Ch.134Chapter 134. Balance Broken (1)

* * *

Brans Kingdom’s capital, Anel Castle.

“My lord, I’m truly relieved to see you again. Have you been well?”

A purple-haired woman was kneeling before Lynn, who sat on the throne, paying her respects.

It was Farfalle, the national strategist who had just recently been released from confinement.

After the day of the conversation with Chel.

Despite continuous predictions of war, uneventful and peaceful days had been passing by.

Of course, “peaceful” here only meant that no battles were taking place.

Morale at the frontlines—defended by minimal personnel with all key troops and generals gone—had plummeted long ago.

Simultaneously, the reputation of Sovereign Lynn Brans, who appeared to be doing nothing with her hands tied, was in free fall.

The only reason things hadn’t completely collapsed was because Chel and Kalintz, who still commanded some respect among the military officials, were mediating from their respective positions. Lynn had declined to such a state that she was unrecognizable from her former self—the one who once ruled the country with overwhelming charisma.

Until now, Lynn had been revered because she delivered results.

She had organized the central region and cleared out all the small nations in the mid-west. Brans Kingdom was the only force threatening Serpina.

The northern invasion, which had only been a dream, seemed like it could become reality with just a little more push.

In such circumstances, the generals naturally worshipped her.

Even when she gave somewhat oppressive or incomprehensible orders, her authority never wavered. After all, she was the woman who had made their army so powerful. After all, she was the de facto ruler of the central continent.

Even when Aeshus was the only country left in the central region, her military officials naturally thought they could quickly subdue the Aeshus army.

But… for some reason, ever since one military official betrayed them and left the country—

This nation had been shaken severely.

Far from dealing with the Aeshus army, they ended up surrendering about a quarter of the central continent to Serpina.

Even after that, with no proper solution, they were just wasting time—so it was inevitable that her authority as ruler had hit rock bottom.

Lynn now knew this fact well.

That’s why… she had no choice but to release the woman she had imprisoned for the grave crime of disobeying her orders.

“Farfalle. You look quite unwell… Is it because of me?”

“Not at all, my lord. Considering the crime I committed, I received exceptionally generous treatment. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your consideration.”

“…”

The national strategist had independently issued different orders, refusing the command of her sovereign.

Even for a national strategist, it was an act bordering on treason. No one blamed Lynn for having her imprisoned.

But Lynn herself didn’t deny it.

That she, not Farfalle, had been wrong.

“What should I do now…? I’ve been thinking hard on my own, but I don’t know what to do…”

“My lord. It’s not over yet. Brans Kingdom can rise again. Don’t we still have the mid-western region?”

The castles to the west of Anel Castle.

Quite some time had passed since they had neatly unified the numerous small nations that had been scattered there.

While there were unremarkable territories like Zeilandt Castle, there were also strategic points like Estate Castle with fertile land and large populations.

“I believe that region should be sufficiently stabilized by now compared to before. If we reinforce our troops as much as possible and deploy them to the central border, there’s a high possibility we can defend our current territory.”

“We can protect our territory? But… didn’t you say? That it was right to abandon the border?”

“That was then. But time has passed, and the situation has changed. The Serpina army shows no signs of advancing further south, and the Aeshus army isn’t moving its forces either. Even now it’s late. We must reinforce our troops quickly!”

“…”

Lynn stared at Farfalle with empty eyes—

Then hung her head low.

“Would that man have said the same thing as you?”

“…Pardon? That man…?”

“Swen, I mean. …Is there anyone else?”

The more she thought about it—letting Swen go had become her greatest regret.

Looking back, everything he said had been correct.

If she had accepted all his advice without questioning the circumstances—instead of losing the castle in the central region, they could have planted the sky-blue flag in the north.

What if she had sent more troops to the north?

What if she had sent a truly reliable general instead of sending Irene with him?

No… even more.

What if she hadn’t pushed Irene away, even if just to keep him?

Yes.

It was a thought she had never had before.

Lynn… was regretting her harsh treatment of Irene for the first time in her life.

“If I… had just… just acknowledged that child…”

Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face again.

She simply couldn’t forget. That moment when everything that seemed within her grasp crumbled like a sand castle.

Her reputation as a ruler, the eastern territory of the central continent, the expectation that she could become the unifying sovereign—all washed away like they were swept by waves.

Because Irene… had let go of her hand.

Since that hand, which seemed like it would reach out to her countless times, disappeared, everything had vanished.

She could no longer deny reality.

Losing Irene was nothing short of a fatal blow.

If only she hadn’t sent Swen to the room where Irene was.

If only she hadn’t put her to the test again when she said she would trust me.

“I… If I had… Swen would have been by my side. He would have given me amazing advice by my side. He would have continued to create miracles. He told me… he told me that I didn’t need to be afraid. He said he would give me the world… I thought we could dream the same dream.”

“My lord…”

“You know, Farfalle. I was afraid of Swen. So I wanted to somehow suppress him. I thought that would bring him into my hands. …But that wasn’t it. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have… treated him that way, I…”

Farfalle looked at her weakened lord, endlessly blaming herself, and thought.

To think that Lynn Brans would blame herself.

Truly… that proud Lynn had completely collapsed.

Even while imprisoned, news reached her. Though a prisoner, she hadn’t lost any of her reputation, so it wasn’t difficult to hear news from outside.

She had heard that Lynn Brans had become much weaker… but to this extent?

“My lord, Swen is nothing but a traitor. He’s a man who conspired with Irene Juliette to deceive you.”

“No… Farfalle, no. I… I left Irene at the northern fortress. I drove her into danger. So I…”

Now she could understand.

That in the final moment, Swen had given her a chance.

If only she had listened to him.

If only she had sent another general instead of employing Irene…

But.

At that time, she…

“I wanted to kill Irene. So, I tried to kill—”

“My lord!”

Farfalle’s shout cut off Lynn’s words.

The usual Lynn would never have tolerated this, but… she had already become extremely weak.

“Forget about the traitors. No matter how talented Swen was, he’s just a traitor who chose Irene over you. The same goes for Irene. Considering the fact that she ultimately betrayed us and cut down our Brans army, doesn’t it prove that your decision to eliminate Irene was correct?”

Farfalle knew too.

That trying to kill Irene wasn’t the right decision.

But the water was already spilled.

It would be a bigger problem if the person in the sovereign’s position couldn’t do anything because they were bound by the past.

So, she had to throw away things like divine providence.

Now, she had to step forward and deny Irene even more.

She was convinced that was the answer, unless they were to oust Lynn and install a new sovereign.

Honestly, replacing her wasn’t easy, and there wasn’t really anyone suitable for the position anyway.

“My lord. I will help you get revenge on Irene. So from now on, let’s slowly rebuild Brans Kingdom together. I, Farfalle, will throw myself into the reconstruction.”

“Farfalle…”

“Please trust me. I will definitely watch over you. First, let’s immediately order the castle lords in the west to—”

At that moment.

“My lord!!”

A soldier burst into the audience hall.

He couldn’t have been unaware that Farfalle was in an audience, so this must be an emergency.

Farfalle turned her head slightly to look at the soldier.

And… as soon as she saw ‘that’, she felt her heart sink.

‘…!!’

The red cloth tied to his arm.

A messenger.

…Unfortunately, it seemed too late.

“The Hesna army… is sending a force of 68,000 troops toward Elgaim Castle!”

* * *

The capital of Karelia Kingdom in the southern continent, Madlan Castle.

“The Hesna army is on the move?”

“It appears so.”

After receiving the report from the soldier, the green-eyed sovereign—Makana Karelia—covered her mouth with a fan and fell into thought.

‘Is it finally time?’

The four nations of the south that had maintained a delicate balance—Hesna Kingdom, Rolland Kingdom, Ohana Kingdom, and this place, Karelia Kingdom.

That balance was finally breaking because of Hesna.

Of course, it wasn’t in the form of them invading each other, but rather invading Brans Kingdom.

‘Anyway, Vanessa’s prediction was right up to this point.’

Today happened to be the day of the national council.

Since all the castle lords would gather, they could thoroughly prepare if there was anything to prepare for.

Karelia nodded and spoke lightly.

Even to a mere soldier, she had never treated anyone carelessly.

“Thank you very much for informing me. You may go now.”

“Yes, understood!”

After dismissing the soldier, she went to find Vanessa, but—

‘She’s not here.’

She was nowhere to be seen, having left her post.

Well, the national council would be held soon anyway. It would be fine to discuss the details then.

‘Soon, a great upheaval will occur, just as Vanessa said.’

Though her heart ached at the thought of the bloody scent of war spreading to the south—

As someone in the position of a sovereign, she had to endure it for the greater good.

As she was comforting herself with such thoughts, at that moment—

‘…Huh?’

* * *

“We have arrived, my lady.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s my duty.”

After arriving at Madlan Castle by carriage, Lunarian exchanged greetings with the soldier and looked around.

‘It’s been a while…’

Since this was once a place where she had farmed with sweat, she briefly felt like she had returned to where she belonged—

But that thought quickly scattered like dust.

Madlan Castle was not where she belonged. The place where everyone first came together… Zeilandt Castle was.

Even if it was an unremarkable territory, she had never forgotten her days there.

“So this is the capital…”

And.

Following behind Lunarian, a woman slowly got out of the carriage.

It was Violet, the youngest of the children entrusted by Cain and a girl showing potential as a civil official.

“What do you think?”

“As you said, I can feel the development on my skin.”

She had brought her along this time because she mentioned wanting to find a certain military text.

Since she was the most introverted of the three children, Luna was thinking of using this opportunity to get closer to her.

As a guardian, she wanted to raise the children entrusted to her by none other than Cain to be excellent.

“It seems we have some time left. What do you say? Shall we look around the market first?”

“No, Luna-nim.”

Violet gave a proper formal greeting.

“My business can wait until after all of your business is finished.”

“Is that so? Well then…”

If she says so, maybe I’ll take a look around since we arrived early.

It might be nice to greet the territory residents I once farmed with—with such thoughts, she took a step forward. At that moment.

‘Huh?’

Over there was the building with the military barracks.

Somehow the atmosphere seemed strange.

The soldiers’ expressions were very serious, as if something had gone wrong…?

Luna’s group cautiously moved in that direction.

* * *

When they arrived—

Once again, there was a woman with a familiar face she hadn’t seen in a while.

‘Lady Cecile…?’

However, despite the welcome face, it wasn’t a situation where she could greet her.

In a very serious atmosphere, she was confronting another woman whose face Luna had seen before.

“Lady Cecile. Please stop with these meaningless responses.”

At Vanessa’s threatening words, a young girl behind Cecile was trembling and crying.

Cecile put her hand on the girl’s shoulder to calm her down, then spoke in a resolute tone.

“No matter how many times you call them meaningless responses, my opinion will not change. Lady Vanessa. I humbly implore you. Please withdraw your order.”

“I cannot. Under strict military law, no one can receive special treatment. Lady Cecile. I don’t want to escalate this. Please step aside.”

Hearing those words, Cecile replied almost shouting, in a slightly more agitated tone.

“Special treatment? Is preventing the execution of a soldier’s entire family for guilt by association considered special treatment?!”

…What?