Chapter 50 Alliance!?
The Viller Empire is one of the most powerful countries on this continent. It's huge, and its western border touches Warlinekza of the Soth Empire, so there's constant friction between them.
The Viller Empire has had its eye on Warlinekza for a long time, but because the Soth Empire stationed its Second Knight Order there to guard it, they can't just invade directly. Right now, things are still balanced.
Anne's eyes moved down the map to the Warlinekza area, where a large mountain range was marked. Barely inhabited and extremely dangerous, the Soth Empire rarely stationed troops there. If Zotfort avoided the normal route and instead went through the Viller Empire, crossed the mountains, and snuck into Virlet territory, that would be the best choice.
But if Zotfort could come through the Viller Empire, the most likely explanation was that they'd already formed an alliance and would attack Warlinekza together. That would also explain why Zotfort hadn't been defeated, yet the southern campaign had ended.
Zotfort was pulling back its main forces to relocate and attack the Soth Empire from another direction, since they couldn't take their current target anyway.
Once Zotfort's army joined in and broke the balance, the Soth Empire would definitely lose territory and their stationed knight order would suffer heavy damage.
Of course, this was just Anne's guess - after all, she had no actual proof. Even if she rashly contacted the current commander of the knight order, he probably wouldn't believe her. But if she didn't prepare in advance, once Zotfort's entire army reached Warlinekza and joined forces with the Viller Empire, the two armies together might bite off an even bigger piece of the Soth Empire.
But still...
Anne frowned. If her guess was right, even with her grandfather's knight order fighting together, the eastern battlefield would be in serious trouble.
The Viller Empire's army was already very strong, and Zotfort had advantages in size and physical strength. Combined, they'd be way more effective than fighting separately. Plus, Zotfort's army coming with hatred would definitely be more brutal than before.
She had to find a way to make the military, or even His Majesty the King, prepare for this.
Just as Anne was hesitating, more hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, along with Kyle's shout, "My lady!"
"Come in, Uncle Kyle."
Anne knew Kyle's personality well - he wasn't someone who lost his cool easily.
Unless something really important had happened.
Kyle pushed open the door and rushed in. "Eastern battlefield - a letter from someone close to Duke Daniel!"
Grandfather!
Anne quickly took it and opened it. Her mind immediately went blank with a buzzing sound.
Probably because news from the battlefield didn't get through easily, this letter had been sent to the Virlet family for Anne's mother to receive. The letter basically said that Duke Daniel was seriously injured and unconscious, and the knight order members had discovered what seemed to be Zotfort people around Warlinekza during patrol.
Normally, only Viller Empire people should be in that direction, and they looked too different from Zotfort people to mistake. But the Second Knight Order stationed there had a poor relationship with them, so they could only send this news back to the Virlet family, hoping they could help contact the southern campaign army to confirm if Zotfort's forces were doing anything unusual.
The letter had the knight order's seal at the end - Anne couldn't be wrong about it.
In other words, her guess was right.
The Viller Empire and Zotfort had already formed an alliance. Their target was Warlinekza, but not entirely - after all, compared to that small border town, the Soth Empire was a much more tempting prize.
Thinking of this, Anne couldn't sit still anymore.
"My lady, are you getting ready to go to the battlefield?" Kyle asked loudly.
Anne pressed her lips together. "Yes, this day has finally come."
"But I need to go to the royal capital first to see His Majesty. I must inform him about this and ask him to send troops and military supplies for support... I need to leave right now. Military matters are urgent and can't be delayed. Uncle Kyle, please prepare a carriage for me!"
Kyle got the order and immediately turned to leave. Elisa stood up and looked at Anne with concern. "My lady..."
But then her expression became serious. "Don't worry and go. Kyle and I are here at the manor - there won't be any problems."
Hearing this, Anne finally showed a slight smile on her face.
"Thank you, Elisa."
She and Elisa had grown up together. To Anne, Elisa wasn't just her personal maid, but also a very important friend and family member. Over these years when Anne lost her family and was betrayed by her husband, it was Elisa who stayed with her through it all.
Elisa smiled gently. "This is what I should do."
After putting away the letter from the knight order, Anne immediately went out and got into the carriage heading to the royal capital.
The royal capital.
Rolf had been in a terrible mood these past few days.
The incident at Holden and Candy's wedding a few days ago had spread like wildfire. When the news reached the royal capital and got to his ears, this merciful king's face immediately turned as black as ink.
You have to understand - the reason so many nobles attended Holden's wedding was because he had subtly sent word down, letting those nobles know that no matter how this marriage came about, it was personally approved by His Majesty the King.
To avoid going against the king's wishes, they had no choice but to attend. Even a marquis who had come to visit the palace earlier said he was willing to make the trip for His Majesty's sake.
And what happened!
The shabby wedding arrangements were a small matter, but before the ceremony was even completely over, the bride and groom couldn't wait to sneak away from all the wedding guests to have sex. The key thing was they didn't even hide in their room to do this kind of thing secretly - they actually fooled around openly in the back garden and ended up being caught by the marquis's daughter.
This was basically slapping him in the face!
Although those nobles didn't dare say anything to his face, who knows how nasty their gossip was behind his back.
He irritably threw down his cane and paced back and forth in the palace. The guard knight outside suddenly came in. "Your Majesty, Duke Virlet requests an audience."
Rolf paused before realizing he meant Anne. "Anne's here? Let her in."
Conor beside him saw his expression relax a bit and said with a smile, "I heard Miss Anne has been busy ever since returning to her territory. This time she must finally have some free time to see you and Queen Mother Smith."
But Rolf thought of Holden and Candy. Although those two had just caused a huge scandal, they were legally married now. If Anne was coming at this time, was it because of them again?
He had agreed to her divorce because he saw she was determined to leave and claimed she would support the Virlet family. If she was going to make a fuss over this small matter again, then she wasn't suitable to inherit the duke title either.