Ch.36Chapter 36. Dream

# Dream.

For the past few days, she had been repeatedly having a specific dream.

A place that seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it was.

In that place filled with buildings of blue roofs and white brick walls, a man approached her.

That man was an incredibly beautiful male with snow-white hair and gray eyes.

She didn’t know who he was.

But in the dream, she knew who that person was.

His name was-

‘…..’

Although she clearly called out his name naturally in the dream, she couldn’t remember it at all after waking up.

She slightly frowned and placed her hand on her forehead.

Perhaps because of her brilliantly striking appearance, even her slight narrowing of golden eyes was breathtakingly beautiful.

‘Who is that man….’

If she had time, she might have calmly thought about that man—

But the position she stood upon simply wouldn’t allow her any personal time.

Knowing this well herself, she got out of the soft bed as soon as she regained consciousness.

‘….Never mind.’

Today too, for the people who needed her, she had no choice but to become the “her” that everyone wanted.

As if submitting to the fate given to her, she gathered her distinctive hairpin from the table, quickly organized her thoughts, and prepared to leave the bedroom.

*

After leaving the bedroom, she passed the guards and walked down a long corridor.

While walking this corridor, she closed her eyes slightly.

This was a kind of ritual she performed.

The “real me” who had just woken up from sleep would walk down this corridor with eyes closed, transforming into the “me that everyone demands.”

Soon, a thick door appeared.

And when this door opened—

‘…..’

With a creaking sound of the door opening.

A woman with brown hair tied back bowed to her respectfully.

“Have you awakened, my lord?”

“…Mm.”

She nodded, then took her seat on the absolute sovereign’s throne prepared for her.

The brown-haired woman stuck close to her side, reporting on recent events and matters she needed to hear.

“Forces for the 4th Kelstein Castle expedition have been fully prepared at Chorel Castle and Cherien Castle. And from General Julian, an opinion has been submitted to prioritize destroying the fortress located north of Kelstein Castle newly built by the Brans army.”

“The number of troops?”

“About 28,000 troops are stationed at the fortress, it seems.”

“If we’re to attack the fortress, we’ll depart from Chorel Castle, correct?”

“That’s right.”

She fell into thought for a moment, then asked the woman.

“Jenna, I’m curious about your thoughts.”

“May I speak frankly?”

“I’d be troubled if you didn’t.”

At her words, the brown-haired woman—Jenna—smiled slightly and answered.

“Regarding the fortress first, I don’t understand why they built a fortress there in the first place. It’s not in a particularly strategic position. So rather than focusing on this, I think it would be better to lead a large force using the southeastern route from Cherien Castle to directly attack Kelstein Castle. If we do that, the 28,000 troops stationed at the fortress will come down for defense anyway, and then it would be right to divide and conquer them with forces coming down from Chorel Castle. That seems better for attacking than targeting the troops inside the fortress.”

“I see.”

She tapped the armrest of the throne with her finger.

Her golden eyes naturally flashed.

“So the key is Cherien Castle… Anything else to report?”

“There are reports of troops gathering near the border between the Aeshus and Brans armies.”

“Oh?”

Are they planning to attack the east at this point?

For whatever reason, this was quite a favorable development for our army.

How should we proceed if our army wants to move beyond the north to another location?

If you continue southeast from Cherien Castle, you’ll reach a massive mountain range, and crossing it would lead to where the Aeshus army is—but it wasn’t a path where troops could be deployed.

The southwest of Chorel Castle was also a series of rugged mountains and swamps, making it unwise to advance toward the mid-west of the continent through there.

The choice was Kelstein Castle, positioned at the gateway directly into the central region.

Breaking through here would finally allow advancement from the north to the south.

Although three expeditions had failed—the battle ratio was still turning in our favor.

It was a fight that could only be won through attrition warfare.

In this situation, if the Brans army extended the front line, what could be more welcome?

I don’t know what their strategist was thinking—but given this development, we couldn’t help but take advantage of it.

At that moment.

Jenna bowed her head to her and asked.

“Lady Serpina. What will you do?”

“…..”

At Jenna’s words, the one sitting on the absolute sovereign’s throne, the only person publicly carrying on the will of Einhart and closest to achieving the goal of continental hegemony—

With her intensely shining golden hair and even more vibrant golden eyes, Serpina von Einhart answered in a somewhat dry voice.

“The execution date will likely be determined within a week. Until then, make sure to report in detail on the situation at the eastern border of the Brans army.”

“Understood. I will order thorough preparations so that we can proceed whenever you give the word.”

“I’m counting on you.”

And at that very moment.

Bang!

The main door of the audience chamber opened with a chaotic sound.

“My lord!!!!”

A soldier rushing frantically toward them.

Serpina asked in a calm tone, not showing any panic.

“What is it?”

“Che… Cherien Castle.”

The soldier desperately delivered information that needed to be conveyed immediately, without even time to catch his breath.

“The lord of Cherien Castle, Ian Lishfalt… has rebelled…!”

“…!!!”

“…..”

Unlike Jenna, who turned pale with shock at those words—

Serpina merely frowned slightly, showing no particular reaction.

“Claiming to purge the false witch of Einhart who has nothing left but a name, and declaring that the Lishfalt family is the true legitimate successor to Lord Algot, the rightful heir of the Einhart Empire, he has raised an army to restore order!”

‘…..’

Serpina’s impression upon hearing this was very simple.

—A pathetic man who could only rely on the authority of someone already dead.

Her brother, Algot von Einhart, would never have wanted something like this.

She thought briefly about her “past” and gritted her teeth—

But she needed to hide such emotions.

“How many have joined him?”

Jenna asked, and the soldier quickly answered.

“Including Solana Lishfalt, the lord of Mati Castle, about 13 people in total. Most of the rebel forces are people associated with the Lishfalt family.”

Mati Castle was a small castle near Cherien Castle.

“I see.”

That Ian fellow.

Was he planning this moment all along when he threw away his pride and pressed his knees firmly to the ground?

Serpina let out a brief scoff.

She knew it was just the desperate struggle of people who couldn’t change history anyway.

“…What will you do, my lord?”

“Let’s postpone the 4th expedition for now.”

“But—”

“It’s fine. The current forces of the Brans army won’t have any impact anyway.”

According to the latest intelligence received yesterday, the forces at Kelstein Castle had somehow increased by 10,000 from the last confirmed count.

Unless there were many more gathered, that level of force wasn’t a major threat.

The reason for rushing this 4th expedition was to invade quickly before they could gather more troops.

The sudden increase in troops made me wonder if they had noticed our plans for reinvasion, but if so, they would have sent more than 10,000 soldiers.

The Brans army certainly had the capacity to do so.

“…Understood.”

Hearing Jenna’s response, Serpina rose from her seat and extended her hand toward the soldier, saying:

“Go and announce this. Summon all generals on duty immediately! We will prepare to march. Send a messenger to each castle lord to share the situation as quickly as possible and authorize them to march without my approval!”

“Yes, understood!”

With those final words, the soldier ran off again at a rapid pace.

‘Rebellion….’

A rebellion wouldn’t change anything.

She would just do what she had always done.

That was—to “thoroughly crush” it.

For the sake of re-establishing the imperial flag. For herself who had… “inherited” the will of Einhart.

“…..”

She mulled over her brother’s name.

Algot von Einhart…

The person she killed—yes, “killed”…

If that was the fate she had to accept—

‘…Another bloodbath is coming.’

The woman known publicly as a tyrant was having thoughts quite unlike her reputation.

Of course, whether it was like her or not—even she couldn’t tell anymore.

* * *

As I expected, the situation finally erupted before long.

“A rebellion… you say?”

In response to Irene’s words as she knelt, Rasion nodded and said:

“Yes. The lord of Cherien Castle, Ian Lishfalt, has raised an army. According to the most recent information, he has about 40,000 troops, but he may have gathered more by now.”

‘So it is a rebellion after all.’

I had somewhat anticipated this would happen.

But actually seeing it unfold gave me a strange feeling.

Plus, the name of the rebel was familiar.

Ian Lishfalt.

But what was unfamiliar was that—he wasn’t a general under Serpina’s command, but one of the lords of the northern region leading an independent force called the “Ian Army.”

Of course, since he respawns in the north, he would very likely become Serpina’s food—but this scene of someone starting under Serpina and then declaring independence was something even I hadn’t seen before.

Rasion stared at me kneeling beside Irene for a long time.

I thought he might ask something unnecessary, but instead of questioning, he went straight to the point.

“I received a request from General Kalintz for troop support… but excluding the forces needed to safely defend our castle, it seems we can only move the 10,000 soldiers that you, General Irene, brought. How much time do you need to prepare for departure?”

“We can leave right now.”

“…What?”

To Rasion’s question, Irene answered firmly once more.

“Yes. We can march immediately, my lord.”

“…..”

Rasion wiped away a slight cold sweat and finally spoke.

“…Did you anticipate this? That this would happen?”

“…..”

Irene silently looked up at Rasion.

Rasion would know from their previous discussions.

That the moment to deploy troops had finally arrived.

And—that ultimately meant Irene’s opinion, and by extension my opinion, had been correct.

Well.

The opportunity had already passed.

Adding 10,000 troops wouldn’t be enough to turn the tide, and waiting for additional reinforcements would clearly miss the optimal timing.

‘Well, it would be nice if we could at least get Valhalrat Castle.’

But that’s probably not going to happen either.

In this moment, I freshly realized that my abilities could be meaningless without a “lord who believes in me.”

Rasion sighed briefly, then loudly proclaimed to us:

“General Irene, take 10,000 troops and move to the fortress where General Kalintz is stationed!”

“Yes, understood!”

As Irene left the royal castle after saluting, I fell into thought.

‘What is Kalintz trying to do?’

There were about 28,000 soldiers at the fortress.

Add our 10,000 troops and that makes 38,000.

This number was insufficient to recapture Cherien Castle, which appeared to have about 40,000 troops stationed.

It might be possible if more forces were sent from Kelstein Castle, but Serpina’s army wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

Rasion’s choice to send only additional troops was a wise decision.

‘Is Kalintz just pushing forward with some kind of wishful thinking?’

It was the worst prediction, but would a named general like Kalintz Brans really do something so stupid?

Among the Brans triplets, Kalintz was the most ordinary, but he was still an S-class general.

He’d probably just test the waters a bit, realize the troop numbers weren’t enough, click his tongue, and give up.

I hadn’t made predictions yet, but that seemed right to me.

Still, I had to do what I was ordered.

After leaving the royal castle.

Irene finally turned her head and looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“…Swen. There’s something I want to ask.”

“Please go ahead.”

“Did you anticipate this would happen?”

Ah.

Come to think of it—from Irene’s perspective, it must seem like I had completely foreseen this future.

If at that time, I had somehow managed to overturn opinions in the debate with Farfalle without Lynn’s interference, we would have stationed more troops for northern defense according to Irene’s opinion.

And naturally, with those many troops, we would have had the opportunity to invade Ian’s army much faster than Serpina’s army right as they were mobilizing.

What an opportunity. We probably could have successfully attacked Cherien Castle.

So once again, my prediction had been correct.

Irene wasn’t my lord, but she was still a woman who would have to work with me in the long term.

There was no harm in appearing “plausible” to her.

I spoke with the most nonchalant attitude I could manage:

“I did sense something unusual in the north. I have relatives near the north, so I occasionally hear news through letters. I expected a rebellion might occur, but I couldn’t be certain… If I had known it would be like this, I should have made a stronger case.”

“…!”

Irene stared at me in shock, unable to speak as if she couldn’t believe the current situation.

To her, I added words like driving in a wedge:

“Didn’t I tell you clearly? Your opinion was not wrong, Lady Irene. No, your opinion was the only correct answer. I think you’ll understand what I mean soon enough.”

“Ah….”

After hearing my words, Irene remained frozen for a moment, slightly bowed her head—

And then murmured in a pitiful voice as if about to cry:

“I see. I… wasn’t wrong.”

“That’s right. It doesn’t matter that no one else raised their hand to agree with your opinion. In the end, you were right, Lady Irene.”

“…..”

And then.

She looked up at me cautiously with a flushed face.

“And… you were the only one who believed in me, Swen.”

?

Rather than believing in her, I just took her side to raise her affection, but I suppose her statement was “nearly correct” since the outcome matched.

Anyway, recognizing this was an excellent opportunity to raise her affection, I smiled at her.

“Didn’t I tell you? Lady Irene. I didn’t take your side out of pity. So, you don’t need to feel discouraged.”

At my words, she nodded.

Her purple eyes rippled as if about to spill tears.

“…Yes. Thank you, Swen.”

If the situation had been better, we could have slowly discussed “why Lady Irene’s plan was right”—

But right now, we had received orders to go to the fortress immediately.

I spoke as if to change the atmosphere:

“Anyway, we can’t help that the opportunity has passed. Let’s head to the northern fortress since we’ve been summoned.”

“Let’s do that.”

I immediately set off for the recently built fortress with Irene, Jack, and Silin.

* * *

And when we arrived at the fortress—

The “worst prediction” had, surprisingly, become reality.