Mirrors of Deception
Thinking back on it, persuading Eleonor had been quite a strange affair.
While my maxed-out Charm stat had allowed me to bury her doubts beneath the surface, the negotiation had ultimately succeeded because it aligned with her interests.
Yet, that alone was far from enough. A simple working relationship was one thing, but becoming a true comrade to someone like Eleonor was no easy feat.
And yet, she had accepted it. She had believed without a shred of doubt that Edrin Silverline—a man burdened by a terrible reputation—actually shared her extreme mindset.
Fundamentally, it was because Eleonor possessed that very mindset herself.
She acted for the sake of others. She lived with a mindset willing to lay down her life for commoners she had never even met, regardless of the personal cost.
Because she was that kind of person, she felt no sense of dissonance in believing someone else like her could exist in the world.
She simply assumed that such a person could exist out there, and that they might conveniently appear right before her eyes.
And that cognitive bias was not unique to people like Eleonor.
Conversely, Valerian, who possessed an equally extreme personality on the opposite end of the spectrum, believed that everyone shared her cynical nature.
She believed those who spoke of goodness were merely hypocrites using it as a tool, and that someone like herself—who openly displayed her desires and ambitions—was far more honest and straightforward.
"Eleonor never cared about the safety of Arcteria from the very beginning," I said.
"Is that so?" Duchess Valerian replied.
Eleonor's reputation was widely known. Other nobles of the empire would never doubt that the legendary knight was acting out of pure righteousness.
But Valerian was different. She still harbored suspicions toward Eleonor, convinced that everything she had heard and seen of the countess was merely a cover for sinister intentions.
It was because Valerian herself thought that way. She had no choice but to judge the motives and principles of others through the lens of her own imagination.
She might feel a slight sense of dissonance, but that was something I could easily suppress by enhancing my persuasiveness with my Charm stat.
Right now, Valerian was believing my words.
"Your Grace's army is formidable," I continued. "If a battle breaks out in Arcteria, it will undoubtedly become a direct confrontation, which is hardly favorable for Eleonor."
"Yet the fact remains that she is gathering an army," Valerian countered.
"Her target is Runstan. Eleonor intends to strike Runstan while Your Grace's attention is fixed on Arcteria."
A faint smile touched Valerian's lips.
"Can you take responsibility for what you have just said?"
"I believe the probability is extremely high," I replied smoothly. "While traveling through Eleonor's territory, I met not only the countess herself but also a considerable number of her subordinates. You will soon be able to confirm for yourself that they have no intention of sending their forces to Arcteria."
"Hmm..."
Valerian fell into deep thought. She scrutinized my eyes, weighing the truth of my words while cross-referencing the feasibility of this intelligence against the reports she had already received.
Yet I remained entirely composed. After all, the fact that Eleonor would deploy her troops near Runstan was an indisputable truth.
"If that is true, then it is a foolish miscalculation on her part," Valerian said with a light chuckle.
"The garrison at Runstan may not be exceptionally strong, but neither is it so weak that Eleonor's makeshift army can overrun it in an instant."
It worked. She did not doubt me.
"So long as you kneel politely before me as you are doing now... taking control of Arcteria will not require much time. And once I strike Eleonor from behind while she is occupied with Runstan, I will reap immense rewards."
Any reasonable person receiving intelligence that Eleonor was abandoning an endangered territory to attack another would feel a sense of incongruity.
Eleonor was someone driven by justice. Whatever her inner thoughts might be, she always acted like an honorable hero, an impeccable knight without flaw.
Yet Valerian did not question it for a moment.
To her, the strategy of attacking Runstan while Valerian's army was tied up taking Arcteria seemed entirely rational.
Furthermore, Valerian believed that Eleonor was just like herself—a woman capable of casting aside her mask of righteousness when presented with an irresistible gain.
In the end, humans have no choice but to view others through the window of their own perception.
And now, she would begin to judge me through that same self-centered, arrogant lens. Without listening to anyone else, she would decipher my motives and evaluate my worth entirely according to her own perspective.
She would view Edrin as a man who possessed good judgment, but who would never use that judgment in a way that opposed her. Slowly but surely, she would come to accept my existence.
"I can praise her for avoiding a direct clash with my army and seeking a meaningful outcome elsewhere... but it seems even she failed to predict your actions," Valerian remarked.
For Eleonor's supposed plan to succeed, a conflict had to break out between Valerian and me.
Yet I had endured humiliation to halt the clash between our two territories. If Eleonor truly intended to capture Runstan, my submission was the last thing she would have wanted.
Thus, Valerian had no choice but to believe that I was actively cooperating with the duchess standing before me.
"Of course, Your Grace," I replied.
"Very well... I understand. This was valuable intelligence. Once everything is settled, I shall reward you handsomely."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile played upon her lips.
She believed that Eleonor was entirely unaware of my intention to yield to Valerian. And she was already planning to exploit that blind spot.
"I will send a token force of soldiers, so surrender as quickly as possible. You have no intention of refusing, I trust?"
The one who had offered an apology to Valerian was Edrin Silverline, not the fiefdom of Arcteria itself.
Therefore, if she intended to use Edrin Silverline as a puppet to turn Arcteria into a reliable ally, she could easily swallow Arcteria whole despite my apology.
"...That will be difficult," I said.
"Why?" Valerian asked, her eyes narrowing. "Contrary to rumors, you seem quite wise. You even appear to have a talent for knowing your place. Surely you don't intend to sacrifice yourself just to ensure Eleonor's plan succeeds?"
When weaving a lie, one must always anchor it with truthful evidence.
Looking straight into Valerian's eyes, I spoke with measured caution.
"I do not possess the authority to control the people of Arcteria."
Valerian's gaze sharpened as if she had heard something deeply unpleasant.
"Are you not Edrin Silverline, the Lord of Arcteria?"
"I am merely a lord who has not even held his succession ceremony," I answered. "My personal faction is virtually non-existent. In truth, I fled my own territory simply to survive."
Valerian stared at me slowly, her face cold and brimming with suspicion.
"Had I possessed true authority as lord, I would never have personally sought out Countess Eleonor or Your Grace," I added. "After all, meeting either of you carries the risk of death or imprisonment."
Valerian pressed a hand to her forehead, as though confronted with a variable she had not considered.
Her power and authority were immense. As a ruler who commanded absolute obedience, Valerian was accustomed to forcing her will upon her subjects without resistance.
"Not much time has passed since I awakened," I explained. "I never had a supporting faction to begin with, and even if any loyalists remained, they have likely vanished by now in my absence."
"Then why did you leave your territory in the first place?" she demanded.
"Had I stayed, I would likely be dead," I replied. "There has already been an attempt on my life. Irene's knights tried to assassinate me."
"Then why not simply purge them?"
"I lack the power to do so."
Valerian's face contorted in disgust at hearing such powerlessness.
"With Your Grace's vast intelligence network, verifying the truth of my words should prove effortless," I added smoothly.
Valerian possessed unmatched capabilities in intrigue and espionage. Even if she hadn't recalled it immediately, it wasn't an incident she had never heard of.
"If so, does that not render everything you are doing now—all these promises—entirely meaningless?"
Realizing the instability of my authority, Valerian immediately began to doubt me again.
No matter what secret pact she forged with me, if Irene later assumed the lordship of Arcteria and claimed she had never heard of such an agreement, it would all be for naught.
"It will not be meaningless, provided Your Grace shows respect toward Arcteria," I offered.
"Hmm..."
"Of course, Irene does not fear war," I continued. "Even now, she is likely preparing for battle—training troops and recruiting soldiers."
That was already the agreed-upon plan between Irene and me. Even if I had told her not to, Irene would undoubtedly have prepared for war regardless.
"However, that does not mean they actively desire war. If I can return with a guarantee of peace from Your Grace, they will never dare to break that promise."
Valerian remained silent, listening intently.
"No matter how lacking my support base may be, that pledge would still be made with Edrin Silverline, the Lord of Arcteria. They know full well that the moment they kill or depose me, that peace agreement shatters."
More important than keeping Valerian's army out of Arcteria was proving that I was a useful asset to her.
Someone she had no reason to kill—someone she must not kill.
"They will have no choice but to keep me as lord—someone who understands Your Grace's power better than anyone in Arcteria and pledges absolute loyalty to you."
I had to prove my worth.