Ch.392Chapter 392. The World is Divided into Two Nations (1)

* * *

In the Anel Castle, under Lunarian’s command.

The first thing Luna did after occupying Anel Castle was to move the capital from Madellan Castle to Anel Castle.

With the war against Serpina’s forces looming, having the capital’s functions concentrated in Madellan Castle in the southern continent was inefficient—and anyway, Madellan Castle was only meaningful to the Karelia forces; from Lunarian’s perspective, it was just one of the major cities in the southern continent.

If they were to establish a unified empire, they would have to designate a new capital anyway.

In these times, there was not a single person who would oppose the relocation, so the entire process proceeded very smoothly.

With the Brans forces surrendering to Serpina’s forces, only two nations remained: their own Lunarian forces and the imperial specter, Serpina’s forces.

In this situation, morale was soaring sky-high on the Lunarian side.

“My lord! Let’s go take Serpina’s head! Let’s establish a unified empire and put an end to these long years of war!”

“Command us as you wish! I, Metz, will gladly follow your will!”

“Our Raven mercenary group, along with the Chilean mercenary group, will always be your wings until you achieve your great cause, my lord.”

The most fundamental reason all the lords had risen up—Serpina von Einhart.

Just belonging to the only country that could face that witch gave everyone tremendous pride.

If ordinary officers and soldiers felt this way, how much more excited must those who had served her from the bottom during the rebel army days be?

“Following my uncle’s dying wish, I will surely achieve merit. Please give me, Francis, the order to march!”

“I, Charlotte, will gladly bring you the head of the last remaining specter of this cursed bloodline flowing in my veins.”

Everyone.

Except for two people, everyone was burning with fighting spirit ahead of the decisive battle against Serpina’s forces.

One was the sovereign, Lunarian Ineanne.

And the other was the national strategist, Ginor.

“I understand everyone’s wishes. However, the time has not yet come. Please do not neglect your training in preparation for the upcoming decisive battle.”

“But my lord, wouldn’t this give Serpina’s forces time to regroup? Even now, we should quickly send troops to where Lynn Brans, who has surrendered to Serpina, is—”

“Francis. I understand your feelings, but please calm down.”

Francis, who had been speaking with passionate tone, suddenly realized his voice had risen too high and immediately bowed his head to his absolute ruler.

“…I apologize, my lord. I have committed a grave sin.”

“No. I’m not asking for an apology, and it’s not a grave sin. Francis, you were thinking of our nation, weren’t you?”

“My lord…”

“Whether we like it or not, we must confront Serpina. When that moment comes, I will rely on you, so please focus on preparing for the march until then. Understood?”

“Yes, understood!”

After dismissing all the officers in this manner.

Lunarian sat in the audience chamber chair and let out a deep sigh.

The national strategist Ginor, who remained alone with her, carefully addressed her.

“…My lord.”

“Speak.”

“You’re concerned about Lord Swen, aren’t you?”

For a moment, Luna’s eyes trembled slightly.

“…”

“You can speak frankly. I am the only one who encountered Lord Swen in the Aeshus forces, so I might be able to answer some of your questions.”

Luna hesitated for a while, her lips fumbling as if trying to say something—

Then, as if resigned, she blurted out:

“I met Lady Irene on the battlefield.”

“…!!”

Ginor was startled for a moment but quickly assessed the situation through his own reasoning.

“The fact that you encountered a retreating general in a victorious situation but did not take her prisoner suggests that you released General Irene.”

“You’re very perceptive, Ginor.”

“It’s not such an impressive deduction. There aren’t many possible conclusions to begin with.”

“…”

She sighed briefly again.

On the battlefield, she always encouraged combat with a confident tone, but when it came to talking about Swen, she seemed more like a young girl than a sovereign, general, or the cruel Red-Eyed Dragon of the battlefield.

“Why… isn’t he coming?”

With only two nations remaining.

Why isn’t he coming?

“Did you hear anything from General Irene?”

“…”

“It seems you did.”

For the first time, Luna showed a genuine smile at Ginor’s words.

Not a smile for public display, but one with real emotion.

“I can’t hide anything from you, Ginor.”

“What did she say? General Irene is Swen’s closest confidant. I believe she’s in a position to convey what he’s thinking right now.”

“…All I remember is her saying that Serpina is not a villain.”

“…”

Ginor closed his eyes and sighed.

The “path for everyone” was, as he had suspected, not limited to just the Lunarian forces.

“She said that Serpina isn’t actually a bad person… so he has no choice but to stay by her side.”

Luna said this while taking something out from her bosom.

“What is this…?”

“Read it.”

Ginor examined what he received from Luna.

A letter. This handwriting… Ginor had seen it before.

‘Lord Swen…?’

Ginor quickly checked the letter from Swen.

Cutting through the flowery language, the essence was as follows:

He hasn’t forgotten his promise to Lady Luna.

Please wait a little longer.

He will find a path for everyone…

‘He said the same thing to me.’

In fact, although Luna didn’t seem to notice, what puzzled Ginor wasn’t the ambiguity of the letter’s content itself.

‘How is it possible for someone in Lord Swen’s position to send such a personal letter to the sovereign in the heart of enemy territory?’

If that were true, it would mean there was not a single person in Serpina’s forces who could check Swen.

Think about it. No matter how high the position of national strategist, there were still eyes of lords, corps commanders, and generals watching.

Sending a letter to the sovereign of the only hostile nation would obviously spread ominous rumors that “our strategist is having secret conversations with the enemy sovereign.”

Swen wasn’t the type to act recklessly without knowing this. Rather, he was someone with the intuition to never take inefficient paths.

‘…’

Something.

Something seemed about to dawn on him… but Ginor lacked sufficient information to complete the proposition.

“What is the path for everyone? Is it a path for Serpina? But… Serpina killed all her own blood relatives with her own hands, didn’t she? She even declared it herself when she ascended to the imperial throne. Lord Swen must know that…”

“My lord…”

“I don’t know. Whether it’s right to cross swords with Lord Swen… I was planning to just secure the route to Anel Castle, annihilate the Brans forces, and try to guide Lord Swen back, but… with what General Irene said, and this letter…”

Ginor remained silent for a moment—

Then, with a determined look in his eyes, he said:

“My lord. Now is the time to do what you can.”

“What I can do…”

“Unfortunately, neither of us can know what Lord Swen is thinking or what his exact purpose is. What is certain is that Lord Swen values his promise with Luna enough to send a letter. I believe it’s right to advance toward establishing a unified empire while holding onto only that fact.”

“…”

“Then… won’t you meet again someday?”

There was more he wanted to say, but Ginor deliberately held back.

He needed to avoid unnecessarily provoking Luna.

Honestly.

If they were to meet, it would likely be as a prisoner rather than through defection.

How could he tell Luna that, given how things had progressed, Swen would most likely never leave Serpina’s forces of his own accord?

“So, do what you can. Command the battles and save the territory residents groaning under Serpina’s grasp. Many people are betting everything on Lunarian’s name. As the Red-Eyed Dragon, move forward and seize the empire from her.”

Hearing those words, Luna said nothing for a while…

Then, slowly rising from her seat.

“…I understand.”

If I keep doing what I can until the end, someday…

Muttering such words, she quietly walked out of the audience chamber.

* * *

“You look tired, Swen.”

“Me, you mean?”

The day after the wedding.

As I arrived at the royal castle of Valharat, Serpina chuckled amusingly and said:

“Well, it’s understandable. You spent your first night with such a woman. Being a man, you must have had your energy drained considerably.”

“…Your joke goes too far.”

“Hmm? Don’t tell me nothing happened?”

“…”

Seeing that I couldn’t bring myself to speak, she became even more delighted and blushed.

At times like this, she seemed less like an imperial sovereign and more like a girl who enjoyed gossip.

“Hehehe… Practice well. You’ll have to deal with several more in the future.”

“Practice…”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Swen.”

After our light conversation ended.

We could have proceeded directly to discussing state affairs, but—

“My lord.”

“Speak.”

—there was something I needed to hear from her now.

“Do you remember? The day you… experienced that assassination attempt.”

“…!”

Serpina was startled and shuddered briefly—

But soon, regaining her composure as an emperor, she answered:

“Yes. I remember.”

“Do you also remember what you told me then?”

“What are you referring to?”

“…The words, ‘I didn’t kill anyone.'”

“!!!”

She had been responding quite well, but—

This statement caught her off guard, and her imperial composure completely crumbled as she stared at me with trembling eyes.

“S-Swen…?”

I didn’t want to force the issue, but—

The time given to wait was far too short.

Looking straight into her eyes without avoiding them, I asked:

“Tell me, Serpina. On that day, when all the imperial princes of Einhart were dying… what really happened?”