Chapter 92 Events from a Year Ago
Holden suddenly looked up, staring at Candy's profile. Those eyes that used to look at him with love and admiration were now filled with twisted hatred and jealousy, making her once-decent face look rather twisted and fierce.
After a moment of silence, he grabbed Candy's hand. "Candy, the question Friedel asked you today - I want to know too."
"What you meant by 'by any means necessary,' what you meant by 'innocent lives' - I want to know all of it. Can you tell me?"
Holden felt Candy's body shake at his words - the reaction was too obvious to ignore, and he smiled bitterly. "When I came back from the Virlet estate last time, I asked you about it. You told me the secret involved breaking battlefield rules, and you couldn't tell me so our military achievements wouldn't be affected."
"But I want to tell you - we can earn more military achievements. I won't blame you for it. I just want to know what you actually did that made both Anne and Friedel question you like this."
"Tell me, Candy."
Candy had wanted to break free from Holden's grip, but he held on tight. After struggling without success, she could only lower her head and said somewhat disheartened, "You're doubting me because of other people?"
"It's not doubt, and it's not because of other people. I'm doing this for you," Holden said urgently. "If I knew, I could discuss it with you and figure something out. I want to protect you!"
Candy paused, then slowly looked up at Holden, her eyes brimming with tears. She didn't want to talk about this - partly because what she did wasn't honorable, and partly because she felt uneasy. It was just killing some prisoners on the battlefield, a small matter, yet both Anne and Friedel kept pressing her about it. What were they suspecting?
Could they really suspect she was connected to the Virlet family massacre?
To this day, Candy only felt the Virlet family got what they deserved. Even Anne, being part of the Virlet family, didn't die with the rest of them - she got off too easy!
However, Holden seemed very serious about asking her, so Candy could only carefully choose her words before slowly speaking. "Back then on the southern battlefield, I captured some people from Zotfort. They claimed to be from the Clapton family of Zotfort and told me that if I mistreated them, Frol wouldn't let me off."
Holden was startled. "Frol - the Frol who was Zotfort's commander on the southern battlefield?"
Candy nodded. "I thought at the time, if I just let them go, they might run into other members of the Knights, and if they were captured again, Frol might directly attack us, causing more casualties. So I thought it over and locked them in a carriage, then took my squad near the Zotfort camp to ask Frol to come talk to me. It would also let me verify whether what those Zotfort people said was true."
"After I mentioned the Clapton family name, Frol came quickly and readily agreed to withdraw his troops. His only condition was that I send the people in the carriage back. He was willing to retreat, so I agreed."
"But later, with so many people on the battlefield, I could only bring a thousand men. I had to work with you to surround and pursue the enemy, and notify all the other units. Even fewer people could be spared to protect that carriage, so..."
Candy deliberately didn't finish her sentence. She knew this was enough - Holden might not be the smartest, but he could still understand what she was implying.
Actually, Candy felt a bit guilty because her story was full of holes. The southern battlefield was so dangerous - how could there be people other than soldiers wandering around?
She had sent scouts to investigate and learned that Frol went to a nearby town every two days, bringing quite a bit of stuff each time. Just to avoid being easily discovered, he never brought many people, and that town was at the border between the two countries without many soldiers stationed there.
Candy initially thought Frol was keeping a woman, but discovered he was secretly caring for a ten-year-old boy - the orphaned son of Duke Clapton, who had raised Frol and been killed by Duke Skoda years earlier.
Candy immediately got an idea. She sent people to contact the Zotfort camp, specifically asking to speak with Frol. To prevent accidents, she brought the child along. Sure enough, she saw anxiety and panic in Frol's eyes, as well as undisguised killing intent when he looked at her.
Candy believed that if she hadn't brought the child, she would have died under Frol's blade. So she held her sword against the child's slender neck, threatening Frol to retreat and not resist while they pursued and killed his troops. This general, known for being cunning and devious, couldn't use his schemes for the first time and had to grit his teeth and lead Zotfort's army back.
Later, she was in such a rush to pursue and claim military achievements - how could she spare the attention to tell people to take care of those in the carriage? Besides, Frol only asked them to send the people in the carriage back. Whether alive or dead, weren't they both being sent back?
She just couldn't tell Holden this now. After all, according to battlefield rules, she wasn't even supposed to use prisoners' lives to threaten the enemy. But having made the first mistake, then committing a bigger one, Candy could only find other excuses to cover it up.
She only hoped Holden wouldn't suddenly get smart and notice the holes in her story. Otherwise, having to explain again would be too troublesome.
But after going through this whole explanation, even Candy herself started to wonder - could the Virlet family massacre really be connected to her threatening Frol?
But why would they go after the Virlet family? She couldn't quite understand that.
Moreover, during the year on the southern battlefield afterward, Frol never made any moves against her. If it was revenge, shouldn't he have come after her directly?
Candy couldn't figure it out and decided not to think about it anymore. As for Holden, listening to Candy's description, he couldn't help but frown.
Although he found nothing wrong with Candy's words, he recalled Anne asking about Candy's connection to the Virlet family massacre. It seemed Frol, unable to find a suitable target for revenge, had turned his anger on the Virlet family instead.
Was that really possible?
And could Candy, who had threatened Frol back then, really stay out of it?