Montferrat's territory. The humiliation the Treaty of Turin brought us, you, the Duke of Savoy, will now return in full!"

"'Return in full,' what a phrase! If my father hadn't shown mercy back then, you would have been ruined like your distant relatives in Constantinople. I never thought that mercy would lead to today's outcome. I truly feel it was not worth it for my father."

"Haha, say what you will. This is the Emperor's bottom line. What do you say? Will you accept? And Your Highness, the wandering Crown Prince, why don't you return to your father's court? Don't you like it?"

"You!" Louis reached for the dagger at his waist, took a few deep breaths, and only released his hand after suppressing the anger in his heart.

Both of them realized that this scoundrel sent by the Emperor was deliberately trying to provoke them.

Ludovico pondered William's intention: "What good does this do you? Ah, you want to provoke me, make me reject the Emperor's terms, and then use that as an excuse to incite the Emperor to attack me, right?"

William smiled and replied, "How could that be? War is always a last resort. I don't think anyone likes war, oh—except for those damned French. They love to run into other people's homes, cause destruction, and then leave as if nothing happened."

"What exactly do you mean?"

Louis slammed the table, stood up, and pointed at William's nose, demanding, He could no longer tolerate such blatant humiliation.

Ludovico also stared at William with a grim expression, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

William calmly replied, "Nothing else. It's just that on my way here, I passed through Turin. The people there were suffering terribly from the French, yet they dared not speak out due to their powerful military.

If you don't have the strength to protect your subjects and expel the French, I believe His Majesty the Emperor's army would be very happy to serve.

I would like to ask on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, are you truly a Duke of the Empire, or a Duke of France?"

Upon hearing this, Ludovico and Louis both fell silent.

The King of France was furious after receiving news of the defeat of his main forces, but he did not recall the remaining troops.

He wrote to the Duke of Savoy, hoping he could withstand the Emperor's pressure and continue fighting, holding the gateway for France into Italy.

The Swiss army had already joined the French forces as mercenaries. They were stationed in Turin precisely to prevent the Emperor and the Duke of Burgundy from attacking on two fronts, thereby completely crushing the Duke of Savoy.

Moreover, Ludovico could not accept any of the terms outlined by the Emperor in the treaty.

Ceding most of the territory south of the mountains would undoubtedly make him a sinner of his family, and the 300,000 florins in reparations was an astronomical sum.

He had already incurred high loans to recruit troops to resist the Duke of Burgundy. Where was he supposed to gather these 300,000 gold coins to pay the Emperor?

Expelling the Crown Prince of France and severing treaties with France—if he truly did that, he would become meat on a chopping block, at the mercy of the Duke of Burgundy and the Emperor.

The Duke of Burgundy had been invading the Duchy of Savoy for nearly a year and a half. The Duchy's territory north of the mountains was reduced to only the areas around Chambéry, yet the Emperor hadn't even made a sound.

Although the King of France hadn't provided much help either, the relationship between the Crown Prince of France and him, the Duke of Savoy, was growing closer. Once Charles VII passed away in the future, Savoy and France would become staunch allies. At that time, neither Burgundy nor Switzerland would need to be taken seriously.

As for the Emperor... since he had already made an enemy of the Emperor, he could not afford to make an enemy of France as well; otherwise, Savoy would only have one outcome—annihilation.

The Duke of Savoy ultimately refused to sign the treaty provided by the Emperor, claiming that the treaty was neither fair nor just.

Afterward, William and his attendants were driven out of Chambéry.

Although it looked very pathetic, William felt an indescribable relief in his heart. He wished he could immediately fly back to Milan and persuade the Emperor to send troops to completely destroy Savoy, who didn't know what was good for it.