Ch.86Chapter 86. Encounter, Serpina’s Army (1)

After a while.

A woman with short purple hair walked down the red carpet of the audience chamber with confident strides.

Soldiers were lined up on both sides, but she walked all the way to the throne where Yurie sat without showing any sign of intimidation.

Then.

Having just arrived before Yurie, she knelt down, bowed her head, and spoke.

“Greetings. I have come today to deliver a message from our sovereign, Lady Serpina.”

“……”

Yurie silently looked down at her for a moment.

Before letting her in, she had thought she would be fine.

But facing Serpina’s envoy in person naturally brought back memories of that time when she had lost everything.

The unforgettable memories from Fibiola Academy.

The soldiers who attacked the academy had the emblem of the Einhart Empire engraved on their armor.

As she later learned, after the Emperor’s sudden death, there had been some kind of “final battle” among his children to seize power…

And the one who survived that battle was Serpina, the sovereign this woman served.

The conqueror of the North and cruel tyrant, the woman who wrote history with blood – Serpina von Einhart.

With very high probability, she was the sworn enemy of the Aeshus forces.

Though she wasn’t showing it as a ruler… Yurie hadn’t forgotten that fact.

Because of whom did we…

For whom did we raise the red flag to overthrow?

“Lady Yurie?”

At the envoy’s words, Yurie finally nodded and answered in a calm tone.

“Speak. I will at least listen to what you have to say.”

“……”

The purple-haired woman stared at Yurie’s face for a while after she responded.

Then, in an extremely dry tone, she uttered shocking words.

“Lady Yurie. The outcome has already been decided. I request that you make a reasonable decision for the sake of your territory’s people. That is the opinion of our lord, Lady Serpina.”

“…What did you say?”

“Exactly as I said, Lady Yurie.”

The envoy said this and bowed her head.

The outcome has already been decided.

Make a decision for the sake of your territory’s people.

Yurie could easily discern the true intentions hidden in these two sentences.

Surrender.

This woman was telling her to surrender and join Serpina’s forces, saying this as soon as their borders touched.

“Did you… come all this way just to tell me that?”

Yurie spoke in the most restrained voice possible while swallowing the anger rising within her.

But in complete contrast, the envoy who came to recommend surrender answered as if it were an issue not even worth considering – in a tone like casually tossing trash onto the street.

“That is correct. I ask that you please make a wise decision.”

“……”

Clench!

Yurie unconsciously tightened her fist resting on the armrest.

What angered her most… wasn’t the surrender recommendation itself.

It was the vivid feeling that she, Serpina… hadn’t sent an envoy to mock her.

From her perspective, this probably seemed reasonable.

Even though Yurie had four castles as territories, in the end, it was still a much smaller nation compared to Serpina’s forces.

Rather than deploying soldiers to capture them one by one, she probably thought it would be better to just surrender and avoid an unnecessary war of attrition.

Yes. An unnecessary war of attrition.

It was clear that Serpina made such demands because she thought conquering the Aeshus forces would be nothing more than a pointless waste of resources.

Instead of raising her voice in anger, Yurie,

in a very low voice, with her heterochromatic eyes downcast-

delivered the opinion of the sovereign of the Aeshus forces.

“Go back and tell Serpina. We have no intention of surrendering, nor do we wish to live under the same sky as her.”

“……”

The envoy nodded, then stood up and said.

“I will convey Lady Yurie’s words exactly as spoken. Then.”

After the envoy left these words and departed.

Ginor, who was standing nearby, carefully asked Yurie.

“What are you planning to do?”

“What do you mean?”

Though Yurie responded somewhat irritably, unlike her usual self-

Ginor persisted undeterred.

“You did well not to accept the surrender recommendation. I wouldn’t have accepted it either. However, was it necessary to say ‘we have no intention of living under the same sky as you’?”

“……”

Ginor’s words were sound.

Even though the other side had provoked first, in diplomacy, there was nothing to gain from a small nation taking a strong stance against a powerful one.

Humiliation could be ignored if necessary. To survive long in chaotic times, not holding onto grudges was most important.

Yurie knew this as well.

But…

‘Of all people… I cannot yield to Serpina von Einhart.’

Yurie spoke to Ginor in her most resolute tone yet.

“I know. But… no.”

“?”

“Ginor, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”

You wouldn’t understand even if I explained, is it?

Ginor detected a bitter feeling in his mouth.

Of course, he knew there were certain matters that even he, as the national strategist, couldn’t interfere with…

Having heard those words, Ginor remained silent and looked at Yurie’s profile.

The thirst for revenge burning in her eyes was easy to read.

‘……’

She had been more level-headed than anyone when dealing with the Brans forces.

But as soon as she faced Serpina’s forces… she showed the same attitude as the founding contributors who had been with her, which worried him.

‘It’s alright. The Brans forces haven’t completely collapsed yet, and the South won’t remain idle either. Serpina’s forces can’t expand their borders that much.’

For now, it seemed they would start by consolidating their newly acquired territories.

Rather than sighing, Ginor focused on thinking about the future he could envision within his capacity.

* * *

“Is that so?”

“Yes. She says she has no intention of surrendering.”

The woman who had visited the Aeshus forces as an envoy was now kneeling before Serpina, reporting what she had experienced.

The woman with short purple hair – Erin Raize.

A general who had served Serpina since her academy days as a fellow student.

She was an extremely intelligent woman who would have been the national strategist if not for Jenna’s presence.

“She also said she has no intention of living under the same sky as you.”

“Is that so? How interesting.”

Though she said this, Serpina’s face, with her chin resting on her hand, showed nothing but boredom.

The Aeshus forces.

A small country in the eastern part of the continent, led by Baranga Yurie Aeshus.

Unlike other small nations, it wasn’t completely powerless, but compared to her country that had unified the North, it was infinitely smaller, a rather insignificant nation.

In fact, Serpina didn’t consider anyone except the Brans forces and the four southern countries as rivals.

Since she began unifying the North, she had always first recommended surrender to smaller nations.

This was just another instance of that practice.

Although the Aeshus forces had absorbed the Charam and Alrepel forces in the meantime, it only meant sending one envoy instead of three, which wasn’t a particularly meaningful development to Serpina’s forces.

‘Do we really need to shed blood?’

Anyway, if they wouldn’t surrender, there was no choice.

The fact that they specifically mentioned “not wanting to be under the same sky” suggested they harbored hostility toward her, but.

‘…That’s to be expected.’

She was already accustomed to being hated.

From the moment she took the Einhart name, being hated by someone had already become her karma.

If that was the case, was it time to wage war against the Aeshus forces?

With consecutive victories against the Brans forces, the morale of Serpina’s forces was currently at an all-time high.

If they maintained this momentum, conquest wouldn’t be difficult.

“Good work, Erin. You may go.”

“Yes, my lord. Then I’ll take my leave.”

After sending Erin away, as she was lost in thought.

At that moment.

Jenna, who was standing beside her, carefully asked Serpina.

“My lord. As long as we are dealing with the Brans forces, it would be too much to also face the Aeshus forces. Even though we have more troops, if our border doubles in length, various difficulties could arise.”

Serpina looked at Jenna and asked.

“Jenna. This is unexpected. Have you been neglecting your studies lately?”

“…Pardon? What do you…”

“I mean that the Brans forces don’t plan to attack for the time being.”

“…?”

Jenna tilted her head, not understanding what Serpina meant.

Looking at her, Serpina shared her thoughts.

“You must have heard that Kalintz Brans and Chel Brans, who were at the frontlines of the Brans forces, recently withdrew.”

“Yes, that’s correct. But since the troops haven’t completely pulled out-“

“That’s why they’re not attacking.”

“…I apologize. My knowledge is limited, and I cannot fully understand your words.”

“It’s simple. Why would they withdraw excellent commanders and troops from the front instead of reinforcing them?”

“Well, to prevent losing Anel Castle, wouldn’t it be?”

“Yes. Now you should understand what I’m saying.”

“What? What do you… oh.”

Jenna finally nodded as if she understood what Serpina was trying to say.

“I don’t know whose decision it was, but it’s an excellent choice. They’ve coolly assessed their strength and are protecting what they can. If you’re going to lose territory anyway, you should know when to boldly give it up for a better future. If it was Lynn Brans’s decision, then the Brans name is still worth something.”

“But what if, contrary to their expectations, I don’t advance any further? How do you think the soldiers and generals remaining to guard the border will feel?”

“…Are you aiming for internal division?”

“It’s a way to resolve things without direct intervention.”

Jenna nodded and said.

“It seems like a good strategy. Even if they leave the territory, they probably can’t reinforce their troops easily. If they had that capability, they would have reinforced before fighting us. And troops conscripted in such a situation wouldn’t be very strong either… As expected of Lady Serpina.”

“Jenna. Refrain from unnecessary flattery.”

“Understood.”

Whether things will go according to my plan remains to be seen.

“But in the meantime, if the Aeshus forces… ah.”

Jenna was about to say something but stopped herself.

She had naturally figured out what Serpina was planning to do next.

“That’s right.”

Serpina said with a slight smile, her golden eyes flashing.

Regardless of what she was saying, anyone who saw that smile would inevitably come to deeply revere her… it was that kind of smile.

“In the meantime, we will deal with the Aeshus forces.”