Aurora had not been in good spirits lately.
This Saint-level sorceress found herself in an increasingly precarious situation. After the Winter Solstice celebrations, she returned to the Garland Council to reorganize her forces, only to discover that the situation within the council had shifted once again.
Theoretically, there were four Saint-level sorceresses in the Garland Council: Chairwoman Margarita, Elder Calerona, Elder Veronica, and herself. However, upon her return, Aurora found that Elder Calerona had begun to oppose her as well. With a three-to-one disadvantage, Aurora was now in a decidedly weak position.
Of course, given Aurora's Saint-level abilities, she could find a place anywhere. Any human faction would be eager to welcome this powerful sorceress, offering her funding and military authority. But Aurora wanted more than that. She sought the kind of independence and high status she had in the Garland Council. She had no interest in becoming anyone's subordinate.
Valmir, the Elector of Wolfenburg, was well aware of Aurora's predicament. The old lecher took advantage of the situation to lavish her with attention, offering her a place in Wolfenburg, complete with a wizard's tower and the title of a lady-in-waiting, allowing her to maintain some degree of independence.
Ostland was close to Kislev, and Aurora was somewhat familiar with Valmir. If she hadn't already agreed to Ryan's request to establish the Bureau of Military Intelligence, she might have considered the offer. As for becoming a lady-in-waiting, Aurora wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. For Garland sorceresses, sometimes even their bodies were a form of bargaining chip. If Valmir could fulfill all his promises, becoming his chief lady-in-waiting wouldn't be out of the question.
"The flowers of Garland don't shed tears."
—Margarita, Chairwoman of the Garland Council
However, since she had already committed to Ryan's request, Valmir's offer could be ignored. Her son-in-law was far superior to Valmir in terms of personal ability, influence, financial resources, and their close relationship. With Ryan about to become a king, Aurora naturally dismissed Valmir's suggestion, although basic courtesy dictated that she continued the conversation on a polite, if detached, level.
"Mother, here you are." Teresa and Veronica approached, with the sorceress holding a glass of wine. "Good evening, Lord Valmir, it's a pleasure to see you."
"Good evening, Lady Teresa, Lady Veronica." Valmir's eyes lit up upon seeing Ryan's two female attendants. He immediately felt a surge of energy in a certain part of his body.
That guy Ryan—his wife is beautiful, and even his attendants are stunning!
Of course, Valmir was smart enough to keep these thoughts to himself. The old lecher wasn't stupid; he knew which women could be approached and which could not. He smiled politely and raised his glass to Teresa and Veronica. "What a delightful banquet. You both look lovely this evening. Let's raise a toast to Ryan—he's a friend of the Empire and a close friend of mine."
"Thank you, Lord Valmir. And here's to your good health," Veronica responded with a meaningful smile. She then turned to Aurora, who had clearly been drinking heavily. "Lady Aurora, I've been looking for you."
Valmir took the hint immediately. With a few laughs, he raised his glass and began scanning the room for his next target. "Oh, you ladies carry on. I'll see what's happening over there."
"Veronica, are you here to mock me?" Aurora's expression darkened at the sight of Veronica. She slumped back into the sofa, clearly disinterested.
"How are the preparations for Ryan's task coming along?" Veronica asked with a sweet smile, pulling Teresa to sit beside Aurora. "You can't afford to be distracted."
"It's not that easy. We're creating something from nothing," Aurora replied casually. "Just focus on following Ryan on his expedition to Eight Peaks Mountain. You don't need to know anything else."
"Have you made up your mind? Are you moving from the council to here?" Veronica wasn't ready to let the conversation drop.
"Does it concern you?" Aurora responded impatiently. "Just mind your own business, Veronica, and stop bothering me."
"What if I'm the one bothering you?" Aurora had barely finished her sentence when Morgiana, the Lake Witch, appeared before the sorceresses. The Lady of the Lake's chosen champion did not look pleased. "Aurora Trovik, I'm warning you. Since you've agreed to help Ryan establish an intelligence department, you had better not get cozy with the Imperial Electors across the mountains. Otherwise, I have the authority to take you down right here and now!"
"Lady Morgiana, my mother is just engaging in normal social interaction!" Teresa immediately stepped forward, the sorceress earnestly explaining, "Lord Valmir and my mother are old acquaintances. They were just exchanging pleasantries."
Morgiana was dressed in a champagne-colored, slit silk gown, with a golden crown of the Lady on her head and a golden belt around her waist. The warmth she showed when with Ryan was nowhere to be seen; instead, she was cold and distant. The Lake Witch gave Teresa and Aurora a look that suggested she was no fool and had clearly overheard Valmir's earlier offer. Her emerald eyes, filled with the Lady's fury, narrowed as she whispered threateningly to Aurora, "Don't give me an excuse, sorceress. You don't belong here."
"Hmph!" Aurora responded with a disdainful snort. "Neither do you."
Veronica watched the exchange with a grin, enjoying the drama while munching on melon slices, while Teresa could only cover her face in frustration. She didn't fully understand why Morgiana harbored such deep animosity toward her mother.
"Where's Ryan?" Veronica asked casually.
"He's in the garden, talking with Lord Teclis and Emperor Karl Franz," Morgiana replied, her tone softening somewhat when addressing Veronica. "Do you want to go over?"
"Why not?" Veronica was indeed a bit bored. The Garland sorceress felt out of place among both the Bretonnian and Imperial nobility. She didn't fit in with the noblewomen's gatherings around Sulia either, and it was clear Teresa would stay with Aurora. Veronica whispered something into Morgiana's ear, causing the Lake Witch's eyes to light up as she nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, in the garden, Ryan was deep in discussion with the Emperor and the High Elf Archmage about the next phase of their plans.
"The good news is that, according to the divination and prophecy from the Tower of Hoeth, the Eternal Chosen One has not yet found the final Chaos artifact, the Crown of Dominion," Teclis said in a worried tone to Ryan and Karl. "The bad news is that he could find it at any time."
"So your divination is basically useless," Ryan quipped. "But at least we don't have to worry about a Chaos invasion from the north just yet. I plan to lead the army on the Eight Peaks Mountain expedition a month after my coronation. We'll spend Winter Solstice at Seagate, then officially begin the campaign."
"Do you need the Empire's help?" Karl Franz asked, clearly interested in the wealth of Eight Peaks Mountain. However, the Empire was not like Bretonnia. While Ryan had spent over a decade clearing out most of the internal and external threats to Bretonnia, the Empire was still far from secure. Karl Franz was only asking out of curiosity, wondering if he could get a share of the spoils.
"Too many troops would only burden the expedition with supply issues," Ryan shook his head. "If I need anything, I'll let you know, Karl."
"Alright." The Emperor turned to Teclis. "Lord Teclis, it's been several years since we last met. Any news from the Phoenix Court? What is the War Council planning? Is there anything we can do to assist our elven friends?"
Teclis, usually emotionless, showed a rare hint of frustration in his deadpan eyes. "I don't understand what you're asking, Your Imperial Majesty."
"Just call me Karl. This is a private gathering, no need for formalities," the Emperor replied warmly. "I was asking if there's any news from Phoenix King Finubar's court that might be of interest or relevance to us."
"If you're asking for anything of significance to humanity, I can tell you there's none," Teclis said calmly. "But if you want to hear about the countless political intrigues, factional infighting, covert deals, and mutual probing within the Phoenix Court, I could spend a month detailing it all for you, without repeating a single event."
"Pfft~" Ryan chuckled at that, while Karl Franz could only offer a wry smile, quickly shaking his head. "No need for that. No news is good news, then."
After a brief silence, Ryan spoke up, "Good, since there's no more intelligence to exchange, what should we do now? It's only eight o'clock."
"It's eight, time to rest," Karl Franz quipped with a rather cold joke, finding it amusing as he pulled a funny face at Ryan and Teclis.
"..." Both Ryan and Teclis gave him sideways looks. Ryan thought that it might not be a coincidence that Karl and Marius got along so well—they both had a knack for awkward jokes.
The Emperor realized his joke had fallen flat, so he quickly downed his champagne. "Well, Boris and the others are in the conference hall playing war games. I brought my pieces too. Maybe we could join them?"
"Is there anything else?" Neither Ryan nor Teclis seemed interested. Ryan because he was terrible at the game, and Teclis because he found human war games to be simplistic. High Elven
war games came with a manual over 300 pages thick, with eight editions of the rules, and it took at least five years for an elf to master it.
"Uh... Or we could find a place, have a few more drinks, and play some cards? Nuln University recently developed a new card game, and Emmanuelle brought some decks with her," the Emperor suggested. "We could keep chatting, invite the others, play cards while we talk. I have lots of interesting stories from Altdorf to share."
"That sounds better," Ryan nodded. "At least it's more fun than war games."
"Great, since we're all agreed, let's go." Karl Franz nodded, and the three of them prepared to leave the garden.
"Wait!" At that moment, Veronica, dressed to the nines and holding a wine glass, approached. The Garland Witch, her feet in white peep-toe heels, sauntered over, greeting Teclis and Karl Franz with a nod. "May I have a word with Ryan?"
"Oh, of course, sounds serious!" Karl Franz gave a knowing smile. "Lord Teclis, let's go ahead. See you later, Ryan."
"See you later," Ryan replied, letting Veronica lead him to a secluded spot in the garden. Once there, he smiled and asked, "What's up, dear? Something on your mind?"
"Nothing, just wanted to talk to you privately," Veronica lifted her chin, her face flushed from the alcohol, making her even more radiant. "And I don't want anyone else knowing what we're about to do."
"Uh-huh, what exactly are we about to do?" Ryan had an inkling of what she meant.
"Morgiana is waiting for us in a bedroom on the second floor of the palace. She's already set up a magic circle. We can go up there and do something... special," Veronica took two steps forward, resting her forehead against Ryan's chin. "So, what do you say, darling? Care to join us?"
"Wow, you're being very forward, aren't you?" Ryan leaned down and captured her fiery red lips in a deep kiss.
Veronica stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the moment.
When they finally parted, the Garland Witch was slightly out of breath. She teased, "Darling, I'm no longer the shy and reserved apprentice I once was. Although, if you beg me, I might just put on a show."
"So, shall we? You can join Karl and Teclis in half an hour, an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours later?" Veronica batted her eyelashes at Ryan.
"Or three hours?" Ryan made up his mind.
"As you wish. Show me what you've got, darling."
———The line separating events———
At that moment, outside Couronne, a group from Marienburg chose to camp outside the city rather than enter.
The Grand Duke of Marienburg, Van der Kuypers Schultz, who had controlled the city's upper and lower houses for over thirty years, was strolling casually across the plains with a few exceptionally tall individuals, seemingly without a care in the world.
Schultz faced at least ten assassination attempts each year. Under normal circumstances, he would never be so relaxed about his safety, nor would he leave his personal guard and "Pathfinder" grenadiers behind to venture out alone. This was highly uncharacteristic.
Today, however, was an exception.
With those men behind him, nothing could go wrong.
"So, after five years of infiltrating Marienburg, you discovered that the city's true ruler was an undead named Mondwald the Cruel?" Leon El'Jonson, the Dark Angel Primarch dressed in deep green formal attire and carrying a giant sword on his back, said to Schultz. "Well, if it were up to me, the city would no longer exist."
"Yes, Lord Jonson, Mondwald the Cruel was once a subordinate of Vlad von Carstein, the Vampire Count and Elector of Sylvania. After Vlad's defeat, Mondwald infiltrated Marienburg, secretly becoming its underground ruler. When I received the Emperor's revelation and was sent to Marienburg, it took me years to gain entry into the lower house and uncover the truth. I found that nearly a third of the council members were vampires, all Mondwald's bloodline," Schultz recounted with reverence. "Even with the Emperor's blessing, it took me almost twenty years to purge the undead from Marienburg's council. I killed Mondwald myself. That vampire is dead for now—temporarily."
"That was no small feat!" Vulkan, the Salamanders Primarch, who stood over three meters tall, raised his fist and boomed with excitement. "Well done, Schultz!"
"Good," the Master of Mankind, the Emperor, whose face was shrouded in light and miracles, looked toward Couronne and coldly uttered a single word.
Just one word from the Emperor brought Schultz to the brink of tears. Hearing the Emperor's holy word made all his efforts over the past thirty years worthwhile.
Schultz led the Emperor's party into a nearby farmstead, where they violently broke down the walls, entering the granary and livestock pens.
It was late autumn, deep into the night, and the farm's serfs were already asleep. Schultz pointed to the harvested grain, saying to the Emperor and his companions, "Ryan's reforms have proven highly effective. Many serfs in Couronne have bought their way to freedom and become free citizens. Your Majesty, my lords, look at this. The granary is full, clearly the work of free citizens. Serfs wouldn't be able to store this much grain; most of their surplus would have been taken by the knights."
"Hmm, a very primitive farming method with all-natural grains. A bundle like this would cause a frenzy on Holy Terra," Vulkan said, grabbing a handful of wheat. "Ah, I wish I could taste Angron's porridge!"
The Emperor also picked up a handful of barley, his brow furrowing as he examined the plump grains, seemingly lost in thought.
Just then, a little girl's scream pierced the night. A girl of about five or six stood in the doorway of the granary, dressed in a not-so-thick fur coat and clutching a ragged cloth doll. Her big, watery eyes were filled with terror as she stared at the intruders.
"Lady above! You thieves! Monsters! What are you doing here?!" she shrieked.
"We're in trouble! Norscan barbarians have invaded our farm!" The girl, seeing the towering figures, was convinced they were Norscans and turned to run back to the village, shouting, "Help! Norscans have come to steal our grain!"
"Damn!" Jonson reached for his greatsword, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the girl.
"No!"
"Jonson!"
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