Chapter 47: An Important Turning Point (3)

Emily returned to her mansion and immediately threw herself onto the bed.

The plush mattress bounced, and she buried her face in the pillow.

“Ugh, Father, really.”

She had clearly gone to help Rachel, but she didn’t understand how the topic had changed so drastically.

“But I let it go this time.”

The single word, ‘okay’, that she had blurted out in exasperation.

The people she had spoken casually to could be counted on one hand.

Only her family and the subordinates who obeyed her commands more than their own lives.

There were no friends among them.

Some might think, why care so much about simply dropping formalities.

Objectively speaking, dropping formalities is a really easy thing to do.

But it wasn’t for Emily.

Emily had started her political life from a young age.

Her counterparts were mostly people many times older than her.

Naturally, speaking formally became a habit, and that habit had continued for 20 years.

She even spoke formally when talking to herself.

Speaking casually to her family and subordinates was only before that habit had formed.

In other words, Rachel was the first person she had spoken casually to after the habit had formed.

“It feels strange.”

The feeling of being forced to cross a line she had never crossed in her life by someone else…was good.

That’s not to say that she would have felt good if someone else had done it. She would rather feel bad about it.

The person who pushed her back was her father, and the target was Rachel, so she felt good.

“Phew.”

Emily made a strange sound and shook her legs.

Then a strange thought suddenly came to her.

“Surely, she didn’t miss it, did she?”

Even she thought the sound was too low.

She had mumbled it while getting up, so Rachel might not have heard it.

“Th, that can’t be. What do I do?”

She had finally managed to drop formalities thanks to the opportunity her father had created.

She hoped that Rachel would speak to her first next time.

Then she could drop formalities a little more easily.

But if she hadn’t heard, given Rachel’s personality, she would definitely speak formally next time.

“Sh, she heard it, right? O, or not? Should I go back and say it again now?”

Emily pounded on the bed and sighed.

She had so much work to do, what was she doing?

“Phew. If she didn’t hear it, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just have to be brave one more time.”

How envious she had been of Rachel and Yona talking comfortably to each other.

Emily sat down at her desk and started to work to get a grip on herself.

The expeditionary force to break through the Southern Great Forest was quickly assembled.

Even in this time of leisure, countless people were dying.

The citizens, who didn’t know anything and were busy fleeing.

The soldiers who risked their lives to stop the monsters for them.

Delkarmen led the knights and arrived at the teleport station.

A blue haze rose and the view changed in an instant.

Their destination was the front lines, where they were currently fighting fiercely with the monsters.

He opened his eyes. The atmosphere was completely different from the peaceful Muelia estate.

The foul smell of blood and screams filled with tears pierced his ears.

“Your Excellency. Orders.”

“From this point, push straight through to the Great Forest. Finish it before the 2nd Prince arrives.”

“Yes, sir.”

As he gave the order, the entire knight order scattered in all directions and began to hunt the monsters.

Since each of them was a top-tier aura user, the prey that had fled from the predators could not resist at all.

“It would be best to restore the walls first.”

He raised his aura and lifted the collapsed buildings.

The injured moved aside, and the castle began to be built.

The soldiers were astonished that he performed such a miracle without being a mage.

A moment later.

The teleport station activated and the 2nd Prince, Rodmile Chris, emerged, leading his subordinates.

“”We greet His Highness the Prince! Salute!””

The surrounding soldiers all bowed their heads.

He casually waved his hand and entered the barracks where Delkarmen was staying.

“You’re here, Your Highness.”

“You’ve only been here a short time, and yet this much. A Master is truly a Master.”

Delkarmen sat down opposite Chris.

He watched Chris’s expression and spoke.

“It seems we need to change the plan, Your Excellency.”

“Suddenly? We’re about to depart. It will surely cause confusion among the soldiers.”

“Hear me out first. Originally, our knights would have been the main force, quickly breaking through to the center. But we still don’t know the source. So, I intend to preserve our strength as much as possible.”

Chris glared, displeased.

It was understandable.

The plan had suddenly changed on the day of the operation.

But the reason was valid, and the person was none other than Delkarmen.

He couldn’t be pressured by the status of a prince, and he was the man with the most power in the Empire next to the Emperor.

Especially, the combination of the title of Iron-Blooded Duke and the status of an Aura Master gave him high command over the troops.

“I suppose there’s no choice. But next time, please notify me in advance.”

“I appreciate your consideration.”

Thus, with the two of them at the forefront, the advance into the Great Forest began.

Swish! Clang!

“Kill the monsters in the name of His Highness the Prince!”

“Hup! Let’s go!!!”

Delkarmen’s knights and the prince’s forces joined together and broke through the monsters.

The overall situation was overwhelmingly in favor of the Empire.

But it was slower than expected.

Because Delkarmen and Chris were wary of each other, they weren’t using their full strength.

Nevertheless, the expeditionary force, consisting only of top-tier aura users, easily dealt with the monsters and advanced south.

The path they passed was soaked with the blood of monsters.

Sometimes there were casualties on the allied side, but the expeditionary force had cardinal-level priests.

They were brought by the prince’s side.

Because they were at the cardinal level, they would never die as long as they were breathing.

The expeditionary force had already broken through the middle part of the Great Forest without any casualties.

Even with cardinals, fatigue couldn’t be restored.

As they went deeper, the level of the monsters also rose, and their numbers increased.

It was natural for the advance speed to slow down.

“What shall we do, Your Excellency?”

“How much further to the deepest part?”

“At this rate, about a week.”

Delkarmen pondered.

If he participated in the battle with his full strength, a week could be reduced to two days.

Originally, he would have done so.

It would be faster and safer.

But Rachel’s words kept coming to mind.

So he had been watching from the very beginning, but he hadn’t sensed anything suspicious.

‘What should I do?’

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to trust Rachel.

And this choice proved Rachel right a week later.

Kuoohhh!!!

A monster clad in red lava roared at Delkarmen.

‘A fortune teller said something like that. When the red sun rises in the south, a star will fall from the sky.’

“Haha. It was true.”

Until now, the prince’s movements didn’t matter.

The prophecy had already been proven by the appearance of Flame Nova.

Delkarmen secretly summoned his subordinates.

“Give your orders.”

“From now on, I will go alone to fight Flame Nova. You will quietly follow the prince. The prince will surely follow me with a ridiculous excuse.”

“Yes, sir.”

After that, he began a fierce battle with Flame Nova.

Flame Nova was strong.

No matter how much he cut it with aura, it regenerated with lava, and the heat emitted by the lava was overwhelming even for a master like Delkarmen.

But Delkarmen persistently targeted Flame Nova.

As a result, Flame Nova suffered a fatal wound and retreated into the ground.

The earthquake that occurred earlier was caused when this guy came out of the ground, and since this was a volcanic area, it was impossible to kill Flame Nova.

“Phew. I guess I’ve gotten old.”

He stuck his sword into the ground and regulated his breathing.

At that moment.

Chakang!

A sharp sword light flashed and stabbed Delkarmen’s back.

A perfect strike aimed at the end of the battle.

But Delkarmen blocked it without difficulty.

Because it was an attack he already knew.

“Kugh. To block this. You’re a f*cking monster.”

“Your Highness the Prince. Why did you do this?”

Chris pushed his hair back.

And he spoke.

“You are a danger to the royal family. Do you know how much the prestige of the royal family has fallen as the Muelia Duchy has grown?”

“Rather than just that reason… isn’t it simply because I don’t support Your Highness?”

Chris grinned.

“If you know, then you must die. Kill him!”

The assassins wearing masks behind him moved.

They were lower in level than Delkarmen and Chris, but they judged that they could deal with the injured Delkarmen.

But Delkarmen laughed instead.

“Sweep.”

With a gentle breeze, the high-ranking officers of the knight order, who had appeared from around, simultaneously engaged the assassins.

Thus began the battle for the fate of the two men.

The next day, in the elders’ conference room.

The elders, who heard the news of the failed assassination of Delkarmen, muttered quietly.

“That b*tch Rachel is the culprit. From Yona’s case, she keeps getting in the way. Kill her.”

They only knew one thing, not the other.

They didn’t know who was lurking behind her.