The Fortress of Anel
Building something is incredibly difficult, but it can all collapse in an instant.
The territory of the Brands Army, which Orlando Brands had carefully established with perfect timing and a solid foundation, began to crumble one by one without respite as soon as the border was breached.
"My Lord! Serold Castle and Jog Castle have fallen to Serphina's army! Rashion, the temporary Northern Defense Commander, has surrendered and joined Serphina's forces!"
After hearing the messenger's report, Farfalle, with an extremely grave expression, advised Lynn who sat on the throne with a blank stare.
"My Lord. Even now, we must gather all troops from the border and concentrate them at Anel Castle. We're hearing rumors of movement from the south as well. There's a high possibility that Aishers' army will mobilize again. Please make a decision quickly...!"
"..."
"My Lord...!"
Despite Farfalle's repeated attempts, Lynn gave no response.
She was now like an empty paper doll.
She wouldn't answer when spoken to, merely listening to the news brought by messengers without reaction.
'If this continues, we're in real danger...!'
Currently, troops were being meaninglessly crushed at the border.
In Farfalle's opinion, the best course of action would be to abandon the territories and minimize the border.
If they could somehow defend Anel Castle, they could at least protect the western territories that had been prepared in advance.
The western lands weren't particularly good—honestly, they were barren and desolate—
But losing all territories would truly mean the end.
As long as they didn't lose the capital, there would be a chance. They could spread their wings again someday.
Although half their talented people had died or surrendered, the core figures were still defending the Brands Army, weren't they?
"Lady Lynn..."
"..."
Lynn remained silent for a while, still staring straight ahead... until she finally parted her heavy lips.
"Farfalle."
"Yes...?"
"What... did I do wrong?"
And then.
She began roughly biting her fingernails with her lips.
Fresh blood began to flow from her already raw fingertips.
"I... don't think I did anything to deserve this... Where did it all go wrong? Why... why, why have we been pushed back this far...? Why...? My brothers...? What happened to my brothers...?"
"..."
Chel Brands was defending the eastern border with a body that hadn't fully recovered yet.
Kalinz Brands was... somehow fighting at the northern border, but he couldn't hold back Serphina's army.
"Why has it come to this...? How? I'm... supposed to be the one who unifies the continent, aren't I? I'm not supposed to end like this in this narrow central region, am I? Our Brands Army... we... this shouldn't be happening to us, right?"
"My Lord. If you want to prevent the collapse of the Brands Army, you must make a decision now."
"NO!!!!"
Hearing Farfalle's words, Lynn rose from her seat and threw the ceremonial sword that had been placed beside her.
"This can't be happening!!! We can't keep losing! We are the Brands Army! The nation destined to unify the continent!!!"
"..."
At that moment.
"...Ah. I see."
Lynn suddenly widened her eyes.
"Heh, hehe, hehehe."
She began laughing in a disturbing manner, like someone who had lost her mind.
"Hey, you."
"Y-yes!"
Then, looking at the messenger who had delivered the news of the castle's fall, she said:
"Why don't you... come over here for a moment...? That's right...♡"
"..."
The messenger briefly shuddered at Lynn's voice, which was extremely gentle yet simultaneously eerie.
But in the Brands Army, Lynn Brands' word was absolute.
Even the most skilled generals had to obey Lynn unconditionally—that was the way things worked here.
A mere soldier like this messenger had no choice in the matter.
"I, I... um..."
After hesitating for quite some time, the messenger cautiously approached Lynn.
"Yes... come closer... come here..."
"..."
Trembling violently, he finally reached her, standing right in front of her.
"What... do you need, my Lord?"
"...Nothing much... hehe...♡"
Lynn placed her hand on the messenger's face, gently stroking his cheek—
Then, with lightning speed, she picked up the ceremonial sword from the floor and unsheathed it.
"M-my Lord...?"
And then.
Slash!
"Ugh...!"
Right there in front of Farfalle—
She thrust the blade straight into the messenger's abdomen.
"My... Lord...? W-why...?"
Lynn glared into the messenger's eyes as he looked at her in confusion with a cold gaze.
The eyes that held that gaze contained no light, no color—they were completely dead.
"You. You were sent by Irene Juliet, weren't you? Did you think you could deceive me?"
Lynn shouted with a voice full of madness, loud enough to shake the entire castle.
"There's no way we would lose so pathetically! What?! It's useless to try to deceive me with false news. You stupid bastard. A mere soldier taking sides with that red-haired traitor, trying to fool me?!"
"Guh...guk."
Thud.
The messenger collapsed on the spot without even having a chance to respond.
Blood flowed freely from his abdomen.
The throne room, filled with the sounds of the soldier writhing in agony as he died, soon fell silent as even those sounds ceased.
'This can't be happening...'
Farfalle watched the entire scene with a pale face.
Lynn's condition was... more dangerous than expected.
Whether driven mad by her desire for revenge against Irene or not, she seemed unable to make proper judgments in her current state.
The once intelligent female ruler who, though somewhat ruthless, could see through the big picture and make mostly correct decisions, no longer existed.
What stood before them was... just a madwoman who killed messengers because of her own paranoia.
"...Farfalle."
"...Y-yes."
"You need to be careful. That damned woman's spies are still scattered throughout our army. Right?"
"..."
Lynn grinned and pulled the sword from the messenger's abdomen.
Splatter!
As she wiped the blood from the sword, drops of red splashed onto her snow-white skin.
"I don't want to deal with this myself, so filter them out for me? Understood?"
Hearing those words, Farfalle felt as if the sky was falling.
Perhaps it would have been better not to suggest employing Irene back then.
If she had known that Lynn could never accept Irene, would the right answer have been to take the initiative and exile her first?
But none of that mattered anymore.
"Aren't you going to answer me?"
"Ah, y-yes... I understand."
"Good. Good boy, Farfalle. Now go tell my eldest brother to gather as many troops as possible and recapture Laclaine Castle that was taken by Aishers' army. Understood?"
"...Yes."
After leaving the throne room, Farfalle approached one of the generals waiting outside and said:
"Excuse me, but what is your name?"
"Huh? I'm, um... S-Sillin."
Sillin was trembling with fear as he barely managed to answer Farfalle.
The atmosphere in the castle was extremely chaotic due to the continuous defeats, and since Lynn's word was law in this country, it was natural that generals like Sillin were very anxious given Lynn's poor condition.
Farfalle spoke with an extremely serious expression:
"Sillin. I'm sorry, but could you do me a favor?"
"Um... may I ask what kind of favor?"
"You can send a messenger or deliver the message yourself. Please arrange for all troops, including General Kalinz at the northern border and General Chel at the eastern border, to return to Anel Castle immediately."
"What? Should I... say this is by the Lord's command?"
"..."
Farfalle slowly shook his head.
"Please tell them it's the independent judgment of State Strategist Farfalle. Also tell them that I will take full responsibility."
"What? B-but—"
"Please. I promise that no harm will come to you, Sillin."
Taking action on one's own judgment without the ruler's orders was an extremely presumptuous act in this era.
Especially for someone with as much power as a State Strategist.
Of course, only someone with that level of power could say they would "take responsibility."
Farfalle thought that, in the worst case, his head might roll.
But the collapse of the Brands Army would mean becoming the strategist of a failed nation.
He certainly wouldn't be able to rise any higher than that.
Though she had a human side that valued her life, she was fundamentally a woman with extremely strong pride.
She wanted to prove that her judgment in choosing Lynn Brands over other rulers had not been wrong.
This was the only way to prevent the Brands Army from collapsing.
She believed that the intelligent Lynn she once knew would surely understand.
"I would like to go myself, but I fear something terrible might happen if I leave our Lord's side right now. I ask for your help once more."
"...Alright. Since it's an order from the Strategist anyway, you don't need to call it a favor."
"...Thank you. Well then."
Protecting Anel Castle.
With the urgency of the situation, Farfalle quickly began to think.
To somehow prevent the Brands Army from disappearing from the map.
That was the only thing on her mind.
***
The day after having that special evening with Irene.
"Well, I'll be going now."
"Okay. See you later."
After exchanging brief goodbyes with her, I headed straight to the Nighthart family mansion.
Passing through the now-familiar streets, I arrived at the mansion.
"Lord Swen. We've been waiting for you."
"Pardon?"
The maid was particularly welcoming to me.
"Lord Ginor is looking for you."
"Lord Ginor?"
Why would Ginor be looking for me?
Could there be some kind of problem?
'Has he perhaps noticed that I can't even sense mana, let alone perform anything resembling magic?'
With a guilty conscience, I slowly made my way to the reception room where Ginor was said to be.
When I entered the reception room—
'...Huh?'
Reika was sitting on the sofa inside.
Ginor was sitting in what appeared to be the seat of honor, reading a book.
Noticing my arrival, he spoke:
"Have you arrived, Swen?"
"Yes. I heard you called for me."
"Please, take a seat first."
As I sat down, I naturally ended up facing Reika.
What was strange was Reika's attitude.
She couldn't even make proper eye contact with me, her face completely flushed as she kept her head bowed.
'What's going on?'
Is this about some magical achievement?
Currently, Reika's abilities were growing day by day.
If that were the case, this shouldn't be such a tense situation... so why was she being so shy?
At that moment.
Ginor's voice reached my ears.
"Swen. Do you remember what I said?"
"What are you referring to?"
"That you agreed to grant my request."
A request.
I nodded and said:
"Yes, I remember. But I also remember saying that I couldn't agree to anything beyond my capabilities."
"I remember that as well."
Ginor responded to my words in a very rigid tone.
Whenever I interact with him, I get the feeling that Ginor is the type of person who would never joke in his entire life.
If it had been Kein instead of Ginor, he probably would have said something like "Do we really need to be so particular about that?"
Anyway, since the topic of a request came up, he must have called me to ask for something.
"So, what is your request?"
While I was thinking comfortably that if he asked me to show an actual miracle just once, I would have to refuse—
"That word" clearly reached my ears.
"Would you consider becoming my son-in-law?"
"...Pardon?"
What?
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected question, I couldn't even respond properly.
Looking at my dumbfounded expression, Ginor spoke in a very serious tone without a hint of playfulness:
"Swen. If you're willing, I'll give you my daughter Reika and the Nighthart name. What do you say?"