⚔“𝔑𝔬.” 𝓗𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔭 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔣 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔞𝔠𝑘𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔣 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔫’𝔰 𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔩𝑦 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔱.
“𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔯𝑦, 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯. 𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝓘 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝑘𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡. 𝔚𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝑦 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔢; 𝔦𝔱’𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝑦𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯. 𝓘𝔱’𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪.” 𝓗𝔢 𝑘𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔦𝔣 𝔩𝔞𝔤𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝑦 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝑦𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔰, 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔩𝔦𝑘𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝑘 𝔰𝔬 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱.
“𝓘 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔤𝔲𝔱 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝑦𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔡 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱. 𝓘𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔣 𝓘 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔤𝔬 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝑘 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔦𝔵 𝔦𝔱 𝓘’𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔣 𝓘 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡. 𝔄𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, 𝓘 𝑘𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝑘𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔲𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔡𝔬 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔩𝑦’𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔱𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔯 𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔞 𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫, 𝔦𝔣 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝑦𝔰 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯. “
𝓗𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝑦 𝔬𝔣 𝑦𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔟𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔢𝔩𝔡, 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔰’ 𝔤𝔬𝔞𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝑘𝔦𝔠𝑘𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫.
“𝔖𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝑘𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢. 𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔫𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔰𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔩……” 𝔒𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔳𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔯𝑦𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔭𝔰. 𝔗𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔢𝑦𝔢𝔰 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝑘 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫.
“𝓘 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝑦 𝔬𝔣 𝔲𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔬 𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝑦 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔯, 𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝑘𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡. 𝓒𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩𝔱𝑦 𝔡𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔢𝔩𝔡, 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔬 𝔞𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱. 𝔄𝔩𝔩 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔡𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔱, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝓘’𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔰𝔩𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 …. 𝔦𝔣 𝓘 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩. 𝔖𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔦𝔱.“
“𝔇𝔬𝔫’𝔱 𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔢𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯…𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔣 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫’𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔞 𝔠𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝑦𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱.” 𝓘𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫’𝔱 𝔞 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝑘𝔢 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔢𝔤𝔬 𝔬𝔯 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯, 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢. 𝔊𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫’𝔱 𝔦𝔤𝔫𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝑦𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔦𝔤𝔫𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝑘𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔥𝔦𝔪. 𝓗𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝑦𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔞 𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔭𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔦𝔣 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔢. ⚔
{ ♝ ♚ } He actually laughed, then, lovely and bright- and frighteningly dissonant, stemming for a man like him.
❝ I wonder what our soldiers would say to that, ❞ he joked, shrugging off the compliment. Iago already knew that he was brilliant, and yet he also knew that the truly talented needn’t prove themselves to anyone. ❝ Our men do not think highly of me as a General. They would prefer a leader like Corrin, waving around a sharpened piece of metal and charging recklessly into battle with no regard to personal safety. She fails to understand that there is a reason why, in games of chess, players lead with pawns. ...If my tactics appear cowardly, if I appear cowardly, it is only because I choose to wisely castle the king. Lose a General, and the battalion falls into disarray. ❞
❝ I... don’t exactly know when it began- this toxic concept of chivalry. Of honor and cowardice. Risking your life in a hopeless duel, struggling to survive against a heavily armed opponent, is somehow deemed more honorable than poisoning him and completing the same objective without sustaining a single injury. Lady Corrin prefers to walk the path of heroism; she would struggle against the Hoshidan forces only if they had their swords drawn. ...Me? I would gas them all and be done with it. ❞
❝ ...And then I would return home and prepare myself for the inevitable witch hunt, courtesy of mindless civilians who fail to realize that it is only in fairy stories where the ends do not justify the means. Unfortunately, this is the real world, and we are all adults; it is time for the vast majority of us to wake up and grow up. ❞
❝ I am not concerned about Lady Corrin, Gunter. I am not concerned about the children, or even the Nohrian people. I am concerned only for the progression of the human race as a whole. I care for our collective intelligence. I care for our advancement. ...And it pains me, greatly, to know that Lady Corrin may actually succeed in forcing us to starve ourselves to feed our neighbors. ❞