Ch.228Chapter 228. A Chance to Avoid This Fate

* * *

A few days before the Aeshus Army began to move.

Lynn, the ruler of the Brans Army which had been split into three parts, was hearing an unbelievable story from Farfalle.

“The ruler of the rebel forces within the Karelia Army is… Lunarian…?”

“…Yes.”

“The one Kyle von Einhart declared support for… is that woman?”

Regardless of the actual situation—

Publicly, the one evaluated as the leader of these rebel forces was not the ruler Luna, but Kyle von Einhart.

Of course, Lunarian was an unknown lord whose name wasn’t even known, while Kyle von Einhart was an old man born with the bloodline of Einhart, of which few remained, including Serpina.

But Lynn knew.

She was one of the few lords who knew what kind of woman Lunarian was—perhaps even the only one among the lords remaining on the continent now.

She was… Swen’s first master.

Under the unknown Luna existed a nameless jewel called Swen—and wasn’t it she herself who had recognized this first?

“How could this be…”

The fact that the one who had debuted most brilliantly under imperial protection was none other than Lunarian.

That fact itself became a dagger, beginning to pierce Lynn’s heart.

Lynn collapsed weakly onto the throne.

What surprised her most was not just Lunarian’s existence…

“Would you like to organize a pursuit team?”

“A pursuit?”

“Yes. I’m concerned about leaving Lunarian alive…”

Only that child had said such things.

“No. There’s no need to pursue. The prey seems to be here anyway.”

“But there’s only that one man in the royal palace, isn’t there? That means Lunarian is still on the run, so I think it would be better to pursue and capture her. If you entrust me with minimal forces, I can pursue and capture Lunarian as soon as possible—”

“Why are you telling me what to do? I said there’s no need to pursue. Are you disobeying me? Are you bored because your blade hasn’t tasted blood today? Should I let it taste yours?”

“…No. I apologize.”

Irene was right.

Lunarian was a dangerous woman. She was certainly not someone I could dismiss as pathetic.

She noticed everything. That’s why she said those things to me.

And I, without even considering what thoughts led her to say such things, just hated her, hated her so much…

“Hic… hnngh.”

Though she thought she would be fine by now—

Once again, tears streamed down Lynn’s face.

“Farfalle. Why… why didn’t I know?”

“My lord…”

“Why did I… ignore Irene’s advice?”

Irene’s advice at that time was truly a turning point.

The proof was that Lunarian had now made the most brilliant debut of anyone.

It was impressive enough that she had successfully incited rebellion in the fiercely loyal Karelia Army, but the very fact that an old man of imperial lineage had become her closest aide as if everything had been planned…

No, even before that… wasn’t she Swen’s original master who recognized at a glance that he was exceptional?

Lynn sensed it.

The Lunarian Army would not easily perish.

If she continued to dream of continental unification that had already slipped away… Lunarian would become a threat on par with Serpina.

Lynn, who had originally been a sharp woman, could accurately read the flow of the times.

There had been an opportunity.

An opportunity to prevent this from happening.

If only she had listened to Irene then.

Suddenly, the story of the magician who had recently appeared in the northern continent flashed through her mind again.

If I hadn’t looked down on Irene…

I wouldn’t have lost Irene, a general who was more loyal to me than anyone else.

Swen might have remained with the Brans Army too.

Seeing that the Lunarian Army had eventually reappeared, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he would have left at this point anyway… but whatever the case, it would certainly have been much better than the current situation where the country was split into three parts.

I wouldn’t have worried even if a magician appeared. After all, Swen was a man who used miracles close to magic.

“Why… why did I…”

“…My lord.”

Farfalle slowly approached, firmly grasping Lynn’s hand and said:

“You must become stronger, my lord.”

“I know… I know that. But.”

Now I understand.

What a foolish thing I did.

From being the hegemon of the central continent and Serpina’s only rival, to losing territories one after another, and failing to properly control even my siblings, resulting in the country being split into three parts.

It’s no one’s fault but mine.

“It’s all my fault… all because of my foolishness.”

“Even so, we can move forward. The fact that we are here now is the most certain proof of that.”

“Farfalle…”

“It’s alright. We can slowly rebuild. Haven’t you done it once before, my lord? You can certainly do it again.”

Lynn wiped her tears with her sleeve.

“I know. That I don’t have the right to be childish… But today, just… it’s too hard. I’m… too exhausted…”

“My lord…”

Instead of making her speak more, Farfalle simply watched her cry quietly.

At first, he wanted to help her succeed if only to affirm his choice of selecting her among countless lords…

But from the point when she began to change from how she used to be, he genuinely wanted to stay by her side.

This wasn’t just Farfalle’s thinking.

All those who had chosen Lynn rather than Kalintz or Chel were sincerely dreaming of the Brans Army’s second rise and remaining loyal to her.

After losing the extremely loyal woman named Irene, Lynn belatedly came to her senses and thought all her actions were merely desperate struggles—

But ironically, loyal people as devoted as Irene, who had been few even in her heyday, were gradually increasing one by one.

* * *

Arriving at Einhart Palace as usual, I heard quite an interesting story from Serpina.

“The Aeshus Army?”

“I hear they’ve been spotted deploying troops to the border.”

‘So they’ve finally started to move.’

It wasn’t unexpected. Rather, I had been wondering why they hadn’t moved yet.

The fact that they had been quiet for so long meant they had been focusing on internal affairs and reinforcing and training their troops.

In times of chaos, one couldn’t remain peaceful forever—it was time to wage war once again.

“Swen, what do you think?”

“You’re asking about the direction of the Aeshus Army’s advance, aren’t you?”

“Hohoho… I like how you understand without explanation, Swen.”

“Well, there’s not much else you could be asking about.”

After answering like that, I examined the map.

The countries they shared borders with were the Serpina Army and the Hesna Army.

Even so, this wasn’t really an issue that required much deliberation.

“We should gather troops and deploy them to the border, my lord.”

“So you think the Aeshus Army’s destination is our country?”

“Yes.”

Serpina tilted her head amusingly and said:

“To assert without a moment’s hesitation—I know your abilities, but I’d still like to hear your reasoning.”

“There’s no need to use my ability. This can be resolved with just one question to you, my lord.”

I looked at her with a confident tone and asked:

“If the Aeshus Army mobilizes troops to invade the Hesna Army, what do you intend to do, my lord?”

Her eyebrows trembled slightly upon hearing my question.

Yes.

This is what I meant when I said it wasn’t even a matter to think about.

Lady Serpina would probably…

“…I asked a foolish question.”

She would immediately raid the Aeshus Army’s main base while it was empty.

She had remained still only because of the many incidents like rebellions and assassination attempts, but now that another opportunity had presented itself, she couldn’t miss it.

“If Yurie isn’t capable of reading the situation to this extent, we might as well finish her off right here. If she can read the situation, then from that point on, she’ll be at war with our country.”

“War… perhaps this isn’t a bad timing for us either.”

After suppressing the last rebellion.

In addition to demonstrating overwhelming strength by using ‘magic,’ the national advisor Jenna had been traveling around to gauge public sentiment.

The reports from the generals, including Ian, were also unremarkable and smooth.

No matter how I thought about it.

The possibility of another rebellion occurring at this moment was too low.

Of course, Serpina was an unlucky person who seemed to be hated by the world, with strange things always happening at suspiciously good timing… but considering that she had recently marched to conquer the central continent without issue, there was no need to think negatively.

“Even so, there’s no reason not to use your ability, is there?”

Serpina looked at me with an amused smile.

My ability. Serpina was the woman who could utilize my Intelligence 100 ability better than anyone else at this moment.

“Do you think it’s right to prepare for war with the Aeshus Army from now on?”

I closed my eyes as if thinking about something.

Then I quietly entered her question—[Is it right to prepare for war with the Aeshus Army?]

[Yes.]

‘As expected.’

Without needing to think, it seemed Yurie was pointing her blade at us as I had predicted.

“It seems to be as we thought, my lord.”

“I see.”

Hearing this, Serpina rose from her throne and looked at me, asking:

“Then I’m thinking of immediately gathering troops and deploying them to the border. What do you think?”

Again, without much thought, I entered her question directly.

‘Is it most efficient to gather troops and deploy them to the border with the Aeshus Army?’

And.

[No.]

‘…?’

After a very long time, I recalled that sensation I had momentarily forgotten.

The sensation of the answer to my question mocking me.

‘…What nonsense is this, again?’

The time had come once more to fight with the conclusion I had reached.