Arc 4 Chapter 49 : Mother of Sea

[Siena PoV]

The Battle of Tusculum lasted for approximately eight hours. During that time, tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides lost their lives. The entire city was engulfed in flames, with ashes drifting through the air. The city that had once been one of the proudest symbols of our nation had been reduced to ruins, with almost nothing left standing.

All I could do now was watch it from afar aboard a ship sailing away from Tusculum.

We had ordered a retreat and were evacuating our forces by sea after suffering defeat in the battle.

In truth, our 60,000 soldiers had still been able to hold their own against the Empire's 90,000 troops during the battle in the Inner City. However, Imperial reinforcements suddenly arrived. They were the troops who were supposed to be fighting our other 30,000 soldiers in the Outer City.

We received a report that our 30,000 soldiers had been defeated and forced to retreat after Princess Elena de Aragon killed Prince Vlad mel Dracus in a one-on-one battle.

Because of this, the Empire gained the upper hand. We were gradually surrounded, so I ordered our forces to retreat toward the docks.

Realizing that defeat was inevitable, we began evacuating our troops from the city using the 400 ships stationed at the harbor. To accomplish this, we even sacrificed 15,000 soldiers to remain behind and hold off the Imperial forces while the evacuation was underway.

This... is utterly humiliating...

In an instant, I began thinking about the consequences of losing Tusculum to the enemy. Their operational base would become larger, their logistical network would improve, and it would become increasingly difficult to disrupt them. Furthermore...

It would be extraordinarily difficult—and would require a miracle—to reclaim the territory after suffering a defeat like this.

We arrived at the harbor of Florentia Island shortly before dawn. Countless citizens of the capital had gathered at the harbor, seemingly wanting to see us, as well as their families and lovers who had gone to war.

"Look! Our soldiers have returned!"

"Did you beat those Imperial dogs!?"

"Tell us about the battle!"

Hearing the words of the citizens who had gathered to welcome them, our soldiers could only lower their heads in shame. The people here had yet to realize that we had just suffered a defeat and allowed the enemy to seize Tusculum.

As we began disembarking from the ships, the citizens made way for the soldiers to pass through.

I began walking through the middle of the crowd. Several military officials followed behind me.

"Lady Siena! The soldiers have returned! Does this mean we've won the war!?"

"If Lady Siena is leading us, then our army will always win, won't it?"

Hearing the questions from the citizens made my heart grow heavy.

"Lady Siena!"

"Lady Siena, I can't find my son anywhere among his squad! What happened over there!? Why have you returned!?"

"Lady Siena, please, say something!"

I ignored them, but the longer I remained silent, the more suspicious the citizens became. The tone of their questions also began to change—from curiosity as they waited for good news into desperation as they struggled to understand why I remained silent when I was usually so outspoken.

We lost...

I wanted to tell them the truth...

But panic and fear would erupt if they learned that we had lost half of our forces because of this defeat.

Yet I did not want to lie to them either. That was why I remained silent throughout the journey, refusing to respond to them.

In times like these, everyone had to remain optimistic. I knew that this was my responsibility because I had become the greatest hope of our nation, but I still could not stop thinking about all those who had died because of my leadership.

I could not always reassure everyone with optimism when the facts and reality before us said otherwise.

They called me The Miracle. But I was merely a human being who could not create miracles in everything I did.

All of it was nothing but a lie.

All my knowledge, all my experience, and all my strength came from imitating and learning from those two extraordinary women. Everything I had accomplished was nothing but an illusion. Even the magic I possessed was merely the result of my bloodline after I learned about this information from that man.

I was not the Genius they believed me to be.

Why was the future of an entire nation placed upon the shoulders of a single person? Miracles did not simply happen on their own. There were limits to what one person could accomplish.

That was why...

I often felt that this responsibility was simply too heavy for me to carry alone.

After all the soldiers returned to their barracks, I headed to the State Palace to report everything that had happened during the war, which had lasted for approximately four months.

However, just as I was about to meet Father, I was informed that he was currently holding a meeting with a diplomat from the Kingdom of Draconia.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I assumed they were discussing the death of Prince Vlad in the previous battle.

Vlad was the youngest of King Radu mel Dracus's three sons. His death should not affect the succession of the kingdom, considering that the Crown Prince was still alive and had a son who had only recently been born.

Not long afterward, the door to the President's office opened. A neatly dressed man stepped out of the room. Upon noticing my presence, he saluted before leaving the President's corridor.

"Siena, you're here."

Father called out to me. He was sitting behind his desk.

"Come in and sit down."

I nodded and entered the room.

Once the door closed, Father stood up and took out the pipe he usually smoked. After lighting it, he took a puff before walking toward the window and exhaling the smoke outside.

Father's face looked as though he had aged several years. I assumed it was because of the lack of sleep and the stress he had endured while our nation was at war.

"We suffered a defeat, didn't we?" Father asked, his face still turned toward the window.

"Yes. The Empire used a brilliant tactic, and Princess Elena managed to kill Prince Vlad in battle," I replied.

The Empire's tactic of constructing tunnels that connected directly into the city was incredibly clever. I believed that, throughout the history of warfare, such a tactic might have been used for the first time.

I wondered who had proposed such a plan.

Furthermore, Prince Vlad's death caused the magic that was supposed to counter Princess Elena's abilities and weaken the enemy's forces to disappear, leaving us without any advantage for the remainder of the battle after his death.

"The diplomat from the Kingdom of Draconia spoke about your engagement to their late prince," Father told me. "He said that the Kingdom of Draconia would not request an update to the agreement because of this."

"I see. Are they trying not to become too closely tied to us after this defeat?" I said, considering the intentions of the Kingdom of Draconia.

After our defeat at Tusculum, the Empire's victory in this war was becoming increasingly apparent, while the Alliance would find it difficult to achieve victory. The Alliance would soon begin considering negotiations to end the war.

Since we were now in a disadvantageous position, those negotiations would undoubtedly be heavily weighted against us. However, the Republic of Greco and the Kingdom of Draconia would not be placed in as difficult a position, because the Empire's sole target in this war was The Republic of Venetia.

But it seemed that the Kingdom of Draconia was preparing for the worst. Unlike the Republic of Greco, the Empire's envoys had approached the Kingdom of Draconia to form an alliance, but they ultimately chose us as their allies against the Empire.

This could worsen the conditions of any peace negotiations between the Empire and the Kingdom.

That was why it seemed the Kingdom of Draconia was doing everything possible to avoid becoming too closely tied to us, so that the terms of a peace agreement between the Empire and their kingdom would not become too unfavorable.

"Tell me, Siena. Was Father wrong to lead our nation into this war?" Father asked, having stopped smoking as he turned to look at me.

"No, Father," I replied, shaking my head. "If we want our nation to survive and prosper, and prevent other nations from bullying us as they did in the past, then we must become more active in hindering our enemies and influencing the other nations across this continent."

To break the Empire's dominance, a war was inevitable. As a dominant power, the Empire would always threaten nations that attempted to undermine its influence, whether through subtle means or through force, as they had done in this war.

"Then, can we still win the war after this defeat?" Father asked again.

I don't know...

That was the answer I wanted to give.

However, for years, Father and the others had always relied on my guidance whenever we faced difficult circumstances. Therefore, if the person they considered a Genius showed a lack of confidence in front of them, everyone else would become pessimistic as well, and it would affect their fighting spirit.

"There is still one hope, Father," I replied. "The Naval Battle."

"Hmm... The naval battle?" Father muttered, stroking his chin. "Long ago, approximately 250 years ago, the Aragon Empire once declared war on our nation. However, when they sailed across Cosentia Bay to launch an invasion of Florentia Island, their fleet was suddenly struck by a storm that destroyed the entire Imperial force."

That's right.

According to the history books of the Republic of Venetia, the Aragon Empire—then still a kingdom—once declared war on our weakened nation. However, when their war fleet was about to reach Florentia Island, the sky suddenly turned black. Lightning struck the sea and tore through their ships.

Eyewitnesses claimed that an enormous wave had risen and struck the ships of the Aragon Kingdom, pushing them far away from Florentia Island, as though someone did not want the Aragonian forces to set foot upon the island.

That event eventually became a legend—the story of an entity that protected the island from its enemies. However, as time passed, the legend gradually became nothing more than a myth among the Venetian people.

The defeat was not even recorded in the Empire's history books, most likely because of how thoroughly their forces had been defeated in the war due to a single event.

"Are you certain they will dare to sail here and invade the island?" Father asked for my opinion.

"They most likely will, Father," I replied with confidence. "They will certainly want to conquer our capital to show the world that their power is something the other nations on this continent should fear."

That was why this battle would be our final opportunity to turn the tide.

If we lost this final battle, then the future of the Venetian people would be over!

---

[Raul PoV]

Several days after the battle ended, the Empire was currently focused on gathering resources, particularly timber, to build a fleet capable of transporting our entire army across the sea to attack the capital of the Republic of Venetia—Florentia.

However, it would take time to recover our strength after the Battle of Tusculum.

Although we had won the battle, a total of 40,000 people had lost their lives. The majority of the casualties came from the 30,000 soldiers who attacked the city from the front, forcing the enemy to concentrate their entire defense against them.

I was currently at the harbor, enjoying the sight of the sunset on the horizon.

The cries of seagulls and the sound of the ocean waves made me feel strangely comfortable being here.

"Have you been waiting long?"

I heard a woman's voice from my right.

I turned to the side and saw a blonde-haired woman standing there, smiling at me with both hands placed behind her back.

"Is the meeting over?" I asked her.

"It's over," Elena replied as she sat beside me, joining me in enjoying the beautiful scenery. "We'll begin sailing two to three months from now."

"Then, did you tell Marshal Salazar about the Empire's previous invasion?"

Hearing my question, Elena merely sighed in resignation.

"They didn't want to listen," Elena replied, sounding slightly disappointed. "They said, 'We don't need to fear an event that happened by coincidence.'"

No.

The destruction of the Aragonian fleet back then was not caused by some unfortunate coincidence or bad weather. It had been caused by a creature.

If we did not have a plan to seal it, then the victory we had achieved before would be meaningless.

Furthermore, the sea would flood the land, and several coastal cities would sink beneath the waves because of the creature's rampage.

The creature I was talking about was a Demigod...

This type of creature was the pinnacle of monsters and living beings capable of freely roaming this world. The Demon King was also a Demigod.

However, unlike the Demon King, this particular Demigod had only its soul remaining and could no longer continuously manifest its physical form in this world.

The Goddess Diana had established a new rule in her world when numerous Demigods began to emerge.

They were forbidden from interfering with the lives of other beings using the immense powers they possessed.

If they violated this rule, Goddess Diana would punish the Demigods just as she had punished the Demon King by banishing him to another, more terrible world.

That was why...

When a Naval Battle took place between the two sides, I had to be the one to claim it from Siena.

The name of the Demigod that destroyed the Aragonian Kingdom's war fleet back then was...

Celestia—Mother of The Sea...