Chapter 40: The Flower of Lawrence (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 40: The Flower of Lawrence (1)
Ten days ago.
Lawrence was in a state of absolute crisis.
"The Martel family has rejected our proposal."
"...The Bartra family is the same. Even though we agreed to establish the distribution network they have always demanded, they stated they cannot help us with this matter. My Lord, it seems virtually impossible to receive help from our neighbors due to the pressure from the Barco family."
Slam!
"Damn bastards."
At his vassals' reports, Viscount Lawrence slammed his fist onto the table, unable to contain his rage.
Before the conflict with Barco, the Martel and Bartra families had flattered Lawrence just to establish a connection. Lawrence's fertile lands granted them significant power in the northeast region, and Viscount Lawrence had always maintained amicable relations with his neighbors. Remembering those past ties, he had reached out to them for help. Yet, the heads of the two families—who had always treated Lawrence with smiling faces—now turned a cold shoulder, acting as if they had never known him.
He understood why.
Recently, a rumor had been circulating throughout the northeast.
A rumor that if any force intervened in the conflict between Lawrence and Barco to obstruct Barco's intentions, they would surely face retaliation after Lawrence fell. Everyone knew the rumor had been intentionally spread by the Barco family. But precisely because it was intentional, the other families had no choice but to shrink back in fear.
Barco had severed any possibility of an alliance.
Now, with only a one-week grace period remaining, Viscount Lawrence felt a heavy, suffocating weight in his chest.
"Have you heard back from the Golden Bank?"
"...Yes. They said they would review a land-collateral loan, but it seems highly unlikely the review will be completed within a week. The Golden Bank is not truly a neutral power. Since they have already invested a massive sum in the Barco family, they seem to have judged that supporting Barco over us is far more profitable."
Sigh.
Viscount Lawrence felt dizzy.
The Golden Bank.
It was a power whose influence was not limited to the Cairo Kingdom, boasting massive capital that reached across the entire continent. Their headquarters was known to be located in the Valhalla Empire, one of the two great empires. Although they claimed absolute neutrality as their highest value, in matters where their own interests were at stake—like now—they blatantly sided with whoever brought them the greatest profit.
Barco and Lawrence.
Barco had the higher chance of winning. Rather than investing in both sides, it was better for the bank to side with the victor.
"In the end, is there really no solution?"
For the past few weeks, Viscount Lawrence had run himself ragged trying to resolve this crisis.
Due to the broken engagement with Dmitry, Lawrence had been driven into a corner. He had met countless people, bringing up past connections in a desperate bid to survive. Among those attempts, contacting the Golden Bank was his absolute last resort, a gamble he took even knowing it would likely fail. If he could have somehow borrowed the money, he planned to hire mercenaries just like the Barco family. But the foxes of the Golden Bank never engaged in business where they might lose a single coin.
He was cornered.
It was over.
Once the week passed, Barco would launch their attack, and Lawrence lacked the strength to withstand it.
...I should have appeased Dmitry somehow.
Dmitry.
Their very existence had become a poison to him.
When Lawrence had been preparing for the marriage with Dmitry, it seemed like all their problems would be solved. But turning their backs on them had instead caused even the pro-Dmitry factions to declare they could not help. The true powers of the northeast were Barco and Dmitry. Having antagonized both families, Lawrence had been reduced to a complete outcast.
The situation was thoroughly bleak.
In a situation where even the vassals dared not open their mouths, a woman sitting at the very end of the conference room spoke up cautiously.
"Father. May I speak?"
It was none other than Flora Lawrence, the precious, beloved daughter of Lawrence.
Roman Dmitry.
Ever since her meeting with him, the realm of common sense that structured Flora's world had completely shattered.
My judgment was wrong. I looked at Roman Dmitry with prejudice, and the real fool wasn't him—it was me.
Roman's actions had been shocking.
At first, she only knew that Roman had done something, but as time passed, she learned the detailed process. Roman had executed Ben Miles, the leader of Blood Fang, right in front of a massive crowd. It was a deed accomplished entirely by Roman's own strength. What was even more shocking was his justification for doing so.
His purpose was to deal with Blood Fang, who had been harassing the people of Dmitry.
And knowing that Lawrence's response was inadequate, he had the audacity to act decisively, fully prepared to face the consequences.
Suddenly, Flora felt a deep sense of shame.
While the eldest son of Dmitry had done what was best for his family despite being called a fool, all she had done was plunge Lawrence into crisis by demanding a broken engagement. If only she could turn back time. She would have at least given far more thought to the extreme choice of breaking the engagement, which had provoked Dmitry's ire.
I was foolish. Choosing to break the engagement without any contingency plan was a decision that led my family down the path of ruin.
Once, there was a time when she thought she was brilliant.
Graduating from the Academy's advanced course with excellent grades, she had thought herself a good daughter as she watched her father smile brightly at her achievements. She hadn't known back then. The very fact that she had studied under the family's absolute support meant she was completely ignorant of the ways of the world—a mere flower in a greenhouse.
Outside the family, Barco was a wild predator.
Drooling and baring their fierce fangs, they had absolutely no consideration for the sheltered life Flora had lived.
Once the news of the broken engagement spread, Flora had shut herself in her room.
Although her belief that marriage should be with someone you love remained unchanged, she could not bring herself to face her father in this miserable reality where she had to pay the price for her romantic ideals. Because of her mistake, her father ran himself ragged every single day, begging for help. The lights in the family's conference room were never turned off. She didn't even dare approach the vassals—who walked out of meetings with deathly pale faces—to offer words of encouragement.
Flora Lawrence.
For her, who was called the Flower of Lawrence and had only ever seen and experienced the finest things in life, this was an incredibly harsh time.
She suffered in agony.
She ran fevers in the middle of the night, and waking up from nightmares drenched in cold sweat became a daily occurrence.
As this cycle repeated, Roman's image became vividly etched in Flora's mind.
How on earth was he able to act like that?
By his own strength alone.
In a situation where no one expected anything from him, Roman had boldly put his choices for his family into action.
It was magnificent.
Setting aside whether such a feat was even possible, just the fact that he had the resolve to do it made him look completely different in her eyes.
It was from then on.
Roman began to appear in Flora's dreams, and as she dreamed of him, her heart began to change little by little.
Then, one day, Flora made a decision.
"Let's not turn away from reality, Flora. If no one will help us, then just as Roman Dmitry subjugated Blood Fang himself, we too must find a way to solve our problems on our own."
Inside her dark room, Flora finally emerged from her shell.
Tying her hair back tightly so she could move comfortably, she went to the Lawrence family's library and picked out a few books.
The books were none other than military treatises in preparation for war.
Now, facing her father and the vassals in the conference room, Flora spoke.
"We are currently cornered. Barco has cut off any outside help, and the difference in our military strength is clear. Because of this, some suggest we should surrender to preserve at least a portion of our family's land, but I believe we must absolutely never do that."
"Why do you think so? Rather than letting innocent soldiers die, surrender might be the best choice for everyone," Viscount Lawrence questioned.
Meeting his gaze, Flora looked back at him with a calm expression.
"Barco used their connections in the Central Government to borrow money from the Golden Bank. According to rumors, the loan was unsecured. An unsecured loan will naturally carry an exorbitant interest rate. This war is not a venture where only Barco profits. For both Barco, who borrowed the money, and the Golden Bank, who lent it, to gain satisfactory returns, they will tear this land completely to shreds after conquering Lawrence. Half to Barco, the other half to the Golden Bank. And even then, their thirst won't be quenched until they scrape the very bottom of our vaults."
"Ahem."
The vassals shifted, showing signs of discomfort.
It was a brutally harsh statement, but no one could deny it was the reality.
"Then what are you saying we should do?"
"There is only one way. A fight to the death. That is the only way we can survive."
"A fight to the death? Is that truly the best you can offer?" Viscount Lawrence reacted with a hollow sigh.
For a moment, he had felt a spark of anticipation at Flora's words. He had thought her sharp judgment of the situation would yield some extraordinary method. But in the end, her suggestion fell completely within the realm of common sense.
Locking the castle gates.
Anyone could think of that.
However, Flora's approach was different from the others.
"I am not telling you to just hole up and hold out. Abandon this year's harvest and set fire to the fields. Then, stockpile as much food as possible inside the castle and endure. We only need to keep from collapsing until winter arrives."
"We only need to hold out until winter?"
"Yes. Barco borrowed a massive sum of money for this war. Although they secured an unsecured loan using their Central Government connections, the Golden Bank is not a force that can be pressured by mere political ties. They are a colossal power with influence across the entire continent. If the war does not end quickly and time continues to drag on, the Barco family will inevitably face immense pressure from the interest. Since the loan amount is huge, the interest will be astronomical as well. That is the only weakness we can exploit. Mercenaries move for money, and that money came from the Golden Bank. Once winter arrives—a season highly unfavorable for siege warfare—they will have no choice but to wither away on their own."
"My word!"
"To think there was such a way!"
At Flora's words, the family's vassals gasped in admiration.
Though they had looked skeptical at first, the more Flora spoke, the more they were completely drawn into her argument.
It made perfect sense.
This was a battle against time.
Since Barco's military strength was not truly their own, if Lawrence could just endure until reality caught up with their enemies, they had a solid chance of winning.
When did my daughter grow up this much?
Viscount Lawrence looked at his daughter with a complex expression.
His only daughter.
He had raised her with the utmost care, fearing she might break if held too tightly. The greenhouse flower had grown to bloom beautifully as the Flower of Lawrence.
When the incident with Dmitry occurred, Viscount Lawrence had thought he had raised his daughter to be far too naive.
But the truth was different.
Once she actually faced a situation where she had to roll in the mud, Flora showed her true worth.
You have suffered so much because of your incompetent father.
Only now did he notice Flora's gaunt face. A dark shadow hung over her features, showing just how much she had suffered in silence.
His precious daughter.
He absolutely refused to see his lovely daughter ruined by the Barco family.
Viscount Lawrence spoke with renewed vigor.
"Flora is right. The Barco family is not an enemy we cannot handle with our own strength. Therefore, prepare for a fight to the death immediately. We will endure, and we will carry on the legacy of the Lawrence family."
The decision was made.
They would not surrender.
They would not raise the white flag.
Even if they had to die beneath their collapsing walls, the Lawrence family's resolve was to fight and endure to the very end.
A week later, the day of the decisive battle foretold by Barco finally dawned.