Sword of Salvation-Chapter 100: - A Successful Failure (3)

In one of the rooms in a citizen’s house, Athenia gazed at Mariel, who sat at the edge of the bed with a worried expression. His bloodstains had been cleaned, and his wounds were already bandaged. Athenia had no idea how Mariel had gotten injured, but it was clear that it was real.

Honestly, Athenia felt a bit scared now. If Mariel had been defeated so easily, it meant there was a stronger enemy they didn’t know about. Athenia’s goal was now at risk of being unfulfilled.

However, seeing Mariel calmly inspecting the bandages wrapped around his body, Athenia felt something was wrong. Mariel seemed too relaxed for someone who had just been injured. He was too composed for someone whose plan had just failed—

Athenia’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Do you have a question?"

"...Mariel, don’t tell me that was part of your plan?" Athenia asked with a disbelieving expression. "The soldier who owns this house also said that Prince Stewart and his guards were attacked by dozens of criminals. Was that part of your plan?"

"Do you really think dozens of criminals would agree to attack in the middle of a crowd on a bright day?" Mariel asked flatly. "They weren’t criminals," he continued with a serious face, not waiting for Athenia’s response. "They were elite soldiers ordered to disguise themselves as criminals."

"W-Wait, you mean...."

"I don’t know if you’ll believe this or not, but the mastermind behind the attack is your brother, Viertino."

Athenia felt both shocked and unsurprised. She wasn’t surprised to hear the prime minister’s name come out of Mariel’s mouth. What surprised her was how Mariel could immediately narrow down the culprit to one person. It wasn’t that easy to deduce.

"Why Viertino?" Athenia eventually asked. "Yesterday, he agreed with the emperor’s decision."

"Why Viertino? Because there’s no other option. Only the emperor and Viertino can command the elite soldiers. In my opinion, the emperor wouldn’t do something like this. If he rejected your suggestion, he wouldn’t have agreed yesterday. There’s no other candidate beside Viertino." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

That made sense. Viola or her other siblings might have sabotaged the plan as well, but they couldn’t command the elite soldiers. Athenia began to understand why Mariel immediately concluded that it was Viertino.

"Does that mean you didn’t get to execute your plan?" Athenia asked. "If Princess Julia becomes a hostage, the Empire can force Denland to surrender, right? They could demand the head of their king, general, or even Prince Stewart."

"I don’t understand what you mean, Athenia." Mariel smiled, amused. "I didn’t get to execute my plan? Denland will be forced to surrender? I don’t understand what you mean. Everything that happened was part of my plan, even the wound I received. Everything is going according to plan."

Athenia could only stare at the young man before her in silence. She was confused. She felt like she had misheard. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, the amused smile on Mariel’s lips denied that.

"How do you explain that this was all part of your plan?" Athenia asked after nearly two minutes. "As long as Princess Julia is in the hands of the Empire, Denland will still be forced to surrender."

"Athenia," Mariel called with a serious expression. "Do you know why I asked you to corner Linea and choose her to marry Stewart? Why did I tell you to explain in detail how to conquer Denland without bloodshed? Why did I ask you to separate Stewart and Julia as if I knew Stewart would reject Linea?"

"I asked you to make Linea marry Stewart because I knew Stewart would reject her," Mariel continued without waiting for Athenia’s answer. "Denland forbids a prostitute or former prostitute from becoming queen. I asked you to explain the plan to conquer Denland in such detail so that when it comes true, no one can deny that it was because of you. Even the emperor wouldn’t be able to ignore that. And do you know what that means? It means you’ll become the number one candidate as the heir to the throne.

"But my main goal wasn’t to corner others. My goal was to corner Viertino. I wanted him to realize that his position was threatened and force him to take drastic action. And I asked you to accompany Linea to speak with Stewart just to create an opportunity for Viertino to sabotage your plan while making you the mastermind behind your own failure. Viertino thought he was sabotaging your plan, but he didn’t realize he was simply following the script I laid out for him."

Silence once again filled the room. Athenia processed everything quietly.

"Wait a minute, Mariel," she suddenly said. "You still haven’t really answered my question. As long as Princess Julia is in the hands of the Empire, Denland will still be forced to surrender. How are you going to solve that?"

"I know where they’re hiding Julia. I’ll go there tonight and bring her back. After Julia hears my explanation, Denland will definitely declare war on Moskvallha Empire. Everything we’ve planned will become a reality. You don’t need to worry."

"Now I understand." Athenia had no choice but to admit it. "You’re truly incredible, Mariel. You made Viertino think he was sabotaging our plan, but in reality, he was helping us achieve it. But what still bothers me is, why did you let yourself get injured?"

"If Viertino tries to scapegoat you for this incident, and if it reaches the public, your name will be tarnished. That’s why I intentionally took the injury to keep your name clean. When they corner you, the fact that I was also injured will serve as a useful defense. Many citizens saw you panic when you saw me injured—that will be enough to prevent them from suspecting you."

For the umpteenth time, Athenia was left speechless. However, this time, the feeling that silenced her was different from before. Athenia’s heart pounded faster. Her blood raced. A warm feeling seemed to fill every cell in her body.

"Thank you, Mariel. Thank you for doing all this for me."

Mariel nodded and immediately stood up from her seat. "By now, Linea must have already gone to the palace to demand an explanation," she said. "We need to head there too. My injury will be pointless if you’re not there to defend yourself against the accusations they’ll throw at you."

"Do I have to pretend I don’t know that Viertino is the culprit?"

The widening smile on Mariel’s lips answered Athenia’s question — and it made her lips curve into a smile as well.