Chapter 93. The Decoy Effect

The Viscount’s Office, Ironwood Castle

“So, since the Ironwood Viscounty had many prior loans with Hollowland before Miller took over… Lord Hollowland offered a marriage alliance with his daughter, but strictly on the condition that he would be able to co-command the Ironwood Mercenaries?” Francesca asked, nodding in understanding.

Stella replied, “That’s right. Of course, Lord Miller immediately declined. That is exactly when His Grace, Duke Leoncraft’s offer came through.”

“Ah… the Decoy Effect. Father’s classic trick,” Francesca muttered under her breath.

Stella raised an eyebrow. “You mean it has something to do with Duke Leoncraft? How could that be, My Lady?”

“It’s a ruthless persuasion method my father often uses. You make an extremely ridiculous request first… one that you know people will automatically reject. You then follow up with a smaller, less extreme request, which suddenly seems reasonable by comparison,” she sighed, putting down the old Hollowland papers. “Anyone could have told you that Miller would never give up command of his mercenaries. Father must have pushed Viscount Hollowland to send that ridiculous proposal, knowing full well Miller would not agree to share his military power.”

“Then, when Viscount Hollowland canceled the gemstone trade agreement in retaliation, the financial pressure would have pushed Lord Miller to desperately find a solution. And that's when-” Before Francesca could finish, Stella completed the thought with sudden clarity.

“His Grace Leoncraft sent his own marriage proposal, throwing in the gemstone rights and road priority as part of the deal… Making it seem perfectly reasonable, given that Lord Miller had massive debts to pay and Hollowland had just cut off a major revenue stream.”

Crunch.

Francesca took a thoughtful bite of her breakfast, nodding. “Exactly…”

Looking down at her plate, a cold realization settled heavily over her. It’s rather scary to think about. I am only able to act like this because I know the future, but Father… It's like he is forcing the future to flow exactly as he intends it to.

“Duke Leoncraft… is rather terrifying if you look at it like this,” Stella murmured, watching Francesca eat. “He engineered so many events and interactions in a way that they all worked perfectly in his favor. He knew Ironwood had loans taken by previous lords from Hollowland and possessed good relations with them… which is not ideal for the Second Prince's faction, who wants us to be dependent on them, not others.”

Stella walked toward the window, looking out at the falling snow, and continued. “He pushed for the absurd proposal so we would burn our bridges with Hollowland, all while cornering Lord Miller into a position where he had to take the marriage deal the Duke offered.”

“Don’t forget, he already had the trade embargo planned long before he married me off,” Francesca said, pointing her silver fork toward Stella while still chewing.

“So, he purposely made Hollowland antagonistic toward Ironwood not only to prevent us from getting aid from them, but also because he needed that enmity? He needed Lord Hollowland to side with him on the trade embargo agreement to completely isolate Ironwood?” Stella asked, her eyes widening as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“That is how the political game is played… if you move a piece, it has to strike multiple targets, or else you are not playing the game right,” Francesca replied, putting down her utensils after finishing her breakfast. “And Father is the most terrifying player in this grand game of politics, sitting right next to the Prime Minister and the Emperor.”

Stella bowed respectfully. “I will clean up the plates.” With that, she gathered the empty dishes and utensils off the heavy oak desk and started walking toward the door.

“But don’t worry. Neither Miller nor I intend to lose this game,” Francesca declared firmly just as Stella was about to reach the doorway. Stella paused, glancing back with a bright, confident smile. “Neither do we, nor His Highness, Third Prince Vadim. We will surely come out on top.”

With that, she left the room.

As silence returned to the office, Francesca continued to shuffle through the documents, reading more about the Hollowland Viscounty.

Viscount Hollowland is clearly still bitter about Miller abruptly canceling his marriage alliance and taking away his gemstone mining rights... but he hasn't made any overt moves against us since then, she thought.

“But with the trade embargo causing our import prices to skyrocket, now would be the prime time for him to try something if he was looking to start something with us,” she muttered, setting down her pen.

Recalling her past life, she jotted down a quick note on her paper: Barricade on the iron trade...

“That is the only news I remember hearing regarding the relationship between Ironwood and Hollowland back then.”

Francesca unrolled a large regional map across her desk and began tracing the economic specialties of each northern noble territory. Her finger eventually came to a stop over the Hollowland Viscounty.

“Just as my memory serves... Hollowland is renowned for its vast iron mines and masterful blacksmithing. Even the regional warden, Duke Goldance, relies heavily on their supply. Lord Hollowland holds a large portion of monopoly on the northern iron trade, huh...”

Once the Holy Civil War broke out in the past timeline, Miller dispatched the Ironwood Mercenaries despite the winter freeze just to secure financial support and survive the inflation caused by Father's trade embargo... Francesca thought, gazing out the arched window as the heavy snowfall finally began to slow.

“Miller would have also been forced to take out massive loans from Father, since unlike our current plan, the Third Prince wasn't here to support the territory financially. So... purchasing iron and war supplies shouldn't have been a problem for him,” Francesca mused aloud, her brow furrowing as a logical inconsistency arose. “Then why did the Hollowland Viscounty suddenly stop selling Miller iron?”

She tapped her finger against the desk. “Even if Lord Hollowland initially halted trade out of sheer pettiness, continuing to stop a highly lucrative, stable client during the height of a major war seems completely illogical for a businessman.”

Francesca simply shook her head, pushing the Hollowland ledgers aside to clear her mind.

“I only managed the household from the Capital back then, so I have no idea what truly happened on the front lines. But... with the timeline already drastically altered and the Third Prince arriving soon with his royal allowance, I don’t think Hollowland's pettiness will matter much this time around.”

Dismissing the lingering worry, she picked up the next file, the ongoing report detailing the Moringa greenhouse experiment and resumed her reading just as the winter snow outside slowly came to a complete halt.