Sincerity
Sincerity
Lucy, who had sent Daniel away, rose from her seat and looked back at the special warfare troops entering the laboratory.
Seeing them raise their gun barrels, Lucy paused for a brief moment, then surrendered.
She knew that struggling once the entrance was sealed would only create more meaningless corpses.
And having succeeded in saving Daniel, Lucy no longer had any lingering attachments.
Because of that, the special warfare troops quickly secured her, but none of them could resort to violence or hurl insults at her.
Even if their relationship was built entirely on lies, Lucy was, after all, Count Kaledra's adopted daughter.
While the special warfare troops politely restrained Lucy, the Allied forces succeeded in pushing the Imperial Army out of the city and occupied Penbark overnight.
This was Daniel Steiner's first defeat,
and the Allied Nations' victory.
*
The next morning, Penbark.
A mansion owned by Count Kaledra's family.
─ My lady. My name is Namelias, your maid. May I come in?
Lucy, leaning against the headboard in the bedroom, did not answer.
Namelias, displeased by this, knocked on the door once more.
─ My lady! Count Kaledra wishes to see your face today! He wants to see you at noon, so you must begin your preparations now!
Lucy still did not answer.
Thinking she could not leave it be any longer, Namelias opened the door and stepped inside.
She found Lucy staring straight ahead with unfocused eyes.
The expression was not much different from the one Lucy had worn the day before, when the special warfare troops had dragged her here.
'I felt it when I bathed Miss Lucy on Count Kaledra's orders, but...'
There was no way to know what she was thinking.
'She looks sad, somehow.'
Pity welled up within Namelias, but half-hearted consolation would have been worse than none.
Thinking she did not need to meddle unnecessarily, Namelias picked up the clothes basket and approached Lucy.
"My lady. I will help you change, so would you please stand up? If you stand in front of the full-length mirror, I will take care of everything."
Namelias spoke as kindly as possible, but Lucy paid no attention.
However, seeming to realize she could not ignore her indefinitely, Lucy slowly slipped out of bed.
Once on her feet, Lucy walked over to the mirror Namelias had mentioned and stopped.
Inside the mirror, an amber stone necklace quietly flaunted its presence.
After watching Lucy for a while, Namelias cleared her throat and moved behind Lucy.
Setting down the clothes basket, Namelias chattered to lighten the mood.
"I wonder if this is appropriate to say upon our first meeting, but you are incredibly beautiful, my lady. Out of everyone I have ever seen, you seem to have the most exquisite features. Do you often hear that you are pretty?"
Lucy started to answer, then closed her mouth.
She could not bring herself to utter the name 'Daniel' here.
Namelias found this somewhat puzzling, but did not press further.
Namelias picked up a comb, tidied Lucy's hair neatly, and then slowly removed her nightgown.
Then, she dressed her in a pure white blouse and skirt, and brought over a chair.
"Would you please sit? I'd like to put your stockings and shoes on you."
When Lucy gave a small nod and sat in the chair, Namelias smiled and took out the silk stockings.
Namelias smoothed the ends of the stockings and slowly rolled them up, fitting them over Lucy's toes.
The texture of the silk meshed with Lucy's skin, gliding smoothly up and covering her thighs.
After lightly rubbing the stockings to prevent any wrinkles, Namelias then put a pair of shoes on her.
Then, when Lucy stood up and looked in the mirror, she had completely transformed into a graceful lady.
She exuded the dignity befitting a young lady of a noble family, no matter who looked at her.
'She's so beautiful to begin with, anything suits her.'
Feeling satisfied, Namelias took a jewelry box from the clothes basket and opened it.
"It might sting a little."
Taking out a pair of earrings, Namelias gently took hold of Lucy's ear.
After inserting the pin of the earring into the earlobe and releasing her hand, the earring jingled lightly.
'Good. Now, if I just replace the necklace, I'm done.'
It was the moment she reached out to remove the simple necklace from Lucy's neck.
"Heuk!?"
Lucy reflexively grabbed Namelias's wrist.
Lucy, for the first time, spoke to Namelias, who was bewildered and had no idea why she was acting this way.
"Don't touch it."
Because the tone even carried a hint of killing intent, Namelias could not help but break out in a cold sweat.
Lucy, who had been watching Namelias's reaction through the mirror, flinched in surprise and released her wrist.
"I'm sorry..."
Having received the apology, Namelias looked down at her own wrist.
Lucy's grip had been so strong that a reddened handprint remained clearly visible.
It was enough to bring tears to her eyes, but Namelias, realizing Lucy meant no harm, accepted the apology.
"It's alright. It was my fault for trying to replace the necklace without even asking. But seeing you react this strongly, the necklace must be quite precious to you, my lady?"
At Namelias's question, Lucy raised her hand and gently caressed the necklace.
The gem-cutting was unremarkable, nor was the necklace's design anything to speak of.
It was the kind of necklace you could easily buy at any jewelry shop.
That was exactly the level of value this necklace held.
But even if someone were to shower her with rare and expensive ornaments, Lucy would not trade them for the necklace she wore now.
"Yeah..."
Because through this necklace, she could recall the memories she shared with Daniel.
Lucy, remembering the time Daniel gave her this necklace, smiled softly.
"This is the first birthday present I ever received."
Namelias, who had been observing Lucy's face through the mirror, unwittingly grew solemn.
She did not quite know why, but the smile Lucy wore right now was tinged with sadness.
*
Meanwhile, the Imperial Army brigade that had been pushed to the outskirts of the city fell into extreme chaos.
"The retreat may have succeeded, but the casualties are significant! Total casualties amount to 713, and of those, 320 were killed in action! If we also count the missing or captured, it's effectively losing 20% of our forces!"
At the personnel staff officer's report, everyone in the command tent groaned in unison.
With the air thick with defeat, the operations staff officer, who was also serving as deputy brigade commander, let out a sigh.
"It could not be helped. Who could have predicted the Allied forces would use Ethelium to assault us? And on top of that, we fought while our brigade commander was absent."
Retreating with only 20% losses in an overall unfavorable situation was not a bad result.
Despite this, the air in the command tent was thick with gloom, as if the army had been half-destroyed.
The reason was simple.
The absent brigade commander showed no sign of returning.
Losing Daniel Steiner felt like a far more severe blow than the army's defeat.
So much so that they could not bring themselves to report Daniel Steiner as missing to headquarters.
"...Then, was the brigade commander really captured by the enemy?"
This was from Pelf, the intelligence staff officer.
They wanted to deny it, but given that there had been no news of Daniel Steiner so far, the assumption that he had been captured by the enemy was the most plausible.
"Then what are we supposed to do? We cannot continue this fight without the brigade commander."
The operations staff officer, who had been clenching his teeth, let out a low breath.
"The search is still ongoing. If there is a God, He will side with us. But if the brigade commander has truly been discovered by the enemy and killed, or captured..."
The operations staff officer paused briefly before continuing.
"First, we will retreat to the bridge and then follow headquarters' orders."
"...Does that mean we are giving up on Penbark?"
"I don't know that either. From what I heard, it was the brigade commander himself who insisted we had to occupy Penbark, so the operation might end up being withdrawn."
The faces of the staff officers darkened as they thought about returning to the capital having lost so many troops.
The same was true for Pelf, the intelligence staff officer.
'If the brigade commander were here, such defeatist talk would not even be uttered...'
It was at that moment, when Daniel Steiner's absence was felt so keenly.
"Urgent report!"
A sergeant burst into the tent.
The sergeant saluted the staff officers gathered at the command table, then spoke hastily.
"It is reported that the brigade commander has been found in a clearing in the nearby forest and is on his way here!"
Silence enveloped the command tent.
The first to react was Pelf.
"Is that true!?"
At Pelf's question, the sergeant nodded.
"Yes! The brigade commander says that all staff officers are to wait in the command tent!"
If the report of Daniel's safe return was true, waiting was the least they could do.
With hope returning to their faces, the staff officers waited in the command tent as Daniel had ordered.
After about an hour, heavy footsteps were heard from outside the tent.
Immediately afterward, Daniel Steiner entered the command tent, his uniform torn in several places.
The bandage wrapped around his arm was a jarring sight, but it was unmistakably Daniel Steiner.
The staff officers, who had all risen from their seats at once, showed proper respect to Daniel Steiner but could not bring themselves to offer congratulations on his safe return.
For some reason, Daniel Steiner's expression was fiercer than usual.
"It seems everyone is here, so I'll get straight to the point."
A chilling voice fell over the command tent.
"We are not giving up Penbark. It will not be us who give it up—it will be the Allied Nations."
Daniel Steiner strode to the head seat at the command table.
As the operations staff officer yielded the spot, Daniel Steiner naturally took his place at the head of the command table.
Daniel's fingertips, resting on the command table, trembled faintly.
"So contact General Headquarters. Tell them that Penbark has been taken, but we do not need to withdraw the operation. I myself..."
Daniel, having barely suppressed his fury, recalled his last image of Lucy and continued speaking.
"...will show Count Kaledra what real war is."