CHAPTER XXXV.
Back in time, before the Fanoos-Frampton Battle.
The maid left them to go look for Lord Bartfort's wife…
That was not what she expected or wanted, she wanted to talk to the man directly!
Feeling her twin's eyes on her she turned to see what she wanted.
As soon as they made eye contact Noelle's eyes told her what she needed to know, the two cribs were still there…
That woman left the two of them alone with the babies?
No, it couldn't be.
Those cribs are probably empty and this was some kind of test?
Noelle understood her reasoning but still had her doubts.
Without any warning she just standed up and walked towards the cribs…
Her face immediately showed the activation of what had to be her motherly instincts.
She could see her lips moving, silently cooing at the babies.
This was bad!
Is this a trap?
It must be!
Those probably aren't Lord Bartfort children!
Unexpectedly Noelle grabbed her hand and pulled towards the cribs to have a look, she tried to resist but Noelle was heavier… Those damned breasts of hers gave hers the edge, she tried to tell her to stop but at the same time she didn't want to wake up the babies if they were sleeping!
Eventually she was staring at two of the cutests babies she had ever seen, one was a boy around a year old and the other was definitely a newborn, and a girl judging from her blanket.
Now that she was looking at the babies, she realized that she never met Leon personally and the one time she saw him it was from afar, a whole arena separated them!
So she has no way to determine if they are his children or not.
It was best not to disturb them, go back to their seats and pretend they neve had a look in the first place, yes that was the smart thing to do…
Then, why was she making baby noises!
She needed to stop!
The older baby woke up!
he was looking at them curiously as if recognizing them…
Which wasn't possible because they had never seen the baby before!
He extended his little arms up towards Noelle for some reason and she immediately picked him up and hugged him and talked to him.
Ok… what was that?!
And why didn't the baby ask for her to pick him up?!
It wasn't fair!
"Curious, Gilbert usually isn't that friendly with strangers"
Both Noelle and her turned around looking for the source of that voice, but couldn't find anybody!
That was scary, but it was probably just someone watching and spying on them through some kind of spell.
The baby in Noelle's smiled and happily called for the person who was speaking to them.
"Are, Are!"
It was probably a mispronunciation by the now named baby Gilbert.
They were still shocked and still trying to find the source of the voice though.
Suddenly a small floating sphere with a blue lens appeared out of thin air and the baby was now excited to see the round thing and trying to reach it.
"Now, now GIl, please be more careful, your sister is still sleeping" the sphere told the baby with something that could pass for fondness… If machines could feel, that is.
"Shi, Shi" the baby said with a smaller voice, and started looking for the smaller baby, the floating thing drifted towards the newborn and Gilbert threw his weight in that direction to indicate his wish to move.
Noelle moved without resistance and they were rewarded the cutest finger in lips gesture either of them had ever borne witness to.
"Yes, yes we must be silent so Odalis can rest, she has much growing up to do" Are said in a barely audible voice.
It was amazing how aware for his age this baby was, his parents or nannies must have done an outstanding job educating him about his newborn sister!
The door to the room suddenly opened revealing who must be Lord Leon Fou Bartfort and two beautiful young ladies that must be his wife and concubine!
Looking at the scared red-wine eyes of the baby's mother she turned back to look at the equally red-wine eyes of the baby…
This was bad, the parents have just entered a room and found two complete strangers alone with their babies!
Their first impression couldn't have been worse even if they tried!
While the father moved around them evaluating them the second woman spoke "Put Gil back in his crib, Now!"
She wanted to take the baby from her sister's arms and do as she said but Noelle acted as soon as she heard the order!
"Ma-vi shhh, Shi!" the baby in question reprimanded the woman with the same gesture from before!
She was torn between cooing at the baby and performing the dogeza to beg for forgiveness!
She didn't have time to do either because as soon as Noelle put the baby back into the crib the mother ran past her and claimed her child!
"Ma-gie shh, shi!" the baby reprimanded again while pointing at the other crib. He was just too cute!
"Yes, yes little man, we must be quiet for your sis" Lord Bartfort said hugging his wife and son protectively while moving them next to the crib of his daughter.
"Now, I believe you owe us an explanation" The Villainess of the game said with a soft voice but her eyes were cold as ice.
"I'm sorry!" Noelle said, lowering her head, "I was curious about the cribs and wanted to take a peek…" She then looked at the baby in the arms of his mother and the woman pressing herself against her husband's chest "Then he woke up and… he wanted me to take him up" it sounded silly, but it's what happened!
"It is as she says master" the floating… thing confirmed Noelle's story and Leila felt a wave of relief wash over her.
"I don't doubt Cleare, she has a way with these things" The Duke's daughter said with decidedly less hostility "Now, how can you prove you are indeed from the Lespinasse House?"
"We don't have any" Leila said subdued, due to the hasty nature of their improvised trip they didn't have any proof!
"That is a problem" Said Lord Bartfort, still holding his wife and kid in his arms, the other woman with them picked the newborn up and joined them leaning on the Viscount.
"Master, they aren't lying" again the familiar intervened, so far it was in her favor, it was a machine, of that Leila was sure, perhaps she had a lie detector integrated?
"There is a commotion in the Republic over the trip some of the Heirs to the Great Nobles have taken recently" A new mechanical voice was heard and a new floating round object appeared out of nowhere.
"You finally show yourself Luxion" Lord Bartfort said with a bored voice, as if he was expecting it all along!
And is this the thing that killed Emile and Serge?
He looks harmless!
"Are, Are!" the baby greeted enthusiastically, both things must be indistinguishable for the little one.
"Greetings young master. No, I'm not Cleare, My name is Luxion" the thing said with a serious voice.
"Lu?" The baby actually understood the machine!
That is some seriously smart baby!
""Listen Gil, you must work Luxion to the bone when you inherit him!" the baby nodded and tried to grab the familiar, but his mother wouldn't allow it.
"You are so cruel to me Master, I hope Gilbert becomes a better master than you" the machine replied.
"You two never change!" the villainess of the game told the pair with an amused smile on her lips.
"What is going to happen to us?" Leila asked, interrupting the scene, she still didn't know what would happen to her sister and herself.
Leila had planned to convince the family to give her time to retrieve the proof by pointing out that they were both engaged with the Heirs of the Great Noble families of the republic, It was no coincidence.
They wanted to absorb the remnants of House Lespinasse through them, hoping for the next priestess to be born in their House.
But with the unexpected help from these machines she may stand a better chance!
"We trust both Cleare and Luxion, and from what they say it would be better to keep you two close" Said the vIllainess looking at them with a critical eye, especially to her, no doubt thanks to her clothes.
"Jenna has been telling me Merce needs a hand in the Hot Springs, perhaps we can send some of our staff to her and replace them with our guest?" the second wife suggested looking at her man and the villainess.
"Alright, and if the Republic comes looking for their lost Heirs we can always blame their deaths on the Holforts!" Said villa… no she should stop thinking of her as the villaines, her name is Angelica Fou Bartfort!
She looked at Noelle one more time, she was on board with this!
They could start again in the kingdom.
They just needed her new benefactors to win the war.
0x0x0x0
Hertrude sat comfortably on the bridge of her monster-carried-airship.
She had her flute in her hands, it is one of her country's most powerful weapons and without a doubt, it played an instrumental role in their last victory against the kingdom, and even though summoning a single monster represented no problem for her, she has summoned around two thousand of them in the last battle alone, she was terribly tired.
She would have the time to rest, and the surviving monsters will stay with her until they die. The effort she put into summoning them was great, but it was not wasted. The next time they fight the Kingdom they will have overwhelming numbers at their side, and if they are not enough… There is always the guardian, the Principality's last resource, however summoning it would mean they are giving up on most of the kingdom's resources, and as valuable as floating stones are, they would be wasting a lot of other resources!
Not to mention summoning the Giant would cost her her life.
It would be worth it though, her fleet's personal final destination was Duke Redgrave's territory, the Holfort's kingdom capital was merely in the way.
Their route was planned with the probability that she needed to sacrifice her life so she could summon the Guardian to destroy the heart of Holfort's kingdom and the Redgraves with a single command…
Her life would be sacrificed to dispose of their two greatest enemies, in other words: Two birds with one stone.
She could appreciate the pragmatism of that decision, especially because it protected her sister's life, only one of them needs to be sacrificed this way.
All she wanted was to stop losing her family members, and she knows that she would likely be leaving Hertrauda on her own, but at least she will have the chance to live her life, meet someone, get married, have some babies and rule a much stronger country… She just wanted her to be happy!
Gawain entered the deck with a report to give.
"Your Highness, I have news from the scouts: the kingdom is rallying in their capital, and there are rumors about the Royal family, apparently they are in possession of an extremely powerful Lost Item and they are preparing to deploy it against us" the knight said and waited for her commands.
Hertrude knew everyone was anxious after losing Vandel, and even having the flute doesn't reassure their troops the way their Black Knight used to, Vandel was a known factor for their knights, the unending hordes of monsters she summoned before can still be beaten by the enemy, they have the numbers and the quality to do it, it would be a pyrrhic victory for them but the price the Principality would pay would be much higher and they would still be defeated.
Even if she has alliances and Non-Aggression pacts with their neighbors they would mean nothing if the air sharks smell blood in the air.
The Guardian of the Sky was their trump card, they would escort it all the way to Redgrave's territory to and destroy everything in between with minimal casualties.
"It doesn't matter, nothing can stop the Guardian of the sky" she finally said, that was everything her troops needed to know.
Gawain vowed reverently and left for his duties.
And so she was left to repeat their plan in their head once more, to reassure herself that no matter what, Hertrauda would be safe and strong after this war, that was all that mattered.
0x0x0
Julius was overseeing the supplies for his family's air ship, the lost item was being loaded with all sorts of things, from ammunition, to knight armors to food and water., all while a crew of technicians tried to figure out if everything was working as it should.
He was the King now, that was… weird!
He didn't feel any different now than he did yesterday when he was just the Prince.
His mother did not agree with the change of status quo, not because she didn't trust him, but because the timing could hardly be any worse.
His father would hear none of that and crowned him with Marie, the Saintess as witness and now he was Officially the King!
his first act as the King was to appoint his mother as his regent much to her and Marie's relief.
He simply was not ready to rule, and the circumstances made it all worse!
So now he was here watching his people get his family's Lost Item battle ready, his own knight armor is already inside, even if he will likely never use it, he went to the trouble of upgrading the finest piece of technology the kingdom has ever produced on Marie's insistence, it was almost cruel to have him sidelined like this.
It was frustrating, the others would be out there commanding their own platoon against the Principality, while he would be stuck in this ancient ship… With Marie, he smiled, not everything is bad news at least.
But any chance he would have to get out and fight with the rest evaporated when he became The King!
He would be their lover's last line of defense, and that was not something to scoff at.
However he would lose his chance to prove his might to her, he was sure his friends would make short work of the enemy knights and even if the rumor about them commanding a legion of monsters was true, that would not be enough to stop them.
Even his father has left to prepare his own Knight armor…
If that wild rumor was true then the have the perfect countermeasure against them, Marie has the power to vanish those creatures with ease, he has seen it in action while they were training to conquer the dungeon… even if it was never put to test with a Final Boss level monster, this ship would amplify lovely Marie's powers and make short work of them!
And once they are done with the Principality of Fanoss, they would take care of the Redgrave faction, as of today none of them are recognized as nobles anymore, and were branded as cowards and traitors, he would make sure to punish Vince and Gilbert personally, his mother has plans for Angelica so she would have to be captured.
Jilk had volunteered for the job himself, however Arthur Fia Arclight had pulled rank and he would be departing to destroy the Pirate Bane.
A total of thirty ships will be dispatched to nullify the Bartforts airships.
His own mother has confirmed the rumors about the Pirate's Bane health, he was, indeed, crippled!
Julius would have wanted to crush the man while he was in full health but this circumstances were just karma at work, after their betrayal even fate itself was against Redgrave House, starting with the woman who dared to harm the Saintess and even claim she had nothing to apologize for, fate had her about to truly lose everything, her Father, Brother and Husband will be executed and from what he understands she will be exiled to his mother's country to become the concubine of a relative there.
Her baby, the last Redgrave will be adopted here in the capital by one of the palace's serfs and spend his life serving the royal family, it was poetic really.
0x0x0
Chris Fia Arclight was busy putting in some last minute training in the palace grounds, trying harder than ever to increase his strength.
Julious now ruled the whole kingdom… or he will soon enough after they put down the rebels
Unlike Julius, Chris achieved everything he has thanks to the sword.
The countless hours of training he put into becoming the best swordsman he could be, had given him the respect of his peers, his family and after entering the academy, they had gained him the notice of the girl that became the love of his life.
Marie is such an incredible woman. She took time to listen to his problems when he thought no one cared, and with just that small gesture she had saved him!
She gave him the time to unwind he had been neglecting for a couple of years back then, turns out that rest is just as important as training and he foolishly was denying himself the chance to grow.
At some point he thought he would be denied the title of Sword Saint in favor of one of his younger siblings, his clumsy sister, to be precise.
That was in the past, now he is as strong as his father, he knows it and he knows it as well, but his father's pride was too much to admit it. Perhaps that is why he is planning to destroy the Bartforts himself?
To show the kingdom he is still the greatest swordsman in all of the Holfort kingdom?
It was kind of petty, but he could understand it to some degree, after all he wanted to have a rematch with the only knight other than his father to ever defeat him!
He was denied his chance during the Tourney a few months back when the man left with his liege to dispose of Count Offrey's House.
Even winning the whole thing felt empty to him because he couldn't face Robert Fou Harris, hell he couldn't even face Greg in the tournament, his… friend's knight armor gave out after a couple of matches and Greg had to forfeit without ever truly facing him.
He was still happy to have won however, just because that day he felt like all of Marie's smiles were directed at him.
And soon, he will have the chance to live that sensation again once he dominates the Principality's knights with his knight armor and sword!
Arthur Fia Arclight can go and steal all the glory he wanted, the only one he wanted recognition from was Marie, she is the one thing he needs in his life and he will make her proud of him!
0x0x0
Marie was fascinated with the ship's equipment, one piece in particular, it was designed to amplify Holy magic!
It was not just a small bit, it would effectively make her magic around three times stronger!
Inside this ship and surrounded by her lovers she has nothing to envy the former protagonist!
No!
It would be more accurate to say that she has finally surpassed Olivia!
She had her reverse harem and thanks to her the Prince just became the King!
She has taken her place as the true protagonist of this world and soon would become the Queen, with Mylene still acting as the regent for the foreseeable future she has nothing to fear either, the woman is capable to say the least!
And now she is ready to face the final boss of the game, Princess Hertrude Sera Fanoss is the last thing on her path to happiness.
She felt a small push from her staff, it was like a tendril of its magic was trying to invade her own core, with a minimal effort she pushed it back, if she didn't receive such potent buffs from the saintess regalia she wouldn't bother using them at all!
As her ship sailed into the sky to join in the formation of the biggest fleet the kingdom had to offer she smiled looking at the symbols of her lovers Houses etched into many of the ships.
The founding houses haven't collaborated like this in generations, even though they never considered each other's enemies the connection among the five Houses fluctuated wildly from one generation to the next, sometimes one or two of the Heirs didn't fit in well with the others.
Like Chris' father and King Roland, they never became friends because of some rivalry they had, apparently the King used to be really strong when he was young, from what she heard the monarch wanted the title of Sword Saint that was traditionally held by the Arclight family, and he wanted it in a fair way.
If rumors were to be believed he was close to getting it, however by that time his duties intensified and his marriage with the Queen occupied most of his time, that caused all his progress to come to a stop and in the end he lost the title to Arthur Fia Arclight.
"Marie, please be sure to watch closely as I defeat our enemies with my splendid magic! Once the Royal ship was in place she heard Brad say over the external speakers.
Brad was a bit of attention seeker, he has gotten better but he still wants her to acknowledge him, his insecurities over his close quarter capabilities were hard to deal with, however after no small amount of arguments she managed to show him that trying to better himself in that aspect was costing him greatly because he was neglecting his strengths.
Brad finally understood that he would be a better fighter if he simply did his best to keep his opponents at a distance where his weakness didn't matter.
"She will have more fun watching me picking them up close with my spear!" Greg shouted, through his external speakers as well, "Marie, I'll beat our enemies with just my skill and strength!"
Greg is indeed strong, and now that she finally got him to upgrade his knight armor he was a big threat to their enemies!
His armor was still the weakest among the five but he more than made it up for that weakness with his own prowess, he was the one who would be combating the longest, as he bragged to her how easy to repair his knight armor was because it was made of easily produced parts unlike the armors of the other boys in the group whose armors were made of unique parts that cannot be replaced so easily.
"I will be watching both of you" she said kindly, she will, they are her shield and the ones who will buy her time so she can cast the spells necessary to defeat the Principality.
"I will cut our path to victory with my sword, Marie, be sure to watch me! Chris said from his ship, he was the one who won the Tourney back in summer and as a result he became bolder and more confident, his training lately has paid off spectacularly! he managed to defeat his father in their last spar too!
"I'll make sure we succeed, Marie, your Highness!" Jilk joined in with his own assurances, he was the kind that preferred to work behind the scenes to make sure things go as they are supposed to go.
She felt uncertain about him and had some stern words for him a few months back when she discovered that he ordered some mercenaries to attack Angelica, she knew it was naive, but she wanted to leave that girl alone, however recent events had proven Jilk right… She only wanted to live in peace, why couldn't that girl's father just leave her be?
She was not wrong!
She has a right to search for happiness and she knows that Angelica is happy with her family!
Why does the Duke want to destroy the status quo!? Everyone is happy!
She was still debating with herself if keeping him around was a good idea, the two of them are not a good match…
But the rest of her lovers wanted him there…
"Thank you my friends. I'll make sure nothing happens to Marie out there, so please: Do your best!"" Julius shouted using the external speakers, it is time to secure everything she has gained!
The fleet started its path towards the Principality's forces and soon this nightmare would be over.
0x0x0
Nicks was tired, and it wasn't even time for breakfast yet!
Inwardly he cursed his brother for dragging him to train every day, now that he has grown used to exerting himself every day he felt restless and anxious for the rest of the day if he didn't put his everything in training in the morning!
Lately it was worse, war was here, soon it'll be their turn to fight, he was sure that the Duke will be soon summoning all his vassals into combat, with either the Kingdom or the Principality.
If he was honest, he dreaded the idea of war, but if he could choose who to fight, he would choose the principality ten times out of ten, fighting against the capital felt like he was fighting his own people!
He could hear his stomach groan with hunger, but he wasn't done here!
His tired arms had troubles holding his sword without shaking, he however managed to repeat his par and strike combo ten more times when he heard a voice calling for him.
"My lord Nicks, it's time for breakfast, please come" it was Dorothea, the beautiful woman daughter of a Count that fell for him just because he wanted to teach her manners, the one time he couldn't keep his mouth shut and this happens!
Frankly, he should lose control more often if these are the results. He has gotten to know her better this past few months and, with Cordelia's consent he has taken her as his concubine!
He had little choice in the matter, not that he would have rejected her in the first place, but his wife and Count Roseblade were rather adamant on him taking her in, to bond their Houses!
It was absurd that three years ago no girl in the academy would pay attention to him for being a no-name rural baronet and now he had two beautiful women pushed into him because his younger brother had put their name among those to watch for.
While Leon will go to become a Marquis or a Duke.
Lord Gilbert has assured him, he would become a Viscount if he survives, a count if he does well… in battle.
He shuddered at the amount of blood he'd have to spill if he wanted the two rank promotion!
And he would be the one to fight, much to his father's protests.
He was stronger than his father now, by a large margin, his father was approaching his fifty year old birthday and he was just twenty years old. But the difference in strength did not come from his youth alone, previously he used to be much more aggressive when he was sparring with his father.
But lately whenever his father has the energy left to spar he has been able to see past his old tricks and even the few he never showed him!
With some troubles he sheathed his sword, and nodded at the beautiful Dorothea. he isn't sure how to speak to her just yet and he felt like a scumbag every time he lays in bed with her, because she is devoted to him in a way he could never imagined, and that devotion grew every time he dominated her in bed.
They both walked back to their estate passing Zola's cabin on the way, that woman was at death's door, it was a matter of days before she passed away.
It was a strange feeling for him, she was his childhood bogeyman, but now she was just a dying woman who can do him or his family no harm.
Rutard was coming this way with a worried face. One good thing he could say about the man was that he absolutely adored his mother. He knows he has tried everything he could to help her, but she is too far gone, not even meeting her grandchildren has helped her.
He felt pity for his former brother, Zola had been particularly cruel when he called her own grandchildren peasants, going so far to say she was happy the third woman carrying Rutard's child died in childbirth alongside the baby.
Zola was a cruel and merciless woman, and lost her sanity sometime after she was house arrested, there was no other way to explain why she admitted her own children do not have Bartfort blood but that of some court noble she was so proud of having laid with.
He felt a bit guilty, Zola has been dead since the day Angelica dethroned her, and he played a role in that. He doesn't regret it though, before that day he felt like he had a sword hanging above his head and Zola could drop it at the chance of getting some Dia out of his dead body.
He greeted the man who used to be his brother with a simple gesture from his head and Rutard lowered his own head in response, it was the same every time they met after the incident where his mother had confessed her worst crime.
The woman had fought tooth and nail to stay at her cabin, a simple three room abode designed to be a comfortable cell, Zola was terrified of Angelica, even though Angelica hasn't come back in over two years Zola still believes the Duke's daughter is just waiting for her to put a foot back in the mansion to return and order her execution.
Fear is such an irrational thing though, he doesn't remember Angelica ever making such a threat.
From what he knows Zola refuses to eat the food she is given, and barely drinks any water, part of him wanted her dead just to be done with that chapter of his life.
When he was inside the estate he was greeted by his smiling wife, whose belly was already showing, his stern father, he was sure his own face was just as serious, his mother was showing a strained smile as if she was trying to lift everyone else's moods, the estate was much less lively with Colin and Finely in Leon's territory.
He sat and they talked about the territory and their people, and their men's training, mostly to know how many men they have available, they will not be leading sheep to be slaughtered!
Soon it'll be time for them to form their own army and support the Duke.
But even with everything that is happening he could still feel the warmth and love of his family.
He will fight and survive to come back to them, nothing else was acceptable.
0x0x0
Brad was sitting in the one of the palace's gardens at his side there are six tomes of magic he intends to study, with how much both Greg and Chris have improved he lost hope he would ever be a match for them up close and dedicated himself to his magic, he has grown in leaps and bounds, magically speaking because his stature has barely changed.
He is hoping to get a breakthrough soon.
His family was the first line of defense of the Kingdom, and as such he knew that they would be the first to feel this war, it was a shock when he heard his father fled their territory after his defeat, he was probably close to the capital by now, and the Queen wanted to speak to him as soon as possible.
Hardly surprising considering the kind of rumors about the Principality's army being reinforced by monsters!
To him, it was particularly difficult to believe, there are many summoning spells a single magic user could perform that could summon various monsters capable of inconveniencing a knight in armor, maybe even defeating him, but not in the scale the rumors affirm!
He himself could summon maybe up to a dozen, an impressive number, but ultimately a waste, with the same amount of effort he could defeat up to twenty enemy knights!
There aren't many who could match him in the magic arts, so while it is definitely possible, it is extremely impractical, while the summoners would be safe they can do so much more by fighting directly.
"Lord Brad, his Highness Prince Julius sent me to inform you it is time to sail" one of the palace servants informed him.
"Very well, carry this for me" he was ready, even the spells he was researching wouldn't make much of an impact on his fighting style right now, they are meant for future conflict that may come, he was ready!