Ch.242Chapter 242. Retreating to Border, Aftermath (7)

* * *

Located at the easternmost part of the Lynn Brans territory, Castle Zeilandt.

This insignificant castle had unexpectedly become a crucial strategic point at the frontline of the former Brans territory after it split into three countries.

Originally just a castle situated along a route, losing the territory was only a matter of time, but fortunately for Lynn, while Kalintz and Chel were preoccupied with each other, she somehow managed to establish barriers, organize troops, and secure the border.

And now, sitting in the lord’s seat receiving reports was not the original castle lord Rem, but the sovereign Lynn.

“My lord. As you commanded, we have issued a blockade order for the eastern region.”

Lynn nodded with satisfaction at Rem’s words.

“Good work. What about Farfalle?”

“He hasn’t returned from the blockade site yet. He mentioned to me that he might be late as he’s attending to various matters…”

“Is that so?”

If it’s Farfalle, I can trust him.

As Lynn relaxed, Rem hesitantly spoke up.

“Um… my lord.”

“What? Do you have a question?”

“No, well… you don’t necessarily have to tell me.”

“What is it?”

After hesitating for a long time to ask his question.

“May I ask why you’ve taken these measures?”

“Oh, was that all? I thought you were going to say you wanted to quit or something.”

‘I couldn’t bring myself to ask because I was afraid you might accuse me of questioning your orders…’

Rem swallowed his true thoughts as Lynn smiled wryly.

“It’s nothing special, but Serpina’s forces have been doing something similar.”

“…Pardon?”

“You know that Chel is currently at war with Aeshus, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard that much…”

“Think about it. Why are those two at war? What do you think?”

“Well… isn’t it because Chel Brans killed one of the founding contributors of Aeshus?”

Lynn nodded at his answer, but wiggled her finger as if it wasn’t the perfect response.

“That’s actually the result of the war, not the cause. What I mean is, how did they end up meeting? How was Chel able to kill a founding contributor of Aeshus?”

“Uh…”

As Rem worried about saying he didn’t know, fearing he might be scolded like Lynn used to do, Lynn spoke in an extremely gentle tone.

“It’s okay to say you don’t know. I’ll tell you.”

“…I don’t know.”

Gulp. Rem tensed momentarily, but—

Instead of getting angry or rebuking him, Lynn simply shared her thoughts.

“In my opinion, the root cause is that Serpina withdrew troops from the border. Think about it. If they hadn’t pulled back their forces, would Chel and Aeshus have ever met?”

As she said, while the war was triggered by Chel killing Erinandorf, a founding contributor of Aeshus.

This situation unfolded because Serpina abandoned their territory in the central continent.

Without that, the two countries wouldn’t have needed to cross swords in earnest.

“Ah… I think you’re right, my lord.”

“Right? And I’ve heard that Serpina, which caused this war, has issued a blockade near Castle Kelstein, thoroughly preventing outsiders, including their own territory’s residents, from entering.”

“So, simply because Serpina is doing it, you’ve also issued a blockade…?”

“Exactly.”

Lynn slowly began twirling her blue hair with her finger.

It was her habitual gesture when deep in thought.

“While people are talking about the war between Chel and Aeshus, Serpina, who engineered this mess, is busy blocking entrances to their own country. So, abandoning the border wasn’t because of a rebellion in the northern continent as rumored… I thought perhaps they’re trying to prevent some calamity that might affect the central continent.”

“When you say a calamity that might affect the central continent, could it be…”

Hearing Rem’s question, Lynn’s blue eyes sparkled just like they did when she first took the crown, pushing aside her two grown brothers—

She spoke with a lively tone.

“I think it might be a plague.”

“…!!”

“Why else would I issue a blockade?”

Lynn continued with a grin.

“That’s probably why they abandoned their territory in the central continent. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. From the perspective of the greedy Serpina, to give up hard-won territory in the central continent just to pit two countries against each other? It’s still a loss no matter how you look at it. Even if Chel or Aeshus is destroyed, it only shifts the balance of power—it doesn’t benefit Serpina at all. I think the war between the two countries wasn’t even in her considerations.”

“Well, if everything you’ve said is true, that makes sense… but how would Serpina know whether a plague would spread or not? Objectively speaking, Serpina’s actions seem like nothing more than the capricious deeds of a notoriously cruel witch…”

“…”

Lynn fell silent as soon as she heard Rem’s question.

She slowly closed her eyes.

“…It’s not Serpina I trust.”

“Excuse me…?”

“Why would I trust that insufferable woman? She killed her own blood with her own hands for the crown prince position. …Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be saying this, considering our territory has also been divided.”

Lynn said this, gave a brief bitter smile, and then.

“There’s someone trustworthy there.”

“…?”

What Lynn trusted wasn’t Serpina.

Rather, it was someone who likely advised Serpina directly on this seemingly incomprehensible action.

This problem-solving approach wasn’t unfamiliar to her.

The white-haired advisor who was once in her hands, who always spoke the truth…

Lynn opened her eyes.

And with another smile, she said:

“Well… there’s no point in dwelling on the past. Don’t you agree?”

“Y-yes…”

Though his curiosity had intensified due to the interrupted explanation, Rem decided to keep quiet instead of prying.

He didn’t want to risk irritating Lynn and facing her wrath.

In fact, even this riddling conversation was quite a challenge for Rem. Having risen to the position of castle lord in Brans territory, he knew all too well how difficult it was to please the arrogant and capricious Lynn.

Of course, he had heard that Lynn had changed significantly and become a completely different person… but one can’t truly believe such things until seeing them with their own eyes.

He had been cautious with his questions, fearing he might say something wrong, but it turned out not to be in vain.

Indeed, Lynn seemed like a different person compared to before.

She didn’t get annoyed by questions, didn’t dismiss ignorance, and instead of rebuking, she kindly explained.

While her manner of speech and tone were similar to the old Lynn… any adult could tell that the emotions behind them were different.

‘Has my lord truly changed?’

The advisor had said it too. The Lynn before the division of the country and the Lynn after were completely different people.

Seeing it firsthand made it somewhat believable, but… regaining broken trust is difficult.

‘She’s probably just lowering her guard because the situation is difficult. I shouldn’t expect too much.’

Lynn looked at Rem, who bowed his head to her.

She had already noticed that Rem harbored such thoughts.

The way he watched his words, it was familiar. It was how vassals used to act around her in the past, when she was certain no one stood above her.

‘There’s no need to explain everything in detail…’

Lynn wore a bitter smile.

All she could do was consistently show her changed self to the subordinates who remained by her side.

Anyway, if her prediction—or more precisely, the prediction of the man she trusted—was correct, the central continent would fall into unprecedented chaos.

It wasn’t time to step forward yet. Just a little longer… accumulating strength and waiting.

‘The time will surely come.’

Lynn decided to hunker down even more.

For the day when the sky-blue flags of Brans would once again cover the central continent.

* * *

Aeshus military field base camp.

“…You’re saying we lost?”

“Yes. I am deeply ashamed. …Please execute me.”

To the warrior bowing before her, Yurie spoke in a cold tone.

“Listen. There’s nothing to gain from killing you, so what’s the point of saying that?”

“B-but…”

“…Enough. If you truly want to show your loyalty, pull yourself together first. Go to the battlefield and achieve merit. That’s all I want.”

“…”

“What are you doing? Go.”

“…Understood.”

After dismissing the warrior, Yurie heaved a deep sigh.

She had thought conquering Chel would be easy… but things weren’t going as smoothly as expected.

With consecutive forced marches, repeated battles, and continuous siege warfare, the fatigue of Aeshus soldiers was reaching its limit.

The warriors were equally strained, making it impossible to fight with the same condition as before.

“…Damn it.”

Yurie slammed her fist on the desk.

Even now, Erinandorf must be suffering in the afterlife.

Until she took the head of that hateful Chel, she couldn’t spend a single day in peace.

As commander-in-chief, capturing Chel, who had entered into full-scale war, was proving more difficult than anticipated.

Though dulled, he was still once the greatest swordsman of Brans. Despite Emma and Epinel’s hard work… they lacked a decisive blow.

‘…I should consider recruiting mercenaries.’

If things continued like this, they would just repeat the same war of attrition, so it would be better to create a clear difference in military strength and conquer them.

In the process, a significant amount of gold would be consumed, making it impossible to implement Plan B as planned…

But right now, nothing was more important to her than erasing the existence of Chel Brans from the map.

‘Yes. I’ll talk to Anima when she arrives.’

As she thought this, she finally realized the source of the strange unease she had been feeling.

Why…

Why hasn’t Anima come?

She should have arrived by now.

‘…Is she still sleeping?’

No.

Anima, who was the least likely to oversleep, still sleeping at this hour was strange.

Yurie slowly rose from her seat and headed to where Anima was staying.

Something was wrong.

She didn’t know why… but she felt extremely anxious. This was an instinctive unease.

And finally, upon reaching Anima’s quarters, Yurie cautiously asked:

“Anima, are you there…?”

No answer came.

Unable to wait any longer, Yurie pushed open the door.

And…

“…!!!”

What entered her field of vision was—

Cough, cough… COUGH!!

“Yu…rie.”

With an extremely pained expression, lying in bed, repeatedly coughing and sweating profusely, was Anima.