Chapter 114

A laughable threat.

Hermann tried to say that and laugh loudly.
Even an obvious bluff was a basic part of negotiation, after all.
But his stiffened facial muscles refused to move.

‘Damn it… he brought the worst possible card.’

Split them in half, forgive one side, and declare the other traitors?
There was no need to even check how that would turn out.

Those who were forgiven would keep their heads down and stay quiet, while those branded traitors would be wiped out by armies swarming in from all directions.

“Do you really think words like that are enough to shake us?”

Hermann barely managed to steady his breathing and forced out the bluff, but Lesta curled his lips in a mocking smile.

“Well, from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re already shaking.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. There isn’t a single fool among those gathered here who doesn’t realize your proposal is an attempt at sowing discord.”
“And sowing discord usually works precisely because people know it’s happening. If falling for it is more profitable, wouldn’t the real fool be the one who doesn’t?”
“You bastard!”

Hermann snapped back at Lesta, but unlike before, there was no strength in his voice.
Lesta glared at him for a moment, then casually swept his gaze around the room.

“If you don’t like His Grace’s proposal, why don’t you try raising an army and pleading Calyx’s innocence? Proclaim vengeance for a blood ally—who wouldn’t acknowledge that?”

At Lesta’s words, the lords fell silent, as if struck dumb.

Unite as one and plead Calyx’s innocence?

‘Damn it—if that were possible, we’d have done it long ago.’

They weren’t fools.
If they could have rallied around Calyx and pushed Lucian out, they would have gladly done so.
The problem was that Calyx had crossed a line so far that no pretext could smooth it over.
An assassination attempt might have been glossed over somehow—but the hiring of unauthorized mages?

‘How are you supposed to cover up an actual charge of treason? There are limits to how much you can protect someone.’

A sigh rose unbidden from within.
The moment they got involved, they would be confirmed as traitors themselves—there was simply no way around it.
Knowing full well that they would be next in line, they had no choice but to stay still.

‘After standing by and doing nothing until Calyx’s house was destroyed, if we now trot out that kind of justification, we’d become the laughingstock of the entire continent.’

Yet if they removed Calyx from the equation, they had no justification left to gather and raise an army together.
Their only possible pretext would be a direct external threat—but if half of them were promised safety?

He could already see it: scattered like grains of sand, watching in silence as those branded traitors fell one by one.

“…We were unaware of Calyx’s assassination attempt.”

With nothing left to say, Hermann offered the excuse as if grasping at straws.
No matter how powerful Lucian was, he argued, he couldn’t possibly brand someone a traitor if they hadn’t been involved in the assassination.
It was a step back from his earlier hardline stance—but to Lesta, it was still laughable.

“And who do you plan to prove that innocence to? The Imperial Court? Or the other lords of the North?”

Hermann’s mouth snapped shut.

The Imperial Court was out of the question.
From the very beginning, they had openly sided with Lucian.
No matter how loudly he protested their innocence, they would surely pretend not to hear and tell them to sort it out themselves.
The other northern lords were no better.
How many had suffered severe losses due to Calyx’s incitement of rebellion?
Innocent or not, the mere fact that these men had cooperated with Calyx was enough for them to be sharpening their knives.

“Get a grip. This isn’t a matter of right or wrong—it’s a matter of dividing enemies from allies. You’ve been given a chance to become allies, yet you insist on stubbornly remaining enemies to the bitter end.”

Lesta clicked his tongue briefly and turned his back.
His attitude made it clear that if they still didn’t understand after all this, it was no longer his concern.

“I’ll say this one last time. This is your final opportunity. His Grace the Duke has said he will show no further mercy beyond this, so keep that firmly in mind.”

Having said his piece, Lesta left the conference room.
Even after the uninvited guest departed, the silence lingered for a long while.
Hesitating, Hermann cleared his throat and looked around at the lords gathered in the room.

“Everyone.”

“You’re not seriously swayed by the words of some upstart like him… are you?”

Hermann, about to say more, faltered.
His eyes caught the sight of the lords who had attended the meeting beginning to rise from their seats one by one.

“Ahem. Let’s call it a day here.”
“Discussing this any further doesn’t seem like it’ll lead to a solution.”
“If a good idea comes to mind, I’ll be in touch again.”

At their flimsy excuses, Hermann squeezed his eyes shut.
Their words sounded polished enough, but it was obvious they were going back to seriously consider Lucian’s proposal.

‘It’s over.’

Feeling even the last shred of resistance drain away, Hermann nodded heavily.

“If that’s everyone’s opinion, then we’ll adjourn the meeting here.”

After declaring the meeting over, Hermann left the conference room faster than anyone else.
If no one was going to stand with him anyway, there was no point in resisting any further.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to be the first to show “sincerity” and be forgiven?

***

“…This is the fastest about-face I’ve ever seen.”

Lucian let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the mountain of letters piled up before him.
He had expected the plan to work, but he hadn’t imagined that not a single one of them would fail to send a letter pledging their “sincerity.”

“I thought at least a few of them would try to act stiff and talk about loyalty.”

“That’s hardly strange. It’s an exceedingly generous offer—wiping away charges of treason with a token show of sincerity. Anyone who still can’t read the situation at this point and insists on standing tall deserves to die.”
“True enough.”

At Lesta’s words, Lucian let out a faint chuckle.
To Lucian, it was little more than a show of magnanimity, but for them, it was a decision that determined the fate of their houses.
No matter how wronged they felt, anyone with a functioning brain would have no choice but to bow their head and accept.

“You did well. By the way, when are you planning to head back? Your territory must be busy at a time like this.”

Lucian’s gaze turned to Lesta, who had been chiming in at his side.
He had summoned him to persuade the lords who had been allied with Calyx, yet even after the matter was settled, Lesta showed no sign of returning.

“No matter how busy my territory is, how could it compare to a request from Your Grace?”

Lesta quickly lowered his head, offering a vague reply.
Judging by how he avoided giving a clear answer, it seemed he intended to stick around for the time being.
Lucian smiled faintly, pushed the letters aside, and spoke.

“Be honest with me. Is there something you need from me?”
“H–How could there be…?”
“Say it when the opportunity presents itself. I’m the sort of person who gives exactly as much as he receives. No matter how close you stay to me, I won’t give you more than what you’ve done for me.”

Like a child whose ulterior motives had been seen through by an adult, Lesta flinched.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally let his true thoughts slip.

“It’s true that my territory has stabilized. The members of my house know that Your Grace trusts me. Any attempt to restore my father’s position has also been completely crushed.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s the other surrounding lords. Those who don’t understand Your Grace’s intentions are dreaming of swallowing up my territory first, then pledging themselves anew afterward…”
“I see.”

Lesta had aligned himself with Lucian, but he had never revealed that fact in any official setting.
More precisely, he had never had the opportunity to do so.
He hadn’t arrived at the banquet on time, and shortly after his arrival, the assassination attempt by Calyx had erupted.

When he had been assigned to greet and guard the retainers, Sword Saint Aizen’s name had been so overwhelming that Lesta had been completely overshadowed.
Under such circumstances, there was no way the lords ignorant of the inside situation could have known the relationship between Lucian and Lesta.

‘Did they think they could freely trade on my name without worrying about my reaction…?’

With the pretext of punishing an unfilial son, they seemed eager to seize even a little more land before the chaos in the North settled.
So that was why Lesta had stuck so closely to Lucian instead of returning to his territory.
Was it to show those constantly eyeing his lands that Lucian was backing him?
It was an awkward matter to ask Lucian about outright, so it seemed he had devised this roundabout solution.

“I hesitate to ask, but if Your Grace were to say just a word, those men would—”
“I’ll send Felicia.”
“—Pardon?”

“She’ll visit your territory and stay there as a guest for about two days. That should be enough, don’t you think?”

Lesta blinked blankly at Lucian’s proposal.
Felicia—wasn’t she the adopted daughter and prized disciple of Sword Saint Aizen Brightner?
She was famous as the bodyguard who never left Lucian’s side, and now she would be staying in his territory.
That act alone would loudly proclaim to all just how much Lucian trusted Lesta.

“Th–Thank you, Your Grace!”

“No need for thanks. Just make sure you treat her generously. And don’t treat her carelessly just because she’s a woman.”
“If there’s anyone who dares show such rudeness to Lady Felicia, I’ll personally cut off their head and pickle it in salt!”
“That’s reassuring.”

Lucian returned to reviewing the letters, signaling that the audience was over.

Lesta bowed so deeply that his forehead nearly touched the floor, then left the office with an excited expression.
A short while later, after finishing reading all the letters, Lucian picked up a few of them and rose from his seat.

His destination was the underground prison.
Unlike before, when it had been so lax as to be riddled with holes, the security was now airtight.
Lucian entered and stopped in front of the cell at the very end.

“How was spending the night in the northern holy land? Bearable?”
“You bastard…!”

At Lucian’s words, Norbek answered weakly from inside.
His voice was still steeped in hatred, but unlike before, there was a sense of resignation—as though he knew everything was over.

“What do you want? Did you come to mock me?”
“No. I came to bring you news from the outside.”

Lucian tossed several letters he had brought into the cell.
Norbek hurriedly picked up the letters that had fallen in front of him, and as he read their contents, his body began to tremble.

“These sons of bitches! It was just yesterday they were gorging themselves on the honey that dripped from Calyx’s name—how dare they…!”
“How dare they? Should they have gone down with Calyx, then? It was an alliance built on profit—you’re expecting far too much.”

Instead of replying, a crumpled letter came flying at Lucian through the bars.
Lucian casually caught it and stuffed it back into his coat.

“Calm yourself. At this rate, you’ll die of a fit of rage. If you’re going to die, you should at least do it on the day of your execution.”

“Shut up already! If you came just to mock me, then get out!”
“I told you, I didn’t come to mock you. I came to ask you something.”
“And you think I’ll answer you willingly?”

Ignoring Norbek’s sneer, Lucian spoke on.

“Why did you refuse to back down until things got this bad?”
“What?”

“I mean exactly what I said. You could have given up at any time. If you’d simply bowed your head when I became the lord of Asagrim, you could have lived out the rest of your life in comfort as the head of a great house. Your son wouldn’t have died either.”

Yet Norbek hadn’t given up.
Even after the tide had clearly turned and he was driven into an undeniable disadvantage, he kept making reckless moves.
To Lucian, it was utterly baffling.
In his previous life, this man had lived quietly and died without incident—so why was he now clinging so desperately to the position of ruler of the North?

“Why this madness at the end of your life? Were you trying to fulfill some dream you couldn’t achieve in your youth?”

At Lucian’s question, Norbek glared at him.

“Why, you ask? If anything, I should be asking you. I, too, carry royal blood—so why should I be content to spend the rest of my days satisfied with nothing more than the title of count?”

Lucian blinked at the completely unexpected words.

What on earth was he talking about?