"The fool has a great advantage over the wise man:

he's always sure of himself."



What was war other than the best representation of human madness?

In whatever world, in whatever universe one finds himself, the mere fact that a living being knowingly takes the life of another should be a more than enough reason to question whether said being deserves to continue living.

But sadly, both my old world and Erthea were not heaven or the land of milk and honey. And perhaps the existence of intelligent creatures with the ambition to prevail over each other at any cost was something that was simply never going to disappear.

As for me, this was the first real battlefield I had been forced to pass through since it all began.

Basterwick, Gael, and even Mistvale had been little more than drunken brawls compared to what I was now faced with.

The hill at the foot of the Tourelle was so full of lifeless bodies that I couldn't see the grass below, and even in the other parts of the front the sight was certainly not pleasant.

I still didn't have a definitive report, but just looking around was enough to understand that the battle had cost me at least a quarter of my entire army, with peaks reaching half a third of the units in the 4th and 5th Corps.

Lefde was, without mincing words, one of the most capable generals I had ever met in both my lives, a man with a talent for inspiring men matched only by his ability to lead them on the battlefield.

If it hadn't been for the abysmal difference between my way of understanding the war and that of the inhabitants of Erthea, the outcome would certainly have been much more uncertain.

And since I knew that sooner or later my ideas would end up influencing other commanders around the continent, I had to exploit my advantage while I could, even at the cost of sacrificing many men.

For the moment I was content with having taken Lefde alive and having prevented him from committing suicide; not that I expected otherwise, since I had told thim that I was ready to apply decimation to all prisoners if he did. Officially it was a way to counted this foolish habit, unofficially it was only because I didn't feel like losing another such skilled General.

When we met in my tent he had the look of a man who no longer had a reason to live; convincing him to find another wouldn't be easy.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, General. Until today I had never met officers as skilled as you. Eirinn is lucky to have had you leading its army."

"I just wish I could have done more. So if you're a man of heart, I beg you to allow me to wash away the shame with my blood."

"Why are you so eager to die? I can't believe you care so little about your people."

"You will not have the courage to do what you threaten. You must keep your image clean, otherwise these people will not think twice about rebelling against you. You should have understood this, coming from the West. The inhabitants of Eirinn are proud and valiant, and will always fight against anyone who attacks their land. You can wear the mask of the liberator, but if you want to keep it, you can't afford certain actions."

I knew I was right to want to take him alive at all costs. But he was wrong about one thing, and perhaps he knew it too.

"It's not a mask, General. Whatever I bring to this country, do you really think it would be worse than Victor and what he did? We fight this war because we believe that merit and talent are more important than lineage or blood. We believe that every man can aspire to emerge and be able to give his best for the good of his country regardless of his birthright, or whether he was born human, monster or half-blood."

"...Do you have any idea how dangerous this ideal is? There are families out there leading entire nations for centuries. Do you really believe they will willingly accept the changes you want to bring about?"

Of course I have, who do you think I am?

"The people can be an unstoppable force when they decide they have had enough. And the way West Eirinn was, a general uprising would have been inevitable. However, you can be sure that if it had happened and I hadn't been there to keep things in check, the revolt would not only have failed, but it would have also resulted in a bloodbath."

And I have no desire to go through another Terror!

"You have taught people that they can say enough and try to create a better world, and I appreciate this vision of yours. But at the same time, I fear the consequences it could cause. And this is the only reason that pushed me to fight you with all of myself. Now I am here in your power. My life is in your hands. But you cannot in good conscience ask me to deny the sacrifice of thousands of my compatriots by supporting your plans in any way."

"It was not my intention to do so, General. Furthermore, if all goes as I hope, very soon you will be back at your Lord's side, ready to guide Eirinn together with him towards a new and better future."

"What do you mean? What do you have in mind?"

You can't even imagine it.



Galloping as if he had death at his heels Victor returned to Faria, but the news of Alois's defeat must still have managed to reach the city before him.

Chaos reigned in the streets.

Everyone was asking for news about the fate of their loved ones, someone was clearly preparing to leave, and someone else did not fail to express their disappointment by throwing insults, invectives and even a few mud balls at the young Grand Duke.

After dismounting from his horse in the castle courtyard he walked briskly towards the throne room shouting orders left and right.

"Strengthen the defenses! Double the guards on the walls! Bring all supplies inside the citadel! And send for Captain Glassman! I want him in the throne room in twenty minutes to discuss defense plans!"

Only later did he realize that all the orderlies and guards were looking at him in a distant, almost indifferent way, to say the least.

"What's the matter, are you deaf? I gave you orders!"

"Actually, Young Lord..." one of the soldiers dared to reply

Victor looked him straight in the eyes through clenched teeth.

"Young Lord? Have you perhaps forgotten how to greet the Grand Duke?"

Alfred the butler stepped forward, unintimidated.

"He hasn't forgotten, Young Lord. In fact, this is the correct way to address you, given your current position."

For a moment the young man thought his heart would stop in his chest.

"What do you mean?"

A few minutes later the door of the room was violently opened, and Victor, red with anger, approached with a heavy step towards the throne where someone else was now sitting.

"Father! What does that mean?"

Berthold was unperturbed, and with a wave of his hand he dismissed his advisors, asking to remain alone with his son.

"I'm sorry, my son." he said with a voice that, although devastated by the illness, seemed to be as strong and authoritative as it once was. "It was the only solution to stop you from dragging us all into the abyss."

"It's not over yet father. The Ducal Guard is intact, and we still have all the armies assigned to the defense of the capital. There are still boys under fifteen to enlist, the servants, and then..."

"Thats enough. Why don't you accept it? You lost. And this was probably never in question."

"What?"

The old Grand Duke responded by waving a parchment.

"I mean that your enemy foresaw your ruin from the beginning. See for yourself if you don't believe me."

Victor then took the document and read it.



To His Excellency the Grand Duke of Eirinn,

Your Grace.

When you read this letter sent to you through one of my agents, our two armies will be about to face each other, probably somewhere around the plains of Alois.

The defeat of Victor and your General Lefde will be dramatic and decisive; between dead, wounded and captured, their army will lose no less than two thirds of its men, even if I am aware that my forces will also be severely tested.

We will wait a few days to regain our strength and regroup, then we will continue our march towards Faria.

I am sure that despite this defeat your son will have no intention of surrendering or negotiating, and I am saddened by the thought that such a beautiful city must suffer the consequences of a siege whose outcome, as you also know, is sealed.

Unfortunately, I fear that at this point it is too late for you to do anything to avoid the unnecessary bloodshed that is about to happen to Alois, but perhaps we can still make sure that there is no more.

I give you my word that my Country, my People and I personally harbor no hostility towards you or Eirinn, and it is my utmost desire that our relations will once again be as calm and peaceful as they were at the time of the birth of the Free State.

However, we both know very well that this will not be possible as long as Victor is making the decisions.

The only solution I can see to ensure that this madness ends is for there to be a change at the top, for Victor to be deposed, and for a new sovereign to take his place.

If my troops marched on Faria and occupied it by force it would not be a problem for us to do so, but I do not want our action to be seen by you and your people as an attempt at conquest.

The time has therefore come for you to show off that courage of yours that I have heard the praises of for so long and take Eirinn's destiny into your hands once again.

If the information brought to me by my spies is true, I am aware of the fact that you have little time left to live, and that you alone would not be able to carry out such a task. And this is also why it is necessary for you to act quickly, as long as your strength allows it.

You have my word of honor that whoever you choose as your successor will enjoy the unconditional support of the Free State Government and mine.

The Free State further promises to assist the peaceful transition of power and to ensure respect for Your Grace's final wishes against any external interference by any means necessary.

From the moment my explorer informs me that she has delivered this letter to you, I will wait five days for your possible response.

In its absence, I will have no choice but to proceed with the last part of the operation and place the Capital under siege.

Under the auspices of Mother Gaia, and trusting that you are as eager as I am to put an end to this madness, I respectfully take my leave.

The Prime Minister of the Free State and Supreme Commander of the Grand Revolutionary Army.

Daemon Haselworth



"Father, you really aren't thinking of accepting something like that!"

"The circumstances themselves require it. I warned you that Daemon Haselworth was not an opponent like the others, and I am pretty sure that even General Lefde have told you this several times too. You wanted to do it your way, and now we must do what we can to save Eirinn."

"You're right, father. We must do everything in our power. And you know what I'm talking about."

Berthold remained speechless for a moment, placing his right hand on his left to hide the large and elegant ring he was wearing.

"You are delirious, my son. Such a thing is impossible. All of Erthea would jump on us, not to mention the Circle."

"How can you think of such a thing while the enemy is preparing to march against us?"

"It could have gone differently if you had listened to me. If we exclude the fact that you are my son, the only reason why I didn't order you to be arrested the moment you entered this castle is only because I want to believe that in your heart you only sought the good of our country."

"And it is precisely for the good of our country that we cannot allow those barbarians to do something like that! Now they ask you to choose a successor, tomorrow they will bring all their nonsense about equality and the abolition of privileges here! Are you really ready to have a yokel as a minister, or a monster as a general? Or do you perhaps want our family to lose even what little dignity it has left?"

"If this must be the case, remember that it was your actions that brought us to this. However, it no longer makes sense to talk about it. We can only choose whether to accept Haselworth's outstretched hand and believe his promises, or wait for him to come here and take Eirinn by force. But as long as a Montgomery sits on this throne, this country will have a future."

"You don't mean to say..."

"Very soon I will send a letter to Aria telling her to return to Eirinn and take my place. Given the consideration that the Emperor has for her, I would not rule out that Ademar ultimately decides to endorse my decision even without it needing to mean a crisis with the Empire. As for you, she will decide which role to assign you to from now on. For what it's worth, I'll make sure she's generous; maybe she will make you a minister or advisor, or she will assign you a role in the army."

Victor lowered his eyes and clenched his fists, while his body was shaken by a strong tremor.

"... Minister, you say? Advisor?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want it to come to this."

"... Me neither..."

An instant later, a thunderous noise that no one in those parts had ever heard before echoed throughout the castle.

Even though he was blind, with his body rotting from the disease and the pain that tormented him day and night despite the medications, the old Grand Duke understood what had happened to him even before falling from the throne with a hole in his belly.

"See, father?" Victor said with the still smoking musket pointed at him. "Maybe I'm not as incapable as you think I am. I even learned how to use this weapon."

Berthold tried to gasp towards him, but his strength was quickly leaving him.

"My apologies, but I cannot allow you to sell our homeland to that damned man. When they know what you were about to do, I'm sure the Ducal Guards will also support my decision. And as long as I can count on them, these cowards you have surrounded yourself with will certainly not rebel."

After throwing away the empty weapon, Victor then walked towards his father, and kneeling down, he removed the ring without too much delicacy.

"I beg you. Don't... do that..."

"Since you don't seem willing to do what's necessary to protect Eirinn, I'm left with no other choice. And when Daemon is dead I will take back with interest everything he took from us. It won't be difficult. Not now that I have this."

"My son..."

When Alfred and the guards finally managed to break down the locked door of the hall, what they saw was Victor standing next to his father's lifeless body.

"Now that the old man is out of the way, it's time to think about serious things. Call the court wizard."



It had taken two days to collect and cremate the bodies of all those who had lost their lives in Alois's clash.

The pyres had burned relentlessly, and General Lefde could not hide a certain relief at seeing the same respect even for his own soldiers.

Once the funeral rites were finished and the equipment was recovered, the wait began; the survivors were all very tired and needed to regain their strength, because it was obvious that the conquest of Faria would not be painless.

Furthermore, Daemon had finally revealed his great plan, revealing during a dinner attended by all his generals and commanders that he had sent a letter to Grand Duke Montgomery even before the battle proposing an end to hostilities in exchange for Victor's destitution.

Only Athreia was missing, and not because her size would have made it difficult to take a seat with the others; she simply kept repeating that she still didn't consider herself worthy of sitting at the same table with Daemon and the others.

"Do you think Montgomery will accept?" Adrian asked

"He has no other choice. Faria is a very well fortified city, but with only the city garrison and the Ducal Guards there is no way to defend it."

"What if he asks the Empire for help?" said Richard

"So he would also lose what little freedom he has left. On the contrary, I offer him a peaceful transition and the guarantee not to interfere in any way with Eirinn's politics, as well as our support should Saedonia try to oppose it. In the end I think that the head of a son who turned out to be incompetent is a small price."

"I have to say I'm quite surprised." Septimus joked. "I didn't think you'd make such generous concessions after everything they put us through."

"There's no point kicking someone when he's down. On the contrary, it's the easiest way to make a treaty fragile. Sometimes you have to know how to be accommodating."

"The ultimatum expires the day after tomorrow." Natuli said. "I guess we'll know soon enough if that old leper was smart enough to come to the same conclusions as you."

Just a few minutes later Athreia herself interrupted dinner by reporting the arrival of a messenger from Faria who insistently asked to be received as soon as possible.

"Cheer up, my friends. If everything went as I hope, this story will soon be over. And send for General Lefde. I want him to be there too."

In order not to lead the messenger into awe, Daemon decided to meet him in the camp square instead of in the command tent, without soldiers or guards in tow; besides the General, there were only Scalia, Septimus and Adrian with him.

"Your Grace." said the messenger, bowing dramatically at Daemon's arrival. "My Lord sends you his greetings. He asked me to tell you that he has received your proposal, and he has made a decision about it. As a sign of reconciliation, he also asked me to give you this gift."

The said gift was a large and quite heavy wooden case similar to a jewelry box, which the messenger delicately placed in Scalia's hand. She wanted to open it right away, but Daemon had educated her enough about etiquette that she had learned that one never opened a gift sent at a diplomatic meeting before hearing what the sender had to say.

"He didn't waste any time. So much the better. So? What's his answer?"

"About this, he believes that the importance of the moment requires a face-to-face meeting. Immediately, if possible."

"This catches me a little unprepared." Daemon replied as if he already had the answer ready. "I would be happy to meet the Grand Duke in person, but as far as I know he is too ill to leave Faria. And on the other hand I don't think it's appropriate for the commander of the enemy army to enter as ambassador into a city that he is preparing to besiege."

"None of this will be necessary."

The messenger then extracted from inside his jacket a small shiny glass sphere the size of an orange that, as soon as it rested on the ground, began to shine with a soft blue light.

"I expected it." Daemon smiled

"What is it?" Scalia asked

"An Eye of Gaia." Lefde replied. "A magical object that allows two very distant people to communicate. Every royal family in Erthea has one. Kings, princes and emperors use them to meet and discuss privately with each other."

"As far as I know, the Montgomery family is the only one with two." Adrian said as the light from the necklace began to outline the features of a person

But that person, once revealed, was not who he and the others expected to see.

"Good evening, Master Haselworth. I guess you were expecting to see someone else."

"Indeed it is so."

"Don't worry. My father will also have the opportunity to listen to our conversation. From very, very close."

An atrocious suspicion arose at almost the same moment in everyone's mind, and once Scalia opened the box, she had just time to let out a scream before the macabre contents rolled onto the dirt.

"My Lord. What have you done!?"

"Lefde. Are you still alive? You didn't even have the courage to rip your belly open. You are a failure not only as a general, but also as a man."

"You killed your father because he wanted to disinherit you." said Adrian "You're nothing but a crazy maniac."

"Look who's talking. Just you, who slaughtered yours like a pig."

"Perhaps. With the difference, however, that my father deserved to die. Yours was perhaps the best ruler this country has ever had."

"The best ruler? Once, maybe. If you knew what plans he had when he ascended the throne you wouldn't think so. But the illness had made him weak. Pathetic. I tried to live out the intentions he raised me with, and he repaid me by throwing me away and trying to sell Eirinn to you damned dogs. He betrayed Eirinn, and died as a traitor as he was."

"Your father was pragmatic." Daemon chimed in. «He had understood that it was impossible for Eirinn to fight openly with the Empire and regain control of the West, with Ademar on the throne. But nevertheless he never forgot his duties towards his people. Did you know that he secretly financed almost all the reunionist groups in the East and West? He fought for Eirinn with all his might."

"And I intend to do it too, don't worry."

"With which army?" said Septimus mockingly "You have only a handful of soldiers left. We have conquered the Castle; do you seriously think that those walls will prevent us from coming for you?"

The grin that appeared on Victor's face was worthy of the god of death himself.

"I don't need walls to sweep away you bugs, nor soldiers!" he said, raising his right hand

Seeing the ducal ring on his finger, Lefde almost had a heart attack.

"You don't want to...»

"I'm Victor Montgomery! I am the one and only ruler of this country! And in the name of this authority, I call the wrath of the heavens down upon you!"