Chapter 16:

A few days after their departure, the group was now nearing the location of one of the royal army camps, crossing the border had been far too easy, since the Vallière state had borders with Germania, and Kirche was member of the Zerbst family who owned the land at the other side.

Thanks to her the they were also able to get information about the whereabouts of the royal family, it seemed that the queen, Prince Albert, his wife and sons were in a camp father away from the battlefield, and the one they were approaching was were prince Alfred had been hiding… Al's younger brother, while he never visited the castle in the time she was there, Al told her that he was a prodigy among generals and that was why he was in charge of the army at such a young age (he wasn't even in his twenties yet.)

After looking for several hours they finally managed to find the place, it was hidden inside a forest, it seemed they were ready to retake the city as the camp was only a few hours away from the capital and the soldiers inside looked like they were getting ready to fight.

When they arrived, Kirche identified herself and that seemed to be enough to open the gates of the place, once inside the prince himself came to greet them, it was funny, he looked like a younger version of Al, so it was like seeing a high school junior commanding an army.

"Dear cousin, I'm so happy to see you are well, to be honest ever since I heard you were coming I became really worried, but it seems it wasn't necessary."

"Alfred Darling, of course I'm fine, you wouldn't think a few rebels could stop me from seeing you right?"

After that little exchange they gave each other a hug that seemed far too passionate to be just a hug between cousins… wait a minute… 'Darling'… didn't she used to call Saito like that, and that teacher for the academy too… oh well how many 'Darlings' Kirche had and what she did with them wasn't anybody business.

When the hug was over, they separated themselves and Kirche whispered something into the prince ear (… it seemed as if she said "I'll see you tonight" but who knows for sure…) he just gave her a quick nod with a grin on his face and turned his attention to the rest of the group who took the chance to introduce themselves.

"I´m Saito Hiraga, nice to meet you."

"I'm Louise de Hiraga, it is an honor to meet you your majesty."

They both gave a polite bow.

"You mean the hero who fought against the entire Albion army by himself, and the void mage who destroyed an entire airship fleet with just a spell… wow, it is an honor to count with your help in this war…"

Louise and Saito both sweat dropped, it was obvious that with all the things they´d done that they would gain a little fame, but being treated as celebrities was just too uncomfortable. After shaking their hands with far too much enthusiasm, the prince directed his attention to the last member of the party, Eléonore took the chance to introduce herself.

"I'm Eléonore de Germania… nice to meet you… brother in law"

"So... You are my brother's wife…"

The prince stayed silent for a while and it seemed that he was lost in thought for a second…

"I'm sorry your majesty… it seems it was because the Ostland took me home that this whole rebellion happened, I…"

The prince snapped back to reality as she said these words.

"… oh no… I apologize for my rudeness… I wasn't thinking bad things about you or anything… I was just surprised to see you here, I never had the chance to meet you and I was just thinking you look just like my brother's type and… "

The prince calmed himself and took a little breath.

"Anyway… it is a pleasure to meet you Eléonore san… and I'm the one who has to apologize, the Ostland would have leaved the country sooner or later… it was my own carelessness that lead to this whole mess… and thanks to that my brother is now on such a situation."

Eléonore remained silent… after that the whole group was lead to the war tent; it seems they had interrupted a meeting between the generals.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption… anyway, as I was saying, I understand that laying siege to the city would probably be the most efficient course of action, but I just don't think that is the right thing to do, the people of the city will hate us and might even side with the rebels… there is also my brother… he is in this situation because of my own incompetence… and we own him the lives of the rest of my family… so I just can't leave him to die."

The generals nodded… it seemed like a few of them weren't totally convinced but they all nodded none the less.

"The plan I propose is this, I have secured a route into the city, we can probably move between 30 and 40 soldiers inside the walls, while the execution takes places, chances are the old man will give one of his long boring speeches, during that time most of the guards will be placed towards the city walls, so we will take that chance and 'disable' several important members of the rebellion, meanwhile another group will have to infiltrate and open the city door, then when that happens and there is no one to give orders, the rest of the group will rescue my brother."

One of the generals spoke.

"But your highness… it is suicidal, I understand It would be possible to enter the city, and even dispose of several rebel leaders… but the door won't be taken with such a small force, you just said it would be the best guarded place."

The prince nodded and continued as if he had already thought of that.

"That is partial correct, while it is truth that most guards will be on the door, they'll be expecting an attack from the outside, so it will be possible to surprise them from the inside… we'll even place an army that will act as a decoy nearby, that way the guards will be distracted and they can attack when the door is open."

The general still looked unconvinced.

"We also count with the help of Saito san and his wife, they are the people I talked about before, they are the best among the tristanian army and they offered their help on this mission."

Suddenly the generals calmed themselves and actually seemed to be agreeing with the prince, it seemed Saito and Louise were pretty famous around here… no doubt because of Kirche advertising.

"So, besides them, I'll go too and we can pick the best of the army to participate, I know a few soldiers that will be perfect for this mission, I'll notify them right away and… "

"I'll go too."

Eléonore proclaimed as if it was already set in stone, the prince however disagreed.

"But Eléonore san it will be a dan…" (Glare) "It'll be a pleasure to have you with us on this mission."

"Also, I want to be on the team that rescues my husband."

"Well, while I can understand you position, I don't think is a good idea…" (Glare) "Ok you'll be on that team."

Eléonore gave herself a satisfied nod, she understood the risk the plan had, if one of the other teams failed Al was as good as dead… so in case that happened she would try to rescue him at all cost… by herself if she had to.

Alfred on his part could only think to himself… "Yep, she definitely is my brother's type… he always seemed to like mature, demanding and dominating bitc… Eh… ladies…"