194

Count Cavaldi looked into Giselle's eyes and couldn't hide his puzzlement.

It was not the look of a victor. It was filled with an unknown hatred and anger.

So I couldn't understand it any more.

He had never harbored a grudge against this little brat. He only planned to harbor one in the future.

Count Cavaldi asked with his eyes wide open.

"You… … You didn't hit this place out of simple greed. What is it, for what purpose did you hit me?"

"There are many goals. One of them is to kill you here."

"Hah, keuhehehe, you're going to kill me? Do you think you and your father will be safe then? Your family and your land will be destroyed without a single blade of grass remaining!"

"You're quite confident."

"Yes, so back off now. Don't you know who's behind me? The royalist faction will never be able to protect you."

Count Cavaldi continued with a deep laugh.

"I acknowledge your skills and wit. However, you are still young and don't seem to know much about politics. The Duke will never stay still. If you kill me, it will be impossible to handle the situation."

"… … ."

"This is your last chance. If you spare my life, I promise to hand over half of our iron ore production for the next 20 years in the surrender negotiations."

Giselle listened silently to Count Cavaldi's desperate persuasion.

Count Cavaldi was confident that Giselle would accept this offer.

Although he lost the war, he is a member of the Duke's faction and a noble of high reputation in the North.

If Baron Fenris were to eat here, he would definitely be smitten. The other nobles, especially the Duke, would not stay still.

Even the most idiotic person could think of something like this.

"It is more beneficial for you to let me live than to kill me. No matter how opposing factions are, there is no benefit in killing a noble who surrendered. Half! Half of the iron ore production!"

If Giselle were an ordinary noble and this war was a simple conflict, he would have accepted these terms.

It would relieve the political burden and bring enormous benefits. Plus, it would give them the reputation of having defeated the northern powerhouse.

But that wasn't what Jiselle had in mind when she came here.

"Why? Are you saying that it doesn't matter if I give it to you since a civil war will break out soon anyway?"

"What, what?"

Count Cavaldi was perplexed. It was a secret that could not be spoken of openly that the ducal family was preparing a rebellion.

The conflict with the pro-Prince faction has been getting more and more intense recently, so they must have guessed it to some extent, but they couldn't just accept it.

"Yes, you bastard, what are you saying that's dangerous? The conflict between factions is nothing more than a power struggle… … ."

"Don't bother me, Count Cavaldi. Did you really think I didn't know?"

"What are you talking about… … ."

"That Earl Desmond, who is said to be neutral, is swallowing up the northern territories one by one at the orders of the dukedom."

"Wh, what… … ."

Count Cavaldi's face turned pale with confusion. How could he be so sure of something that even the royalists were not sure of?

That wasn't the end of Jiselle's words.

"Do you think this is also a guess? Should I tell you more? What about the Crimson Magic Tower being the Duke's hidden sword? I think it was raised to strike the back of the head of the Prince's faction at the right time."

"You, you… … ."

"Are you planning to rebel and take over Leipold from within? You're also providing Amelia with iron ore and arming her."

"Uh, uh… … ."

"More than half of the Northern Lords have unknowingly fallen under the command of Earl Desmond. All his vassals have eaten his money and his weaknesses have been exposed."

"Yes, you, what are you… … . How on earth… … ."

Count Cavaldi felt goosebumps all over his body.

It wasn't a guess. This guy was on the receiving end of every trick Earl Desmond had been pulling for years.

Giselle continued, glaring at Count Cavaldi with a menacing gaze.

"Surrender negotiations? Twenty years? Do you think I don't know that you are planning to attack Count Desmond and Ferdium? You have dark intentions of cutting off the supply of iron ore, crushing us, and then enslaving us all."

Count Cavaldi felt dizzy when he saw Giselle's gaze.

Now I can finally understand why the other person is looking at me like that.

No one can forgive someone who tries to kill them.

'But how do you know? Is there a traitor on our side? Either way, he's dangerous, he's dangerous. We have to kill him. We have to kill him at all costs.'

Baron Fenris knew all about the plan that even the royalists had not properly figured out. Their plans were all being leaked.

I have to somehow let the Duke know about this. If I'm not careful, I might end up playing into the other party's plan.

'Wait a minute? If I do it right, this guy… … .'

Count Cavaldi, who was momentarily confused, soon noticed something strange in his eyes.

The plan was discovered. So what?

Their forces were the strongest in the kingdom. They were strong enough to crush any clumsy trickery.

He, who had a good sense of politics, said with a mean smile in an instant.

"Yeah, you're really smart. You're right. I don't know how you knew, but since it's come to this, I'm going to give you one last chance."

"opportunity?"

"I understand that you did a show of force to demonstrate your abilities. If you're that smart, you don't need to go to the Duke's house to see the power… No, you don't need to go to the Duke's house to see the power of the Earl of Desmond, do you?"

Jiselle smiled silently. Who in the North does not know the power of Count Desmond?

Count Cavaldi, seeing that smile, continued speaking with even greater confidence.

"I will personally tell His Majesty the Duke about your excellence. Come into the shadow of the duke's house. Then you and your father will be safe and enjoy eternal wealth and honor. How about joining us?"

Count Cavaldi believed that Giselle would not refuse this offer.

Knowing their secret plan means you definitely know their power too.

If you really want to live, you have to join hands. That's the only way.

Giselle let go of Count Cavaldi's hair and straightened her back. Naturally, Count Cavaldi looked up at Giselle.

I really didn't like this arrangement, but now was the time to appease this little brat.

Jiselle nodded and continued.

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"Yes, I know that. I know how powerful and great Earl Desmond is in the North. I don't even need to go to the duke's house."

"Hehe, you're really smart. I'll let my rudeness slide today. From now on, we'll join hands and rule the North. Now, let's untie the chains and let me stand up."

Count Cavaldi smiled. No matter how outstanding someone is, a child is still a child.

Now this guy will be beaten to death and then thrown away. But he survived. He can repay today's humiliation when he gets a chance.

Looking down at Count Cavaldi, Giselle spoke in a cold voice.

"But I have no intention of joining hands with you."

"what?"

"You can just kill them all, so why go through all that trouble?"

"What are you talking about… … ."

Whirl!

Before Count Cavaldi could finish speaking, Giselle's sword moved like lightning.

Even as his head flew off, Count Cavaldi's face was filled with shock and question.

Before he completely lost consciousness, Giselle's last words reached his ears.

"Go ahead and wait. I'll send Count Desmond soon."

* * *

Boom!

The armrest of the chair shattered when Harold, Earl of Desmond, struck him with his fist.

His expression was frozen coldly, as if he was suppressing his anger.

The vassals gathered in Daejeon were so suffocated by the heavy atmosphere that no one could open their mouths.

Harold, who had been silent for a moment, asked the adjutant in front of him.

"Say that again."

"Baron Fenris… … has launched a surprise attack on Count Cavaldi and has surrounded him. Baron Fenris currently has an army of 3,000 men… … ."

The adjutant reported the situation in detail once again.

Harold, who had been listening to the report with a terrified expression, soon closed his eyes.

He didn't laugh at or belittle Giselle like he usually did. He just suppressed his anger as much as possible and silently reminisced about the past events.

I was so angry that I wanted to destroy everything, but I had to conserve my energy for now.

'Are you saying my judgment was wrong?'

I left it alone for a while because I had more important and urgent things to do. It was annoying, but I thought it was something I could just sweep away at any time.

Now that I think about it, maybe Harold just couldn't admit his own failures, so he just attributed his opponent's luck to him.

In fact, if you look at it objectively, nothing he did was ordinary.

He pioneered the Forest of Demons, won the Battle of Ferdium, developed cosmetics, gained support from the royal faction, and even purchased food in large quantities as if he had foreseen a drought.

While Harold was away, the bastard slowly took advantage of the situation and grew to a frightening degree.

'It was my mistake. There's no one to blame.'

When I heard Raul's evaluation, I had to think a little more seriously. I should have taken the risk and gotten rid of that guy.

In fact, even now, I still think that his success was based more on luck than ability. After all, predicting the weather is something that no one can do.

It was just a stroke of luck that it meshed with the immigration plan and was a huge success.

'But he's not just lucky.'

Now we have to admit it. Luck is something that only those with skill can catch.

He didn't let his luck slip away, but struck Count Cavaldi with incredible timing. His judgment and actions were definitely not luck.

Harold's head grew cold.

'A wolf-like guy who preys on his opponent's weaknesses.'

Count Cavaldi certainly has a powerful armed force.

But I wouldn't have the confidence to go out and fight while I'm starving. If I lose even once, I'm finished.

Rather, it was clear that he would be holed up in the castle and waiting for support.

'Count Cavaldi cannot withstand the siege.'

The Cavaldi Territory was originally a territory with poor food supply conditions. There was no way it could have stockpiled enough to withstand a war.

If things were as they were, they should have provided large amounts of food support long ago. However, since they had sold all of their reserves to Jisel, they were busy organizing the internal affairs.

We need to finish the maintenance here first before we can help other areas, whether we want to or not.

But during that brief gap, Giselle took advantage.

'Yeah, that was because of him too.'

Everything started to go wrong because of one little kid. At first it was just a small problem, but now it has become a complicated situation that is out of control.

It meant that I had misjudged the importance of the work.

'It was easy. Me and the Duke.'

Raoul also thought highly of Giselle, but did not consider her more important than Amelia's work.

The result of everyone making fun of him ended up being a huge burden.

'Even the royalist faction is behind that guy. We have to completely nip him in the bud now before he grows any further.'

The North had become a mess and needed to be reorganized. So Harold changed the priorities of his work based on his own judgment.

Regardless of the Duke's orders.

There was no need to report. It would have taken too much time to report now and discuss it again.

He looked at the adjutant in front of him and asked again.

"Amelia said before… … that if you gave her permission, she would prepare and carry out the rebellion on her own?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Tell him to do so. I'll give him the authority to make the decision, so tell him to ask for anything he needs."

"Yes? Your Majesty, wasn't that something the Duke's family ordered to be given top priority? Delegating the decision-making authority to you… ."

Harold interrupted the adjutant and continued in a emotionless voice.

"From now on, our top priority will be the destruction of Fenris and Ferdium."