The Art of Sacrifice
"I do not love war," I said. "A war in which I am defeated is too terrible to even imagine, and even a war in which I am victorious is not something I welcome."
What I needed right now was not persuasion. Eleonor was already following my lead.
What mattered more was empathy.
"Perhaps... I cannot even find joy in a war fought in a place that has nothing to do with me. For humans to kill other humans is always a tragedy."
I spoke the words she wanted to hear. More than that, I spoke the thoughts she had long harbored but could not voice.
"Even without war, countless people die for countless reasons—monster raids, famine, natural disasters. It is heartbreaking enough when people die like that. But for humans to exert their full strength and capability just to slaughter one another? It is nothing short of devastating."
These were not my thoughts, but Eleonor's. This was the very cause she had championed time and time again.
I showed her that I shared her ideals. I made her believe we were kindred spirits, walking the same path and dreaming the same dream.
"Are you... truly sincere?" she asked.
"Yes. Everything I have done was solely for one purpose: to ensure that war never reaches Arcteria."
I had no reason to hide it. As long as my truth did not harm her, honesty was the best policy.
"Of course, I am well aware that I am asking too much of you, Count Eleonor."
"Why... do you say that?"
"If you simply sent a small force to Arcteria and retreated under the guise of defeat, you would still retain your honor as a seeker of justice. But attacking Runstan now..."
Eleonor was clearly not in her right mind. Given her high intelligence stat, there was no way she didn't grasp the implications of my words.
Yet, what I needed right now was not to exploit her weakness or her misjudgment. I needed to win her absolute trust.
"Those who dislike you might distort this situation. They will claim that instead of helping Arcteria in its time of need, you used it as an opportunity to seize territory for your own gain."
"There have always been countless people trying to slander me," Eleonor replied, her voice firm. "A little criticism means nothing to me."
"But it is a criticism you shouldn't have to bear. And Valerian will undoubtedly be far more wary of a clash in Runstan than a skirmish in Arcteria."
Of course, no decision yields absolute benefits in every scenario.
If Eleonor executed the strategy I was proposing, she would be branded a lord who suffered a clear defeat against Valerian's army. It could hardly be called securing the maximum gain with the minimum investment.
Yet, she was currently being swept along by my words.
She would perceive complying with my request as a sacrifice—one that would deplete her precious resource of 'honor' and tarnish the name of Count Eleonor.
And she was not the type of person to ever turn away from sacrifice.
"I am truly grateful for your decision, Countess. On my shoulders rests not just my own life, but the lives of countless people in my territory."
Using that 'sacrifice' as a foundation, I defined how she would view me.
I played the part of a tragic lord who had no choice but to demand sacrifices from others for the sake of his fief, a man forced to bow his head to protect the lives of ordinary people.
I dropped to one knee. Startled, Eleonor quickly grabbed my shoulders to stop me.
"P-Please, stand up! Why are you blaming yourself? What you are doing is noble!"
"Once this is over, I will meet Valerian," I said. "I will go to him myself, kneel, and apologize for the disrespect my father showed him."
"But that is just a hollow pretext! Even if Count Wilhelm insulted Valerian, that is a matter to be settled between nobles. It is not something to be resolved through war, risking the lives of innocent citizens!"
"That is precisely why I am going."
I looked straight into Eleonor's eyes.
"This matter must be resolved between nobles, between lords—at my level, as the heir of the Silverline family. Whatever humiliation I must endure, it is a cheap price to pay compared to the deaths of my people."
"That is nothing but a pretext. Do you not know what kind of man Valerian is? If he truly wanted an apology, he would have demanded it while Count Wilhelm was still alive!"
"I know. I know it is just a pretext. That is why I came to you first. I needed you, Count Eleonor, to give Valerian a practical reason not to march his army into Arcteria immediately."
I had almost succeeded. She was completely empathizing with me.
"But a pretext, no matter how hollow, gains substance the moment it escapes people's lips. Valerian used his grievance against my father as his justification, so he cannot easily withdraw his troops until that justification is resolved."
Wars rarely break out without a practical reason. However, as a war drags on, rulers seek justification for it, and in the end, it cannot be concluded without resolving that very pretext.
"I must be the one to do it. Valerian must experience a victory grand enough to tell his subordinates, 'I have won,' and I must suffer a defeat humiliating enough to match it. Otherwise, we will only be able to speak of a truce after our lands have been devastated and countless lives have been lost."
While eliciting Eleonor's sympathy, I was also dismantling the last remaining doubt in her mind.
The logical, obvious question: Will this really stop Valerian? The perfectly reasonable doubt: How does Edrin plan to halt Valerian's army?
I shattered those doubts with a shock therapy of the most extreme kind—by declaring that I would personally stand before Valerian and kneel.
"You could... die," she whispered.
"Only if I refuse to cooperate. My reputation may be poor, but I am still the Lord of Arcteria."
I couldn't say there was no danger at all. I would just have to rely on my Charm stat to pull me through.
"Unless I personally stand at the vanguard of Valerian's army to crush our own defenses, conquering the rest of Arcteria after killing me will not be easy. The resistance they face will be far fiercer than they imagine."
If foreign soldiers were to kill the lord of a territory, getting the local soldiers to cooperate would require a massive leap of faith.
"I want to do what I can. No, I must do it."
Under normal circumstances, of course, no one would believe that a lord was acting solely out of genuine care for his people.
But Eleonor was different. When people judge the actions and intentions of others, they subconsciously think, What would I do?
She was a good person. She was wise enough to utilize the reputation of being a 'righteous person,' but in critical moments, she valued doing 'righteous deeds' far more than the reputation itself.
A person like that had no choice but to believe that someone like her could exist elsewhere in the world. Even if she doubted and worried, she could not deny the possibility of such a person's existence.
"Be careful," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "I absolutely, positively do not want Valerian to take you away. Do whatever you must... just return to Arcteria. And when you have time, please visit my territory again."
Eleonor looked at me with tearful eyes, looking for all the world like a woman deeply in love.
The love and trust shining in her eyes were far deeper than what I had seen during our first meeting.
"I will gladly do so," I replied.
I had won her trust. At the same time, I had secured her understanding that associating with Valerian was an unavoidable necessity.
In the worst-case scenario, Eleonor might have joined forces with Irene to drive me out of Arcteria. Before I arrived here, she undoubtedly trusted Irene far more than me.
Considering my lack of a strong support base within Arcteria, that strategy would have had a very high chance of success.
But now, no matter what I said to Valerian, and even if rumors spread that we were close or that I was merely his puppet, Eleonor would not be swayed.
She had already heard the inevitable reasons straight from my mouth.
"It is a pity," she murmured. "I want to hold onto you, yet I must let you go. Once you return, we won't be able to meet for a while, will we?"
"I must meet Valerian, and I have no shortage of duties as a lord afterward. But surely, we will meet again someday."
"Is that... so?"
"In the future, I believe there will be much for us to discuss, Lady Eleonor."
"Fufu... I suppose so."
Eleonor had judged me to be someone who shared her ideology. She believed we operated on the same principles.
Consequently, I could avoid her suspicion and keep her from acting against me, even without officially joining her alliance.
That strategic ambiguity was a priceless asset that Arcteria absolutely had to preserve.
"I enjoyed our time together," I said.
"I did as well. Next time we meet, let us make sure we have more time to spare. We can host banquets and enjoy parties."
"I will be sure to make time."
Eleonor's warm, pleased smile filled my vision. It was a beautiful sight in its own right, but the only emotion I felt at that moment was a profound sense of accomplishment.
I had seduced Eleonor and redirected the course of an entire army. It was a flawless, perfect success.