A Calculated Surrender
Valerian kept some exceptionally skilled healers in her employ.
Only yesterday, I had been hovering on the brink of death, barely clinging to life. Yet today, I had recovered enough to move around.
But finding peace of mind and nursing myself back to health were luxuries I could not afford the moment I woke up.
My collapse hadn't solved a single thing. I still had to go through the official procedures.
And so, I stood before her once again.
Valerian Adonis. The most dangerous, terrifying noble in the land, a woman feared by all.
"I wish to offer my sincerest apologies for the rude and vulgar remarks made by Count Wilhelm."
In truth, I didn't have precise details about Count Wilhelm.
But judging by the rumors and the general atmosphere, while he might have been a decent lord to his own people, he was hardly a polite man to outsiders.
Piecing together the reactions of the nobles who had been present back then, along with the accounts of the maids, butlers, and knights who had served since those days, the conclusion was clear: Wilhelm had indeed made insulting remarks.
"I fully acknowledge that Count Wilhelm made those statements."
The insults Valerian claimed Wilhelm had uttered were, even by my standards, incredibly vile and dangerous.
Calling her a venomous snake, suggesting she would be better suited as a high-class mistress than the heir to her house, and claiming the entire Empire would shake if a woman like her ever became lord.
Looking back, he wasn't exactly wrong, I thought, but it still wasn't something one should ever say to another noble.
This had happened ten years ago. Back then, Valerian was less the 'Lord of Terror' she was today and more of a noble lady surrounded by unsavory rumors.
Arcteria was a sizable fiefdom, and Wilhelm's power had been overwhelmingly vast compared to Valerian and her family at the time.
Valerian had harbored that grudge, enduring and waiting. She bided her time to turn the humiliation she suffered into leverage for her own gain.
"Very well... Good."
A faint smile touched Valerian's lips. Her subordinates, quick to read her mood, offered measured congratulations and praise.
They spoke of a long-standing grudge finally resolved, and how Her Grace Valerian's authority now echoed across the entire Empire.
Yet, their congratulations did not stem from her genuine happiness. Valerian was hiding a burning rage beneath that beautiful smile, and she simply needed others to voice the praise and celebration on her behalf.
I could feel the killing intent. The subtle anger in Valerian's eyes burned like a cold flame.
For now, she'll try to exploit this.
Even if this victory had been practically forced upon her, a win was still a win.
Even if it wasn't the kind of victory she had envisioned, she would use it. She would advertise it as having secured the surrender of Arcteria's lord without deploying a single soldier, boasting of the achievement to mask her own frustration.
But that was not the outcome she truly desired.
Her original plan must have been to conquer Arcteria completely, bleed its resources dry, and use its troops and supplies to keep Eleonor in check.
But her plan had crumbled. She could no longer conquer Arcteria.
That didn't mean she couldn't kill me, though.
It won't be right away. But... if I return like this, my life won't be worth living.
Valerian's Black Armor army was undeniably powerful. Their armor, weapons, and training were incomparably superior to any ordinary soldiers.
Yet, she hadn't possessed that army from the very beginning. Before she relied on strategy and military might, she was a master of schemes, possessing unrivaled talent in sowing discord and orchestrating assassinations.
Two or three years? I'd probably be dead within that time.
Of course, if I knew it was coming, I could prepare. Schemes, poisonings, and assassins were only fatal when they caught you off guard. If I braced myself and prepared, I could manage to survive.
But the process of doing so was far too tedious and hazardous.
I wouldn't be able to make any public appearances, I couldn't even share a proper meal with anyone remotely suspicious, and I'd have to constantly monitor my subordinates...
Until I secured a proper power base and established airtight security, I would have to live every single day in paranoia. And naturally, I could not tolerate that.
Arcteria is still weak. If I play it safe now... there is no future.
If the territory were already stable, I might have been able to just endure. If I didn't have to push myself and could simply wait, backed by ample talent and formidable strength.
But that was an impossible assumption for Arcteria's current state. I had no choice but to confront the threat head-on.
The banquet continued. Accepting the wine she offered, I leaned in and whispered softly to Valerian.
"I have information regarding Eleonor's troop deployment that I must share with you."
Right now, I had to make myself indispensable to Valerian.
Someone too valuable to cast aside simply because she found me annoying or troublesome.
After the banquet ended, one of Valerian's subordinates summoned me.
Guided by a maid, I was led to a room where Valerian was waiting.
"Quite intriguing. I assume you know why I called you."
"Of course, I do."
Manipulating Valerian to act according to my wishes was no easy task. Though I was determined to succeed by any means, I had braced myself for a much more convoluted process to avert the invasion of Arcteria.
That I had managed to pull it off at the cost of nothing more than a bit of my honor and physical health was practically a stroke of luck.
But swaying her mind was an even greater challenge. Valerian was far more emotional and unpredictable than her public reputation suggested.
Even so, I had a decent grasp of her behavioral patterns and what emotions certain actions would evoke in her.
Even so, from this point forward, there was no room for even the slightest mistake.
"First, apologize."
Valerian made the first move. Her cold gaze felt as though it could pierce right through me.
"If this is about Count Wilhelm's remarks—"
"No, not that. Apologize for going to Eleonor first."
She did not forget. While others might think, To think Edrin would beg for forgiveness so sincerely... Valerian never lost sight of the core issue.
"You wagged your tail and ran to that wench to beg for reinforcements... and when that failed, you knelt before me to save your own skin, did you not?"
I shook my head firmly.
"That is not the case."
Of course, provoking her was dangerous. And for Valerian, the definition of 'provoking' was incredibly broad.
She was the type of person who, once she reached a conclusion about something, believed it to be absolute truth.
Yet, letting her drag me around wasn't wise either. A minor rebellion of this scale wouldn't make her lose her willingness to talk.
If my right to contradict her was limited, I had to use it now.
"Is it not? Let us hear it, then. What reason could you possibly have to seek out Eleonor, if not to beg for reinforcements?"
Valerian treated everyone as tools.
To her, anyone who didn't act according to her wishes was no different from a ruined dress full of holes or a piece of meat burned to a crisp.
An annoying, unpleasant existence whose actions made no sense.
I had to prevent her from viewing me as a useless tool.
"I went to stop Eleonor from sending her troops to Arcteria."
"And why is that?"
"Because with her capabilities, she could never protect Arcteria from Your Grace's army. It would have only led to a meaningless conflict."
A faint smile seemed to play on Valerian's lips.
It was bizarre, but that was simply how her mind worked.
She found it offensive when those who stood no chance of winning insisted on fighting her in the name of useless things like honor or justice.
It was a selfish, wicked mindset that even a child might find immature.
Yet, Valerian was a woman who had brought countless people to their knees with that very mindset. For now, I had to play along.
"I simply believed it would be better to surrender quickly and save our lives instead."
"That is rather wise of you. I suspected as much when I saw you crawling so pathetically on the ground, but you certainly have a talent for knowing your place."
Of course, I didn't expect her to believe me based on just that.
I needed to spice it up. Since I had said and done things that would naturally arouse her suspicion, I now had to provide a rationale that she would find entirely plausible.
"However, my visit was in vain. Eleonor... never had any intention of sending troops to Arcteria in the first place."
Valerian's eyes flickered. I had piqued her interest.
"And why would that be?"
"Because it would not benefit her in the slightest."
I spun a tale that Valerian would find easy to believe.