Seismic Shift (1)
"Is that… really true?"
"It is. Our losses are so catastrophic they defy description… and General Chel has been gravely wounded as well."
A historic defeat born of Chel Brans's misjudgment.
He had spotted Airen Juliette and forced the engagement far past reason. Time bled away, and before the raiding force could even attempt a retreat, nearly the entire army was annihilated.
Hearing every detail of the battlefield from the messenger who had ridden hard to reach her, Parfalle felt her legs give out as if she had been struck by lightning. She collapsed where she stood.
Why… did it come to this…?
The plan had been perfect.
Accounting for the enemy commander Epinel's determination to push into the central continent, the ambush should have been a guaranteed success. So why had it failed?
The scouts had even confirmed that the fortress was preparing for a ritual ceremony.
The enemy had clearly intended to hold the fort. Why else would they stage a ceremony if they hadn't been certain a large force would arrive?
Then why…!
In that moment, for reasons she could not name, the image of a white-haired young man flickered through Parfalle's mind.
"I am asking whether you specifically intended to form a secret pact with the Charam Army and strike in a simultaneous pincer attack."
"We must mass our forces in the north and invade Serpina's territory."
Somehow—she still did not know how—he had seen through everything as if he had already lived the future. Swen.
The knowledge that that man now served the Acius Army sent a sudden chill down her spine.
Surely not…
No. Impossible.
It defied common sense. No human could reach a state of absolute foresight. That was simply how the world worked.
He possessed extraordinary talent, yes—but he couldn't know everything. That had to be true… didn't it?
…Calm down.
Parfalle forced the thought of Swen from her mind.
Even if he had seen through every move and turned their own plan against them, she had not been appointed state tactician to sit around marveling at the man.
What had happened had happened. The crisis had to be contained—now.
At this rate, the southern front will be completely empty…
If she redirected the western forces—now free after their campaign—to the south, the eastern front would be left bare instead.
Pulling troops from the north was out of the question. That border, above all others, could never be left undefended.
For the moment they held ceasefire agreements with the southern nations along the border—but that window was fleeting, nowhere near long enough to raise and station new soldiers.
First… stay calm. I have to report this to my lord as quickly as possible.
Parfalle organized the situation in her mind, then ordered the messenger before her to ride at once for Anel Castle.
Lin needed to grasp the full picture. That came first.
"Understood! I will deliver the report without fail."
Once the messenger was gone, Parfalle sank back into her thoughts.
What do I do? How… how can we survive this crisis?
Honestly—she herself had drafted the operation.
A failure this catastrophic could not be laid solely at Chel Brans's feet for rising to a provocation.
Yes, Chel had ignored the plan and wasted precious time, and that had brought them to this ruin… but assigning blame now would solve nothing.
What do I do… what am I supposed to do…!
No matter how many times she turned the problem over, every line of reasoning ended in the same desolate conclusion.
Parfalle looked up at the darkening sky.
…Has Heaven abandoned Lady Lin?
She had always been the first to scorn those who blamed fate for their failures.
But in this moment, she could not help herself.
A few days later, the messenger Parfalle had dispatched arrived at Anel Castle.
The failed ambush. Chel Brans's defeat.
In the war against the Acius Army alone, their losses already exceeded eighty thousand men.
Thirty-eight thousand defectors. Forty-five thousand annihilated.
And they had not even managed to inflict meaningful damage on the Acius Army in return.
They had simply been robbed of their soldiers and sent to die for nothing.
Crack. Crunch.
Lin gnawed savagely at her fingernails.
Bright red blood dripped from the torn tips.
Impossible. Impossible. Impossible…
The defeat of Chel, Brans's First Sword—and his wounding.
The decisive cause: Chel had taken the bait.
And of all people… from her.
Airen Juliette…!!!
Bang!
Lin slammed her fist down on the armrest of the throne.
Of all people.
Of all people, she had been humiliated by Airen again.
Not just anyone—that filthy red-haired traitor she couldn't stand to look at!
Damn it, damn it, damn it damn it damn it…!!!!!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She pounded the armrest until her knuckles turned raw, but of course nothing was solved.
Only then did her reason as a sovereign begin to return.
The soldiers… what do I do about the soldiers? There are only a few thousand left on the southern border…
In a panic, Lin ordered messengers to summon her vassals and demand solutions.
Hours later, an old man came before her.
"My lord. It has been some time."
The old man was Byron—a senior retainer who had served the Brans Army for two generations, and the former lord of Lacline Castle.
After stepping down from his post, he had lived quietly on the margins. Now, with the realm in crisis, he had come to Anel Castle to offer counsel.
"Byron. You've heard, I assume?"
"I have. By my judgment, the situation is extremely dangerous. You must make a decision without delay."
"A decision?"
"Even now, cede Lacline Castle in exchange for a ceasefire of at least three years with the Acius Army. If the north or south is breached, it is over. In the east, if we need only watch the Acius Army, a path forward can still be found."
"…"
Lin said nothing, staring into empty air.
Objectively, ceding Lacline Castle for a multi-year truce was likely the option that would cost them the least.
With the western forces freed, they could at least plug the southern gap.
But.
Bowing to the Acius Army would mean—
Bowing to that insufferable Airen Juliette who served under them.
Anyone else, perhaps. But not her. She could never lose to her.
She could never show weakness—not to her!
"Other options?"
"…We could try to sow discord among the southern nations and spark a war between them… though I honestly doubt it would succeed. And I am not certain we even have the time."
"I will never give the Acius Army what they want. …Find another way."
"…"
Byron left the castle without another word.
The other senior retainers who came after him were much the same.
Each brought plausible suggestions, yet none of them felt clean or decisive.
That was it.
Men who had served their army for years—every one of them—spoke with less conviction than Swen ever had, back when he was still a newcomer.
Looking back, Swen had always spoken with absolute certainty.
When he insisted they send forces north. When he warned that the Acius Army was colluding with the Allepel and Charam Armies to deceive them.
He had been wrong only once—when he argued they should build a fortress and attack the Acius Army.
And even that, she now realized, had probably not been his idea at all.
It must have been Airen's. Of course it was.
They had betrayed her together, after all.
It always came back to Airen.
The thought that Airen Juliette was laughing at her, mocking her, sent fresh rage boiling through her chest.
"…Aaaaaaaagh!!!"
She screamed with everything she had. Nothing was solved.
Never again.
She would never again be led around by that damned red-haired bitch.
"Lady Lin. My name is Airen Juliette. I will strive to become a shield that protects you and the young masters of House Brans."
From the very first meeting, Lin had hated every single thing about her.
No matter what she did, that woman always performed better than Lin—whose bloodline was far nobler.
No matter what she did, that woman always achieved more than Lin—whose bloodline was far nobler.
No matter what she did, that woman always earned the admiration of others more than Lin—whose bloodline was far nobler.
Even so, it had not mattered.
In the end, she would be the one who stood above that woman.
But even after she finally claimed the throne and the relationship of lord and vassal was set—
The thirst of her childhood had never been quenched. It had only sunk deeper into the recesses of her heart.
It was always going to end like this…!
Looking back, she must have sensed the woman's destiny as a traitor and recoiled from her by instinct.
She accepted the thought quickly and began to rationalize.
If she had not been sovereign, someone would eventually have told her that every disaster had been of her own making—
But tragically for her, she was the sovereign.
And in the Brans Army, not a single soul existed who could challenge the authority of Lin Brans.
"…You."
"Y-yes!"
Lin addressed a soldier standing guard.
"Bring me Kalintz Brans. He's under house arrest."
"Y-you mean Lord Kalintz, my lady?"
"…Why are you still standing there? Bring him. Now!"
Lin snatched up the sword lying beside her and snapped the order with raw irritation.
The soldier, thoroughly terrified, managed a reply.
"Y-y-yes, my lady!"
…Hah. Hah.
Kalintz Brans.
He had committed a grave offense, yes—but with Chel wounded, he was the most reliable general she had left.
If she ordered him to hold Lacline Castle, he should at least be able to stop the Acius Army.
As for the southern nations… right. If she had to cede a castle for peace, better to do it with one of the southern states than with them.
Territory was no small price. They might even agree to wage war among themselves for it.
The Brans border would grow more complicated, but she would not yield a single thing to the Acius Army—not while Airen was among them.
It's fine. One step at a time. I am Lin Brans. The chosen one, destined to unify this continent…! In the end, I will win. I have to…!
To her own surprise, the thought cooled some of the rage burning in her chest.
Yes. She would start over, carefully.
Even if she lost a little—even if a few castles fell—this was the central continent she had once conquered, was it not?
Before long, Kalintz approached and knelt.
"My lord. Kalintz Brans, answering your summons."
"…Ah. Good. You've come, Brother Kalintz."
In a calm voice, Lin laid out her plan.
The core of it was simple: she would entrust him with the entire western force, now free of other duties, and he would hold Lacline Castle.
The numbers were a little thin, but Lacline was a natural fortress of extraordinary defensive strength.
A general of Kalintz's caliber would surely repel any Acius offensive.
In the meantime, they would raise troops as fast as humanly possible.
Conscription of every able-bodied commoner. Mercenary companies bought at any price, if they could be found.
Public sentiment might suffer for a while—but if the entire realm collapsed, that would hardly matter.
"If you carry out this mission properly, I will restore your honor, Brother. I'll treat every past mistake as if it never happened."
Kalintz answered in a tone of deep gravity.
"I, Kalintz Brans, have waited for this moment. This time, I will not disappoint you."
Today, his words felt especially solid.
Lin thought: House Brans would survive this crisis.
And she would make Airen—who had dared betray House Brans—suffer so terribly that living itself would become agony.
That was the thought that filled her.
"Good. I like that. I'll be counting on you."
She issued the broad orders, dismissed Kalintz, and sat back on the throne, chewing her nails once more.
It's fine… nothing will go wrong. We can win this…!
And in that very moment—
"M-my lord…!"
A soldier burst into the audience chamber at a dead run.
Cornered and raw-nerved, Lin nearly snapped at him—but the bright red armband tied clearly around his arm froze her solid. The words died in her throat.
N… no…
"My lord. Serpina's Army…!"
Fate, already derailed, would not wait for a leader who had already made mistake after mistake.
"They are marching on Kelstein Castle with a force of ninety-eight thousand…!"
Lin did not want to admit it.
But from the moment she had truly resolved to kill Airen Juliette—
the Brans Army, once the hegemon of the central continent, began to collapse with terrifying speed.