Ch.232232. Mediation (1)

After Alicia had her weaknesses thoroughly exposed by the Lord Protector whom she despised, once he left Buckingham Palace, her expressionless face changed to one that clearly said “I’m angry!” Returning directly to her bedroom from her office, she puffed her cheeks and began taking out her frustration by punching her pillow.

It was a petty revenge, unable to hit her enemy the Lord Protector directly, she instead pounded on a pillow with his face attached to it. But for Alicia, it was enough.

By the time the pillow was tattered from her small fists, Alicia finished venting and spoke to Bahamut, who had been quietly watching the scene through the Scrying Mirror.

“I want to make the Lord Protector eat dirt.”

[Ah, yes. Good luck with that.]

“That’s such an indifferent response! Don’t you feel sorry for your contractor!? The Dragon Priestess is crying! Lord Dragon!”

Though Bahamut had watched both the argument between Alicia and the Lord Protector and her subsequent tantrum without comment, when he responded indifferently, Alicia reacted as if he was being too harsh. But in truth…

[No, this happens all the time. It seems you’ve been thoroughly provoked by the Lord Protector again.]

This wasn’t the first time this had happened.

The Lord Protector had approached Alicia multiple times to lower her self-esteem, deliberately mentioning her weaknesses to provoke her.

It was essentially gaslighting—implying that Alicia was merely the Lord Protector’s puppet who should follow his orders. Bahamut had worried about Alicia falling victim to this gaslighting at first, but it had become so routine that he now treated it lightly.

In truth, Alicia wasn’t mentally weak enough to fall for such crude gaslighting anyway.

“You’re not wrong. No.”

Alicia scratched her head and sighed, acknowledging that Bahamut wasn’t incorrect.

To be frank, the Lord Protector was like a storm that visited Alicia whenever she least expected it—a natural disaster that struck Buckingham Palace.

[So when you say you want to make the Lord Protector eat dirt, do you mean you want to interfere with his plans?]

“Yes. I’d like it to blow up spectacularly. It would be even better if he failed to get what he wants and suffered losses instead.”

Though this was a regular occurrence, Bahamut wasn’t dismissing Alicia’s desire for revenge.

Bahamut began asking about Alicia’s wishes, and she responded that she wanted the Lord Protector to experience a major failure.

Upon hearing this, Bahamut organized his thoughts and began explaining what he had gathered from their recent conversation.

[From what I’ve heard, the Lord Protector’s goal seems to be prolonging this revolutionary war to bring down the Saint and place himself in a leadership position over Western Europe.]

“That’s not wrong. After backstabbing the Saint, what the Lord Protector needs to obtain is power and status that no one can ignore.”

What the Lord Protector was after was the power and status the Saint possessed.

Specifically, the influence of international organizations and the position as Western Europe’s representative. With the Saint’s position shaken by the Phoenix Revolution, he saw an opportunity to bring her down and take her place.

Of course, the Saint had the undeniable prestige of being Phoenix’s contractor, but even that status was being severely undermined by the Phoenix Cult. It would have been easy for him to conclude that betraying the Saint wouldn’t be problematic.

But with such returns comes risk.

[Then what the Lord Protector would hate most is for the revolutionary war to end ambiguously, or for the two leaders to stop the war and recognize the Lord Protector, who’s fanning the flames of war, as an enemy. Or for someone to achieve a decisive victory soon, completely ending the revolutionary war. Those would be the developments the Lord Protector would hate most.]

For the Lord Protector’s plan to succeed, this revolutionary war needed to continue beyond months, into years.

Only then could his position be secured. If the war ended at an awkward time, or if France or the Phoenix Cult achieved an outright victory, or if the warring parties recognized the Lord Protector as an enemy, his scheme would collapse.

For an ordinary person, these risks would be so overwhelming that they’d hesitate before even attempting such a plan.

“The first scenario—the war ending ambiguously—seems unlikely. The government forces are maintaining their ability to fight against the Phoenix Cult with support from the Lord Protector and the United States. The second would be ideal, but reaching peace and ending the war in this situation seems difficult. And as for the last one… if that were possible, either the government forces or the Phoenix Cult would have already emerged victorious.”

The reason the Lord Protector proceeded fearlessly despite these massive risks was that he had sufficient grounds to do so.

First, both the government forces and the Phoenix Cult were receiving support from the Lord Protector and the United States, and neither foreign power wanted the revolutionary war to end ambiguously.

The United States wanted the Saint’s downfall, while the Lord Protector coveted the legacy she had built before her complete collapse, so he would continue providing support to prevent her total downfall.

This indicated the war would be prolonged, and with consistent foreign intervention, extending the war to the level the Lord Protector desired would be no challenge.

If there was anything to worry about, it would be the two forces noticing this fact and making peace to end the war, which would collapse both powers’ plans before they even began. Fortunately for the Lord Protector, neither the government forces nor the Phoenix Cult had any intention of making peace unless the other side yielded first, which worked in his favor.

And regarding the last possibility, if either side could decisively crush the other, the war would have ended long before the Lord Protector even conceived his ambitions.

[Haha. That’s true. But Alicia, what if there’s a way to make the Lord Protector eat dirt while simultaneously making your name known throughout the world?]

“Eh? Is there such an easy way?”

But even in this bleak situation where the Lord Protector seemed to control everything, there was a breakthrough.

Bahamut, cooperating with the Phoenix Cult at America’s request and receiving information from his friend Phoenix, understood the revolutionary war situation better than any other power.

Based on the vast information collected so far, Bahamut declared there was a way for Alicia to make her mark.

[Yes. Call it good fortune. It seems a time has come when your reputation is needed. First, regarding the Phoenix Cult. I hear they’re willing to agree to a ceasefire if the government forces make some concessions, due to concerns about foreign support and intervention.]

“That means…”

[Yes. If you mediate between the Saint and the Phoenix Cult, they might pretend to yield and accept your mediation.]

The solution was mediation.

Particularly, the name of Alicia, Queen of England and Dragon Priestess, carried significant weight. In the current political climate where a Dragon Priestess’s will was considered the will of the Dragon God, Alicia’s mediation could easily be accepted as mediation from the Dragon God Bahamut.

Of course, in Western Europe, the name of the English monarch might carry more weight than that of Dragon God Bahamut, but still, if a prestigious leader called for an end to the war and proposed mediation, both forces might pretend to accept it. However…

“But I don’t think the Saint will accept it. Would she accept my mediation with that pride of hers?”

The problem was that while Teresa Mari, full of respect for the gods, might accept the mediation, if the Saint of Orleans didn’t accept it, it would all be for nothing.

Alicia expressed concern that the Saint might not accept, indicating there were many variables, but…

[Well, we’ll need to show the Saint an exit strategy she can accept.]

“An exit strategy?”

As if anticipating this, Bahamut declared he would provide an exit strategy for the Saint as well.

[I’ll ask Phoenix to mediate with the Saint.]

Yes, even if the Saint of Orleans ignored Dragon God Bahamut’s words, she couldn’t easily dismiss mediation proposed by the immortal Phoenix.

In reality, with two gods directly mediating, the Saint would certainly sense that the situation was unusual. With her position as leader shaken by the Lord Protector’s betrayal, mediation by two gods would be enough to satisfy the wounded pride of the Saint, making her likely to back down.

No matter how high her pride, the Saint was a leader who understood what losses and gains lay before her, and she would have long known that the current situation was unfavorable to her.

[Well, it will look like the Saint is surrendering to the revolutionary forces. But that’s her own doing, so I have no reason to care. I just want to preserve what I currently have.]

This mediation would effectively make it appear as though she had been defeated by the revolutionary forces, but considering the reputation of the mediators, the Saint could retreat while preserving at least some pride and what she currently possessed.

“Is it Phoenix?”

[To be frank, she didn’t want this war either and has reservations about it, so if I ask her, she’ll certainly mediate with the Saint. The rest requires a prestigious figure to mediate publicly, and isn’t that a fitting role for you, the official Queen of England?]

“That… makes sense!”

It was entirely plausible.

Alicia nodded in agreement with Bahamut’s plan and accepted it, and thus they began the internal mediation process.

“In that sense, I plan to mediate between the Saint and Teresa.”

“Have you found a way?”

“Yes. My contractor Alicia has agreed to mediate. Please tell the Saint to accept this mediation.”

First, Bahamut himself visited Phoenix to inform her of the plan to tell the Saint.

Phoenix was hopeful when Bahamut mentioned mediating between the Saint and Teresa, but…

“I don’t think she’ll accept it.”

Concerned about the Saint’s pride, Phoenix expressed worry that she wouldn’t easily accept.

While this concern was understandable, Bahamut, believing the Saint couldn’t refuse, pushed strongly.

“Then this meaningless revolutionary war will continue. Tell her that the public mediator isn’t you, Phoenix, but Alicia, and she’ll understand.”

“Indeed! I’ll give it a try, Bahamut.”

To Phoenix, this made perfect sense, and for the Saint, this revolutionary war was meaningless and brought no benefit to her regime.

She was the one who most wanted to defeat the Phoenix Cult and end the revolution, and having failed to suppress the revolutionary forces, she would be seeking an exit strategy to escape this situation.

In reality…

[My friend Bahamut is saddened by the flames engulfing Western Europe and wishes to mediate between you and Teresa Mari.]

“…You’re lying? You’re giving me an exit strategy?”

[Believe it or not, his contractor Alicia has already begun preparations to mediate between you and the Phoenix Cult. Ah, of course, if you don’t want this, we can forget this conversation…]

“I’ll do it right away.”

The Saint had long lost her composure.

Despite taking extreme measures to crush the revolutionary forces, they kept appearing, and the war looked set to drag on.

In this bleak situation, when the immortal Phoenix offered an exit strategy, only a fool would refuse.

“Damn that Lord Protector. The moment I showed weakness, he betrayed me?”

The Saint was furious about the Lord Protector’s betrayal.

Just as she was sharpening her blade of revenge against the Lord Protector who had betrayed her at the most critical moment, Phoenix’s mediation arrived at the perfect time.

Moreover, it wasn’t Phoenix herself but the effectively neutral Dragon God Bahamut, and his contractor Alicia was none other than the Lord Protector’s adversary.

In other words…

“I hope our Queen will hold back the Lord Protector.”

The plan was to highlight Alicia’s name in this mediation, building her up as the Lord Protector’s adversary.

The more Alicia’s name was emphasized, the more the Lord Protector’s position would diminish, and the rights he had taken from the Saint would return to her hands.

But there was one problem.

“This means recognizing the Phoenix Cult. This war is a complete defeat.”

She would have to recognize the revolutionary forces.

This meant she would have to silently watch the growth of internal unstable forces responding to her, but…

“Fine. I’ll acknowledge it. This time, Phoenix, you’ve won.”

The proud Saint admitted defeat to the immortal Phoenix just this once.

‘Eh? When did I win?’

In fact, Phoenix could only stare at the Saint with a bewildered expression, wondering when she had fought and defeated the Saint.