Ch.76Chapter 76. Tectonic Shift (1)

* * *

“Is that… really true?”

“Yes. Our forces have suffered unspeakably devastating losses… and General Chel is also severely wounded.”

A historic defeat due to Chel Brans’ misjudgment.

After discovering Irene Juliette and recklessly continuing the battle with her… time dragged on, and it seemed that all the troops who had launched the surprise attack suffered near-annihilation without even having a chance to retreat.

After hearing all the facts from the battlefield from the messenger who had rushed over, Farfalle collapsed on the spot, her legs giving out as if struck by lightning.

‘Why… did this happen…?’

The operation had been perfect.

Considering the enemy commander Epinel’s “determination to advance into the Central Continent,” she had thought the surprise attack would definitely succeed… so why did it fail?

Moreover, the scout had reported that he had clearly confirmed preparations for a ritual ceremony at the fortress.

The enemy was clearly trying to defend the fortress. If they weren’t confident that many troops would arrive there, why would they be preparing for a ceremony?

‘Why on earth…!’

At that moment.

For some reason, the image of a young man with white hair flashed through Farfalle’s mind.

“Specifically… I’m asking if you’re thinking of making a pact with the Charam forces to attack simultaneously.”

“We need to gather our forces in the north and invade Serpina’s territory.”

She didn’t know how he had figured it out, but thinking about it now, the man named Swen had seen through everything as if he had seen the future.

The fact that this man was with the Aeshus forces… suddenly gave her chills.

‘Could it be…’

No. It couldn’t be.

It didn’t make sense. Common sense dictated that humans couldn’t reach a state of omniscience.

Certainly he had extraordinary abilities… but knowing everything… that couldn’t be right…?

‘…Calm down.’

Farfalle stopped thinking about Swen.

Even if it were true that he had figured everything out and used them in reverse, she wasn’t sitting in the position of national strategist to admire that man.

What happened had happened, and she needed to deal with it right now.

‘At this rate, the southern front will be completely empty…’

If she redirected the western forces that had finished reorganizing to the south, then the eastern front would be empty.

And bringing troops from the north was out of the question. That was an area that absolutely could not be left undefended.

Right now, they had armistice agreements with the southern countries that shared borders… but this was just a fleeting moment, far too short to replenish with new soldiers.

‘First… calm down. I need to inform my lord of the facts as soon as possible.’

After organizing the current situation, Farfalle ordered the messenger before her to report immediately to Anel Castle.

It was important for her lord Lynn to understand the current situation first.

“Understood! I will make sure to deliver the message!”

After sending the messenger.

Farfalle fell back into contemplation.

‘What should I do? How… how can we overcome this crisis?’

Honestly.

She was the one who had devised this operation.

This meant that the blame for this unimaginably massive failure didn’t rest solely on Chel Brans for falling for the provocation.

Of course, things had gotten this bad because Chel hadn’t acted according to her plan and had dragged out the time… but assigning blame now wouldn’t solve anything.

‘What should I do… what should I do…!’

No matter how many times she thought about it-

In the end, all possibilities led to an extremely desperate reality.

Farfalle looked up at the darkening sky and thought.

‘…Has heaven abandoned Lady Lynn?’

Although she had been more cautious than anyone about blindly invoking heaven’s will.

At this moment, she couldn’t help but think that way.

* * *

A few days later, the messenger sent by Farfalle arrived at Anel Castle.

The failure of the surprise operation and Chel Brans’ defeat.

Regarding the Aeshus forces, they had lost well over 80,000 soldiers so far.

The betrayal of 38,000 and the annihilation of 45,000.

And they hadn’t even been able to inflict any meaningful damage on the Aeshus forces.

Literally, they had only lost soldiers and died in vain.

Crunch, crunch.

Lynn bit her fingernails roughly.

Red blood was dripping from the tips of her nails.

‘Impossible, impossible, impossible…’

The defeat and injury of Chel, the First Sword of Brans.

The decisive cause of the defeat was that Chel had fallen for a provocation.

And of all people… from that woman she didn’t even want to think about.

‘Irene Juliette…!!!’

Bang!

Lynn slammed her fist hard against the armrest of the throne.

Of all people.

Here again, of all people, she had been defeated by Irene.

Not by anyone else, but by that red-haired filthy traitor she couldn’t stand the sight of!

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it damn it damn it…!!!!!’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She kept hitting the armrest until her fist turned red, but of course, nothing was resolved.

And now, finally, her reason as a ruler returned to her.

‘What about the soldiers… what should I do? There are only a few thousand soldiers on the southern border…’

Lynn urgently sent messengers to order her subjects to think of solutions to the current situation.

A few hours later, an old man came to see her.

“My lord. It’s been a long time.”

This old man was Byron, a senior minister who had served the Brans forces for two generations and was the former lord of Raclaine Castle.

After stepping down from his position as castle lord, he had retired from the front lines and was barely keeping himself busy with odd jobs, but he had come to Anel Castle to advise Lynn on the current crisis.

“Byron. You’ve heard the news, I assume?”

“Yes. In my judgment, the situation is extremely dangerous. You need to make a decision quickly.”

“A decision?”

“Even now, offer to cede Raclaine Castle in exchange for a ceasefire agreement of at least three years with the Aeshus forces. If the north or south is breached, it’s over. If we only need to guard against the Aeshus forces in the east, we can somehow find a way through.”

“…”

Lynn could only stare into space, at a loss for words.

Objectively speaking, ceding Raclaine Castle and making a ceasefire agreement for more than three years was likely the option that would minimize damage.

That way, they could somehow patch up the south with troops from the west.

But.

Bowing to the Aeshus forces-

To her, it was the same as bowing to that insufferable Irene Juliette who served under them.

Of all people, she absolutely could not lose to her.

She couldn’t show any weakness to her!

“Any other options?”

“…We could try to sow discord among the southern countries and incite war, but… honestly, I’m not sure if it would work. I’m not even sure if we have enough time.”

“I absolutely cannot give the Aeshus forces what they want. …Think of another way.”

“…”

Byron left the royal castle without saying anything more.

The few ministers who came after him were similar.

They all brought plausible opinions, but none of them felt clearly decisive.

Yes.

All these people who had served our forces for a long time.

They had less confidence in their words than Swen, who had been just a newcomer.

Thinking about it now, Swen always spoke with confidence.

When he said we should send troops to the north, when he said the Aeshus forces were conspiring with the Allepel and Charam forces to deceive us.

There was only one time his words weren’t right. Only at the end when he said we should build a fortress and attack the Aeshus forces.

Come to think of it, that probably wasn’t his opinion.

It was obviously Irene’s opinion, wasn’t it?

After all, they betrayed us together.

In the end, it all comes back to Irene.

The thought that Irene Juliette was mocking and humiliating her made her blood boil again.

“…Aaaaaaargh!!!”

She screamed with all her might, but of course, nothing was resolved.

Now, never.

She would never be led around by that damned red-haired woman again.

“Lady Lynn. I am Irene Juliette. I will do my best to be a shield protecting the young masters of the Brans family, including Lady Lynn.”

From the moment they first met.

Lynn disliked everything about her.

No matter what she did, she was better than me despite my much nobler bloodline.

No matter what she did, she achieved better results than me despite my much nobler bloodline.

No matter what she did, that woman received more admiration from people than me despite my much nobler bloodline.

Still, it didn’t matter.

If things continued this way, I would eventually be the one ruling above her.

But even after finally ascending to the throne and establishing a master-servant relationship-

The thirst from her childhood remained unquenched, continuing to sink deep into her heart.

‘It was going to end up like this anyway…!’

Thinking about it now, she must have instinctively sensed that Irene was destined to become a traitor and felt aversion.

She quickly convinced herself and began to rationalize.

If she hadn’t been in the position of ruler, she would have shown everyone that it was all a disaster brought by Irene-

But tragically for her, she was the ruler.

And in the Brans forces, not a single person existed who could challenge Lynn Brans’ authority.

“…Hey.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

Lynn spoke to the soldier standing guard.

“Call Kalintz Brans who is under house arrest.”

“Y-You mean Lord Kalintz?”

“…What are you waiting for?! Hurry up and call him!”

Lynn shouted nervously, drawing the sword placed beside her.

The soldier, terrified, barely managed to answer.

“Y-Y-Yes, ma’am!”

‘…Haa, haa.’

Kalintz Brans.

Although he had committed a grave mistake, with Chel injured, he was the only general she could trust now.

If she ordered him to defend Raclaine Castle, he could at least hold off the Aeshus forces.

As for the southern countries… Yes. If she were to make peace in exchange for giving up a castle, it would be better to do so with one of the southern countries.

Given that territory was at stake, they might even agree to wage war among themselves.

That would make the Brans forces’ borders a bit more complicated, but she absolutely did not want to concede anything to the Aeshus forces where Irene existed.

‘It’s okay. I just need to take it one step at a time. I am Lynn Brans, the chosen one destined to unify this continent…! In the end, I can only win…!’

Thinking this way, surprisingly, her angry heart began to calm a little.

Yes. She just needed to start over step by step.

Even if she lost a little, even if she lost a few castles, she had already conquered the central region once.

A little while later.

Kalintz approached, knelt down, and said:

“My lord. Kalintz Brans has come as ordered.”

“…Ah, welcome. Brother Kalintz.”

Lynn calmly explained her plan to Kalintz.

The gist was this: She would entrust him with all the western forces that had finished reorganizing to defend Raclaine Castle.

Although the forces themselves were somewhat lacking, Raclaine Castle was known as a natural fortress with extremely high defensive capabilities.

A commander of Kalintz’s caliber would surely be able to hold off the Aeshus forces’ offensive.

In the meantime, they needed to gather forces as quickly as possible.

They needed to conscript territorial residents indiscriminately and hire mercenary groups at any cost if possible.

Public sentiment might deteriorate a bit in the process, but if everything collapsed, it would be meaningless anyway.

“If you complete this mission properly, I’ll restore your honor. I’ll pretend all your past mistakes never happened.”

Kalintz spoke in a very solemn tone.

“I, Kalintz Brans, have been waiting for this moment. This time, I will make sure not to disappoint you, my lord.”

Today, Kalintz’s words felt especially reassuring.

Lynn thought that the Brans family would overcome this crisis.

She thought she could inflict such pain on Irene, who dared to betray the Brans family, that she would find living painful-

That’s what she thought.

“Good. I like it. I’ll be expecting great things.”

After giving Kalintz these general orders and sending him away, she sat on the throne and bit her nails again.

‘It’s okay… everything will be fine, we can overcome this…!’

And at that moment.

“M-My lord…!”

A soldier rushed into the audience chamber.

Lynn, cornered and on edge, almost lost her temper… but seeing the red armband clearly tied around the soldier’s arm, she froze, speechless.

‘N-No way…’

“My lord. The Serpina forces…!”

Fate, already gone awry, did not wait for a leader who had already made several consecutive misjudgments.

“Information indicates they are marching toward Kelstein Castle with 98,000 troops…!”

Lynn might not want to admit it.

From the moment she sincerely tried to kill Irene Juliette-

The Brans forces, once the hegemon of the central region, began to collapse with frightening speed.