Ch.217Chapter 217. The Lunarien Army Reappears (3)

In front of Karelia who asked with a trembling voice, Vanessa bowed her head.

Eventually, this moment was bound to come.

She had two options.

To tell the truth, or to lie.

If she told the truth, Karelia, who valued loyalty above all else, would be shocked.

She was such a pure person that she wouldn’t be able to accept the fact that even if Luna had chosen betrayal, it was this side that had encouraged it.

She might lose her will to fight, and in the worst case, there was a possibility she might surrender.

So, from Vanessa’s perspective, who dreamed of Karelia’s dominion, there was only one thing she could say.

To tell a lie.

However.

Instead of lying, Vanessa… casually made an even more shocking proposal.

“Yes, it’s true.”

“What…?”

“I encouraged Metz. I wanted to eliminate Lunarian Ineanne one way or another—whether she betrayed us or not. It was all my unilateral scheme.”

“H-how… how could you… Vanessa… what on earth…!”

Karelia trembled, her expression showing disbelief.

“If what Metz said is true… Luna didn’t intend to betray me until the very end…!! How could you do something so vile… to someone who tried to keep her loyalty!!”

“Her very existence is a threat to our nation and to you, Lady Karelia. Even if it was a vile method, my determination to eliminate her remains unchanged. Therefore—”

—Execute me.

“What did you say…?”

Karelia, pale-faced at the mention of execution, barely squeezed out a response.

Meanwhile, Vanessa’s expression remained perfectly calm despite asking to be killed.

“I will take responsibility for everything. Cut off my head, detail all my crimes, and display it in the public square. I will take responsibility for implementing policies that didn’t align with Lady Karelia’s wishes and for encouraging Lunarian to betray us. Then, you can offer the rebels another chance to reconsider.”

Her choice was to throw away her life, as she had intended.

After all, wasn’t her life something she would have discarded once everything was settled?

Vanessa was willing to do anything if it meant safely eliminating Lunarian.

Without changing her expression, she looked straight into Karelia’s eyes and spoke.

“Vanessa… what on earth are you saying…?”

“After you publicly execute me and make a conciliatory gesture, our army will gain a great deal. Not only will we regain the support of the territory’s people that was somewhat lost during war preparations, but crucially, we can reclaim justification from Lunarian Ineanne. While Lunarian herself, who has already betrayed us and clearly has ambitions, cannot return to our side, it’s different for the generals who followed her. Since Karelia’s generals value loyalty and justification above all, this will certainly give us a significant advantage in battle against her.”

“I asked what you’re saying…!”

“It’s also entirely my fault that I failed to properly understand Lunarian as a person, which led to this situation. So please severely punish me for acting on my own without your approval and ruining everything. This is the moment to show your resolve as a ruler.”

“…Vanessa Trinity!!”

“Lady Karelia!!!!!!”

They both raised their voices, but once again, Vanessa’s cry drowned out Karelia’s plea.

“…Please, Lady Karelia. Don’t give up on your dominion… like this. This is an opportunity. Eliminate Lunarian Ineanne, who is the greatest threat to you, and use that to pacify the southern continent… and remove the utterly wicked Serpina with your own hands. Aren’t you the only one who can bring peace to the continent?”

Several minutes passed without any response.

“…I.”

“…”

“I cannot kill you… I cannot.”

Vanessa slowly looked up at her lord.

Karelia was crying.

“You, who have repeatedly bloodied your hands for me… I cannot kill you… just to use you… by placing all the blame on you.”

“My lord…”

Vanessa slowly closed her eyes.

The intelligent woman could tell.

This was a critical turning point for Karelia’s army.

If.

If Karelia had decided to kill her.

Lunarian’s army, having lost its justification for rebellion, would have quickly become disorganized and collapsed.

While generals like Cain or Tifa who had been with Lunarian from the beginning might be different, the generals who had belonged to our army would certainly waver. As Metz said, all the justification had been provided by her, and our lord would be in a position to remove the cause and then persuade the generals after being betrayed.

The anger accumulated among the territory’s people would also be somewhat calmed by the disappearance of the cause—herself.

And within Karelia’s army, showing that Karelia was not manipulated by Vanessa, contrary to appearances, would prevent the collapse of her charisma as a ruler.

In Vanessa’s opinion, except for the fact that she would die, there was no more efficient choice for the current Karelia army.

Moreover, since ordinary people wouldn’t think of devising a plan that risked their own life, if Karelia kept quiet, the fact that everything was her design could remain a secret forever.

But.

Being intelligent, she knew.

That Karelia… would never use her in such a way.

That she was the type of person who could never seize an opportunity… if it meant betraying loyalty, even when faced with an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

“However…”

“I don’t want to hear it… Vanessa. Say no more. No matter what happens, I will not abandon you. You too… are a precious subordinate to me. Just like the others… you too, Vanessa. In the world I envision, there is also a place for you…”

And this softness—

This was why Karelia could never catch up to Lunarian, who could make the decision to betray if necessary.

That’s why she had tried to eliminate Lunarian.

She should have cut her lifeline earlier, even if it meant using more cruel tactics.

During the time she had worked under Karelia, admiring her…

Perhaps she had come to resemble her a little, she thought.

In any case.

If she couldn’t make a decision, then… she had mountains of work to do.

* * *

After the official rebellion attempt, Cain Nerkis—Kalle von Einhart’s declaration of support followed naturally.

As Metz revealed the secret orders given to him to everyone, a bright light green flag was raised on Tepello Castle instead of the dark green one.

In the process, all the generals serving at Tepello Castle pledged allegiance to Lunarian’s army, which was an excellent start for Lunarian’s forces.

However.

No matter how many supplies they had managed to take.

No matter how impressive their force of 90,000 troops was—

That didn’t mean they could immediately overwhelm Karelia’s army, which had several times their national power.

“You say they’ve deployed troops at the border?”

“Yes. It seems they’ve prepared a force of about 110,000 troops.”

It was within expectations that they would force additional conscription, but it always takes time to turn those conscripts into useful soldiers.

The troops currently gathering were probably scraped together from the existing defensive forces in the territory.

90,000 versus 110,000. Being on the defensive side was certainly advantageous, but… the big problem was that this wasn’t the end.

“And it seems they’ve already been spotted making movements that suggest they’re building fortresses around us.”

“I see…”

A situation with restricted range of activity.

Even if they wanted to move troops first, finding the right ‘moment’ was incredibly difficult.

Moreover, from Luna’s perspective, that wasn’t the only problem.

“How are the negotiations with the Ohana army going?”

“It seems they have no intention of even coming to the negotiating table. No matter what we offer, it seems useless.”

The Ohana army at their rear was showing clear signs of not wanting to talk to them at all.

“The ruler of the Ohana army seems to be a very transparent person. It appears they’re aiming to take advantage after we’re weakened from fighting with Karelia’s army.”

“Do you think Vanessa will just sit back and watch that happen?”

Hearing those words, Violet hesitated for a moment before carefully speaking.

“This is just my conjecture, but…”

“Go ahead.”

“Perhaps… making the Ohana army think that way… is part of Vanessa’s strategy.”

“By that, do you mean she’s trying to lure them into attacking us, hoping for an opportunistic gain?”

“I think rather than using all their resources to destroy us themselves, they might find it more beneficial to borrow the hand of a potential enemy nation, even if temporarily.”

“But then from Karelia’s army’s perspective, wouldn’t they risk losing this territory… to the Ohana army?”

“I think they probably don’t care about that.”

Luna’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

“They might think it’s fine to lose one castle if they can potentially eliminate you, Lady Luna. They might be willing to hand over a castle to the Ohana army.”

“Such…”

“Honestly, if asked who would be more frightening with the same power, even someone as inexperienced as me can easily tell it would be you, Lady Luna. I don’t think someone of Vanessa’s caliber would be unaware of this. The Ohana army is unlikely to employ Lady Luna, who now bears the label of having betrayed her lord once… they would probably execute all of us.”

“…”

“From that perspective, Vanessa’s strategy, though unfortunate, doesn’t really conflict with their interests. It would be best for them to recapture this castle themselves, but if they can’t for various reasons… that’s the situation.”

After hearing Violet’s explanation, Luna fell into thought.

So…

Should they just wither away here?

It was important to repel the first invasion and then quickly capture at least one territory under Karelia’s control.

But if the Ohana army rushed toward them in the meantime… if they couldn’t secure a territory somehow, the dream they had just unfolded would crumble to dust. The heads of everyone who had trusted and followed her would be displayed, and they would surely go down in history as nothing but cowardly traitors.

“What will you do, my lord?”

At Violet’s question, Luna fell into thought for a moment.

Despite the strong start to their rebellion, they were at a disadvantage in many ways.

Nevertheless, Luna wasn’t overly worried.

Because soon, Lord Swen would come.

‘Lord Swen will come. He promised he would. When news of the rebellion spreads across the continent, he’ll come right away.’

If Lord Swen were by her side at a time like this.

Surely, he would say, ‘This is the most efficient way,’ and present a solution she hadn’t thought of.

So, Luna waited.

Firmly believing in his promise to return to her side.

“For now, there’s no need to move first. Let’s wait for the right time.”

“…Understood.”

Violet seemed concerned about something, but she didn’t contradict her lord’s opinion.

To break through a defensive force of 90,000, 110,000 troops would not be enough. They would need to bring a much larger army.

For Karelia’s army, which had been almost robbed of the strategic supplies needed to conduct war effectively, launching an attack here right now would be a significant burden.

Considering the high defensive capabilities of Tepello Castle, it wasn’t that our army lacked time.

The Ohana army wouldn’t think of deploying a large force first either. Hesna’s army could suddenly turn their blades on them.

Of course.

In Violet’s opinion, holding out until the end would put them at a disadvantage.

As time passed and supplies and troops gathered proportional to the vast territory… the side with the smaller territory—our side—would certainly be at a disadvantage.

But as a novice who had just taken her first steps as a strategist, she didn’t have any good ideas to overcome this situation.

‘It’s fine. Lady Luna must have a plan. She’s a cautious person.’

And so, with somewhat different thoughts—

Time flowed endlessly, on and on.

* * *

Days turned into weeks.

Weeks turned into even longer periods.

And no matter how long they waited…

Swen, the white-haired strategist, did not appear before Luna.