His Highness the
On the fourteenth of May, 1777 by the Galentean Common Calendar, the former King Ogsero of the Andinak Kingdom had Grand Duke Madras and his entire family hanged outside Kebo City. The Madras family—once one of the most illustrious noble houses of the former Krisen Empire—was thus extinguished.
Count Kemis, who had accompanied the Second Prince's entourage, was deeply moved and penned a letter to
After receiving the letter, Lorist contemplated for a long time. His reply to Count Kemis consisted of a single sentence: Strength, alliance, execute the plan as predetermined.
Lorist was not particularly surprised by the fate that had befallen Grand Duke Madras's family. Years ago, Grand Duke Madras had abruptly raised his banner of independence, establishing his own duchy. He had disrupted the Third Prince's best opportunity to crush the rebellions of the First and Second Princes, and held Kebo City against the Third Prince's siege for a full six months. In the end, the Third Prince's campaign ended in catastrophic defeat, setting the once-mighty Empire firmly on the path of disintegration and civil war...
As the Third Prince's successor, the Second Prince's hatred for Grand Duke Madras was something Lorist understood all too well. But even he hadn't expected the Second Prince to be so extreme and ruthless. He hadn't spared even a four-year-old child, severing the bloodline of the Madras family—a noble house that had endured for nearly three hundred years under the old Empire. Perhaps this ruthlessness was also a weakness in the Second Prince's character. A king needs not only to inspire fear, but also the capacity for compromise and magnanimity.
Yet it was precisely this ruthlessness that Lorist valued. He wondered: once the Second Prince reclaimed the throne of the Andinak Kingdom, would the four Grand Dukes of the Central Duchies be able to sleep soundly after learning the fate of Grand Duke Madras's family? He believed they would devote all their attention to the Second Prince's every move, which would leave their support for the Fisablen family passive and neglected.
Count Kemis immediately grasped the meaning behind Lorist's brief reply. Strength needed no explanation—as long as his family possessed genuine power, they would have nothing to fear from outside covetousness. The alliance referred to the pact among the four great families of Northland. In the past, all four families had stood united against outsiders from their Northland base. Now, each had expanded their own territories and greatly increased their influence. If the four families could maintain their alliance as before, there would be no need to worry about the Second Prince's malice. Because no matter which family the Second Prince targeted, he would face the combined retaliation of all four.
Count Kemis suddenly thought that helping the Second Prince reclaim the throne might not be such a bad idea after all. Although he didn't fully believe Lorist's assertion that the Fisablen family would prove the most dangerous enemy to Northland's four great families, he now realized that even without the Fisablen family, as long as the Second Prince existed, the four great families would remain united against his aggressive expansion—and would not dissolve their alliance simply because an external threat had been removed.
So be it—let them execute the predetermined plan. Let the Second Prince become King of the Andinak Kingdom once more. Let the Commercial Alliance and the four Central Duchies grow uneasy. The four great families of Northland would spend this year exchanging and consolidating their family territories and reorganizing their military forces. Next year, they would launch their invasion of the Iberia Kingdom and see how Grand Duke Fisablen would face the challenge.
After leaving Kebo City, the Second Prince and Count Kemis continued toward Vannades. Along the road, they saw nothing but residents of the former Schiedegler Province—people carrying bundles, dragging wives and children, pulling crude carts—being escorted northward by armed
But when the Second Prince spotted the former soldiers of the Madras Duchy building the straight road, his stoic expression finally showed a trace of longing: "Count, might you be able to provide me with these able-bodied prisoners..."
Count Kemis refused flatly: "I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. We are nobles, and we must honor our word. We promised these soldiers who surrendered to us that after three years of labor service, they would be able to return to their families. Forgive me, but I cannot grant Your Majesty's request. We cannot go back on our promise."
"Forget it, then," the Second Prince said gloomily, flicking his riding crop.
Count Kemis chuckled: "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. The latest battle report states that the Flying Tiger Corps captured Nadejas City yesterday afternoon around five o'clock and will soon march directly on the Imperial Capital. Currently, tens of thousands of prisoners and surrendered troops from the Yungshandra and Verbasia provinces are waiting for Your Majesty to receive them. The majority are Your Majesty's former subordinates—they can be organized into new corps with just a bit of reconditioning. People you know and trust are surely better than using soldiers from the Madras Duchy, wouldn't you agree?"
The Second Prince was somewhat astonished: "How could they have advanced so quickly? I personally oversaw all the defensive installations in Yungshandra Province. The mountain castles and the Leciedana Fortress in particular were critical strongpoints, configured by several of the Kingdom's defense-specialized masters specifically to counter a sudden attack from Grand Duke Madras. How could the Flying Tiger Corps have advanced so rapidly? Did the garrison troops simply open the gates and surrender?"
"They took the mountain castles. From what I know, the Flying Tiger Corps is the Norton Family's sharpest blade—a cavalry corps with piercing attacks and lightning-fast advances beyond imagination. If the garrison forces of Yungshandra Province were unprepared, being unable to withstand the Flying Tiger Corps' assault would not be surprising."
Count Kemis thought to himself that there was nothing strange about it. Had the Flying Tiger Corps not been waiting for the arrival of Ovekis's Thunder Catapult Battalion, they might have already been grazing horses on the Antaia Plains outside the Imperial Capital. None of the mountain castles or the Leciedana Fortress that the Second Prince mentioned could have withstood the Thunder Catapult Battalion's bombardment. Lorist had long ago ordered Tiger Ross to demolish every castle and fortress along the route—no point leaving eyesores for the future.
After receiving the Flying Tiger Corps' battle report, the Second Prince was beside himself with anxiety. He wished he could sprout wings and fly to the Flying Tiger Corps' location, then personally command their advance on the Imperial Capital, striding into the palace as a triumphant victor.
Unfortunately, the moment he arrived in Yungshandra Province, the Second Prince was inundated with countless matters. As the first province of the Andinak Kingdom he had restored, countless old acquaintances and former subordinates awaited his audience. There was also the reorganization of prisoners and surrendered troops, the reformation of the White Lion Corps, and much more. He was so busy that the sky turned dark and he couldn't even find time for a proper meal.
Battle reports from the Flying Tiger Corps continued to arrive, but the Second Prince finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Flying Tiger Corps had locked horns with the Andinak Kingdom's Royal Guard Corps outside the Imperial Capital. This Royal Guard Corps had originally been the Second Prince's own Royal Second Guard Corps, responsible for defending Yungshandra Province. It had later defected to Queen Kayre, becoming the Andinak Kingdom's sole military force—a total establishment of seventy-six thousand men, deployed at Qilin Port and the Liushui River.
Faced with the Flying Tiger Corps' thunderous offensive, the Andinak Kingdom's current ruler had no choice but to mobilize this Royal Guard Corps to defend the capital. Simultaneously, envoys were dispatched to the Zimutulam Duchy, the Brit United Duchies, the Forde Commercial Alliance, and the four Central Duchies, begging these powers to send reinforcements to halt the Second Prince's restoration.
The Second Prince hurriedly penned an enthusiastic letter to Tiger Ross, the Flying Tiger Corps' commander. He first praised Tiger Ross's decisive advance, then urged him to hold on a little longer—not to let victory slip away at the last moment. If Tiger Ross could hold for just another month and a half, the Second Prince would have the White Lion Corps rebuilt and ready to march to the Imperial Capital in support. Together, they would join forces and take the city...
But the Second Prince had barely enjoyed half a month of peace when fresh reports arrived from the front. The Norton Family's Bastion Corps had landed at Qilin Port, secretly marched toward the Imperial Capital, and combined with the Flying Tiger Corps to attack the Royal Guard Corps from two sides. The Royal Guard Corps suffered a catastrophic defeat. Nearly thirty thousand lay dead on the field; the rest either surrendered or scattered in rout. The greatest city of the former Krisen Empire—the current royal capital of the Andinak Kingdom—threw open its gates to the Norton Family's forces. Soldiers of the Flying Tiger Corps and the Bastion Corps marched into the Imperial Capital with the proud strides of victors and conquerors, planting the Norton Family's angry bear banner atop every wall and in the royal palace.
On the eleventh of July, 1777 by the Galentean Common Calendar, the Northland Norton Family's Flying Tiger Corps and Bastion Corps crushed the Andinak Kingdom's Royal Guard Corps outside the Imperial Capital and captured the city. Queen Kayre I of the Andinak Kingdom and her three lovers took poison in the great hall of the royal court. Former King Ogsero I was restored to the throne.
This war of restoration showed everyone the sharpness and speed of the Northland Angry Bear Family's military might. From the offensive launched on May fourteenth to its conclusion on July eleventh—in less than two months, they had swept through three provinces of the Andinak Kingdom, unstoppable and invincible.
When the surrounding powers believed the attacking Flying Tiger Corps would become bogged down in a standoff outside the Imperial Capital, the Norton Family deployed the Bastion Corps to land at Qilin Port and deliver a fatal blow from behind—where the Kingdom's defenses were at their most hollow. The speed of their operations left the surrounding powers unable to react. By the time they were still debating whether to send reinforcements, the matter had already been settled.
In this war, three more of the Norton Family's Golden Knights distinguished themselves. First was Tiger Ross, commander of the Flying Tiger Corps—attacks like fire, advances like wind, a description that captured his essence perfectly. Next was Dolis, whose Chariot Steel Crossbow Regiment unleashed a massacre upon the Royal Guard Corps at the Imperial Capital. Of the more than thirty thousand killed, half had fallen to the steel crossbows—corpses piled into mountains, blood flowing into rivers. The last was Ovekis, the silent, bearded man who commanded the Thunder Catapult Battalion, smashing through every castle and fortress that stood in their path, reducing any defensive shell—no matter how hard—to flat ground.
At the end of July, the Second Prince finally returned to the Imperial Capital with his newly reconstituted White Lion Corps. His very first act upon stepping through the gates was to issue a decree: a full reckoning for every noble who had committed treason. Under the watchful eyes of the Flying Tiger Corps and Bastion Corps soldiers who maintained order in the capital, the once-peaceful Imperial Capital was bathed in a crimson dusk. Soldiers in White Lion Corps armor poured into the lavish estates of the nobility, dragged out those who had lived in untouchable splendor, and beheaded them with a single stroke right in the streets. They then gathered their spoils and marched or dragged the noblewomen and young ladies back to camp. Wailing and sobbing echoed throughout the Imperial Capital...
"How could they do this?" Tiger Ross was furious. "Has the Second Prince forgotten that this is his own kingdom? His own capital?"
"The royal treasury was already plundered clean—he had no choice but to target these nobles. I thought he would only punish a small fraction, but he's gone after every last one. He's conducting a complete purge of the Kingdom's noble class!"
"Your Lordship should never have allowed him to reclaim the throne," Tiger Ross said, watching the heads gradually accumulating on the city walls. "So ruthless and cruel—someday he'll become our family's greatest catastrophe."
"We should leave now. You've already rescued your mistresses and their families, so there's no need to concern ourselves with the Second Prince's affairs. While I think his behavior shows none of the dignity a true king should have, that's a matter for His Lordship to worry about, not us. However, I can say this: the Second Prince will never succeed in reunifying the former Krisen Empire..." Bodfeng said.
On the thirty-second of July, 1777 by the Galentean Common Calendar, Ogsero I—now restored as King of the Andinak Kingdom—issued a bloody decree of reckoning, ordering the prosecution of all treasonous nobles. The nobility of the Imperial Capital was virtually slaughtered to the last, with only a very few managing to escape. The slaughter continued for three days. Nearly three thousand nobles and their relatives were beheaded, their heads hung upon the city walls. Young female relatives were sent to the military camps, where they were violated by soldiers until they died. When news of this spread, the entire Galentea Continent was thrown into an uproar. The nobility of every nation branded the Second Prince as the enemy of all nobles—a butcher king with blood on his hands. History would remember this event as the "July Bloodbath."
"He's nothing short of a demon—not a king at all!" Even after withdrawing from the Imperial Capital, Tiger Ross was still seething. "Punishing the nobles is one thing, but why did he also execute their attendants, knights, and personal retainers? He didn't even spare those delicate young women—a clean sword stroke would have been one thing, but dragging them to the military camps to be violated by crude soldiers? Only a demon could do something like that. He's insulting us nobles. I want to declare war on him..."
Count Kemis was seated across from Tiger Ross and Bodfeng. He had accompanied the Second Prince to the Imperial Capital and had witnessed everything firsthand. He let out a deep sigh: "Strictly speaking, the Second Prince was within his legal rights. These nobles were all traitors. When the Second Prince marched on the Redlis Kingdom, it was these nobles who undermined him from behind—deliberately delaying or altering his orders—ultimately causing the fall of Campiona Province. The Second Prince had long ago ordered the fortification of Campiona Province, but they dragged their feet until his entire campaign collapsed.
"Then, when the Second Prince was trapped in the Fideliga royal capital, instead of working to rescue him, these nobles crowned Princess Kayre as queen. They betrayed the Second Prince. Perhaps they thought that now, with his restoration, a simple apology would suffice. They never expected that the Second Prince had been harboring a grudge all along. His Majesty's capacity for forgiveness is not as vast as they imagined. He's rebuilding the White Lion Corps and has no spare treasury—where else can he get the funds to maintain his army if not from them...
"But no one expected him to be this ruthless—sparing neither the womenfolk nor the relatives. It's an extermination strategy meant to prevent future revenge. You're right: the Second Prince's actions don't befit a king. He's nothing more than a butcher."
A guard entered the main tent: "My lord—the King has arrived."
...(To be continued.)