From the moment the campaign began, there had been lingering questions.
Why does His Highness act this way?
Why does he refuse to reach out to Epirus, even in this moment of desperate need?
Doubts that even unwavering faith could not erase.
Now that Adrianos had received answers to all his uncertainties, he could stand before the people without the fog of hesitation clouding his mind.
Konstantinos Dragases—the final beacon of light in a dying empire—had dispelled the thick mist that had obstructed his path.
But not everyone knew His Highness’s true intentions.
For the salvation of the empire, his designs had to remain hidden.
Thus, he had to persuade them.
The thousand soldiers standing in formation before him, filling the training grounds—each one had been shaken by the thunderous roar that could bring down even the strongest walls.
Yet still, they had not lost faith in their prince.
Adrianos gazed at them for a moment, then clenched his fists tightly.
Holding the rear to buy time for His Highness to escape—no matter how it was dressed in grand words, its essence remained the same.
It meant death.
He understood this and had already resigned himself to it.
His Highness, in return for my loyalty—a devotion so strong that I resolved even to die—has granted me the reason why I must die.
Then it was only right for him to offer his soldiers the same choice.
Believing so, Adrianos slowly pulled out the red bandage he had hidden within his cloak.
The soldiers, bound by strict military discipline and unable to voice their confusion, instead sent questioning gazes.
Standing before them, Adrianos finally spoke.
“We will die.”
A ripple of unease swept through the soldiers—it was only natural.
But the countless brushes with death they had endured kept them steady.
This was the change that had taken root over the past few months.
War did not only shift the balance of power.
It changed lives, reshaped beliefs, and wielded the greatest force capable of altering even the fate of life and death.
At that moment, the last audience he had with His Highness resurfaced in Adrianos’s mind.
“And the reason we must die is here, in my hands.”
He raised the blood-soaked bandage high into the air.
Whose blood was it?
Adrianos knew.
He knew who had shed it, why it had to be spilled, and why they had to avoid a final confrontation with the Ottomans until now.
“Do you see this bandage, stained with blood? Can you tell whose blood it is?”
While all eyes had been fixed on central Greece, struggling even to keep track of the enemy before them, there was one who saw beyond.
One who, while others clung to false hope or braced themselves for an ever-looming defeat, had pursued true victory alone.
He must be saved, no matter the cost, even if thousands of lives had to be sacrificed.
“We all remember that His Highness once declared he would stand with us on the battlefield. Some doubted. Some believed he would never truly spill his own blood.”
Centuries of decline had stolen something precious from the people—faith.
Among those who had lost it, no amount of words could reach them; only wounded skepticism remained in their eyes.
That was why His Highness had to show them.
He understood it better than anyone.
So, he did not try to win their trust with words.
He proved it with blood—not the blood of another, but his own.
At this moment, Adrianos felt profoundly fortunate to have sworn his allegiance to Konstantinos, the prince.
“Look well—this is the proof of His Highness’s devotion. To prove his dedication, he bled until he could stand no more. The only reason I have gathered you here is to convey this truth.”
Having said this, Adrianos turned away from the podium.
He took several steps forward without a shred of hesitation.
Yet a small wave of regret struck him belatedly.
How many would truly grasp the gravity of their fate?
And how many would be willing to face death alongside him?
Would it have been better to command them instead of giving them a choice?
But even if he thought so, he could not reveal His Highness’s true plan.
There was no guarantee that no traitor lurked among them.
In truth, he himself should never have known.
It was only through his self-sacrificing loyalty that he had been granted the certainty of their future.
His Highness had blamed himself for his own powerlessness and had begged Adrianos to forgive him for not being able to do more.
But it was enough.
For those who follow a leader, the greatest promise that leader can offer them—above all else—is a future.
What was this battle for?
[The purpose of this war is not merely to stop Murad.]
Victory in war is determined by the achievement of strategic objectives.
[The Ottoman blade is sharp and keen. Then what is the best course of action? Everyone would answer simply—prevent it from being drawn from its sheath in the first place.]
Why is it that such a young man is called the last hope of the empire?
[…That is why we set the knot. A trap to bind the blade within its sheath before it can be drawn. If the sword cannot be unsheathed, then the keen edge that crowned Murad as sultan will slowly tighten around his own throat.]
Because he does not chase the glory of victory.
[Our defeat will instill fear and urgency in those who watch the Ottomans. There are many who do not wish to see the balance of power collapse into a one-sided dominion. In the end, they will seek an opportunity to intervene before the tipping point is reached—especially Venice, desperate to maintain control over the Aegean, and Genoa, ever eager to project its influence.]
[Once more, we must send a warning to the West—through the victory of the Ottomans and through our own defeat. At the same time, we must also foster the expectation that, if they unite, they can triumph over the Ottomans. That is why this cannot end in a crushing defeat. This is why we avoid a decisive battle. We may not be able to overturn our disadvantage, but we must not allow ourselves to be utterly broken.]
[And the enemy must never realize this intention. So we deceived them, over and over again. Knowing they would not be easily fooled, we crafted countless layers of deception. We had to obscure our true goal of prolonging the war. That is also why Epirus remains uninvolved—Murad must not know when they will enter the fight.]
[This war hinges on how well we can control the timing of foreign intervention. At the same time, how deeply we can draw Murad in is just as critical. That is why we had to keep this from everyone.]
[Adrianos, do you now understand the true purpose of this war?]
Because he is a man who pursues victory in a single stroke.
Leave a Reply