TLDR: Looking for help on a fairly pacifist Whisper Bard/Redemption Paladin Build

So on my commute home today I came up with what I think is a crazy concept. I was thinking of ways to make a Whisper Bard multiclass with a Paladin that DID'T use the Conquest Pally (because I like a challenge). In the end, I came up with a thought for a worshiper of Eldath, goddess of peace, pairing up the College of Whisper Bard with a Redemption Paladin. The final concept that I came up with was a a character that believes that physical violence is an absolute last resort, and will do anything (lie, cheat, plead, etc) to prevent mass violence between nations. Basically, if it doesn't involve physically harming someone, it's fair game.

Now, here's how I would envision the character using the Standard Array (even though we roll for stats, it can be helpful to plan for a character that might not get the numbers that you end up with) and Half-Elf race:

Str: 13
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 8
Cha: 16

13 in Str for multiclass purposes, even though I will likely end up as a Dex-based Paladin. And the mental stats besides Cha I'll have to roleplay as maybe this character has good intentions, but might not make the best decisions (which is likely why they're fine with lying and cheating to avoid a bit of minor violence in the first place). For Background, while Spy or Charlatan might help with the social skills that I'd likely need, I was thinking maybe going Acolyte to reflect the devotion to the character's goddess (and some of the ideals/bonds/flaws work well for this I think), plus the languages will help, since you can't broker peace if you don't speak their language.

That said, if violence does break out, this character is still able to end it fairly well, between Divine Smites and Psychic Blades, I can end a fight quickly and hopefully overwhelmingly. But spell selection will mainly focus on control and hindrance spells - and Counterspell if they get up to level 10 in Bard.

However, my main challenge after getting this far was how to do the level split. I think that the end result would be for a Pal 6/Bard 14, but I really don't know how to do the level split as I level up, since we generally only make it up to about level 12-14 anyways. So how do you think I should go about making this character in practice? Both classes have level 6 features that I think would help pull the character off, but that means level 12 before it really comes together.

So how would you, oh expert forum-goers, build such a character? How would you start and how would you split the leveling?