“Damn it!”

The alliance request letter in front of him.

Immediately after seeing it, Duke Carlos of the Brown Region began to explode with anger.

“Are you saying I should accept such ridiculous demands? It’s no different from sacrificing my territory! No way! Absolutely impossible!”

Duke Carlos, throwing the letter in fury.

Watching this, the attendants beside him spoke anxiously.

“But… my lord… we can’t stop the Emperor with just our strength.”

“The Imperial Army is stationed right near the Palatinate area. If we aren’t careful, General Spinola’s sword could wipe us all out.”

“Even so, are you asking us to sign a contract that is nothing more than slavery? And bowing to Count Turun like that? Absolutely not! I’d rather bite my tongue and die!”

“Sigh…”

Attendants sighed, witnessing their lord’s intense backlash.

With worried expressions, they questioned their master.

“So… what do you intend to do now? Is there any other way besides the Bohemian alliance?”

“Umm…”

The puzzled and worried looks on the attendants’ faces.

However, Duke Carlos could only remain silent.

Even though the alliance conditions from the Lord of Bohemia were harsh, he couldn’t think of any other means.

Right now, the 10th Grade Mage General Spinola and his 25,000 troops were like a crouching beast, waiting for an opportunity to seize this area.

If the Palatinate fell into their hands, cities would be destroyed, farmlands would burn, and the homes of the people and nobles would be plundered—turning the place into a living hell.

Terrible disasters happening under the pretext of exterminating heretics who have forsaken the will of God.

The very thought that such horrors could happen on his land made the lords, while reluctantly accepting the harsh terms of the Bohemian alliance, more eager to conclude it.

And Duke Carlos of Brown, who also maintained a tough stance, found himself at a dead end.

‘I can’t do anything… but still, I can’t bow my head to the Bohemian lord for such ridiculous conditions…’

Just when Duke Carlos was racking his brain for a solution.

“Hahaha! You seem to have a lot on your mind, brother! It’s actually quite simple if you think about it!”

A sudden voice of a somewhat eccentric woman broke in.

In response, Duke Carlos, seated, began to show a frustrated expression.

“Christian! This is not your place! We’re discussing important matters regarding the territory—what do you mean barging in!”

With that remark, Duke Carlos glared at a certain direction.

There stood his young sister, the lord of the neighboring small territory of Halberstadt.

Christian Brown.

With black hair and pale skin, and slightly crazed eyes, she had an expression that didn’t quite scream beauty but wasn’t hideous either.

She wore a black steel prosthetic arm.

A 6th Grade Mage, she looked at him with a smirk.

It was clear at first glance that she wasn’t quite normal, and in this moment, she spoke in a light tone while gazing at her brother, the duke.

“Well~ of course I shouldn’t intrude on your work, noble lord, managing such a tiny piece of land. But brother, if I can find a way to resolve this situation, what would you do?”

“…What do you mean?”

Duke Carlos felt a bit uneasy at the unexpected words from his sister.

But at the same time, he also felt some curiosity starting to bubble up.

His sister, Chrstian, lived her life with a screw or two loose.

However, despite that, she sometimes provided surprisingly brilliant ideas, and in fact, Carlos had benefited from her help multiple times in the past.

Though those methods were often reckless or infused with madness, their effectiveness couldn’t be dismissed.

Thus, Carlos carefully sought his sister’s response.

“A way? You mean such a thing exists? Tell me. If it’s useful, I might consider it.”

“Hehe, it’s very simple, brother. We don’t have to rely on them; there’s a way for us to handle this ourselves.”

With sparkling black eyes, Christian spoke.

Watching her, Carlos began to feel a weird shiver run down his spine, and she continued in a voice that seemed to relish the idea.

“That is to use the one still positioned in the southern regions, Mansfeld.”

“Mansfeld? You mean the mercenary captain?”

Carlos’s face showed disbelief at the unexpected name.

Simultaneously, the faces of other attendants revealed worry at Christian’s words.

“M-Mansfeld? You mean that traitor who betrayed the Palatinate?!”

“That’s a reckless thought, Miss Christian. Haven’t you heard that his betrayal led to the occupation of the Palatinate?”

Once someone has betrayed, they tend to do it again. The attendants were on guard as soon as Mansfeld’s name was mentioned; however, Christian addressed them with a chilling smile.

“But even if he is untrustworthy, it’s undeniable he possesses formidable strength. Isn’t that just part of the risk when hiring mercenaries?”

“Umm…”

“That being the case…”

“Moreover, if we mobilize Mansfeld, we gain the freedom to act independently, unlike when we joined the Heretic Alliance. In other words, we would have many more options available to us.”

“Options… what do you mean by that?”

“Hehe… That is to say…”

With a chilling smile on her lips, Christian began to share her thoughts.

As she fiddled with her metallic arm, what came out was spine-tinglingly dark talk.

After she finished speaking, Christian looked at Duke Carlos with a smile that suggested she found this situation amusing.

“What do you say, brother? If things go well, we can expand the power of Brown even further in this war.”

“…Umm… that is true, but…”

The essence of Christian’s argument could easily be described as mad.

However, there was no doubt that its feasibility was worth considering, and while it was unstable, the potential for greater gains was evidently clear.

As he began to ponder, Carlos felt the weight of Christian’s words urging him again.

“Well, ultimately the choice is yours, noble brother. Will you simply support Bohemia and do them a favor or use this as a stepping stone for Brown’s rise? I hope you reflect carefully.”

“…Umm…”

Carlos realized he could no longer avoid making a decision.

‘…Well… the Emperor won’t let us be with the heresy flag flying. I don’t want to sign a disadvantageous treaty with those Bohemians, so I have no options left.’

After reaching a conclusion, Duke Carlos nodded heavily and spoke to his sister.

“Then… I’ll go with your suggestion. Send a letter to Mansfeld.”

“Fufufu, you made a wise decision, brother.”

Watching her brother make this choice, Christian displayed a chilling smile.

Seeing that, Carlos began to silently pray within himself that this choice wouldn’t turn out to be wrong.