Ch.131Chapter 131. That Day, in the Audience Chamber

* * *

Turning the clock forward a bit—

Valhart Castle, the capital of Aeshus Territory, located in the eastern part of the central region.

“……”

Yurie was staring out the window of the audience chamber with empty eyes.

How much time had passed?

The sound of footsteps approaching could be heard.

“Yurie.”

“……”

The owner of the voice was Anima Ingram.

The woman Yurie had wanted to save, even if it meant bearing all the blame herself.

“Anima. Welcome. How is Ern doing?”

“He seems completely better now. Thank goodness. That kid never had any redeeming qualities besides being sturdy.”

Yurie smiled in response to Anima’s words.

“I’m really glad… I was so worried.”

“……”

Seeing this, Anima couldn’t smile back and let out a short sigh.

“Yurie.”

“Yes.”

“Do you understand the situation we’re in right now?”

“…Yes.”

As of yesterday, the ninth general had resigned.

Including Ginor, a total of nine generals had left Aeshus Territory.

For a small nation like Aeshus, where every single person was valuable, losing this many officials was certainly a significant blow, regardless of how much their power had grown.

Trading one’s own general sent as an envoy in exchange for prisoners.

It was an unprecedented situation that no ruler would ever consider, and although Epinel had stepped in as damage control to somehow manage the uproar, one couldn’t hide the sky with their palm.

“Epinel has been working hard in my place. Honestly, maybe Epinel should have been the ruler instead of me. All I have is the Aeshus bloodline flowing through my body…”

“I didn’t come here to listen to you whine, Yurie.”

Watching Yurie laugh awkwardly, Anima felt a pang in her heart.

Despite everything… this woman had done such a thing solely for her sake.

She had no intention of backing out now by saying things like “I never asked for this.”

Since the day of the oath, Yurie had been the only sun she would serve.

“What are you going to do from now on?”

“Well, I don’t know. For now, I’m thankful that Serpina Territory isn’t making any moves… but the movements in the south are also concerning, and things will likely become chaotic again. Anyway, shouldn’t we spend time strengthening our internal affairs? We’ve gained three new territories after all.”

Valhart Castle, Raclaine Castle, Zelstrom Castle, and Zeta Castle.

Aeshus Territory had grown considerably after taking Charam Territory, Alrepel Territory, and one of Brans Territory’s castles.

“I have a plan, Yurie.”

“A plan?”

Yurie looked directly into Anima’s eyes as she spoke.

“What do you think our territory needs right now?”

“…Well, I think our priority is to let the wave pass first.”

“Right. The wave needs to pass. …This series of events needs to be forgotten quickly. In other words, internal unity is more important to us now than ever before.”

“Internal unity… I see.”

The turmoil that began with the unprecedented situation of selling off one’s own general.

To somehow calm this raging current, they needed something bigger that would sweep everyone up.

“Yes. And for that… we need to initiate a war first.”

Yurie looked slightly surprised at the word “war.”

“War? You mean… we should attack first?”

“Yes.”

“But the only territory we can attack right now is Serpina Territory, right? Are you suggesting we go back into Hispil Castle?”

Yurie expressed her reluctance.

“That’s impossible. With three territories near the border, it’s difficult to launch another invasion. …Anima, you know that too, right?”

“That’s right. It’s certainly difficult right now. Especially Hispil Castle. Because of my wrong choice, it’s become even more impossible.”

“No, I… that is, I’m not blaming you—”

“It doesn’t matter, Yurie. I don’t get unnecessarily upset about such things. …Would you come over here?”

Anima spread a map on a nearby desk.

“Now, looking at the map… certainly, the only territory we can invade is Serpina Territory to the west. We could advance to the southern continent if we took some time, but it would be disastrous if we were ambushed on the way.”

“…Yes.”

“Of course, we will attack Serpina Territory.”

Yurie silently looked at Anima.

Anima easily recognized this as Yurie’s wordless gesture of waiting for her to continue.

“However, attacking Serpina Territory doesn’t necessarily mean attacking the castle near the border. The route to reach Serpina Territory isn’t only in the west.”

“What do you mean? …I don’t quite understand.”

“You don’t? We don’t only have three castles.”

Saying this, Anima pointed to a castle located at the easternmost part of the continent.

Zeta Castle.

“But the area around Zeta Castle is all our territory, isn’t it?”

“No, Yurie. Try changing your perspective. …You’ll understand.”

Hearing this, Yurie stared at the map for a long time.

Since this was Anima’s idea, there must be something to it… thinking this, she suddenly realized something.

“Could you be talking about… the river?”

“Yes.”

There was a large river flowing near Zeta Castle.

Following the river that flowed into the eastern sea upstream would lead to Amir Castle, located in a corner of the northern continent.

“We’ll invade Amir Castle. From their perspective, it’s not even a castle on the border, so they’ll barely have any troops. If we bring as many soldiers as we can, we’ll definitely win. We’ll plant Aeshus’s red flag in the northern continent! They certainly won’t expect it at all.”

Indeed.

It would be extremely difficult to anticipate such an outlandish plan in advance.

After all, Aeshus Territory wouldn’t gain much from it.

“But… even if we acquire the territory, it would only be temporary, and I don’t think we could maintain it. Doesn’t that make it meaningless?”

“I told you, Yurie. What we need isn’t one or two territories. We need something to quell this situation. We need a huge wave to fight against the oncoming tide.”

Yurie could easily understand the hidden meaning in Anima’s words.

Cover up the sacrifice of Swen, their subordinate general, with the extraordinary method of planting a flag in the northern continent.

That was Anima’s true intention.

They would soon lose the castle again even if they captured it. But it would certainly help clear up this chaotic situation… right?

“I’ve really thought a lot about this. Since it all happened because of me, I thought I should somehow fix it. I thought until my head was about to burst. It’s certainly a reckless strategy with nothing for us to gain… but that’s why they absolutely won’t predict it. With this, we can hit them from behind. Yurie. Please trust me one more time.”

The burden on their hearts existed not only for Yurie but also for Anima.

After all, this entire farce had occurred to save Anima Ingram.

Therefore, she had thought with all her might. She wanted to help Yurie who was in danger.

A visible achievement. If they could achieve that, she was certain they could settle the unsettled atmosphere within the country—her eyes sparkled with such conviction.

Yurie looked at Anima’s sparkling eyes.

Even after losing her arm, without showing any sign of it, when she said she could do it, that she would be Yurie’s wings… her eyes had sparkled just like this.

But.

Because of that, Yurie slowly shook her head.

“No, Anima. We won’t execute this plan.”

“Why not?! The enemy will never notice. With this method, we can acquire territory even if just for a moment. It’s a golden opportunity for us, Aeshus Territory, to plant our flag in the northern continent, excluding Serpina Territory!”

Yurie agreed with those words.

She agreed, but… there was something more important.

“Lady Yurie. You cannot gather spilled water. Whether that decision was right or wrong… no one can know for certain.”

“Accept the consequences of what has already happened, of your own decision. Only by accepting the consequences can you move forward. This is the last advice I can give you as someone who once served as a strategist.”

Yurie closed her eyes and recalled the final advice from the great tree who had stood by her side in these turbulent times.

Although she eventually had to let him go… the words he left at the end supported a corner of her heart.

“Anima. I can’t sacrifice the present and future… to cover up the past.”

“…!”

“What’s done is done. Building achievements would certainly create an impact and might calm the situation. But that would mean throwing away the future to resolve this situation. So, I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”

In fact.

Anima vaguely knew this too.

The reason she was confident the enemy wouldn’t notice this plan was because it wouldn’t really benefit Aeshus Territory.

What strategist would predict that the enemy would carry out an operation that would cause more harm to themselves?

Planting Aeshus Territory’s flag in the north for a brief moment—

Besides that, they would lose everything else.

The soldiers sent to capture this castle, the funds and provisions consumed in the process, all would disappear just for one moment of impact.

Yet she had to push forward.

For Yurie, who had taken on everything because of her and lost so much.

She thought Yurie would be better off if she could shake off the burden as soon as possible and stand up again.

“But still, if things stay like this, you’ll… you’ll suffer too much. Because of me. Because you tried to save me—”

“Anima.”

Yurie stroked the shoulder of Anima, who had lowered her head in distress.

“It’s okay. I was prepared for this. …We’re family, aren’t we?”

“……”

Anima swallowed her rising tears.

And once again, she made a vow.

Even if the moment came when everyone turned their backs on Yurie because of her wrong decision…

She alone would stay until the end and bear all the filth with her.

And—

There was no way for Anima herself to know that it was an incredible stroke of luck for her that Yurie had recalled Ginor’s advice at the crucial moment.

* * *

“Thank you for your hard work, Lady Irene.”

“Mm. Good work. Go home safely.”

After dismissing the soldiers who had patrolled with her, Irene changed her clothes and headed toward her quarters.

Her assigned duty was to strengthen security in the capital city of Einhart.

Nothing special, just patrolling inside and outside Einhart Castle and its territories.

Although security was already quite good, it was thanks to security teams continuously patrolling in shifts.

If they slacked off even for a day, security would deteriorate rapidly even in the capital city. After all, these were turbulent times.

Moreover, since the Amir Castle patrol had recently brought in a huge catch, orders from above to strengthen patrols had doubled their workload.

Of course, from Irene’s perspective, just having work to do gave her a sense of fulfillment.

When she thought about times when no one needed her, she was the type of person who could draw strength just from knowing someone needed her.

“……”

Walking home like this—she suddenly recalled her time at Valhart Castle.

Back then, whenever she finished her duties and returned home, Swen would always welcome her.

The joy in her steps as she headed home was undoubtedly because there was a white-haired man who always welcomed her with a smile, someone she wanted to protect and who protected her.

‘…I miss him.’

She missed Swen.

But she couldn’t just go visit him recklessly.

As someone who had just been appointed, making conspicuous actions wasn’t a good judgment.

If it were only herself at risk, that would be one thing, but Swen could also be implicated, so she absolutely couldn’t act on her own.

‘If only there were some occasion to meet Swen…’

Then she could naturally request a meeting, but nothing appropriate came to mind.

Irene briefly imagined herself saying ‘Swen, I came because I missed you’—

Then feeling her face flush, she lowered her head deeply.

…She felt she could never bring herself to say such embarrassing words.

How could Swen say such embarrassing things so easily?

‘If only I could convey my feelings as easily as Swen…’

Just as she was lightly reproaching herself—

‘…Huh?’

Her gaze naturally turned toward a bustling atmosphere coming from somewhere.

At the end of her gaze was a shop selling desserts.

It seemed they were holding some kind of demonstration.

Irene looked up to check the text on the banner above.

[3 Days Until St. Valentine’s Day! Prepare Early!]

‘St. Valentine’s Day?’

As Irene was puzzled by this unfamiliar holiday, a woman wearing an apron approached her with a friendly smile and said:

“Hello, Knight! These are new chocolates from our shop. Would you like to try some?”