Chapter 192

Chapter 192
Viscount Karayan’s brow furrowed at the suggestive edge in Viscount Oleg’s voice.

“Is that a threat you’re leveling at me?”

“Hardly. It is quite the contrary. I am simply advising you against attempting to use me as a sacrificial lamb. You should answer for your own conduct, just as I will answer for mine.”

“…That was always my intention. A scapegoat? You are being far too sensitive over a trivial slip of the tongue.”

“Ah, then it seems I was mistaken.”

Even with that justification, Viscount Oleg only inclined his head, a mocking grin playing on his lips.

Karayan felt a flare of resentment at such a blatant lack of respect, yet he kept his retort behind his teeth. It wasn’t as if the thought of shifting the entire burden onto Oleg hadn’t crossed his mind, provided things went smoothly.

*Tsk, the man is far too perceptive for his own good.*

Suppressing his irritation, Viscount Karayan released a weary breath and spoke again.

“Fine, let us dispense with the wordplay and get to the point. Precisely what did the Duke do while he was in your lands?”

“Phew, explaining it is no simple matter. It began well enough. The Duke stayed for three days, but then a full week was squandered because a rockfall obstructed the path, and another fifteen days were lost because a bridge was demolished.”

“So, up to that interval, everything was proceeding as we arranged.”

“Correct. However, after being stalled for nearly a month, the Duke seemed to catch wind of our scheme. That was the moment the situation spiraled.”

Viscount Oleg paused to take a drink of tea, as if parched by the retelling, before he went on.

He recounted how resentment had been festering among his own knights because he hadn’t disclosed the full scope of the strategy. He described how one of the Duke’s subordinates had caught wind of their complaints, which triggered a challenge to a duel. Finally, he explained how his own knight had initiated a preemptive strike before the official signal to commence the fight had even been given.

“When I demanded an account later, he insisted he saw the mage retreat after finishing the incantation. It appears they employed sorcery to deceive our eyes.”

“And you actually buy that? It sounds like the desperate justification of someone who lost his temper and acted like a fool.”

“That knight was no amateur. He wasn’t some hot-headed youth ruled by impulse; he was a man capable of weighing the political stakes. Even to my own observations, the setup was highly suspect.”

Following that duel, Viscount Oleg found himself completely stripped of the advantage.

The soldiers’ gazes were thick with malice from every direction, and Lucian didn’t lift a finger to calm them. As a result, the atmosphere became a tinderbox; it was obvious that any further stalling would ignite a bloodbath.

“I attempted to usher the troops on their way as fast as I could. I believed I had fulfilled my obligations. But then, the Duke himself went and wrecked the bridge.”

“Hold on, why would the Duke do that when his priority was reaching the north with all possible haste?”

“What else but spite? My mind went blank the moment the news reached me. The soldiers’ rage was mounting by the hour, and with the exit sealed, the pressure was at a breaking point.”

Convinced that this stalemate would never resolve, Viscount Oleg attempted a final confrontation with Lucian.

However, that move only served to ignite Lucian’s temper.

In a fit of rage, Lucian issued a declaration of war right then and there. It was only at that moment that Viscount Oleg grasped the severity of his position and fell to his knees in a desperate plea for mercy.

“He actually declared war?!”

“Why else would I have assisted the Duke if not for that? The House of Lerum was truly teetering on the edge of oblivion.”

Viscount Oleg voiced his grievances to the stunned Karayan.

Even now, he was plagued by a profound sense of remorse. If only he had prostrated himself the second the bridge was ruined again, perhaps the situation wouldn’t have decayed to such an extreme.

“Everything following that was a waking nightmare. I was forced to provide lavish hospitality to five thousand troops until the bridge was restored. I had to butcher every last head of my livestock to supply them with meat and dump my entire reserve of spices into the rations of common foot soldiers. I’ve never provided a feast that grand even for the knights who have served me for decades…!”

Viscount Oleg shuddered, as if the mere recollection were physically painful.

Because of this disaster, the House of Lerum had been diminished to a status lower than that of a simple barony. It would take at least three generations to restore their former standing.

But as if that weren’t a heavy enough price, Lucian had issued Viscount Oleg an even more chilling order.

“The Duke commanded me to gather the blood of all the slaughtered animals. He told me to ensure it stayed fresh because he intended to use it later. Then, he insisted I compose a letter to you, carefully weaving a tapestry of facts and falsehoods.”

“You don’t mean…!”

“The Duke remarked that if you provoke a man’s imagination just a fraction, there is no requirement for tedious diplomacy.”

The severed communication from Viscount Oleg and the staggering volume of blood that could only signify a massacre—Lucian had utilized these two elements to steer Viscount Karayan’s assumptions.

He never explicitly stated he had executed anyone, but he subtly maneuvered Karayan into believing exactly that.

In the end, Viscount Karayan had been nothing more than a puppet dancing on Lucian’s strings. He had cowered in terror before an army that hadn’t shed a single drop of human blood and had permitted them to pass without resistance.

“Y-you… do you comprehend what you have done?”

“I am well aware.”

“You are? This is an act of transparent treachery! If we aren’t careful, the Marquis himself may liquidate us before the Duke even gets the chance!”

Circulating the details of the letter to the other regional lords had been a move to save face, a tactic to avoid bearing the blame in isolation.

But now that the full truth was laid bare, it wasn’t a matter that could be settled quietly. Under Lucian’s directives, the two of them could be perceived as having betrayed the Marquis.

While Viscount Oleg was the catalyst for the entire mess, Viscount Karayan was the one who stood by and let the fire spread. If this ever came to light, the other lords might receive clemency, but the two of them would never survive the Marquis’s retribution.

“I-I must dispatch a courier to the Marquis at once…!”

“It is already far too late for that. We were delayed for such a long period while the bridge was being fixed that the Duke will reach his destination before any rider we send.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?!”

“We have to suppress this.”

“What?”

“Do you see any other path?”

Viscount Oleg gave a shrug to the speechless Karayan.

“The Duke has already attained his objective. Sending a courier now won’t provide the Marquis any advantage. No, he will likely just become incensed and ask if we are attempting to mock him.”

Therefore, they had to hide the evidence. Admitting to an unpardonable blunder would only invite fury, bitterness, and the inevitable execution that followed.

“Unless you are so burdened by a sense of duty that you crave punishment, exposing the truth would be an act of absolute idiocy. I trust you will make the logical choice.”

“…!”

Only then did Viscount Karayan grasp why Viscount Oleg had disclosed all of this.

The second he decided not to report the reality to the Marquis, Karayan became a partner in the crime. If he didn’t want to fall alongside Oleg, he would be forced to find a way to shield him from the Marquis’s anger later on.

“You cunning old devil…!”

“Let us continue our cooperative relationship. We have been amicable neighbors for centuries, have we not?”

Viscount Oleg broke into a laugh as he observed the teeth-gritting Karayan. Now that he had locked in a reliable partner, it seemed he no longer had to fret over his family’s survival.

—

While the two Viscounts were caught between despair and forced laughter, Lucian’s military force tore across the Western lands.

“From this point on, it is a battle against the clock! Do not grant the Marquis a single second to prepare! We must arrive before he even realizes we are in motion!”

They had crossed through numerous domains since departing from Viscount Karayan’s territory, yet they never stopped for more than twenty-four hours in any of them. Regardless of the extravagant hospitality offered, they stayed for only one night before charging toward Marquis Bernhardt.

They were moving with a velocity that made it difficult to believe they had been lingering in Viscount Oleg’s lands until just recently.

“Your Majesty! At this tempo, the men will collapse from sheer fatigue by the time we arrive at the Marquis’s borders!”

Hugo, who had recovered from his wounds, voiced his alarm as he galloped beside Lucian.

However, Lucian brushed aside Hugo’s concerns with a blunt command.

“It is of no consequence, keep pushing forward!”

“Excuse me?! This is hostile territory! Shouldn’t we be prepared for combat at any moment?!”

“The priority is to catch the Marquis off-balance! Even if the men are completely drained, if we arrive before the enemy has mobilized, we can overwhelm them with our sheer numbers!”

It was a massive force of five thousand infantry and three hundred knights. It was impossible for even Marquis Bernhardt to keep such a large host as a standing guard.

Naturally, Lucian held the dominant edge in terms of manpower, but the Marquis wouldn’t want to be outclassed in momentum. He would likely attempt to reinforce his numbers somehow before Lucian reached his gates.

*He will probably press some peasants into service to fill the ranks, but he won’t be able to rely on conscription alone. Forced levies reveal their clumsy lack of training immediately, even if you hand them the finest steel!*

If the troops he assembled turned out to be a mere disorganized mob, it would only lead to embarrassment rather than scaring off Lucian. The Marquis would be aware of this, so he would try to temporarily recruit as many trained mercenary or external units as possible.

However, moving all those foreign troops into a single region meant the territory would become crowded and unstable. It wouldn’t matter for a very brief window, but if left in that condition for long, chaos would erupt everywhere.

For the Marquis, the ideal scenario was to summon the reinforcements exactly when Lucian was anticipated to arrive.

“The Marquis commanded the other lords to impede me, but he didn’t provide a specific arrival date! He likely told them the longer the delay, the better! The Marquis doesn’t know the exact hour I will appear!”

“But won’t the other nobles report to the Marquis after they observe our path?!”

“Report?! Do you honestly believe they will send a message saying, ‘I was powerless and just let him walk right through’?!”

“Ah!”

Hugo’s eyes widened as he realized Lucian’s logic.

Just as he had said, when transmitting external news that had no personal stakes, there was no reason to withhold anything. No matter how vital the data was, there was no room for personal ego.

But it was a completely different scenario when one had to report their own failure alongside the news. To avoid admitting defeat, they would postpone the report as long as humanly possible. Especially if it was a total disaster where they had been unable to lift a finger.

*Of course, they won’t be able to stall the news forever. To fail to report at all would mean severing ties with the Marquis. But even taking that into account, if we maintain this speed, there is no way the Marquis will receive the word in time.*

The conditions were set. All that was left was for Lucian to strike before Marquis Bernhardt could pull his forces together.

To recruit extra troops after inviting a guest would clearly broadcast aggressive intentions to any observer. To avoid such a public scandal, the Marquis would have to welcome Lucian with only the permanent guards he had on hand.

*With a significantly smaller body of troops that won’t even be able to contain me if I decide to go on a rampage.*

Lucian left the rest of the thought unspoken, but his subordinates seemed to grasp it perfectly. Felicia, who was riding alongside them, nodded her head in agreement with Lucian’s assessment.

“I am in accord with His Majesty. The Marquis is frighteningly efficient at controlling situations within his expectations, but his capacity to improvise when things go off the rails is truly miserable. It is far better to catch the man by surprise, even if the soldiers are tired.”

“But what if he just abandons all etiquette and tries to crush us with raw power?! We will suffer heavy losses if we are ambushed the moment we arrive!”

“It will be fine.”

Felicia said with a confident smile toward Hugo’s worry.

“Because I am not tired at all.”