“Fabio will undoubtedly launch a counterattack. This magic stone mine in the mountain range surrounding the capital is crucial. If they manage to reclaim just this area, the Fabio Kingdom will have the means to strike back again.”

“Don’t worry. This will be a hundred times better than barriers that disappear when someone dies. Even if I die, these stones will activate magic befitting the name Natural Shield until the moment they turn to dust.”

Anesio’s words proved true just one day after Caleb captured the castle.

Through the night came tremendous noise and commotion, and a terrible darkness…… truly, such darkness had never existed before. A darkness where opening one’s eyes made no difference.

The cold, bluish darkness lifted, and only after the afternoon sun shone strongly did the area around the castle walls grow quiet.

“Urgh……”

“Ugh……”

The next day, looking down from atop the castle walls revealed a scene that could be praised as a masterpiece if hell were to be painted.

The enemy froze to death, exploded to death, burned to death.

Without question, without doubt, it was unquestionably a perfect victory.

“The Fabio Kingdom has acknowledged defeat and left their white flag! I hereby declare 「The Fabio War」 ended!”

The soldiers who heard Caleb’s shout wore determined expressions. The people of the Fabio Kingdom who had been unable to escape and were taken hostage could not hide their dazed emotions.

“We have achieved victory. If there are any fallen comrades, call out their names!”

“……”

Not a single name was called.

Though there were injured, everyone survived. The level of the Fabio Kingdom’s soldiers who only relied on barriers could not even compare to the Pergos army that had long prepared for the unification war.

“Send word of victory to the capital, King’s City!”

— Flap flap

At Caleb’s command, the messenger released a carrier bird.

News of this splendid war’s outcome would soon reach the ears of the Minister of Military, Greg Sanders.

Watching the carrier bird tear through the sky, Rudbeckia felt somehow empty.

‘The Emperor’s wish for continental unification has been achieved. Now there is nowhere on this continent his hands cannot reach.’

But she soon changed her mindset.

‘This works out better. Emperor, since this world is filled with the blood and grudges you’ve spilled for a continental unification, I won’t feel any guilt when I cut off your breath.’

Once the castle had settled somewhat, the soldiers held a celebration.

“Heh. Vice Commander, have a drink with us.”

“Commander, without a doubt you’ll be the star of the victory banquet, Vice Commander Rud.”

Under the bright full moon, the soldiers laid out plenty of alcohol and meat.

Rudbeckia examined each table of soldiers who had struggled alongside Caleb, with a smile on her lips that one could never tire of seeing.

“By the way, how did you take care of Fabio’s magic knight? Was it with that dagger in your hair?”

“Yes. I pierced his artery in one strike.”

She pressed her finger against her neck as she spoke.

“How fascinating. I’ve never seen a weapon like that here before, haha!”

Of course not. This was an assassination weapon that Yuli Sanders had personally designed.

Even without the dagger part, the sheath portion perfectly decorated her hair, so no one could notice the weapon in her hands until they were stabbed.

Now it was a weapon that only Rudbeckia possessed, inherited from Yuli Sanders.

“How nice. The war is over and you’ve achieved definite merit. Won’t marriage proposals come flooding in at this banquet?”

Platoon leader Elfleda Argen tucked her red hair behind her ear as she spoke when Rudbeckia passed by with Caleb.

“What? Marriage proposals? That’s ridiculous……”

“Commander, how can you say it’s ridiculous. They say all the young ladies of Dame Rud’s age from noble families already have fiancés.”

Caleb waved his hands dismissively at the word marriage and sat beside Elfleda.

“What about you? Are you getting married soon?”

“Ugh. Don’t even bring it up. It ruins the taste of alcohol.”

She downed a drink without hesitation.

The House of Marquis Argen was famous for marriage business, and tracing back several generations of relatives, they had many marriages with foreign royal families.

“Why did my grandparents arrange an in-utero engagement without the person’s consent? How could they know their granddaughter would end up in the hands of a barbarian!”

“They couldn’t have known such a barbarian would be born from that benevolent Emperor.”

Her family was a prestigious house that had been with the Pergos Empire since its founding, lacking nothing in wealth or character. So when the Emperor at the time suggested arranging marriage between children of different genders born to the two houses, the House of Argen had no reason to refuse and gladly accepted the contract.

However, after the kind and wise Emperor died, Adam Perron who ascended to the throne became immersed in blood while calling for continental unification, and his son too was born a barbarian who joined that path.

“How many years do you have left?”

“One year. Next spring I’ll have to hold the ceremony without any way out.”

Rudbeckia asked after circling the table once and sitting across from Elfleda.

The House of Argen had opposed this war to attack the Fabio Kingdom, citing lingering aftereffects from the Sanders Grand Duchy incident. From talking during the war, she learned they had also voiced opposition as leaders of the anti-war faction during that previous crisis.

“I suppose all we can do is pray earnestly that Prince Baningo dies of illness or accident before spring comes.”

“You’re right. I should pray earnestly with a bowl of cold water. Marrying that madman……”

Elfleda shuddered in agreement with Rudbeckia’s words.

While Emperor Adam was a barbarian who only enjoyed war, rumors were rampant that Prince Baningo was a madman immersed in women, blood, and even more primitive cruelty.

‘Speaking of banquets.’

Rudbeckia emptied the glass before her as she fell into thought.

A ‘victory banquet’—a grand celebration for knights returning triumphant from war.

It was a tradition Adam Perron never failed to uphold, hosting it every time he expanded his territory, all in the name of boosting the knights’ morale.

But did he hold these banquets even after one-sided massacres? Did the soldier who drove a spear into her mother’s back sit at one of those tables, laughing and drinking?

Would I? Would I be able to drink at such a banquet? No. Could I even step into that hall with a clear mind?

Rudbeckia’s fingers brushed gently against her neck.

To celebrate cutting throats and spilling blood by pouring red wine down one’s throat.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since they occupied the Fabio Kingdom.

The hot summer had passed, and autumn had come with changing leaves.

Around when blood-soaked red maple leaves began filling the castle grounds, the Perron imperial family’s flag arrived along with a group of carriages and people.

A nation divided between barren wastelands and sprawling mines. Those following the flag weren’t so much future residents planning to settle here as they were slaves destined to toil in the mines.

Among the expected group was an unexpected figure as their leader.

“I see the Minister of Military, Greg Sanders. Caleb Sanders reporting—I have completed the mission as ordered.”

It was Greg Sanders.

Who had ignored how his siblings suffered and struggled in the training camp…… only looking after his own life’s worth.

Greg barely acknowledged Commander Caleb’s greeting for leading the war to victory, only looking for Rudbeckia.

“Vice Commander Rudbeckia, have you been well? I hear this victory was all thanks to you?”

“It was thanks to Commander Caleb’s excellent leadership. Minister, why have you personally visited this far place?”

She kindly lifted the tent’s entrance cloth and ushered Caleb and Greg inside.

Keep friends close and enemies closer, as they say.

Until she discovered why he had refused to pay the life prices for two people and put them in the training camp, and how he became Pergos’s Minister of Military, she decided not to show hostility.

“Rud. I worried the harsh desert winds would damage your skin, but you’re still beautiful.”

Greg spoke while touching Rudbeckia’s clothes.

“It’s thanks to your concern. You worried about me at the palace too?”

She spoke while taking Greg’s hands that were touching her collar and gently lowering them.

Yuli Sanders had said so. The core of the honey trap is ‘acting’. When you perfectly act as what the target wants, a honey trap succeeds and you can grasp and shake their lifeline.

Just from having her hands touch his, Greg smiled foolishly with a wide grin.

“What is your purpose for coming personally?”

“To inspect the occupied territory. I will manage it directly until a new lord is appointed.”

Rudbeckia responded with a worried expression.

“Not just the castle but villages everywhere are practically in ruins…… how will you manage?”

“What is there to worry about when the Crown Prince has generously provided support troops for quick recovery?”

“Crown Prince?!”

The two tilted their heads at the unfamiliar term.

“Why do you look like that. It’s news that His Majesty the Emperor will appoint the prince as crown prince to commemorate continental unification.”

Prince Baningo Perron, Adam Perron’s only bloodline and legitimate heir, was also Greg’s classmate at the academy.

“Ah! How long I’ve waited for this moment…… Unification! Rud, isn’t it wonderful just imagining it? Now there will be no more bloody wars and everyone will become one nation, one people, the beginning of a peaceful world!”

“……”

Even for her who boasted perfect acting, she could not answer.

In Rudbeckia’s mind appeared the final images of Adele Glimm and the Sanders grand ducal couple.

Caleb, who had been watching her expression, changed the subject.

“Would you like to examine outside? The walls that the magic technician developed……”

“Yes. Let’s go out. I have gifts for you victorious ones anyway.”

Was this what a sneering expression looked like? Greg cut off Caleb’s words before he could finish, wearing an unpleasant expression.