CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Marie was devastated.
It wasn't supposed to be like this!
In the game Greg was one of the strongest characters of his generation and the best starter character there was not one ending where he died!
However there is no denying the armor recovered from the bottom of the lake is his and despite how bloated and with a tinge of purple the body is she can still tell it is him because of his red-hair.
She knew what war entailed but she never really considered one of her handsome boys could die.
Her worries were always about the consequences of losing too many children from high ranking families.
She foolishly ignored the possibility that one of her lovers could die in battle.
"He died with Honor" An army official approached them and said that!
She glared at the man.
Does he think she cares about that?
She just wanted the lively and energetic boy back!
The officer sighed and left.
Marie looks at the dead body of one of her lovers and couldn't resist the sight of it and averts her gaze from it, and that makes her eyes land into another broken armor and another dead knight.
Her eyes wander all over the place, and no matter where she looks, all she could see was broken armors and dead knights.
Did something like this happen in the game too?
Was it all conveniently removed from the endings?
Or maybe this was because this was not just a world that follows the plot of that stupid game!
0x0x0
Ann could feel the girl suffering.
She lost one of her lovers…
Beyond the fact that it isn't that stupid prince she isn't sure which one, and frankly speaking, she doesn't care.
Well, not really, she cares because it would help her erode the girls will and make it easier to dominate.
She has been transferring her magic little by little for months without her host noticing, the girl has only noticed a slight itch recently when she felt confident in her ability to control her and transferred larger quantities of ether.
Soon enough, she will have total control of this body, and she will finally put an end to the legacy of the murderers of her dear Lea!
0x0x0
Myelene couldn't stop staring at the Lost Item Aaron gave her to give her information about Angelica.
She could no longer rely on anything that damned spy had told her since last night.
But she couldn't bring herself to stop watching the rectangular crystal and the images it showed.
She was the Queen Regent officially now after holding that title for almost twenty years!
She has a kingdom to rule in her son's name but she just couldn't stop watching the damn thing!
It was projecting the duel between Bartfort and Arthur again and again!
From the awkward first clash to the moment when the Viscount subdued Arthur and the start of the duel again, and it was driving her crazy!
How?
How did such a knight pass unnoticed for so long?!
Mylene can discern the skill of a knight with a single glance and Vince managed to hide this man in plain sight for two whole years!
In the small crystal she could see how Bartfort slowly overwhelmed Arthur with precision, power and speed that can only come from a young knight while also showing a remarkable sense of skill and the frightening insight that could only come from a true prodigy.
She watched as Arthur swung his sword in the only possible way Bartfort allowed him… only to be disarmed and captured with a powerful and precise punch to the shoulder joint executed with blinding speed.
And then there was the Bartfort knight whose name she ignored but was wielding Vandel Him Zenden's sword.
Yesterday evening she received reports stating that Chris had slain the Black Knight, but after witnessing the cutting power of that sword…
She knows Chris and he would never claim such a thing without being sure… but then, Fanoss was not above deploying another knight with the Black Knight colors to cover up their legendary hero's death at the hands of an upstart!
She's already ordered to recover the armor from the bottom of the lake to verify the identity of the man that participated in the last battle with the Principality, but after last night it is merely a formality to confirm what she already knows…
The situation is dire.
Yesterday she thought nothing of Angie's confidence facade.
But today she couldn't help but question everything she has done since the day Julius abandoned Angelica to be with Marie.
She just wanted her son to be happy and she had never seen him so alive before, and it was because he had Marie.
Mylene cared for Angelica, but her priority was always her own children first.
Roland could have died after Erica's birth and nothing would have changed for her.
Julius and Erica are the only family she has, but they were born into royalty, they had their duties to fulfill…
However after experiencing a loveless marriage she couldn't bring herself to condemn her son to the life she lives, or worse… Roland's life.
Had she been more strict this conflict wouldn't be happening!
As Mylene watched Bartfort capture Arthur again she thought that if she had disciplined Julius that prodigy would probably be just another knight at Vince's service.
But she couldn't go back in time and make herself act in the kingdom's best interest instead of her son's.
And with the decisions she took she now faces imminent defeat!
The Holy Kingdom of Rachell was probing their borders and the Marquis Frasser has been asking for reinforcements for weeks…
Yesterday morning she thought of sending Erica and her fiance to the border to show the Frassers she was still supporting them, however thighs are different now…
What is the point of securing the borders when she can hardly defend the capital from this new menace?
And this enemy is not something the Saintess can just erase.
Vince has been building his forces ever since the engagement was broken and he played the game perfectly, he even managed to pit his enemies against each other…
To think Vince was good enough to succeed where Malcolm failed.
She doesn't know how long she was being fed the wrong information and the only thing she is certain about her remaining enemy is that she can't trust anything she knows about them!
There is little hope for her family.
In the oncoming battle her armies will face the full might of the fresh Redgrave fleet, Her soldiers would not have enough heal.
Even with the Saintess backing them up morale will be low.
To make matters worse it won't take long before everyone realizes that the Black Knight legendary blade is been used against them!
Mylene will do her best to win but she will also prepare for defeat.
Angelica promised her some clemency, but what would be the point?
She is the face of the kingdom and Vince will most likely have her executed, Her homeland will not lift a finger to aid her when her cousin: Miriam will become the next Queen.
Roland and Julius will be put on the block as well, it was hard for Mylene to think of her son's death, The best she can do is to have him flee and pray he is not captured.
Roland… he will go down fighting, she has no doubt her husband will challenge Bartfort and that will be his demise.
Erica was the only one in her family with a chance of surviving the fall of their dynasty.
She felt sorry for Elijah, but she will do anything to secure her daughter's future!
She will send her fiance back to his family and beg Angelica to save her little girl!
Someone knocked the door, it's time to go back to put her mask back on and do her best to save her family and kingdom, she needs to do her best!
"You may come in" she said to the officer outside.
"My Queen" the man looked miserable; she felt tempted to sent him away without hearing yet another batch of bad news, but she clinged to the smallest chance that the man who Chris slayed was Vandel. "We've confirmed the man inside the Black Knight's armor was not Vandel Him Zenden!"
In a fit of rage she picked the Lost Item used to deceive her and threw it at the man, she was lucky her aim was poor and it impacted the wall behind him instead.
That was the end of that damned device.
"Go!" she yelled pointing at the door.
0x0x0
Rutard was playing with his sons for the last time before he had to go.
He blew RIchard's belly, making him laugh and hit his head with his small hands, then he grabbed Sean's little foot and with a smile tickled it, he felt true joy hearing his babies laugh.
He will miss them and do her best to come back to them and to Diane and Sonya, but he doesn't know if his fate will be so kind as to allow him to…
But he has to go and fight for House Bartfort so they can become something more than Manual labor for his former brother. They deserve better!
That is why he volunteered to fight on behalf of the family his mother wronged.
He barely remembered how to pilot a knight armor, it has been five years since he begged Montgomery to teach him how to, He was so sure he would be a prodigy and fantasized about defeating the Black Knight before he was hit by reality and had to learn from zero.
But he learned and is still somewhat capable, a lot more than the men of the territory that had to start from scratch about a month ago, but also much less than Lord Barcus and he
preyed to the Saintess to stir him away from enemies on Nicks' level!
His mother passed away yesterday and Lord Barcus had honored her with a small funeral that no one bothered to attend, it was only him and his family there.
He was still mourning her but his relationship with her became strained when she refused to acknowledge his son's as her grandchildren…
He shook his head to clear his mind, this were possibly his last moments with his sons and he wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.
Even if he doesn't come back to them he managed to extract a promise from Lord Barcus, he will look out for them and raise them as Lord Nick's children followers.
That way if they win they will have their future secured.
And he will contribute to that future by fighting his hardest.
0x0x0x0
Merce was exhausted but she couldn't sleep.
Her head rested on her husband's chest after a wild session of lovemaking.
Leon's territory has come unscratched from an attack once again, that wasn't uncommon.
What made this time special was the fact that the attackers bore the colors of the kingdom!
The Sword saint was taken prisoner.
They are at war now…
Spencer was still out there riling up the inhabitants of the Island to support Leon and the Duke.
Jenna's wedding will be held today at noon and after that the men will board the ships and go to war.
The most surprising thing was that she was starting to think they could win this war too!
Spencer has a way with words.
Leon will surely be promoted, and that would mean that lil Gil will be even more important in the future and her son will be his playmate and assistant in the future.
If they win their lives would be set on the path of success…
If they win.
0x0x0x0
Greg is dead…
Greg is dead and the man that killed him wasn't even the real Black Knight…
Greg is dead, the man that killed him wasn't even the real Black Knight and Chris' father was captured by a healthy Viscount Bartfort…
Greg is dead, the man that killed him wasn't even the real Black Knight, Chris' father was captured by a healthy Viscount Bartfort and he has Vandel's Sword…
No matter how Julius thought about it, it still doesn't make any sense.
How things become this bad so fast!
He couldn't even seek Marie for Comfort, she passed out crying for Greg and needed to rest.
At this rate he will become the sole survivor!