The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41
It had to be done to prevent confusion from taking root in Wilhelm’s memory.
“For the sake of the prince.”
She could accept it on those grounds, but Mane shook her head at hearing this.
“I’m worried about you, Commander. If it’s left as though you and the Verona Empire’s crown prince had that kind of relationship, will there be any place for you to return to?”
A place to return to—that was why Mane had reacted so strongly. Once Wilhelm reclaimed his throne someday, everything would be resolved.
But would Aine truly belong to the Orion Kingdom by then? By that time, her honor would already be completely destroyed.
As her subordinate and loyal follower, Mane carried that concern with her.
“Thank you, Mane. But I’ve already made my peace with it.”
Yet Aine smiled as she stroked the head of Mane, who worried for her.
As long as Leixi no longer existed, there was no reason to return to the Orion Kingdom.
Though worried about Aine, Mane brought up another concern of her own.
“Do you intend to tell His Majesty about this situation as well?”
“Ah.”
It was a problem Aine hadn’t considered.
* * *
Meri let out a sigh. She’d fully intended to ignore Binet’s words and hold the frontline to the bitter end.
“Commander, what should we do?”
“Your families are being held as hostages.”
But Binet had ultimately seized the officers’ families as prisoners. Many of the commanders grew enraged at Binet’s crossing the line.
“We must turn the army around at once! Drive out those palace dogs and bring our Commander back!”
“It’s time we showed those bastards what they deserve for treating the Commander that way!”
They insisted on it. These were the men who had scorned Aine, the war hero who had defended the Orion Kingdom from the Verona Empire all these years.
They argued that now there was no longer any reason to protect such men—they should turn the army around immediately and burn the palace to ashes.
Meri herself wanted to agree with them.
“And what will you do about your families held as hostages?”
“That is… well…”
“Hmm.”
But just as one cannot return to reason purely through emotion, neither can one return through emotion alone.
“For the greater good, we can sacrifice them!”
“If you mean to demand that of everyone, I flatly refuse.”
“But Commander!”
“Do you truly think everyone agrees to this course? To some, the homeland may be most precious, but to others, family is their entire world.”
Meri continued, reviewing the contents the palace had sent.
“Could you follow orders to abandon Commander Aine if she were in danger?”
“…Forgive me. I lost my composure.”
“Commander Aine does not wish for you to abandon your families. Even if such a time were to come, she would never order you to give up.”
How could they abandon them? They stood here alive only because of Aine.
The commanders’ expressions grew calmer as they regarded Meri. Their eyes seemed to demand an answer to what they ought to do instead.
‘Commander, you’ve always carried this burden alone, haven’t you.’
Meri sighed inwardly and fell into deliberation.
To raise a rebellion, there could be traitors within the ranks. No matter how undefeated an army was, if its foundation crumbled, it would be useless.
‘Especially if there’s someone in the palace clever enough to orchestrate such dark schemes, taking a reckless gamble would be unwise.’
Yet because a decision had to be made, Meri chose.
Neither a full rebellion nor a surrender of initiative to them—a third path.
“I command the entire army. All forces are to withdraw to the Orion Royal Palace.”
* * *
The atmosphere in the Orion Royal Palace was so heavy that one could scarcely breathe freely.
While everyone sat in silence, unsure who should speak first, Linus alone sat in the seat of honor with a smile playing at his lips.
Meri fixed her gaze on Linus. He had shot up from being the Grand Duke’s aide to becoming the King’s Chancellor in an instant.
The selection of Chancellor was influenced most by the King’s opinion, but it required the consent of the great nobles.
‘Does that mean the great nobles have already been won over by those damned bastards?’
Or perhaps they’ve submitted. While Meri gathered her thoughts, Linus spoke first.
“It seems there’s been some miscommunication.”
“Miscommunication?”
“Yes, the number we mentioned was definitely one hundred.”
The moment she heard those words, Meri recalled the documents the messenger had brought.
The contents were a royal command to return to the palace and attend both the memorial for the late king and the coronation of the new one.
It was outlandish, but the real problem was exactly what Linus had just said.
“We don’t know when the Empire will invade again, yet you brought the entire army here. What on earth were you thinking?”
The escort was to be limited to a hundred personnel in total.
The reasoning was twofold: the Verona Empire might attack at any moment, and there was no sense in allowing the kingdom’s atmosphere to sour unnecessarily.
“Surely you’re aware, Commander, that such an attitude could be interpreted as rebellion?”
It was a reasonably sound argument, one that showed considerable thought.
But.
“And if it is rebellion?”
“Commander?”
“Frankly, do you have the military force to stop our 1st Legion?”
Though it appeared that the throne had reluctantly passed to Beneti upon Matthias’s death, those who knew the truth recognized it as usurpation.
He, unforeseen in any succession plan, had only just seated himself upon the throne. It was a warning—a question of whether the commanders of the other legions would truly follow him, and an admonition to know one’s place.
The nobles and bureaucrats who grasped Meri’s intent at once felt the blood drain from their faces.
“An amusing question, indeed.”
Yet Linus maintained his smile still.
Meri, observing this, found herself wondering: was that smile mere bluffing, or did he possess some solid backing after all?
“However, it seems you labor under a misapprehension, Commander, so I shall enlighten you.”
“A misapprehension on my part?”
“Marquis Balbani has already sworn an Oath of Loyalty to His Majesty the King.”
Upon hearing this answer, Meri’s expression hardened for the first time. The adjutants who had accompanied her all showed disbelief plainly written across their faces.
Witnessing their reaction, Linus let out a laugh.
“You’re wondering why Marquis Balbani, Commander of the 2nd Legion, would do such a thing, I imagine.”
There could be no denying it. He was the man who had first acknowledged and championed Aine, who was otherwise an outcast in the military establishment.
A stalwart supporter and, in time, a devoted follower, he was known to the world as Aine’s foster father.
So when Meri learned the news, she had sent messenger after messenger to Balbani, conveying every detail of the situation.
Of Binet’s usurpation and the trials Aine had endured.
‘And yet that man has now sworn loyalty to Binet.’
A perplexing turn of events—one she had never anticipated.
Meri felt the intense gaze of Linus fixed upon her.
‘So the throne wasn’t seized without cause, then.’
However it had been managed, if the 2nd Legion had stepped forward to support Binet, a coup would have to be shelved for the time being.
For Meri, a direct confrontation with the 2nd Legion was troubling.
‘Especially now, without the Commander here.’
A man with eyes like fire, a ghastly scar carved into his face, renowned for feats of valor that matched a hundred, and possessed of cunning strategy besides.
“Now that you have come this far, perhaps we might take it as your consent to swear an Oath of Loyalty to the new king?”
Having revealed the card he held, Linus extended his hand—an invitation to surrender and fall in line with their will.
“How readily you speak of loyalty when you’re holding a man’s family hostage.”
“Governance requires a measure of fear and coercion. A hunting dog without a leash is no different.”
“I’m sorry, but I won’t swear loyalty. And the reason I came here was to tell you this directly.”
Yet Meri did not find the card they offered sufficiently threatening to force her submission.
“A warning.”
“A warning, you say?”
“The moment even one of your hostages dies, we will turn the royal palace into an inferno.”
A hostage was only valuable as long as the hostage lived.
Should it become clear that they had no intention of keeping their prisoners alive, there would be none willing to hesitate before striking.
For the first time, Linus’s smile faded from his lips.
“There is nothing quite so dangerous as a rat cornered. I propose a bargain instead.”
Linus addressed his proposal to Meri and the men of the 1st Legion.
“Abandon your loyalty to Aine—only that. In return, we shall cease these hostage theatrics and refrain from demanding an Oath of Loyalty.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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