I had no idea where Fried had learned to apply pressure like that, but he aged the Count of Basel's face by a decade. Scrawling his signature, the count officially surrendered to the Western Lords' Army.
"A wise decision. We'll dispatch a messenger immediately to relay the surrender."
"You are an exceedingly fortunate man, young lord. I'll be watching to see how long that luck holds."
"Did you know, Count? Your greatest mistake was making an enemy of the lord of Feuzen."
The Count of Basel turned his gaze toward me—I had sat silently through the negotiations. It was true that I had ruined all of his plans. If he hadn't attacked Feuzen, things might have been different, but this was how it ended.
"I see now that His Highness the Crown Prince has a capable noble at his side."
"You're acknowledging His Highness? I thought you'd deny him to the very end."
"I have been defeated. I have no desire to disgrace myself further."
