Chapter 109

After hitting the heart of the territory with a quick raid, she put a sword to the neck of the mage in charge of the portal to accept the opposite signal to open it. This was the way Emperor Kaiden had used to disintegrate Elisha’s followers in the previous life.

Only a few had been able to cross the portal, and the results had changed significantly depending on their identity.

It was then that Elisha knew how vital a cause was. She had cleverly experienced how quickly people compromise and adapt to what they believe is universally correct.

She had to be more brutal and decisive to win and get the upper hand. However, it hadn’t been so reliable when justification had been put in her hands.

Elisha thought the whole time as she departed from Tara Viscounty. Later on, in the fight with the emperor, she needed to give Ascensio a cause to build an empire!

***

(Those bastards. We embraced them because they were still members of the West, and this is how they betrayed us.)

The report from the spies planted in Tara Viscounty turned the duchy upside down.

“Don’t worry, Marquis.”

It was Guillaume’s job to protect the history of the West. He couldn’t stand in the lead with his sword, but he had the confidence to overcome difficulties with his brilliant mind.

(Yes, you’re the only one I trust. If the county is breached, the duchy will be in danger, and the whole West will be shaken. We need to catch the 2nd Consort as soon as possible and stop those bastards who had switched sides from infiltrating the West with more knights and soldiers. We have to put them back in their place. The larger the West, the better the negotiations with the emperor. I do not intend to take those bastards back, but I’ll do as much as possible for the West.)

“Yes, Marquis. All the troops supporting Viscount Tara have turned this way, and we’ve got our hands on the surrounding territories. It won’t be long before everything goes back to normal.”

(As it should be. I think so, and so does the duke.)

Marquis Rwanda’s eyes flickered. Count Guillaume finished the communication and went out. Nickel, the commander of the knights, was waiting for him.

“Are you ready?”

“I’ve done as you ordered.”

“I want the walls to be as high and solid as possible for the 2nd Consort.”

“Of course, and the part you asked me to find out.”

Perhaps he had been waiting. Count Guillaume’s eyes grew even more fierce.

“Did you confirm where the young master is?”

The whereabouts of Jonathan, who had left the duchy on an external schedule, were unknown. At first, when the situation was still quiet, they didn’t know anything and thought it was because the duke had blocked all external information.

However, the things that happened one after another were not something that could be hidden.

The 2nd Young Master Jonathan, who loved his wife and son so much, always contacted his wife and son when he found a place where he could communicate wherever he went.

If he had not heard from the two of them, he would have thought it was strange and would have taken action, but there was no trace of that. And neither the duke nor Barossa talked about him.

In the duchy, he was the most reliable person to refute Vera’s charge. It was the opposite of Barossa… his name could attract attention and bring the atmosphere towards Barossa if they had him, but since there wasn’t any news like that, it meant something was wrong.

“Not yet. But, it seems that the duchy is also secretly releasing people to track the whereabouts of the second young master. I almost ran into the duke’s Silent Knights a few times.”

“The duke’s-?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should back down. It seems that the duke is also suspicious of the eldest young master.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have mobilized the Silent Knights in this situation. Count Guillaume went past him when the knight commander bowed his head as if dismissing him. Guillaume, who spent most of his time in the duchy, actually found his castle unfamiliar.

But he’d never forgotten that the county was his native place. Only by protecting this place could he and the duke, his master and heaven, survive. Guillaume, who had made up his mind once again, repeated.

“If we succeed in just two things, we will win.”

He looked in the direction the emperor was coming.

***

Elisha and the imperial knights, who had left Tara Viscounty, continued to run.

They stopped once to replenish what they needed, but how much would they have loaded on their horse for personal needs? Since there had been no preparation, eating and sleeping had become a mess.

Their situation had become so hard that they forgot about their pursuers, who shouted they would contribute to the duke, and their resentment against the 2nd Consort, who had caused this situation, reached its peak.

They gritted their teeth, wanting to see how long that 2nd Consort, a mage in a woman’s body who was used to the life in Barossa, could hold out.

It was a mistake because most of the knights of the imperial army were knights of the Eastern nobles or Imperial nobles.

If they were those who had accompanied her on the trip to the West in search of the water veins, they would’ve thought that the 2nd Consort would last better than anyone else because she was unique and special in this way.

And Elisha really did.

They said that Elisha would not be comfortable because she was a woman. But Elisha’s woman physique had never been a problem on the battlefield.

What would their opponent think if everyone started to care about her identity as a woman? But in any case, Elisha was the emperor’s woman, and she had the basic treatment she deserved.

They only realized that Elisha was special when she pulled the hem of her cloak and tried to close her eyes, leaning against a wooden pillar.

“I don’t know how she could cover herself with that bloodied thing and sleep.”

“Right? Shouldn’t you at least change?”

“Perhaps she didn’t bring clothes to change into. She has less luggage than we do. It’s like she travels only with a sword in addition to the clothes she’s wearing.”

It was a quiet conversation, but everyone around could hear it because the surrounding was quiet all around without even a bonfire for fear of exposing their location.

It was not much, but there were a few sarcastic remarks.

A fly that snorts around your ear is not dangerous, but surely it is annoying, is it not? That’s what Elisha was feeling right now.

After thinking for a moment, Elisha rustled and stood up.

Then she fiddled with the hem of her cloak and removed the decorations holding her cloak. As it flapped, the cloak fell to the floor, revealing a slender body clad in a jacket and trousers.

It was dark under the night, but it was not a problem for those trained in mana as their vision was heightened to an extent in the darkness with the help of the faint moonlight. The knights were staring at her, wondering what she was doing. Elisha nonchalantly touched the button on her jacket and opened her mouth.

“If I change my blood-stained clothes here, of course you should close your eyes. But it will be a problem if the enemy or the monsters come in at a time like this, right?”

When Elisha truly unbuttoned one button, some people turned their heads or put their faces on the ground with a loud noise.

“I can’t remember what punishment will be given if one dares to touch the emperor’s woman privately or look at her exposed flesh. Prince Raymond, do you know?”

“I-I…”

“There are times when this kind of situation can’t be helped, but I don’t know if His Majesty will think the same.”

Elisha only meant that the emperor might not care for their excuses. Still, those who heard it felt she was seriously threatening them, considering the affection His Majesty has been giving to the 2nd Consort as of late.

Above all, they were appalled that the rumors they had heard were not false, as the cold woman had said these things herself.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden, Your Ladyship? You haven’t said much until now.”

“Do you mean that I should have let it slide because I’ve let it slide once, Count Dyke?”

“…”

“People are strange. You should be grateful if you were lucky once. Why blame others, saying you’re unlucky when you’re punished after repeating the same mistake twice or three times? Why is this, Prince Raymond?”

As the question was directed to him, Raymond opened his eyes wide. It felt like an attack aimed at him. Count Dyke stopped Raymond from protesting.

As his father had attached Count Dyke to him, he could not be rude to Count Dyke. Raymond already felt guilty because he had a secret he wanted to hide in front of his father.

It was then that Raymond realized that the 2nd Consort had also known that the Shadow Knights of Duke Cherkah were among the forces that had attacked her in the West, so he thought that maybe she was taking revenge on him.

The 2nd Consort, who had no power, would not have been able to figure it out alone. Was she informed by His Majesty the Emperor? he wondered, but there was no way of knowing.

While Prince Raymond was silent for a moment, Elisha looked around, lifted her fallen cloak, and returned to the tree where she had been leaning.

“Everyone, don’t be distracted by useless things and stay alert. This is the middle of the battlefield with the rebels. There is no guarantee that two victories will save your life in the third war.”

Elisha warned. As she closed her eyes, the imperial knights’ shoulders shook as they exhaled long breaths silently.

Count Dyke said when Prince Raymond glared at her.

“She’s training us. Calm down and listen to her.”

Raymond got goosebumps because that woman was similar to the emperor, who used everything without missing a small opportunity.

“Don’t respond to everything the consort said. The 2nd Consort has to do the work of the 2nd Consort, and we have to do our work. Don’t you want to contribute?”

Raymond had applied to this expedition despite the opposition of Duke Cherkah. Nevertheless, he still gave Count Dyke to him because he was his son, but that did not mean Raymond could return empty-handed.

“I’m sure I’ll make a contribution in Guillaume County.”

Seeing Raymond burning with determination, County Dyke tried to straighten his frowning brows. The cold sky blue eyes that had said that doing nothing would help immediately came to mind.

***

The rebels never attacked until the party reached the Korobo Forest, which surrounded the entrance to Guillaume County. Count Guillaume must be a worthy opponent because there was not a single territory around the route.

People who pride themselves on being smart tend to wait quietly rather than create a situation that deviates from the planned plan by touching the enemy.

Of course, he would not neglect his vigilance by relying on the information. Although, information was important for the emperor and the rebel side in such a situation. Nobody would have covered up or faked the information.

Above all… the vivid stories that Rohan had personally confirmed while traveling by land during the previous trip to the West, things she had heard from the members of the 1st Order, like Perry, from the other western knights who had never dreamed of the rebellion, along with her memories from her previous life, would be very useful.

“Perhaps our enemies will be waiting for us in Korobo Forest.”

At Elisha’s words, the knights murmured.

“You mean the defenders, that smart Count Guillaume, give up the advantage of the walls?”

“Then, do you think Tara fell so quickly because it didn’t have walls?”

“T-That-”

“If Count Guillaume is as smart as the prince said, wouldn’t he try something different from the average person?”

Elisha shifted her gaze to the other knights as if she had nothing more to say with Prince Raymond.

“There are three things that must never happen when we get in there. First, I, the general, must not die. Second, the figure of the East, Prince Raymond, must not be taken hostage. And the last one, the third one…”

Elisha’s voice rang clearly even to the knights far away.