Calm Before the Storm (3)
The sound of clank, clunk rang out as the door that had remained tightly locked for days finally opened. Eidan, seated on a plush sofa with a book in his hands, turned his gaze toward the entrance. As the door swung wide, Lord Cain stepped into view.
“How does it feel being locked up?”
“It’s stifling not being able to leave, but I’ve managed to pass the time by catching up on all the books I’d set aside.”
Lord Cain entered the room fully and fixed his eyes on Eidan.
“Do you still hate the idea of going to war?”
“That hasn’t changed. Have you come to persuade me?”
“Not persuade. I came to tell you the current situation.”
Lord Cain’s lips curled into a smile.
“Lord Richard has invaded our lands. He’s already swallowed up a third of our territory.”
“That’s impossible.”
Eidan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Could Lady Unia not stop him…?”
“You mean that bitch you set free?”
Lord Cain threw his head back and laughed raucously.
“A clever bastard like you really didn’t see this coming? You actually thought that bitch would take your side? In this world, the only one on your side is me. Family. That’s all you’ve got.”
“She wasn’t the kind of person who would deceive others. Her personality was bold and forthright, almost like a man’s. And her eyes were endlessly clear.”
“Pathetic fool, putting your faith in a bitch.”
Lord Cain shook his head with an exaggerated look of pity.
“If God hadn’t given women bodies and skills designed to drown men in pleasure, they would have been hunted to extinction by men long ago. Why? Because they’re weak. Small frames, no real strength. If they aren’t herbivores, what better prey exists? So in the end, the only thing women mastered for survival was cunning lies. They’re not a race worth trusting.”
“Your view of women is completely warped, brother. Stop belittling or hating them. The mother who gave birth to us was a woman too. All women are precious. And yet the person who thinks this way places absolute trust in Ludmila? Isn’t Ludmila a woman as well? Your words and actions don’t match.”
“Didn’t I already tell you? The reason women have survived this long is because of their beautiful bodies. The night is dark, and that darkness fills me with boundless terror. To endure cruel nights steeped in horrific nightmares, I need a woman by my side. That’s the only reason I keep Ludmila close.”
“That woman is corrupting you. She’s latched onto you and is slowly devouring your soul, bit by bit.”
In truth, to Eidan’s eyes Lord Cain looked like a walking corpse. He had grown so gaunt, his skin so sallow and dull, that if flies had been buzzing around him it would not have seemed strange to mistake him for a zombie. His body was that badly deteriorated.
Lord Cain let out a heavy sigh.
“I didn’t come here to debate with you. We are under attack. We must launch a counteroffensive immediately and reclaim the land we’ve lost.”
“Then you and Ludmila can restore it. Since the two of you caused this mess, you should take responsibility for it.”
Lord Cain’s fist clenched tight.
“Do you want our house to fall?”
“I did everything I could to prevent this war. You were the one who refused to listen. You destroyed our domain out of nothing but greed for Lord Richard’s wife. I won’t lift a finger.”
“If this castle falls, you’ll die too! The lands our ancestors passed down will fall into their hands!”
Lord Cain exploded with rage.
Eidan realized his words had gone too far. In truth, what he had just said did not reflect his real feelings. He was also a member of the Cluiston family, and he had no desire to witness its ruin. He had simply been irritated by his brother and Ludmila for bringing about this war and had wanted to make them squirm for a moment.
“Yes, I have no desire whatsoever to take part in this foolish war. But unfortunately, I am still a son of the Cluiston family. The war I tried desperately to stop has begun, and I’m not idiot enough to sit back and watch while our house is attacked. I’m just as furious as you are, brother. It enrages me that our lands have been invaded, and I want to protect our family.”
Eidan closed the book and rose from his seat. He looked at his brother and smiled faintly, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“I will help you defeat the enemy. However, I have one condition. Until the war ends, keep Ludmila outside the castle walls. I have no desire to watch her whispering in your ear while we fight. I want you to entrust all matters related to the war to me.”
“It seems things have already turned out exactly as you wished. There’s no need to worry about Ludmila.”
Eidan tilted his head.
“What do you mean? You didn’t kill her, did you?”
Lord Cain gave a short, dry laugh and began walking toward the door.
“Follow me and you’ll see.”
Eidan trailed after him to Ludmila’s bedchamber. She lay upon the bed, hovering at death’s door. Two maids attended her, wiping away the cold sweat that covered her unconscious form.
“How did this happen?”
Though inwardly pleased, Eidan kept a look of shock on his face.
“I sent men to capture the bitch you released. When we heard nothing for some time, I dispatched soldiers to search for her. They found her collapsed in the forest in this state. The physician says she was struck by powerful magic and her mana flow has become unstable. There are two possibilities: she dies as she is, or her mana stabilizes and she survives.”
“I hope she dies quickly.”
Eidan grinned.
Lord Cain stared at him coldly.
“I’m being serious, Eidan.”
His gaze was icy, and it was clear he would tolerate no more of his younger brother’s sarcasm.
Eidan swiftly changed the subject.
“Unia wasn’t a mage. Strange. Could a third party have intervened?”
“Since she came with the intention of assassinating Ronda from the start, she must have had allies supporting her from behind. Allies to help her escape. That bitch had already planned her escape route in advance, intending to kill Ronda while pretending to be an envoy. The impudent whore.”
Eidan flinched at Lord Cain’s words. At some point his brother had come to genuinely believe that Unia had murdered his wife. He had killed her himself, yet that memory had been erased from his mind. Such alterations to his brother’s memories had happened more than once or twice, so it was not particularly surprising.
Without further comment, Eidan left the room. There was no point in trying to correct his memory; it would only wear out his tongue.
The moment Eidan entered the council chamber, he ordered a servant to bring wine. Seated at the head of the table, he sipped the wine while receiving reports on the war situation from his vassals.
The vassals looked visibly relieved and pleased that Eidan had finally stepped forward. They hurriedly sent word to the various lords in each village. As a result, most of the lords who had refused to fight alongside the mad lord immediately expressed their willingness to join the war the instant they learned Eidan would be in command.
The total strength of the Cluiston family swelled rapidly. The problem was that because the lords had only just begun to move, their troops were scattered across the region. Even at the earliest, it would take three days for all forces to gather at Harmel Castle. What they needed above all was time.
“Lord Richard is advancing at considerable speed. He will reach us the day after tomorrow. If that happens in our current state, we will be completely helpless. We must slow the advance of Richard’s army by any means necessary. We need to consolidate our forces before he arrives. Unless we gather every soldier and face him as a unified whole, we have no chance of victory.”
After speaking, Eidan quietly stroked his chin and stared intently at the map.
While he remained lost in thought, the vassals poured out their anxious words.
“We should have united much sooner…! I fear it may already be too late.”
“I still don’t fully understand why Lord Richard is attacking us…”
“If we’re unlucky, the royal family itself may intervene. After all, Lord Richard has Princess Irene with him. If His Majesty develops a grudge against us, that would be disastrous…”
Everyone was steeped in despair.
Eidan continued staring at the map, turning the situation over in his mind, when a sudden idea struck him. He downed the wine in his glass in one swift gulp and hurled it to the floor.
“It is far too early to lose heart!”
The crash of the glass made every vassal flinch and snap back to attention.
Eidan looked at them all with a face full of hope.
“Let us spread a rumor that the Metis family and the Herrera family, situated to the west and south of Richard’s domain, are marching on Lanchester Castle. When he hears that his own lands are under attack, Lord Richard will panic and find himself at a crossroads.”
Lord Cain, who had been swirling the wine in his glass as he listened, spoke up.
“Richard’s envoys will have visited those two families as well. It won’t work.”
“Even so, we can buy time while Lord Richard sends letters to his envoys to verify the rumor’s truth. In the meantime, we will turn the lie into reality.”
“Turn the lie into reality?”
“We will send letters to the Metis and Herrera families ordering them to truly attack Lanchester Castle.”
One of the vassals who had been listening quietly let out a sigh.
“Do you really think the Metis and Herrera families will listen to us? It would be easier to befriend Richard’s soldiers.”
Eidan rose abruptly from his seat and addressed them all in a grave voice.
“There is one thing you must all understand first. This war is one we foolishly invited upon ourselves. Simply maintaining the status quo after the fighting ends would already be an enormous blessing. We must abandon any greed for gains from this war. Only by letting everything go can we win.”
“And?” Lord Cain asked.
Eidan answered, “Let us offer the Metis and Herrera families the entirety of Richard’s territory. Tell them that after the war they may split it evenly between themselves, and in exchange ask them to conduct rear harassment operations.”
“Then what of Princess Irene? His Majesty will surely fly into a rage, claiming we have placed his daughter in danger.”
To the vassal’s question, Eidan replied without hesitation.
“Even if His Majesty becomes furious and raises troops, it will take over a month for forces to travel from the capital to here. As for the seven knights dispatched to the southern region? After we win the war, we simply send the princess back to the capital unharmed. That alone will resolve everything, whether it be the seven southern knights or the king’s personal army.”
“Aren’t you oversimplifying this?”
Eidan shook his head.
“The fact that they entrusted the princess to Lord Richard despite him already having a wife means she is a hostage. For the royal family to give away a princess as a concubine, something that would wound their pride, cannot possibly have been done out of mere goodwill. Yet they did it. That means the royal family has some weakness that Richard holds over them. If we rescue the princess from her captor, His Majesty will undoubtedly be overjoyed.”
Some of it was pure conjecture on his part. But in war, it was not enough to deceive only the enemy. Raising allied morale with well-crafted lies was equally important.
Eidan thought to himself, How accurate will my predictions and guesses prove to be?
Though he had spoken to the vassals with absolute confidence, in his heart he was only half convinced. Above all, if the Metis and Herrera families refused the proposal, the war would end before they could do anything at all. The defeated Cluiston family would vanish into the pages of history.