Timid and Shy - Chapter 76

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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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76.

Just as Gareis inwardly praised Sophia’s composure, she spoke again—this time with urgent edge to her voice.
“A raiding party from Saturn is moving into the Umbriel sector.”
“How can you see that from here? What are you looking at?”
“There’s a signal system. It looks like scattered fires, but they’re using fire and smoke to communicate.”
Jack rushed toward Sophia and spoke.
“They’re heading for Umbriel, not Ariel. The target doesn’t seem to be the Salt Mine—it looks like Prince Robert.”
Gareis spoke.
“Saturn and Cressida?”
Administrator John followed Jack up the wall, his face grave.
“It’s a credible guess, but it remains only a guess.”
Sophia clenched her fists tightly—whether from cold or prayer, it was hard to say. She spoke.
“I’m afraid most houses will fall prey to suspicion like this while Saturn invades. We have to wage war not just against an invasion, but against doubt of those within our own ranks. It’s all part of Saturn’s design, isn’t it? What of the Frontier Baron?”
Administrator John answered.
“He’s at Watchtower One, preparing to send signals. Alex has gone to the reserve unit and is waiting there.”
“It will begin soon.”
“Very soon.”
Gareis could not follow the exchange between the two. When he tried to spot the signal Sophia had mentioned, all he could see with his own eyes was someone carrying torchlight wandering back and forth across the mountain range.
Yet he stood gazing at the mountain range with the same fixed attention as everyone else.
Gareis found it remarkable that the people of Ariel had welcomed his visit and those of his company, yet did not importune him to take the field in battle.
It seemed they viewed the name Gareis as necessary only to calm the Domain’s people—and if they could manage with their own strength, they had no intention of asking him to fight in battles to come.
Watching the people of Ariel’s unruffled response, Gareis had already come to regard them highly. And now he understood what “soon” meant.
A deep, rolling rumble echoed from the mountains, and the tremor reached even beneath Gareis’s feet on the fortress wall.
Administrator John spoke.
“It has begun.”
“How long can this hold them?”
“It depends on how many came. One thing is certain—they won’t attempt the mountain for the entire winter.”
Gareis could contain himself no longer and asked.
“What just happened? What was that sound?”
Sophia answered in a playful tone.
“The wrath of the Titania goddess.”
Administrator John added the explanation.
“An avalanche has been triggered—toward Saturn. If the vanguard and the reinforcements both climbed the mountain, Saturn’s losses will be severe. The avalanche will have destroyed the path itself, so with snow and earth frozen solid through winter, they won’t even think of attempting the mountain. The casualties are almost incidental to the real purpose.”
“An avalanche… How do you trigger one? From the looks of it, Ariel must have done it.”
“We set devices in place before the heavy snows come. It’s not for warfare—in normal times, we use it to prevent larger avalanches that form when snow accumulates too much, triggering smaller ones artificially beforehand for the safety of the Domain’s people. But using it deliberately to bury people and paths… this is the first time. It’s a method that works only in Titania, where we use terrain and climate itself as weapon.”
“I see.”
Soon after, lights began to dance again across the mountain range.
“It appears to have gone well.”
Sophia spoke with quiet certainty.
“We’ll need daylight to assess the full situation properly. Have everyone move inside.”
“Yes.”
People went through the streets announcing that it was over. The fortress and Domain began to settle quickly. Those who had been lingering outside retreated indoors.
However impoverished, a frontier territory was still a frontier territory. The response was far swifter than other Domains, and everyone moved with discipline.
What struck Gareis as unusual was that Ariel had not moved troops at all. Baron Ariel himself led the reserve unit, yet he did not move it.
Gareis caught Sophia as she turned to go inside and asked.
“The army—why hold back?”
“They won’t be needed today. Besides, the Border Guard has already resumed patrols in the mountains.”
“The Border Guard?”
“The Border Guard is like the special forces of other territories. Every member of the Border Guard is born and raised in Ariel. They know Titania better than anyone and move through it like their own home. They are unmatched at night. No one from Saturn thinks they can be caught on the Titania Mountain Range. The only regret is their small number. The army will move once daylight comes. But I suspect tomorrow the army won’t need to move at all.”
Sophia looked not toward Titania but in a different direction as she spoke.
“What concerns me most—if Umbriel is the target—is not how many Saturn forces made it over Titania. The real danger is stopping those who move from within. I hope Prince Robert handles it well, but… if we receive word from Umbriel even at dawn, should I bring it to you?”
Gareis nodded.
Sophia was pleased to have gained an excuse to openly ask Gunter and Administrator John for news about Umbriel and Prince Robert.
Gareis noted that even immediately after the raid, Sophia showed no trace of anxiety. He spoke with genuine admiration.
“Ariel will be best protected by Ariel’s own people. I have learned much.”
“You do us honor. It is we who have much still to learn. We merely know Titania well.”
Gareis turned to look at Titania once more. The mountain lay silent again.
‘As if nothing had happened at all.’

***

The next morning, Sophia made her way to the office immediately upon waking. Baron Ariel, Administrator John, and Gunter were already seated there.
The moment Sophia entered, Baron Ariel spoke.
“The plan succeeded. Now comes the real challenge. How well we prepare over winter will be the critical factor. We’ll need to request reinforcements alongside our training regimen during the cold months.”
Administrator John replied.
“We can only hope Saturn grows cautious and remains inactive throughout winter. If Saturn truly comes to fear avalanches, we might buy ourselves additional time. Snow falls on Titania Mountain until spring, and occasionally even falls in late spring.”
Sophia asked with a note of concern in her voice.
“Has there been any word from Umbriel?”
Baron Ariel spoke in a somber tone.
“Nothing yet. What troubles me is that the raiding party hasn’t even attempted to approach the Salt Mine.”
Sophia said.
“I suspect the surprise attack on Umbriel and Philip Wiscom’s arrival in Oberon serve the same purpose—Suspicion and Division.”
“Hmm.”
“Wiscom doesn’t appear to have made common cause with Saturn. Would someone as cunning as Wiscom risk their entire House for the sake of Crown Prince Frederick, when they haven’t even formalized a betrothal? They’d withdraw immediately if Frederick’s position weakened. I believe Saturn wants to cast suspicion on Wiscom as a traitor—nothing more.”
Baron Ariel answered with a grim expression.
“You think so?”
“If Saturn wishes to sow chaos within Uranos, nothing serves better than suspicion that the great Houses are colluding with Saturn. Drawing Philip Wiscom to Oberon and making House Wiscom appear complicit—if Saturn’s true target is the Uranos Empire rather than Ariel alone, this approach is far more effective.”
The office fell silent at Sophia’s words. She continued.
“Cressida and Wiscom are no ordinary families. Cressida holds ties to the imperial family, and Wiscom is a ducal house of the Empire. Yet if both families fall under suspicion of treason, how can Uranos focus its strength on the border? If some madman in Saturn has spent years crafting this plan, there must be more to it.”
Gunter spoke with a grave expression.
“Then you’re suggesting yesterday’s assault on Umbriel was Saturn’s scheme to corner both Cressida and Wiscom?”
“We were certain of collusion between Oberon and Saturn. But regarding Cressida and Wiscom, we had only suspicions—no concrete proof. Then Philip Wiscom appeared. And last night, Saturn deliberately sent additional forces to Umbriel. Now we’ll suspect a connection between Saturn and Cressida. And there may well be some truth to it as well.”
This was the conclusion Sophia had reached by morning.
“Whether yesterday’s assault on Umbriel succeeded or failed, it seems a well-laid plot for Saturn—wouldn’t you say?”
Baron Ariel replied.
“Wiscom and Cressida may both genuinely have ties to Saturn.”
Baron Ariel’s expression darkened as he spoke.
Gunter said.
“If Saturn’s assault unfolds as Miss Sophia predicted—intentionally failing—then Saturn has placed Cressida in jeopardy. That could mean there exists another collaborator within Uranos besides Cressida.”
Baron Ariel said.
“That’s precisely what they want. Cressida may find herself cornered, left with no choice but to place Crown Prince Frederick at the fore and commit treason. And the suspicion of another traitor lurking within Uranos…”
Sophia said.
“They’ll attack again the moment Uranos believes the danger has passed. Saturn will churn the interior, strike from without, sow suspicion from within, strike again from without, and so forth…”
Gunter said.
“If Cressida truly moved last night to eliminate Prince Robert…”
Administrator John spoke in a weary voice.
“Don’t you think Saturn’s assault was known to Cressida beforehand? She may have even arranged it in advance. Saturn’s incursions don’t happen every day, after all. And they have Oberon ready to take the blame. Now is the opportune moment. Any further attempt would carry far greater risk. The fact that Wiscom isn’t entirely an innocent victim only complicates matters—but I’m convinced Cressida is a traitor.”
Baron Ariel said.
“Is Crown Prince Frederick truly beyond redemption?”
Sophia spoke carefully.
“I don’t believe he is. Rather, what matters most is that Duke Gareis and the orthodox faction have turned away from him. More people now regard Prince Robert’s capabilities favorably than before. Perhaps, thinking him incapable of mounting any real competition, Frederick grows desperate as Robert closes the gap.”
Baron Ariel spoke with visible frustration.
“If Frederick can’t find confidence in his position as Crown Prince, they shouldn’t have made him Crown Prince in the first place.”
Sophia agreed in her heart. Yet she knew Cressida would never abandon Crown Prince Frederick. She couldn’t afford to.
Sophia sighed and said.
“Perhaps all this elaborate strategy doesn’t exist at all. I may be overthinking, needlessly complicating the situation in my own mind.”
Administrator John, Baron Ariel, and Gunter, who had listened to Sophia’s analysis in the office, knew this was not the case.
Though Sophia lacked experience and was only now encountering the complexities of politics, her instincts were sound. Her hesitation came not from lack of ability, but from want of confidence in her own judgment.
Word arrived from Umbriel. Prince Robert was safe, and they had captured some of the raiding party that had descended upon Umbriel.
They had also arrested the individuals who had moved from within, and word came that they planned to send all of them to the Capital as suspected Saturn spies. Hearing that Prince Robert was safe, Sophia felt considerable relief wash over her.
Gunter attached Sophia’s deductions to the report and sent it urgently to the Emperor. Once they interrogated the suspected Saturn spies arrested in Umbriel, Sophia’s suppositions could be verified.

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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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