Amanda took a calming breath and organized her thoughts, then turned to Martin beside her.
“Find out if Luke’s procession is heading towards the border. If what my father says is true, they may be moving as conspicuously as possible to cover up the fact that Luke is not there.”
It wouldn’t be difficult to confirm if Luke had been publicly seen. With the war underway, the people of Edel were naturally interested in Luke’s actions, and the nearby towns would be filled with talk about him. Martin replied with a determined nod.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll confirm the news, then we’ll cross the border immediately—”
“No. If what my father says is true, we will not return to the Keith Empire.”
“What? But—”
Martin blinked in surprise, but Amanda’s face was set.
“If the Duchy of Edel, the Kelt Kingdom, and the Jenar Kingdom are brought into an alliance, they will be too powerful for Keith to stop alone.”
It was a dangerous risk that they could not afford. The Keith Empire could manage Edel and the Kelt Kingdom, even if they were formidable enemies, but the involvement of the Jenar Kingdom could easily tip the scales the other way.
‘Even if Oliver controls the battlefield now…he may lose in the end.’
And they wouldn’t just lose—they would suffer total defeat. Not only would the Keith Empire territory be picked away by their enemies like vultures, their people would become slaves.
This was not ideal for Luke either. He would also have to pay tremendous rewards for both the Kelt and Jenar kingdom for their services. However, this seemed to be the strategy he settled on, as if it was the only way to bring the current Emperor to his knees.
Amanda turned back to look at Francis’s face, which was so pale that he looked close to death.
‘Even though I was lucky enough to save Father now…what then?’
She didn’t know who would get hurt next time. Lying here in her arms could just as easily be Aaron, or Oliver. During a long war, there was no guarantee that they would be safe. The only way to make sure her family remained alive was to end this conflict quickly.
And Amanda realized that the fastest way was…
Killing Luke herself.
Martin spoke up again, looking unconvinced.
“What will you do if you don’t return to the Keith Empire?”
“We’ll have to stop him.”
“What?”
Martin’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer, but Amanda continued calmly.
“There must be a reason why Luke is secretly traveling to Jenar. Perhaps he’s trying to ally with them to defeat the Keith Empire. By the time we report this to the Emperor…it will be too late.”
“But how can we…”
“Have you ever heard of a Trojan horse?”
It was a mythical story about a people who snuck into enemy territory, doing so by tricking their enemies to open the gates.
Amanda thought that her position was not much different from the story. Luke believed that she crossed the border, but in truth, Amanda was still in Edel. She intended to escape to the Keith Empire, but now she was in prime position in Edel territory without anyone knowing. The game board had changed drastically.
“Think about it. According to my father, Luke is headed towards Jenar without anyone else knowing. That means he would have only taken a small number of troops so he could move discreetly.”
“I suppose so.”
Moreover, Luke may not even consider the fact that his plans had leaked. Amanda’s red eyes glistened sharply.
“Now that I’ve learned that Luke is traveling with limited protection, I cannot let him go.”
“Then Your Majesty…”
Martin’s eyes widened in realization. Amanda gave a firm nod.
“If this is all true, now is the perfect time to assassinate Luke.”
She had only about forty people with her, but Luke’s forces would not be that much different in size.
Amanda couldn’t let this chance slip away from her.
If she didn’t stop him now, Luke would continue to raze a path towards throne, and anyone in his way would be in danger. It was no different for the child growing in Amanda’s belly. One day, maybe even this child’s life would be threatened by Luke. Amanda may find temporary safety in fleeing to the border, but greater danger would always lurk and hunt them down.
Amanda had to protect the people that were important to her…and this time, she wanted to end the source of her great misfortune here and now.
‘I won’t lose anyone in this life.’
If Amanda was wrong, she may end up risking the child in her belly, but avoiding the situation wouldn’t make her safe either. She couldn’t let Luke bring the Jenar Kingdom into this war, which in turn would threaten Amanda and her child. For the sake of the future, she could not turn away.
“As soon as we confirm that Luke’s false procession is heading towards the border, we will pursue the road to the Jenar Kingdom. Some will stay with me, and the rest will bring my father to the Keith Empire as quickly as possible.”
Martin couldn’t help but marvel at Amanda’s initiative. Not everyone had such keen judgment and daring determination. Amanda was an empress and a wife, which meant that she had to be protected. But nothing more. She wouldn’t hide in the safety of her troops, but instead would lead them confidently into the battlefield. Failure meant that they would all die, but no one spoke a word against Amanda.
Martin, his strength newly resolved, set his face in determination.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Amanda lifted her head high as she addressed the knights gathered around her.
“I know you must all be exhausted. I am as well. But as you all have heard, it is no exaggeration to say that victory in this war rests in our hands now. To protect the citizens and the people important to us, let us be the one to end this.”
Kuung!
The forty or so elite knights simultaneously knelt together on the ground.
“Yes, Your Majesty! Eternal glory to the Keith Empire!”
Though their numbers were not many, their fighting spirit was that of a group a hundredfold their size.
They carried out Amanda’s orders, and went to nearby towns to determine whether Luke’s procession was headed towards the border. They discovered that although a great parade of soldiers had crossed through the streets, Luke did not show his face.
There was no more reason for Amanda to hesitate. Amanda and her troops flew like the wind in pursuit of Luke.
***
Just as Amanda instructed, only two knights were left behind to transport the injured Francis back to Keith Empire.
What the knights didn’t expect were several medicine men, who had come from nearby to collect herbs, coming across the field of dead bodies.
“O-oh, what on earth happened here?”
The Keith knight was slightly uncomfortable at the men’s appearance, but he soon responded calmly.
“There was a battle here.”
“Ah! There had been a lot of talk about finding the Keith Empress lately, so I suppose that’s why.”
The knight nodded.
“Yes. If you don’t want to get caught up in anything, then keep moving.”
The knight spoke as curtly as possible, and hurriedly transferred Francis into a carriage they had taken from a nearby town. The men watched them with a questioning look.
“But why are you trying to take that dead body? It isn’t even a Edel soldier.”
“…!”
A medicine man was far too observant for his own good, and the knights glanced at each other in search for what to say.
The battlefield was littered with dead bodies from both Francis’s and Luke’s armies. Because the Edel soldiers were all dressed in the same uniform, the medicine man could see at first glance that Francis was the enemy. A thousand thoughts crossed the minds of the knights.
‘Do we have to kill them?’
It was only the two of them that were there to move Francis. If their whereabouts leaked, they alone could not fight off a significant number of enemy soldiers, and Francis’s life could be endangered. They also had to move cautiously as to not expose Amanda’s mission to assassinate Luke.
As the knights hesitated to give an answer, the medicine became increasingly suspicious. Suddenly, an idea came to the mind of one of the nervous knights.
“Ah, this one. We have orders to recover his body so that it may be hung on the wall.”
“Aha, I see.”
The medicine men nodded as if they were convinced. However, one of them spoke again with a curious look.
“So, is the body of the Keith Empress in the carriage?”
While the knights were not pleased at the glee of their empress’ supposed death, they gave a nod to avoid any suspicion.
“Yes.”
“Ah, then I want to see it just once—”
The knights’ faces suddenly turned furious, and the medicine men took a step back and hastily changed their words.
“N-nevermind. I was just speaking randomly.”
“Y-yeah, we’ll see them at the wall later.”
As the frightened men stammered their apologies, the knights silently climbed onto the driver’s seat.
“Hyaa!”
The reins snapped, and the carriage set off at a brisk pace. The medicine men muttered in shame as they watched the carriage leave from behind.
“Tch, I wish I saw her. I heard that the Keith Empress was beautiful.”
“Why do you want to see the face of a dead body? Stop it.”
The medicine men went back on their way.
***
Some time after, Aaron arrived at the battlefield. Not a living soul was there, but evidence of a fierce battle remained. He had been informed by a soldier that Amanda had planned to rescue Francis. By the time Aaron arrived, however, Francis and Amanda were gone, and hundreds of bodies soaked the landscape with blood.
‘What happened?’
It was unclear to him whether this was caused by Francis or Amanda. Aaron hurriedly turned towards his troops.
“Find out what happened here.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Aaron’s men began a search of the area, and soon enough they came across several medicine men picking herbs not far away. The knights were shocked when the men informed them what had happened. They took the men with them and dragged them before Aaron.
“No, why are you doing this to us?”
A man yelled indignantly, but the knights firmly ignored his protest.
“Tell him what you said earlier.”
“I didn’t say—”
“Quickly!”
At the knight’s sharp bark, the medicine men cried out in fear, and one of them told exactly what he heard from the soldiers they saw before.
“We heard there was a battle here. And we saw two knights bringing the bodies of the enemy leader and the Keith empress to the wall.”
“…What?”
The blood drained from Aaron’s face. The Keith Empress…that meant Amanda. And the enemy leader obviously meant Keith. Aaron’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
“No…impossible. Did you see the bodies with your own eyes?”
“Oh, I’m sure. I saw them carrying a bloody body into a carriage.”
“It can’t be—”
All words fled from Aaron. Amanda had come to save their father, and both of them had died. Aaron trembled as if he had been struck by lightning.
This war was going in a direction that no one expected.