"What did you say?" asked Giselle, squinting her eyes in curiosity.
"Liberating Atrea's territory from Equestria,'" explained Tobias, repeating the same words as before.
Giselle began to stand up quickly, stepping closer to the door of her room that had not yet closed. Tobias' words were dangerous for others to hear, potentially inviting many wild perceptions.
"Are you out of your mind? You're planning a rebellion!" complained Giselle, scolding Tobias by yelling at the young man in her low voice.
"Archibald is no longer considered by the kingdom and other nobles. We should stand without them!" said Tobias, squinting his eyes, fixing Giselle with a sharp glare.
"I saw what they did. We've really been harassed by them," Tobias chimed in.
"But not by rebelling. You won't win against them," said Giselle, sitting beside Tobias with both hands tightly clasped around her brother's hand.
"Think of these women too. They won't be able to work i
***Two months later.At the end of the fall, Vitrea's troops arrived. Vitrea's entourage was sent in accordance with the agreement that had been made. Tobias had a total of 120,000 men at his command, a number he could use to reclaim Atrea from Valcke.The convoy was the last of Vitrea's army to arrive in Leafvile. Through a letter that Beatrix had left for Tobias, the woman said the food crisis in Vitrea was under control.Tobias took the letter and read it slowly. His heart was happy for what was happening, a sign that the food Leafvile had sent was indeed helpful for Vitrea."What did she write in the letter?" asked Elisa, quite curious."Just his thanks and wishes for the future," Tobias replied."It seems she's open to the possibility of working with you again if you manage to take Atrea," Liam said.Tobias nodded, rolled up the letter, and burned it on the lit candle, "Seeing the good trade between the two regions, it's
"Then who does he like?" asked Andrea, curious."I don't know, the heart matters of that young man are really complicated to guess," Liam replied."But what is certain is that he does not show the slightest interest in Elisa," Liam continued.Andrea was silent, if Liam didn't know, how could Andrea? One thing the men were sure of was that Tobias and Elisa didn't like each other.They clearly saw Tobias getting close to Elisa, smiling at each other as they discussed the same thing, the Mountain and Moon Festival in Leafvile Town.Some of the townspeople wanted them to stay together forever, but they didn't dare to say it yet, it was just a heartfelt wish that they still kept deep inside.The longer they were outside, their bodies began to feel cold with the wind blowing down from the mountain. Piles of white snow filled several places, so the discussion continued in one of the townspeople's houses.Tobias politely declined their invita
***The next day.Although it snowed pretty heavily that afternoon, the soldiers under his and Liam's command continued to practice hard. They had to maintain their physique and skills to face the big war that would happen in three months from now.The training, this time, focused on physically strengthening the soldiers in the middle of the snow. Tobias wants them all to be in good condition when the winter worsens in the third month.The training session was divided into three sessions, with one training session carried out by 50,000 soldiers in the large field available. The rest would do their training two hours later in turn.Excited cheers could be heard throughout the field. Tobias smiled broadly at the excitement, accompanied by Liam beside him."I can't see them going to capture Atrea's territory in white armour," Tobias said.Liam turned to Tobias with a furrowed brow, "What are you saying?""I want to change the armo
"I'm John. I didn't mean to—""Didn't mean to? You even tore that man's belly open until his organs fell apart!" interrupted the soldier surrounding the killer.Tobias tried to climb down from the attic where he had chased the man. The young man seemed to be helped down by several soldiers. He turned his head to the right, occasionally looking at the murderer, who was being surrounded by his soldiers."You owe us all a lot of explanations!"The young man approached the murderer, trying to break the ice between his soldiers and him. Tobias ordered his soldiers to take him to the prison, and he would interrogate him in person."Bring him out," Tobias ordered.The soldiers of the village guard carried out Tobias' order quickly. Two soldiers carried the killer's wounded body out of the house while a few others focused on the rest, such as taking care of the dead man's body.Tobias stepped outside with the other soldiers. He wiped th
They were now inside Tobias' house, avoiding the crowds as much as possible so that no one would know Myrcella was here.It would be dangerous if people knew Myrcella was here. Tobias was worried that someone would tell the Palace and get Tobias arrested.The girl was in the custody of Tobias and Giselle. She was sitting on the long sofa with Giselle while Tobias was still preparing warm drinks for them in the kitchen."He didn't seem to be joking with his threats to me. I'm really scared to return," Myrcella revealed."For now, you hide until the situation is safer," Giselle said.The woman could not give Myrcella good advice. If the girl returned to the Palace, her brother might threaten her life.The best option Myrcella could come up with was to be in this town for a while. Giselle was confident that Tobias could take good care of her.The young man walked over with a tray carrying a filled teapot and three cups. He placed the tra
***Five days later.Myrcella was still in Leafvile town. She was still living in hiding at Tobias' residence. Not a single person knew that King Constantine's daughter was in the same town as them.Tobias told Myrcella not to leave the house without his permission. He did that for one reason so that people would not realize Myrcella's presence in this place.Winter had truly arrived in Leafvile. The fields that had been empty were now completely covered in white snow. The farmers, who didn't go to the fields, chose to go to the mountains to hunt.Some other townspeople, especially the women, were busy preparing everything to organize the Mountain and Moon Festival. They worked hard, led by Elisa.Tobias' work became more leisurely in the winter. His days were filled with patrolling the town with Andrea, watching his soldiers train, and training alone in his backyard.Myrcella was seen on the second floor, precisely in Tobias' room wi
He continued down the hill until Tobias arrived outside the forest, precisely on the road that led to Valestria. Seeing the arrival of thousands of troops from the east made dozens of soldiers guarding the gates of Valestria confused.Although the distance to Westreach would be much faster by taking the Valestria main road, Tobias chose not to take it.Valestria's main street was the most populous and crowded place in Equestria; it was impossible for him to mobilize troops through the city's main street. It would also cause another panic when the city's people saw it.The only route Tobias could take was to go around it to the city in the south of Valestria. Tobias immediately turned his direction to the right, followed by the thousands of cavalrymen behind him."Where are they going?" the soldiers asked, confused."I don't know. You'd better go to the Palace to inform them about this," another soldier pleaded.Not wanting to stay long, the
Tobias chose to walk into the village chief's house, intent on finding Dieter Archibald's and his daughter's whereabouts. He was already at the house's front door, opening it slowly and seeing a heartbreaking situation.The furniture was cluttered out of place, the walls stained with the red color of blood that Tobias suspected came from Dieter and his family."Where is he?" asked Tobias, curious about Dieter's presence.Tobias wiped his bloodstained face with a clean handkerchief as he walked into the house. His eyes kept wandering around, trying to find the whereabouts of Dieter's body.The house had two rooms, one of which seemed open and the other closed. Tobias stopped walking when he reached the room with the open door. He saw an old man's body lying lifeless on the bed with a stab wound in the stomach.From what Tobias remembers, it was definitely Dieter. Valcke's men had apparently killed Dieter first so that the old man wouldn't ignite ang