[Leif's POV—Continuation—Leif's Chamber]
I stared at Sir Roland like someone who'd just been offered a dragon for tea and had to decide whether to drink it.
"Sir Roland," I said slowly, feeling the weight of every syllable.
"Yes, my lord?"
"You—want to go to war, right?"
He flinched and glanced away, posture tightening as if someone had whispered the word impossible behind him. "W-well, my lord… I merely proposed a solution. The rest is up to you."
I blinked. "You proposed annexing a village and called it a solution."
He swallowed. "Yes, my lord. A pragmatic solution. For the villagers' safety and for Frojnholm's strategic security."
"..."
. . .
I let out a long, theatrical sigh. The moral math of rulership, apparently, involved annexation and questionable euphemisms.
"If we don't help Raventon," I said, letting the gravity settle in, "they drown. If we do help—without subtlety—the Velgard court will declare we trespassed. Either way, people suffer."
