Chapter 128 Joy and Sorrow
The three girls present exchanged glances, none of them looking particularly pleased. Especially Cynthia - though she had a sharp tongue, she had never actually thought about humiliating another woman in such a way.
In the end, it was Anne who spoke up coldly, "Regardless, we didn't do this. And if Candy hadn't done anything wrong, Zotfort's people wouldn't have come specifically to capture her."
Duncan also chimed in, "But I am curious - what kind of deep grudge does Candy have with Zotfort that they'd come to the battlefield specifically to capture her? And why did they suddenly withdraw when the battle was going so well?"
Anne still didn't know how to explain all this to her companions. Besides, Friedel had said before that until the matter was properly handled, they should try to keep it from people who weren't involved.
She could only shake her head, "When everything is over, maybe when we return to the capital to receive our rewards, everyone will understand."
Seeing Anne didn't want to elaborate, the four stopped asking. After knowing her for years, they knew she wasn't one to hide the truth—if she wasn't talking, there was a reason. They'd just wait and see.
As for Candy - well, she got what she deserved. They couldn't care less!
Several days passed without Anne seeing Friedel. With no other choice, she could only continue waiting.
Metodi and several veteran generals were in charge of cleaning up the battlefield, especially burying the bodies of fallen soldiers. Some families would come to take their fallen children home, and they needed to carefully verify each one before burying them with their corresponding names, to ensure these brave warriors could return to their homeland.
Anne had wanted to help, but Metodi refused to let her get involved. The veterans s stood on the battlefield with tears in their eyes - those fallen knights were ones they had trained themselves. After all these years of bonds, they didn't want to hand this task to anyone else. Besides, they still had many things they wanted to say to their brothers.
These men had come here to fight with their blood, and now they would sleep here forever. No one could ever return their smiles to them.
Anne had no choice but to quietly leave.
Where there was still grief, there were also places that had found peace.
During this time, Anne also made a trip to Savannah to see Todd.
Todd had returned to his usual carefree manner, sitting at the entrance of his tavern chatting with old Donna beside him. "Hey, I heard things are looking good up at Warlinekza. With more people coming and going, my tavern business might boom again!"
Old Donna was organizing his hay and glanced at Todd. "Get out of here. With your sloppy appearance, you want people to come into your tavern? Why don't you clean yourself up? Always hugging that bottle - is it your wife or something?"
"Haha, wine is a good thing!"
Anne laughed and walked closer. "Can I have a cup of this good thing?"
Hearing Anne's voice, both men froze, then turned around in surprise. "How did you get here?"
Old Donna reacted faster. "Is it over?"
Todd's eyes widened as he looked at Anne in disbelief, hoping to get a definite answer from her. Sure enough, Anne nodded and smiled, "The battle at Warlinekza is over. We've signed a short-term peace treaty with the Viller Empire. The news was sent to the capital several days ago."
Once the capital received the news, it would be announced to every corner of the Soth Empire, even the remote border towns would know this good news.
Old Donna's eyes grew moist. He couldn't help clapping his hands in approval. "Good, good, good! This is wonderful..."
Todd seemed to wake from a dream. He stood up awkwardly and looked at Anne. "Have you been to see Duke Skoda?"
Anne nodded. "I have."
She had first gone to that small hill. Compared to her last visit, there seemed to be a few more plants. The direction the stone monument faced was now entirely Soth Empire territory.
The Viller Empire's military camp was no longer pressing against the border showing off.
Todd nodded. He wanted to say something but didn't know what else to say. Seeing old Donna already going door to door sharing the good news, his eyes became blurry - tears were coming out involuntarily. Todd couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe them, then noticed Anne was still watching him and turned his face away awkwardly.
"Alright, stop staring at an old man." Todd's voice was rough as he pretended nothing was wrong. "If you have things to do, go do them, Captain..., the wine's on the counter, take it if you want."
Anne smiled helplessly. "Okay, then I'll take some."
Todd waved his hand, indicating Anne could take whatever she wanted, but his face that wouldn't turn around and his trembling back let Anne know this stubborn, proud uncle was probably crying uncontrollably.
Anne rode her horse back to the camp with Todd's wine. She stayed in the tent with Cynthia and the others, drinking wine and eating flatbread. Outside the tent, the sky was full of stars; inside, there was laughter and joy.
Cynthia leaned against Anne, muttering, "I really don't need these military merits, and I don't need those rewards either. Anne, you can take my share of the rewards and give them to the other people in the knight order, let them get more."
Samira nodded then shook her head. "The rewards can be given, but the military rank isn't necessary. When I get back, I'm going straight to the Titan family and smashing up their place to get revenge for Anne!"
Duncan and Morris quickly chimed in, "Count me in!"
"Me too! Don't forget to call me!"
Anne didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, alright, all of you - your wounds haven't even fully healed yet, and you're already thinking about fighting?"
Though everyone was joking around, in truth, except for Cynthia who had stayed in the rear that day on the battlefield, everyone else had injuries to varying degrees. Even Anne had a large gash on her shoulder, bleeding profusely, which scared Samira and the others badly.
Fortunately, the wound only looked terrible and hadn't damaged the bone. The medic bandaged Anne up and warned her not to get it wet for now before letting her return to her tent.
Now these people were making a fuss about causing trouble for the Titan family, which Anne found both funny and exasperating.
After two more days, Holden went to find Friedel but was told he still wasn't in the tent.
But more than a week had already passed with no news of Candy, and word had already spread throughout the camp that they would soon return to the capital to report and receive rewards from His Majesty.
The Ivy Knights and Lion Knights were all in high spirits, but the people of Dawn Knight Order had no energy at all.
They had already been slow due to Holden's command on the way here, missing several battles. Holden had even lost his command authority because of it. Then Candy had caused such an embarrassment - they'd completely lost face for the entire order.