Chapter 2:  Deadlock

Based on what Ning Luo knew about Isabella—

Isabella only seemed soft and delicate on the outside. In truth, she was still the type of noble lady who schemed behind her smile. Even when she was around Ning Luo, she deliberately acted like the kind of person he liked.

So, if even Isabella described something as exciting and dangerous, then it definitely had to be at least a little exciting.

But—

Ning Luo hadn’t expected Isabella to take it this far.

The next day—

The one who showed up was not Isabella.

It was a stunning woman with long silver hair, dressed in a sharp military uniform.

Black fabric trimmed with golden stripes for decoration. Her snow-white skin stood in stark contrast against the black of her uniform.

Due to her overly generous chest, the uniform appeared slightly strained, accentuating her slender waist and hips. Her lower half was clad in black stockings that hugged her full thighs, and below that were knee-high black stiletto boots.

In the spring-summer heat of Brittany, the outfit was probably a bit stifling.

"Priscilla Cavendish Pe Beaufort-Fitzroy."

...

From such a long surname, one could instantly tell she hailed from one of the Empire’s most elite noble families.

Priscilla truly didn’t understand what the princess saw in this pretty boy standing in front of her.

If it was just because he was good-looking, there was really no need to go this far. Priscilla had warned her princess more than once that she was going overboard.

Yes—

This was really a bit too much.

The princess had stayed in Brittany all this time, unwilling to return to the Imperial Capital, and had even gone so far as to keep a pretty boy. If word of this ever got out, it would cause a massive scandal. The Beaufort family had been covering this matter up the entire time.

And even that wasn’t the end of it—Isabella had now given her an utterly absurd task.

There was no helping it.

When one’s superior outranked you, resistance was pointless.

She was the princess’s knight.

She had no choice but to obey unconditionally.

Before Ning Luo could even speak—

Priscilla placed a document in front of him.

"Miss Isabella sent me. Starting today, I will be serving as your adjutant. This is your file."

Looking at the female knight before him—

Ning Luo accepted the file with a somewhat helpless expression.

The contents of the file were largely within his expectations, consisting of basic information on the ongoing war.

The war between the Empire of Albion and the Kingdom of Fontaine had dragged on for thirty-three years. Most recently, the Empire had suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of the Samat River. The file offered a simple explanation for the loss, a summary of the Empire's high-level power structure, and an analysis of how the defeat had impacted not just the Empire, but the entire world.

It could only be said that Albion's devastating loss had indeed become the hottest global topic of recent times.

The radical faction's Count Tristan had even lashed out without restraint.

The Empire had gone through chief of staff after chief of staff—if someone as incompetent as Hastings could hold the position, what next? Were they going to lose to Castilia, then to Lusitania, and finally to—what? Who else was left to lose to?

Of course—

That was just the radicals venting emotionally.

To properly evaluate the reasons behind the failure of the battle, one had to consider every aspect.

The war between the Empire of Albion and the Kingdom of Fontaine had lasted thirty-three years. Victories and defeats had gone back and forth, and there was no way this one battle alone would completely decide the war in Fontaine's favor.

Currently, the Empire of Albion had 450,000 soldiers on the front lines, while the Kingdom of Fontaine had 350,000.

Theoretically, Albion still held the advantage.

But the Empire of Albion wasn’t just fighting the Kingdom of Fontaine—it was also maintaining an overseas war with the Empire of Castilia.

In this most recent battle—

The Kingdom of Fontaine had mobilized 120,000 soldiers in a decisive assault against Albion’s Samat River defensive line. They tore straight through the Samat River front and forced the Imperial army to retreat back to the Brittany Fortress.

In the documents provided by Isabella—

There were extensive details about the war, including frontline-only information. For instance, Fontaine had employed exceptional tactical planning, coordination, and execution. They had utilized a combined-arms approach, with cavalry launching flanking assaults, which caused the Empire to misjudge their primary attack direction.

However, the primary focus of the document was analyzing the reasons behind the Empire’s defeat.

It examined not only tactics, but also strategic layout, intelligence gathering, resource management, morale, and even fortification structures—everything was thoroughly dissected.

Even the Chief of General Staff, General Hastings, had resigned to take responsibility.

That alone showed just how deeply the loss had impacted the Empire.

…

"Isabella… isn’t thinking of making me enlist, is she?"

Ning Luo asked with a hint of doubt.

If he were to be a civil official, he still had some confidence in himself. But if he was being thrown onto the battlefield as a frontline soldier—now that was absurd.

Priscilla responded.

"That depends on whether you understand military tactics."

"So it’s about assessing my abilities and assigning a suitable role? Please, Miss Beaufort."

"Just call me Priscilla. No need to be so formal."

"Tea or coffee?"

"Tea."

Ning Luo stood up and poured Priscilla a cup of tea. But Priscilla didn’t take it. She fixed her gaze on Ning Luo, deadly serious.

"Based on what you know, who do you think should be held responsible for the failure of this battle?"

"General Hastings. No matter how you look at it, as Chief of General Staff, he held the position, bore the duty, and must accept the consequences."

There was nothing wrong with that answer.

Even someone with no military background could understand that General Hastings, being in that position, had to shoulder the blame.

"Then why do you think General Hastings lost this war?"

"As for tactical specifics, I can’t say—I don’t have enough data to support any conclusions. But if we’re talking about macro-level strategy, it’s simple. Over the years, our advantageous advances allowed the Empire to occupy large swathes of Fontaine’s territory. The price of that was a massively overstretched front line. And it was a line that hadn’t shifted for years. The Empire’s manpower and logistics couldn’t keep up. All Fontaine had to do was concentrate their forces and launch a fierce offensive—they could easily break through our lines."

"Then what do you think the newly appointed General Asfled should do to win this war?"

"Winning is simple. All we have to do is abandon parts of the line and pull the frontline troops back to consolidate our position. The deeper Fontaine advances, the longer their supply lines become. In a battle of attrition, that puts them at a disadvantage. Fontaine would be forced to keep launching aggressive offensives against the Empire until one side collapses—either us or them."

At that, Priscilla completely abandoned her earlier assumption that Ning Luo was just a pretty face.

When it came to how victory could be achieved, someone like Priscilla—trained and seasoned in the military—naturally had her own views. But Priscilla's thinking was grounded in the tactical level: how to fight and win a beautiful battle.

Ning Luo, on the other hand, approached things from a strategic level—how to completely crush the Kingdom of Fontaine.

"So what you're saying is that as long as the Empire abandons part of its defensive line, the Kingdom will be forced to continue advancing due to overextended supply lines, and if we can hold the Brittany Fortress, we can win?" Priscilla asked.

"No, quite the opposite."

"Why?"

"Because General Asfled will definitely choose to attack, not defend. He'll stop at nothing to reclaim the territory we've lost."

Priscilla frowned slightly.

"Even I can see that defense is the better option. The deeper Fontaine pushes in, the longer their supply lines get. If the Empire can just hold out, they'll eventually collapse."

"Yes, you're absolutely right. We all understand that logic. General Asfled understands it. Even General Hastings understood it."

"Then why still choose to attack?"

"Because there is no choice."

Priscilla had been about to argue—

But suddenly—

A chill ran down her spine.

Ning Luo quietly refilled her cup with hot tea. The mornings in Brittany were still rather damp and cold, and he offered her an explanation.

"The reason the Empire is an empire is because of its unparalleled scale. We’ve managed to suppress both the Kingdom of Fontaine and the Empire of Castilia for thirty-three years—that alone proves the Empire’s greatness. But precisely because the Empire is so vast, it simply cannot afford any defeat. The disaster at the Samat River—whether for the people or the leadership—is utterly unacceptable. The Empire must win a new victory to wash away the shame."

Ning Luo paused briefly before continuing.

"Of course General Asfled understands this. But if he chooses to abandon the Brittany Fortress, then tomorrow, he will no longer be the Chief of General Staff. And the same applies to the Kingdom of Fontaine. Do you think they don’t understand that overextending their lines will collapse their supply chains? Of course they do. But they don’t have a choice either."

…

"So there’s no solution at all?" Priscilla asked in return.

"This war, at this point, can’t be ended by a single victorious battle—or even a single devastating defeat. The only solution now is to see which side gets crushed by the final straw first. It’s a matter of who runs out of people first. Of course, if you’re asking me whether there’s any tactical way to break the deadlock, I can only answer you this: these documents aren’t enough—not even close."

Ning Luo gestured toward the stack of files on the table and shook his head.

From a strategic standpoint, whether it was the war bonds he had previously discussed with Isabella, or now the proposal to hold Brittany, all of it was nearly impossible to implement. Each of those options would trample on the interests of countless people.

What remained was only the tactical path.

But attempting a breakthrough from the tactical side—that was incredibly difficult. Winning a strategic victory through tactics alone was almost akin to asking for a miracle. And the current information available was nowhere near enough for Ning Luo to work any kind of tactical magic.

To do that, he’d need far more detailed information from the General Staff.

And unfortunately, access to that kind of data was not so easily obtained.

...

Priscilla looked up at Ning Luo.

She had to admit—

She had indeed underestimated the man before her.

It wasn’t just Ning Luo’s remarkable strategic insight, his ability to identify the key pressure points that could decide the outcome of the war. What was even more rare was his clarity—his ability to immediately see through decisions that appeared foolish on the surface, yet were in fact unavoidable at their core.

This was far beyond what an ordinary student from a commoner background should be capable of understanding. He was more like a seasoned minister who had spent years immersed in the Empire’s cabinet.

Priscilla now understood why the princess had taken an interest in this man.

And she understood why the princess had given her such an outrageous task. In fact, Priscilla now felt the princess might even be underusing him. As long as Ning Luo never betrayed Her Highness, Priscilla was willing to serve this man.

Priscilla stood and handed over another, much larger package to Ning Luo.

"According to Miss Isabella’s instructions, please put on this uniform. From this day forward, you are Lord Ning Luo."

Ning Luo immediately understood what Isabella was trying to do.

Inside the package was not only a complete military uniform, but also an identification card.

On the ID, it read:

Ning Luo Bridge

Rank: Captain

Both the post and affiliated unit fields were left blank—an obvious sign that Ning Luo was free to fill them in as he pleased.

The corner of Ning Luo’s mouth twitched.

"This ID... is it real?"

"You’d better assume it’s fake."

...

...

One day earlier

Brittany Palace

Priscilla stood behind Isabella.

"You’re really going to have him do something this risky?"

"I’m not sending him to the front lines. And besides, aren’t you going to protect him?"

Priscilla countered immediately.

"I don’t mean that. I’m talking about impersonating a member of the royal family. If he’s discovered, he’ll be executed."

Isabella turned to face Priscilla.

She smiled softly.

"When did I ever say he was impersonating?"

Priscilla froze.

That man could very well be a royal. Without royal blood, it wasn’t difficult to become royalty—as long as he was Isabella’s husband, then he would, without question, be a member of the royal family.

But what Priscilla didn’t quite understand was—

"You love that man that much?"

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