Chapter 38: You Don’t Have a Choice

Fortunately, Colonel Prittwitz had not died. He had also found Ning Luo and Cinderella—if he hadn’t, Cinderella alone truly wouldn’t have been able to get Ning Luo out. The two of them might have had to stay in the forest for a long time.

After re-examining Ning Luo, Colonel Prittwitz confirmed that the bullet had not struck any vital organs or major blood vessels. It was possible to transfer Ning Luo for the time being, though the bullet would have to remain inside his body.

Colonel Prittwitz improvised a simple wheelchair for Ning Luo on the spot.

Cinderella hadn’t expected someone of Colonel Prittwitz’s rank to be capable of such handiwork. Colonel Prittwitz merely replied that he had risen from the ranks.

To survive long enough to rise from the bottom to the rank of colonel in a war, you had to outlive everyone else—and master every skill that could keep you alive.

……

Meanwhile, Hohenstein was still trapped in the meat grinder.

At that moment, the greatest dilemma facing Marshal Wrangel, Chief of Staff of the Scandinavian Empire Army, was whether or not to abandon Dornhein and Lichburg. From a purely military perspective, giving up Dornhein and Lichburg would be the soundest decision.

He did not believe that the Holy Federation truly had the manpower and logistics to sustain such a massive offensive. But by the thirty-fourth year of the war, reason no longer played a role.

The Holy Federation’s military had reached its limit.

So had the Scandinavian Empire. And their troops had to cross the long stretch of northern principalities under the Holy Federation—logistically, their situation was even worse.

Marshal Wrangel often wondered:

What would His Majesty the Emperor have done?

Abandoning Dornhein and Lichburg might deal a devastating blow to morale and affect how surrounding allies perceived the situation. On the other hand, insisting on holding both cities might be playing right into the Holy Federation’s hands, potentially leading to total military collapse.

The order issued by Prime Minister Count Oxen was to hold the positions at all costs.

Marshal Wrangel could not bring himself to make a firm decision.

But hesitation often led to the worst outcomes.

……

…

The Holy Federation.

Duchy of Waldenburg.

Fort Hein.

Colonel Prittwitz had brought Ning Luo and Cinderella to the capital of the Duchy of Waldenburg. The war had not ravaged this place too severely. However, this time, Ning Luo and the others chose not to head directly to the palace to meet with the Grand Duke. Instead, they opted to stay at an inn first.

Ning Luo’s current condition made him unsuitable for either travel or meetings. After ensuring the inn’s security—

Colonel Prittwitz headed to Ning Luo’s room.

Even now, the bullet remained in his body. There was simply no way to remove it at present—and Ning Luo was still working.

Ning Luo sat upright in his wheelchair, with piles of documents spread out before him. Most of the documents concerned Waldenburg. Just as the Albion Empire and the Kingdom of Fontaine were deeply infiltrated by one another, the various states within the Holy Federation were far less penetrated. This was also why so few people knew Ning Luo’s true identity.

The intelligence systems of both sides were too deeply entangled.

Cinderella sat beside Ning Luo, her slender fingers holding a bowl of vegetable soup. She was spooning it into his mouth, one scoop at a time.

Since that night, her relationship with Ning Luo had improved significantly. Mainly because there were no longer any barriers between man and woman. Ning Luo no longer deliberately avoided Cinderella.

But none of this had anything to do with Colonel Prittwitz.

Feelings in wartime were far too fragile. None of them dared claim they would still be alive tomorrow.

Colonel Prittwitz cared about only one thing.

“Your Excellency, what should we do now? Do we need to meet the Grand Duke of Waldenburg?”

“There are two plans. I need your opinion.”

Ning Luo lifted his head and looked at Colonel Prittwitz.

That surprised Colonel Prittwitz. Ning Luo had not earned the title “Tyrant of Brittany” for nothing—Ning Luo was known for absolute autocracy, never considering anyone else’s opinion, much less soliciting advice from someone as low in status as Colonel Prittwitz.

Colonel Prittwitz took a deep breath.

“Please speak.”

“The first plan: the internal factions of Waldenburg are competing for power. Some support the Scandinavian Empire, some support the Holy Federation. This division is troublesome for us. We can promise Waldenburg enough benefits to make them side with us, but that will take a very long time.”

“No.”

Colonel Prittwitz rejected it without even thinking.

The Duchy of Waldenburg was the strongest among the vassal states of the Holy Federation—perhaps the strongest without exception. But precisely because it was massive, it was not ruled solely by the Grand Duke. Internally, it had an extremely complex power structure.

It was divided into factions supporting the Scandinavian Empire and factions supporting the Holy Federation. The two sides had been wrestling for thirty-four years.

However—

Colonel Prittwitz did not have time to wait for Waldenburg’s internal power struggle to resolve itself. On the battlefield of Hohenstein, countless people died every single day. The longer they delayed, the more disastrous the consequences would become.

Ning Luo set down the documents.

He placed one hand on the table.

Even sitting in a wheelchair, even struggling to hold himself upright, he still gave Colonel Prittwitz an incomparable sense of pressure.

“Kill the Grand Duke of Waldenburg.”

…

Colonel Prittwitz now understood why Ning Luo had asked for his opinion.

There was no way Ning Luo could accomplish this personally. The only one who could was Colonel Prittwitz—he could carry out such an assassination. Not only him, but also the spies the Holy Federation had planted inside Waldenburg.

Faced with such a request—

Colonel Prittwitz was not surprised. During this war, far too many insane things had happened.

He simply asked in confusion:

“What is the point of doing this?”

“To destroy the old power structure. To force the new Grand Duke of Waldenburg to make an immediate choice. To tell everyone in Waldenburg that they have no time to hesitate. They must decide at once.”

“What if Waldenburg suspects it was us?”

“Then we keep killing—until they make a decision.”

Ning Luo’s words were cold and merciless.

As though human lives were nothing more than numbers. Well, in this era, lives truly were cold numbers. From emperors to commoners, no one was an exception. A mere Grand Duke? A few nobles? What were they worth in a war like this?

Colonel Prittwitz continued:

“Can you guarantee Waldenburg will surrender to the Holy Federation?”

“No. But if this continues, things will certainly get worse.”

Just as Ning Luo had emphasized the previous year—

This war had only bad outcomes and worse outcomes. There was no longer any possibility of things getting better.

Forcing Waldenburg to choose was at least better than dragging things out until the worst possible scenario arrived.

Even though Ning Luo had spoken as if asking for Colonel Prittwitz’s opinion—

He had never actually had a choice.

Colonel Prittwitz stepped forward. He placed a pocket watch in front of Ning Luo.

“If I fail to return, please tell His Majesty that I did all I could. Tell my father that I love him.”