Ch.298Chapter 298. Between Those Who ‘Mix’ Fate

* * *

A few days ago, during my meeting with Serpina in the conference room.

[No, it is not.]

‘……?’

The answer to Serpina’s question, ‘Is invading the Aeshus army right now the most efficient choice?’

No matter how many times I entered it, the resolute sentence [No, it is not] kept appearing.

What can our army do at this point?

The answer to that would be obvious to anyone with even a little strategic insight—no, to anyone capable of ‘normal thinking’—there was only one option.

Namely, to counter-invade the Aeshus army that had declared war on us.

Recently, news spread that the Kalintz army had been annexed by the Brans army. This meant that the peace treaty between Serpina and Lynn was now valid, so if our army invaded the Brans side first, it would violate the agreement, and there was no need to risk international condemnation.

Breaking treaties would inevitably leave a negative impression on the territory residents of the central continent that we would eventually rule. Serpina’s public image was already shattered, so why add more infamy to her name?

The Aeshus army, however, was different. Yurie had attacked our army without sufficient grounds and failed. We now had every justification to invade her country.

Although wars of aggression in this era weren’t always about justification—having some legitimacy would help quickly win over the hearts of the residents in newly conquered territories.

But why?

Why wasn’t invading the Aeshus army the most efficient choice for our army?

‘Could there be another rebellion?’

I looked at Serpina and explained the general results.

“Are you saying invasion would not be a good decision?”

“Yes. Do you have any suspicions about why?”

“Suspicions…”

Serpina rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

“I’m not sure at the moment.”

“You don’t know?”

“The way you’re asking suggests you have something you want to hear from me. Tell me. If that’s what you want, I can oblige.”

As she said this with a chuckle, I felt awkward and turned my head away before speaking.

“It’s not so much what I want to hear… I just thought you would naturally say, ‘It seems another rebellion is brewing,’ like you used to.”

At my words, she nodded as if finally understanding my attitude.

“I see. But things are different now. I recently received a letter from Jenna.”

“A letter?”

Jenna, the former State Counselor, had taken over my position and was serving as the lord of the capital castle Einhart in Serpina’s absence while she joined the occupation forces.

“The fact that rebellions break out at every opportunity is something I’m well aware of, and Jenna, as the former State Counselor, certainly knows this too. She’s been conducting intensive patrols while I’ve been away. I receive regular reports about it.”

As expected of Serpina, she knew what needed to be done without me having to tell her.

“As a result, there are no signs or indications of an impending rebellion. Besides, apart from the capital defense forces, all the elite troops have been brought with us as occupation forces. Even if they somehow managed to gather the remaining territorial forces for a rebellion, we’ve set things up so the capital defense forces could easily suppress it.”

“So you’re saying you’ve thoroughly prepared this time.”

“Rather than blaming fate for being cruel, a ruler’s duty is to think about how to deal with it.”

The mention of fate left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I didn’t show it.

In front of someone working so diligently, doing everything in her power… I didn’t want to say anything that might belittle her efforts.

Serpina, who had been speaking with a rather relaxed attitude, slowly smiled as she looked at me.

“Well, even so, if your divine eye is precisely targeting a ‘rebellion’—it’s not impossible.”

“What do you mean by ‘not impossible’?”

“If the lord of the capital castle, who holds command over the capital defense forces, were to rebel, our army would suffer a devastating blow.”

What?

Does that mean…

“…Wait. Are you saying Lady Jenna might rebel?”

“If your divine eye’s revelation says so, it’s not impossible, is it?”

“But Lady Jenna rebelling seems rather unconvincing—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

Because Serpina, for just a fleeting moment, showed a face that looked like it might crumble at any second… I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

“Whether it’s convincing to me or not doesn’t matter.”

“Everyone did it. Starting with those I believed would never betray me, one by one they drew their swords to kill me.”

“I trust Jenna. I entrusted her with all authority in Einhart Castle without hesitation because I have faith in her. However… that doesn’t mean I believe the cruel fate targeting me will spare only Jenna.”

“My lord…”

Despite being betrayed so many times, she still doesn’t stop trusting others.

But her true ‘strength,’ I realized, wasn’t simply refusing to give up on trust—it was never excluding the possibility that her trust might be betrayed again.

Though she spoke casually, the terrible loneliness she must have felt stirred my thoughts… and once again, I felt my heart going out to her.

“…Swen. If you command it, I will immediately withdraw the occupation forces and head to the capital. Focusing on internal affairs for a while wouldn’t be a bad idea. We also need to manage the newly acquired territories of Chel’s army. What do you think? What path does your ‘divine eye’ illuminate?”

“…”

Right.

Coming back to the question, it was proven that invading the Aeshus army wasn’t the optimal choice for our army at this point.

It would be meaningless to doubt the results that came out now. So, the fact that doing something ‘different’ rather than invading immediately would benefit our army shouldn’t be questioned.

Then—what should we do?

“…My lord. I’d like to check about withdrawing troops to the capital instead of invading.”

“Are you suggesting we should withdraw all troops to the capital Einhart?”

When I entered Serpina’s perfectly understood question again:

[No, it is not.]

“…It seems redirecting forces to the capital isn’t a good method either.”

“Then, does that mean there won’t be a rebellion?”

“I can’t guarantee it. But… the possibility seems lower now.”

If, as Serpina said, only a rebellion in the capital could inflict devastating damage on our forces—that was just a premise.

She wasn’t someone who handled matters carelessly, so I thought her words could be trusted.

“I see…”

Seeing Serpina secretly sigh with relief, I wanted to get an answer here somehow, for her sake if nothing else.

“My lord. Please ask about our national policy direction.”

“What should our army do from now on?”

Generally, questions that felt this direct didn’t get answers—

But there was one exception. When it concerned state affairs, battles, or wars, the intelligence of 100 would sometimes directly suggest a direction.

My expectation that it might happen this time—was right on target.

[Prepare for war with the Aeshus army.]

‘……???’

The problem was, while my prediction that an answer might come was correct.

I had no idea what the answer meant.

‘Prepare for war? But invading now isn’t good??’

What does this even mean?

It seems I’ve extracted as much as I can through questions… From here on, it’s important to figure out why these results came up, but the materials at hand were scarce.

Thinking simply, it meant something would go wrong with our army at the time of invasion, which was essentially the same as a rebellion—

‘Is it really… really a rebellion?’

But if so, why wouldn’t withdrawing troops to the capital be the optimal response?

…No. If a rebellion were to occur at this point, the troops wouldn’t make it to the capital… So if there’s a better countermeasure than that, such an answer wouldn’t be strange.

‘But it still doesn’t feel right.’

Whether it was just intuition, or sympathy born from thinking Serpina’s fate was too cruel, I couldn’t shake the feeling that ‘a rebellion occurring’ wasn’t the right answer.

“My lord. It seems we lack sufficient information. However, in any case, I don’t think a rebellion will occur.”

“Has your divine eye helped you be certain of that?”

“…No. In fact, if we were to follow only the divine eye’s revelations, assuming a rebellion somewhere would be most rational.”

“Then how can you be so sure? It’s embarrassing to say this myself, but… considering my fate, wouldn’t it be rational to expect a rebellion somewhere?”

“On that point, please trust me. No matter how cruel your fate may be, who knows how things might change when you add the variable that is me?”

“…!!!”

“?”

What’s this?

Did I say something wrong?

Her expression changed so dramatically at my casual remark…

“Mix… you say.”

“? Yes.”

“I see. Mixing you… with me.”

She kept mulling over that word for a while—

“…Very well. I will follow your intentions.”

Her face had turned bright red, which was a bit concerning, but since she was willing to listen to me, there was no need to make an issue of it.

“Thank you. In that sense, I’d like to look into a few things.”

“Say anything. I will be your hands and feet.”

“I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for a ruler to say such things…”

As she laughed with a “hohoho,” the first thing I asked was—

“Please organize a reconnaissance team that can infiltrate the Aeshus army.”

“Is that all you need?”

No, that wasn’t all.

I carefully revealed my true intention.

—Please include me in the reconnaissance team.