An Unbelievable Encounter
"Edrin Silverline... is here?"
The silver-haired female knight could not help but sigh as she watched the carriage enter the castle.
What is his intention?
It was not that she was wary of Arcteria. She shared a personal friendship with Irene.
Before the era of war had truly begun, she had once joined forces with Irene's knights to wipe out a massive horde of orcs. The Irene Silverline she met back then was an honorable knight—a noble worthy of others' trust.
Because of that, Eleonor had heard stories about Edrin through Irene.
A rude, arrogant man consumed by the desire to oppress others. That was the Edrin Silverline Eleonor knew.
She knew it was foolish to judge someone she had never met based on a single person's account, but in her eyes, Irene was not the type to slander others with baseless rumors.
However, she could not let personal feelings interfere with the meeting. She was no longer Eleonor the adventurer, who could act recklessly in the name of justice. She was Countess Eleonor, the leader responsible for a massive coalition.
Even so, Eleonor still could not fathom his intentions.
Is he here to request reinforcements? It would actually be easier if that were the case.
Strategically and for the sake of justice, Eleonor had no choice but to send troops.
Her weapon was justice. And those who wielded the weapon of justice were bound by strict, demanding rules, much like paladins who had sworn oaths to the gods.
They could not conquer other territories without cause. If there was room for negotiation, they had to negotiate. No matter how strategically dangerous or difficult a battle seemed, they had to face it head-on.
Valerian's army was on the verge of invading Arcteria. Furthermore, Arcteria was positioned in a way that could exert pressure on Eleonor's loose coalition.
If Valerian swallowed Arcteria, he would gain the initiative to strike Eleonor's territory first, leaving her to be dragged around until she was ultimately defeated.
Since her army existed to prevent war and slaughter, Eleonor had plenty of justification to send troops. Yet, that justification was both an opportunity and a shackle.
If she did not send troops now, she would never be able to send them to Arcteria under the banner of "justice" again.
Even if she reclaimed Arcteria by force later, she would be viewed as an unprincipled leader who "sought to conquer the land only after Valerian ravaged it, rather than preventing the war when she had the chance."
Either way, I was planning to send soldiers...
She had intended to lead them herself. She felt somewhat apologetic to Arcteria, but if she had to clash with Valerian, it was far better to fight with a buffer zone between them rather than letting the war reach her own borders.
If Eleonor were the one launching the offensive, she could never order her soldiers to pillage. Her troops were not accustomed to looting in the first place, and her own conscience would never permit it.
Maintaining a supply line would require immense effort and resources, and in the worst-case scenario, she might have to provide humanitarian aid instead of requisitioning supplies.
Conversely, if she were the one being invaded, Eleonor could not stand by and watch civilians be brutalized by the enemy.
She was someone whose heart broke at the sight of even a single villager falling victim to war. From a more pragmatic standpoint, if rumors spread that she failed to protect the civilians of her allied territories, her control over the coalition would inevitably weaken.
In the end, battle was unavoidable.
But...
No matter how anxious she felt, her allies did not share her perspective.
Ideally, she wanted to gather thirty thousand troops and strike, just as Valerian had done.
Of course, sending a smaller force would be fine if they fought alongside Arcteria, but Eleonor still had no idea how strong Arcteria's forces actually were.
If their training was lacking or their command structure was disorganized, she risked losing fifteen thousand of her own soldiers in a foreign land.
Yet, her allies were hesitant to commit. No matter how powerful Eleonor was, raising a massive army solely from her own territory was impossible.
There is no point in overthinking this alone.
She would meet him in just a few moments. Since she held the upper hand in the negotiations, there was no need to rush.
"Count Edrin has entered the castle. However, he requested to meet with you as soon as possible..."
"I welcome it. There is no need to waste time on useless formalities. Prepare a simple meeting room."
"Understood!"
Eleonor preferred intimate discussions among a few key individuals over grand parties filled with crowds.
A larger banquet meant spending more to accommodate the guests. While such expenses were not a significant burden for a lord of Eleonor's stature, she preferred to minimize spending so she could use the funds to help the poor.
The setting was prepared. A meal was laid out exclusively for Eleonor and Edrin, free from the intrusion of unnecessary attendants.
Eleonor took her seat first and waited for the man who would enter—Edrin Silverline.
And then, she saw him.
"Thank you for the warm welcome, Countess Eleonor."
"...Ah?"
Eleonor was someone who had lived both the life of an adventurer and the life of a noble.
She had seen countless attractive adventurers trying to seduce their way to fortune, met empty-headed nobles who possessed nothing but good looks, and encountered their concubines and male lovers.
She had even indirectly encountered elves of transcendent beauty and incarnations of gods possessing comparable charm.
Yet, even with all her experience, she had never seen anyone who possessed the kind of beauty the man before her did.
"Who... are you?"
His golden hair swayed. The moment that thought crossed her mind, Eleonor immediately shook her head, silently apologizing for her rudeness.
Comparing those locks to mere "gold" was an insult. Gold was beautiful, but in the end, it was just a slightly rare metal.
It was unfitting to compare the color of his hair to gold. It was offensive. Just as humans differed from monkeys, and dragons from lizards, there existed a qualitative gap even between things that appeared superficially similar.
His features were so breathtakingly perfect that the word "beautiful" could not begin to describe them. They possessed an overwhelming grandeur.
An illusion?
Her instincts as an adventurer screamed at her to check for illusions whenever she experienced such a sudden, violent shift in emotion.
Reflexively activating her artifact to dispel any magic or curses cast upon her, Eleonor confirmed that she was not under the influence of any spell.
Perhaps she had known it from the start. She had crossed blades with incubi and succubi, and she had personally slain high-level mages and illusionists.
The man standing before her was far grander than any magic.
A mere charm spell, which did nothing more than manipulate the victim's emotions to project their ideal version of beauty, could never conjure such an awe-inspiring existence.
They were on entirely different levels. It was a difference in essence. Just because a mage could conjure a fireball did not mean they could create a hell of burning sulfur.
This transcended the limits of magic. The mere fact that such a being existed made the entire continent seem beautiful.
He was like a god in human form. No, even a god descending to this earth could not possess such overwhelming beauty.
Such a being stood right before her. Forgetting all her thoughts and memories, Eleonor stared at him blankly.
A torrent of emotions surged within her.
The urge to submit, the desire to express the love filling her heart, and the yearning to know even a fraction more about the man before her clashed fiercely in her mind.
"Who... are you?"
Ultimately, the final desire triumphed. She wanted to satisfy her curiosity. She had to ask what kind of person this being was to exude such an overwhelming presence.
"Ah, I have not introduced myself. I am Edrin Silverline, Lord of Arcteria and head of the Silverline family. It is truly an honor to meet you, Countess Eleonor."
He offered a radiant smile, casually revealing his identity.
Even his voice is so sweet...
Eleonor replayed his words in her mind several times before suddenly snapping back to reality.
Wait...
It was only natural that his name was Edrin Silverline. After all, she had been waiting to meet the Lord of Arcteria.
That...
Eleonor had to accept it. She had to force her racing heart to calm down and look at the man before her.
That is... a human?
She had to accept the fact that this being was the new Lord of Arcteria.