Armand and Eris' forces stopped a mile away from Castle Concord. Before them was Count Concord himself with a group of pikemen behind him. He was clad head to toe in armor, and his face couldn't be seen under his helmet. Several pistols were strapped to his chest. There was a group of horsemen flanking the lord.

An uneasy tension settled in the air. Eris looked between Armand and Count Concord. Neither father nor son showed any emotion or weakness. The girl clenched her horse's reigns tight.

"Armand, does your father not believe you're here to help?" she thought.

"Well, Armand," Count Concord spoke up. "I must say that this is quite the small force you brought here. It makes your letter more believable."

His son's expression remained stoic.

"So, you got my letter. I am not surprised that you of all people are suspicious of it. You are quite paranoid, after all, Father," Armand said.

Count Concord sighed and shook his head.

"I would say that I am more disappointed than anything else. Here, I thought you were here to claim your birthright by force. But now I see that you were most likely telling the truth about returning home to defend us," he stated.

Eris looked at the count as if he was insane. Then, after a moment, she burst out laughing. It took half a minute for her to calm down.

"By the gods, I thought you were serious for a moment there," Eris shook her head. "But this is hardly the time to joke."

Count Concord let out a deep sigh.

"Eris, have you ever known me to joke?" he asked.

"I...what?"

The Hapsburg girl's jaw dropped in shock. She had some idea of what Armand's parents were like, but this? Actively wanting his own son to invade his lands?

Eris did not consider it evil. Instead, she thought it was insane.

"Why would you want Armand to overthrow you?" the Hapsburg asked.

"Because it would mean that he has surpassed me," Count Concord explained. "And thus that House Concord is now in the hands of a superior lord to the previous one."

"But you could get much more power by working with your son, rather than encouraging him to overthrow you," Eris pointed out. "And an internal war would only weaken House Concord."

She gritted her teeth.

"An internal war in House Concord is exactly the sort of thing I would have taken advantage of the last time around," Eris thought.

Count Concord scoffed.

"My wife is the only woman who understands. So long as I produce an heir capable of ruling House Concord well, that is all that matters. If I must be my heir's enemy or make my children enemies of each other to do it, then I must."

Armand shook his head.

"Father, whatever I might think of you as a person, you are still my father. I will now overthrow you," he said.

Count Concord sighed and shook his helmeted head. A sense of disappointment emanated from his body.

"You are still soft, Armand. But, I suppose you are barely an adult. You will grow into the cruelty nobles must have to survive."

Eris wanted to shoot Count Concord, but she held that urge in. Part of this was because she didn't want to use her ammunition right before Armand's family's spellcasters might need them. Another part was that Eris didn't want to cause Armand any pain by killing his father.

Instead, she settled with giving the count the most disdainful look she could muster.

"Count Concord, Armand knows far better than he could like that a level of cruelty is needed for surviving in the politics of Foldzar. However, being too cruel is just as bad as not being cruel enough. You will make enemies. And, with enough enemies, one is certain to kill you," Eris said.

Armand blinked in shock. But he didn't say anything.

"What is Eris doing? If I try to stop her, it'll show disunity on our part. I'll have to let this play out and back up Eris when I can," he thought.

Count Concord scoffed.

"The problem you bring up with excessive cruelty is not an issue at all. You merely need to ensure that your enemies are all corpses before they can truly do damage."

Armand felt his frustration building.

Eris shook her head.

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"If it was that simple, many deaths would have been prevented," the girl recalled her own death as she spoke. "But the more enemies you have who are your equals, the more difficult that becomes. Otherwise, you would have eliminated my family long ago, would you not?"

Although Armand could see Eris' perspective shifting and was glad for it, he also felt his frustration welling up further.

Count Concord nodded.

"I suppose so, Eris. You are as clever as ever. However, you are far too inexperienced in the ways of the world. I turn 30 this year. I suspect I have little time left to live before someone kills me. I would prefer to die at the hands of my successor. At least then, I will die knowing my successor has surpassed me," he said.

Armand's frustration reaching a breaking point. His lungs expanded, and the boy shouted as loud as he could.

"There is an army on its way here to kill us all, and you two are arguing about morality?" rage was clear on his face. "By this point, our enemies might as well have broken into our castle, slaughtered my brother, and raped my mother and sisters! Our peasants could be being slaughtered and their fields burned as we speak! Yet, we have done nothing but waste time since I showed up! I can understand why you're so eager to be replaced, Father! You clearly don't have your priorities straight!"

Armand then almost spat.

"And one more thing. You should listen to Eris, Father. You and Mother put together would not get a person half as intelligent as Eris. And every day, her wisdom grows."

A moment of silence passed. Awkwardness came over Armand and Count Concord. Eris was gushing from how Armand complimented her. Count Concord looked away for a moment, shame on the lord's face under his helmet. He let out a deep sigh.

"You are right, Armand. Right now, the whole of House Concord is at risk. We should be focused on that, not matters of succession. Follow me. I have gathered House Concord's forces. Bring your men with you too," Count Concord said.

And so, they followed the count to the outskirts of Castle Concord itself. Eris noticed Armand's brother giving them a dirty look from the castle walls. She gave him a polite smile that held a malevolent malice within it.

Soon, Armand and Eris were in front of Count Concord's gathered forces. They were both already aware of what the noble house had. So, neither of them were too surprised.

"Even with these men and the mercenaries you two have gathered, we will still be outnumbered, assuming your letters were accurate, Armand," Count Concord said.

"There is one last group of black riders coming in from the South. That will not even the numbers, but it will help," his son replied.

"They already arrived. They are currently patrolling the outskirts of our territory. They should be back by nightfall."

Armand nodded.

"That's good," he said.

"Then, the first thing we need to do is decide whether to wait the enemy out in a siege or meet them in the field," Count Concord stated.

"No. We do not need to decide anything," Eris scoffed. "Armand and I will win this battle while you sit inside of the castle."

Count Concord looked at her as if she was insane. But Eris kept her face level.

"You want Armand to prove himself, don't you? And you'll only get in the way of our planning," she said.

Armand shot Eris a quick glare before speaking.

"I apologize for my fiance's rudeness, Father. It seems you've angered her," he stated.

"Yes. It seems I have," Count Concord nodded.

"However, she is not entirely wrong," Armand said. "You had best stick to defending the castle in case the enemy tries to attack it. Eris and I will meet them in the field."

His father raised an eyebrow.

"Then, you intend to meet the enemy in the field?" he asked.

Eris opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it with swiftness.

"I shouldn't try to provoke Count Concord any further. Even if he angered me, Armand's starting to reach the end of his patience. I never had any siblings, so I can only imagine how he must be feeling now that they're in danger," she thought.

Armand nodded.

"We do. If he hesitates to face them, Sir Karl's forces will attack our people. They will slaughter them and burn their crops. Even if we defeat them after these attacks, it will cause our people to lose faith in us. Our enemies will be able to take advantage of that," he explained.

Count Concord grimaced.

"They might, but castles are meant for defense. We could hide as many commons as we can in there," he said.

"And our castle still hasn't been turned into a star fort yet," Armand replied. "Against sustained fire from modern canons, it will not hold. And even if it does, our food supply will not outlast our attackers'."

Then, Count Concord smiled.

"Very good, Armand. You caught onto the situation very quickly. Despite your earlier disappointment, you are still a worthy heir," he stated.

Eris' eye twitched. But Armand kept his expression stoic.

"As you were Marshal Staufer's adjutant for years, I will trust this battle to you, Armand. All his former adjutants ended up being praised for their skill at command. Show me that you did more under him than write a book about imaginary monsters," Count Concord said.

With that, the lord rode away. Eris turned to Armand.

"He has a backup plan in case you fail, doesn't he?" she asked.

"Yes, he does," Armand answered. "He wouldn't trust this to me if he didn't. Father might even see this whole thing as another test to judge whether or not I am worthy to succeed him."

Eris sighed.

"As someone who's been around him and your mother a while, I can safely say that I do not look forward to having them as my in-laws," she said. "I know I'm a monster, but at least I'm a practical monster."

Armand's expression turned sad for a brief moment before he forced it to turn stoic again.

"Eris, I think you went too far with the words you said to my father, but I still appreciate you standing up for me. For that, I thank you," he stated.

A blush crossed the girl's face.

"I will try to be more gentle with him the next time he angers me," she replied.

Armand nodded.

"Thank you, Eris," he said.

A wider blush crossed her face.

"Well, we should decide where we're going to fight at," Eris stated. "You know these lands better than I do, Armand, so do you have any ideas?"

The boy nodded.

"Yes. The best place for us to defend the Concord lands from this coalition is the same place where Brutus' armies faced them the last time around," Armand replied. "A hill to the North of here. It will be big enough to hold our army while giving us the high ground."

A flicker of recollection passed through Eris' eyes.

"I remember that hill now. But even if we station our army there, Karl's men might try to move around us," she pointed out.

"They might," Armand agreed. "But we still have some time to plan this battle out."

Eris nodded.

"Then, let's not waste time. I'll send some hussars to find the black riders you hired. In the meantime, let's get our soldiers onto that hill."

This was something they both agreed on.