NOVEL WEB Chapter 86
*
A little while later.
The purple short-haired woman walked confidently across the red carpet of the audience chamber. Despite soldiers lining both sides, she showed no signs of intimidation as she approached Yuri seated on the throne.
And then…
Upon reaching Yuri’s presence, she knelt down and bowed her head before speaking.
“Greetings. I’ve come to deliver a message from our sovereign, Lady Serpina.”
“…”
Yuri silently stared at her for a moment.
Before seeing this envoy of the Serpina Army, it seemed fine, but now… facing the envoy brought back memories of losing everything in the past.
The unforgettable memories from the Pyviola Academy.
The armor of the soldiers who attacked the academy bore the crest of the Einhardt Empire.
It was later revealed that after the emperor’s sudden death, there was some kind of ‘decisive battle’ among his children vying for the next power…
And the survivor of that battle was none other than Serpina, the ruler this woman served.
The undefeated overlord of the north, the ruthless tyrant – Serpina von Einhardt.
She was very likely the arch-enemy of the Aishias Army.
Though not showing it openly as a ruler… Yuri hadn’t forgotten that fact.
Because of whom…
For whom we raised the red flag to overthrow?
“Lord Yuri?”
At the envoy’s words, Yuri finally nodded and replied calmly.
“Speak. I’ll hear your story.”
“…”
The purple-haired woman looked at Yuri’s face for a while before delivering an astonishing statement in a completely monotone voice.
“Lord Yuri. The tide has already been decided. We request you make a rational decision for the sake of the territorial people. That concludes Lady Serpina’s opinion.”
“…”
“What did you say?”
“Exactly as I said, Lord Yuri.”
With that, the envoy bowed her head again.
The tide has already been decided.
Make a decision for the territory’s people.
Yuri easily understood the real meaning hidden in those two sentences.
Surrender.
Surrender and join the Serpina Army right after touching the border line. That’s what this woman is saying.
“Are you really here just to tell me that?”
While Yuri suppressed the rising anger with great restraint,
the envoy who came to advise surrender spoke as if it were something that didn’t even require consideration – like casually tossing trash onto the street.
“That’s correct. Please make a wise decision.”
“…”
GAAK!
Without realizing it, Yuri clenched their fists on the armrests.
What angered them most wasn’t the surrender demand itself.
It was vividly feeling that this woman, Serpina, wasn’t sending the envoy to mock them.
There was a high possibility she genuinely thought this was reasonable from her perspective.
Even if they had four castles under their control, they were ultimately still a much smaller nation compared to the Serpina Army.
She probably thought it would be more efficient to just surrender rather than deploying soldiers to capture them one by one, avoiding unnecessary skirmishes.
Right. An unnecessary skirmish.
This demand clearly came because the Serpina Army considered conquering the Aishias Army to be just such an unnecessary skirmish.
As the ruler of the Aishias Army, Yuri delivered their response in a low voice, looking down with their heterochromatic eyes.
“Tell Serpina when you return. We have no intention of surrendering, nor do we plan to share the same sky with her.”
“…”
The envoy nodded before standing up and speaking.
“I will convey Lord Yuri’s words exactly as stated. Farewell.”
After the envoy left,
Jinoru cautiously asked Yuri.
“What do you plan to do?”
“What do you mean?”
Though Yuri responded somewhat prickly compared to usual,
Jinoru answered without backing down.
“Refusing the surrender demand was the right call. I wouldn’t have accepted it either. However, there was no need to specifically mention ‘we have no intention of sharing the same sky,’ was there?”
“…”
Jinoru was right.
Even though the other side provoked first, it’s never good for a minor country to take a strong stance against a major power in diplomacy.
One can just let humiliation pass by. To survive long-term in these chaotic times, it’s most important not to hold grudges.
Yuri isn’t unaware of this.
But…
‘I can’t lose to anyone, especially Serpina von Einhardt.’
Yuri spoke with unprecedented firmness to Jinoru.
“I know. But… no.”
“?
“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”
You wouldn’t understand even if I explained, huh?
Jinoru detected a bitter taste in his mouth.
He certainly knew there was something he couldn’t interfere with, even as the nation’s strategist…
After hearing that, Jinoru simply looked at Yuri’s profile without responding.
He easily read the burning desire for revenge in her eyes.
‘…’
The her who judged situations so rationally when dealing with the Brance Army…
Now facing the Serpina Army, he worried she resembled the founding ministers who had been with her from the start.
‘It’s fine. The Brance Army hasn’t completely fallen yet, and the south won’t remain idle either. The Serpina Army can’t expand their borders too far.’
First, strengthening their newly acquired territories seems necessary.
Instead of sighing, Jinoru began thinking about the future he could plan within his capabilities.
* * *
“Is that so?”
“Yes. They have no intention of surrendering.”
The purple short-haired woman who served as envoy to the Aishias Army was now kneeling before Serpina, reporting what she had experienced.
Erin Rise – the purple short-haired woman.
An old academy classmate of Serpina who had served her since childhood.
An extremely intelligent woman who would have taken charge of national strategy if Jena hadn’t existed.
“They also said they have no intention of sharing the same sky.”
“Hmm? An interesting story indeed.”
Though she said that, Serpina’s face while answering with her chin rested on her hand showed extreme boredom.
The Aishias Army.
The small eastern country led by Baranga Yuri Aishias.
Not entirely powerless like other minor countries, but compared to her unified northern nation, it was infinitely small and quite insignificant.
In fact, Serpina hadn’t even considered them rivals except for the Brance Army and the four southern countries.
Since unifying the north, she had always sent surrender demands first to minor countries.
This time was no different.
Even though the Aishias Army had absorbed the Charan Army and Alepel Army, reducing the number of envoys from three to one didn’t make much difference to the Serpina Army.
‘Do I really need to see blood?’
If they refuse to surrender, there’s nothing that can be done.
Considering they mentioned something about “not wanting to share the same sky,” it seems they harbor hostility toward me.
‘…Such a predictable matter.’
She was already accustomed to being hated.
From the moment she took the name Einhardt, being hated by someone became part of her destiny.
Then, is it time to wage war against the Aishias Army?
With the Serpina Army achieving continuous victories against the Brance Army, their morale was higher than ever.
Taking advantage of this momentum should allow easy conquest.
“Good work, Erin. You may return.”
“Yes, my lord. Excuse me then.”
After dismissing Erin, while lost in thought…
At that moment.
Jena beside her carefully asked Serpina.
“My lord. Given we’re already dealing with the Brance Army, taking on the Aishias Army as well would be unreasonable. Even though we have superior forces, having the border doubled could create various difficult situations.”
Serpina looked at Jena after hearing her words and asked.
“Jena. Surprising. Have you been slacking on your studies lately?”
“…Excuse me? What do you mean by that…”
“The Brance Army doesn’t plan to attack for the time being.”
“…?”
Jena tilted her head, not understanding what she meant.
Serpina looked at her confused expression and explained her thoughts.
“Didn’t you hear that Kalintz Brance and Chel Brance withdrew from the front lines recently?”
“Yes, that’s true. But the troops haven’t completely retreated, so-”
“Therefore, they won’t attack.”
“…I apologize. My knowledge is insufficient to fully understand my lord’s words.”
“Simple. Why aren’t they reinforcing the front lines but instead withdrawing excellent commanders along with their troops?”
“Isn’t it to protect Anel Castle?”
“Exactly. Now that I’ve explained this much, you should understand what I’m saying, right?”
“Um? What… Ah.”
Finally, Jena nodded, understanding what Serpina was trying to say.
“Whose judgment it was, I don’t know, but it was an excellent choice. One must objectively assess their own strength and focus on protecting what can be protected. It’s only natural to decisively abandon territories that will inevitably be lost anyway. If it was Lin Brance’s decision, I’d say the Brance family is living up to its reputation.”
“But, what if I don’t advance further as they expect? How might the soldiers and generals remaining to guard the border react?”
“…Are you suggesting provoking internal division?”
“It’s a method that solves things without direct confrontation.”
Jena nodded and said.
“It seems like a good strategy. Even if they abandon their territory, they likely don’t have the resources to reinforce quickly. If they had, they would have done so before fighting us. In such a situation, conscripted troops wouldn’t be very strong… Truly worthy of you, Lady Serpina.”
“Jena. Stop adding unnecessary flattery.”
“Understood.”
Whether they’ll move according to my plans remains to be seen.
“But during that time, the Aishias Army… Ah.”
Jena stopped mid-sentence, having naturally guessed what Serpina planned to do next.
“Indeed.”
Serpina’s golden eyes sparkled as she smiled slightly while speaking.
Regardless of the content of her words, anyone seeing her expression would be deeply moved to admiration…
“We’ll deal with the Aishias Army during that time.”