CHAPTER 011
“Unit One, follow Commander Jacob and set up an ambush upstream. When the fire spreads through the forest, drives the rats down the river. At that time, Unit Two and I will ensure not a single one remains alive.”
Emperor Maxwell, clad in silver armor adorned with the Red Lion crest of the Empire, pulled on the reins of his white horse and turned its head, issuing the command.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The thirty elite guardsmen he had personally chosen bowed their heads and responded to their lord’s orders.
As he observed, more than a hundred soldiers from the Northwestern Allied Forces, disguised, were following the river's course toward Count Laurel’s castle.
To confront Count Laurel, who commanded a comparable force, and the soldiers of the Allied Forces, a disruption tactic to scatter them was necessary. While they could wait for reinforcements from the Empire, the Emperor did not tolerate unnecessary delays.
“Your Majesty, the signal has appeared!”
A young soldier keeping watch from a tree shouted, pointing above his head. Black smoke rose at the edge of the distant night sky, soon followed by dark red flames. It was the signal that a fire had been set at the forest path leading into the territory.
Barely had the soldier finished his report when
“The hunt begins now. Forward!”
The Emperor stroked his white horse’s mane once before pulling the reins tightly, charging down into the forest at full speed. His guards followed the Emperor, weaving through the trees towards the southern bank of the river.
His dark blue cloak, lined with gold, fluttered in the cold night wind as he rode. His crimson eyes, devoid of warmth, already declared who would be the victor today, shining with confidence.
Emperor Maxwell, lauded as the Red Lion of the Empire, did not like being compared to the king of beasts.
In the pride he led, it was not the male lion called the king who protected the territory and hunted for food. That was the duty of his lionesses.
While the male lion might face off against rival males invading their territory, it only did so after the lionesses and young males had been sacrificed. A male lion fought out of necessity, not bravery.
It was a creature neither particularly courageous nor extraordinary. This was akin to the inept emperors hiding within the palace, making grand speeches but achieving little.
A true ruler of the continent must personally eliminate any who dared to challenge him. Only then would none dare covet what was his. The throne… and the Empire.
Riding his white horse, the Emperor’s appearance was that of a deity crossing the boundary from another realm.
However, he was not the benevolent, pure light descending from the heavens to save mankind… but the dark terror rising from the underworld to judge humanity.
The soldiers of the Allied Forces, panicking at the fire breaking out at the forest path into the territory, fled down the river when ambushed by Unit One.
The Allied Forces commander, riding downriver with relief at the small number of Imperial Guards compared to his own forces, was unfortunately unaware of who awaited them downstream.
Clang, clang, Aaargh! Swish, swish, Ugh! Argh!
Emperor Maxwell adeptly commanded his guards, giving the enemy no time to catch their breath. His dazzling swordsmanship disrupted their strategy, and with a single stroke, he took the head of the highest-ranking commander, reducing the enemy to a rabble.
Despite their smaller numbers, the Emperor’s overwhelming charisma infused his guards with morale. The elite soldiers, who had roamed the battlefield with the Emperor for years, fought like fish and returned to the water, subduing the enemy.
Each time the Emperor’s longsword whistled through the air, drawing a circle above and slashing diagonally, silence enveloped the surroundings.
Under the crimson sky,
“Hurrah!”
“Long live the Helterde Empire!”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
Shouts of victory echoed through the forest.
Having seized the enemy’s new weapon, the Emperor lifted a water bottle. Pouring water over his soot-stained head, he smirked.
“Now it’s time to eliminate the rat’s nest.”
Without a moment to clean the blood off their swords, the guards followed the Emperor towards Count Laurel’s castle.
***
Count Laurel, once trusted by the previous Emperor, now knelt on the cold marble floor, awaiting his fate. His once dazzling castle, lively with nightly revelry, was now deathly silent.
In the beautiful crystal ballroom, only Count Laurel and the Emperor remained.
At least, only they were still breathing.
Click, click.
The sound of boots crunching on shattered crystal chandelier pieces echoed from the high ceiling. As the sound grew closer, the elderly Count, prostrated on the floor, began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Do you know why I’ve spared your life until now, despite you being nothing but poison to the Empire?”
The tip of a blood-stained black boot entered the Count’s cloudy gray eyes.
“P-please, spare me, Your Majesty. It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I-I merely intended to bring the Allied Forces' new weapon to present to you, Your Majesty. Please, I beg you, think of the previous Emperor Alexander and believe in me.”
“Did you ask me to believe you?”
“Y-yes! Please believe me. Thirty-five years ago, I saved the esteemed life of the previous Emperor in the Battle of the Nater River. Please, do not doubt my loyalty.”
The Count clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. The Emperor’s lips twisted in a sneer.
“Do you think I tolerated you aiming arrows at my back merely because of the previous Emperor?”
The Count raised his head to meet the Emperor’s gaze.
In the blood-red eyes of the Emperor, he felt as if his entire body would be incinerated. Overwhelmed by an unprecedented fear, the Count quickly averted his gaze.
The young Emperor had known all along. For a very long time, he had been aware of the Count’s meticulous plans for treason, hidden from his eyes.
Every time the Count visited the palace to pay his respects, the Emperor welcomed him warmly.
He even arranged special seating for him at official events, praising him as the loyal subject who had saved his grandfather’s life. The Count was confident that, unlike others, the Emperor trusted him…
“Uuugh…”
The Count’s lips twisted in agony.
The heel of the Emperor’s boot ground into the back of his hand, crushing it slowly.
“You…”
The dry, deep voice fell eerily above the crown of his head.
“Attempting to poison me on the battlefield, leaking my location to the enemy, supporting my uncle in appointing his son as a proxy Crown Prince in my absence, withholding half of the taxes collected over the years from the capital, and ignoring central administration to change and enforce laws as you pleased…”
The Emperor slowly lifted the head pressed flat against the floor with the toe of his boot.
“I overlooked all of it to use you at the most opportune moment. Like today.”
He knew that the Northwestern Allied Forces had been waiting for an opportunity.
He also knew that Count Laurel, who held a valuable southern territory, had allied with them. Count Laurel planned to declare the southern territories of the Empire an independent kingdom with the Allied Forces.
It would take at least a week for the army from the capital to reach the territory, and the densely forested mountains provided the perfect cover for the Allied Forces’ troops to cross the sea and sneak in along the river.
“The Northwestern Allied Forces have been a thorn in my side, but I had no pretext to strike. The incompetent Emperor Gustav signed a peace treaty, after all. Once I knew you were blinded by futile ambition, I waited.”
The Emperor’s red eyes flickered with genuine pleasure. It was the same look he had when facing Emperor Gustav, who refused to relinquish the throne.
The triple chin of the greedy Count began to tremble, and cold sweat broke out along his spine.
“Thanks to you, I now have a just cause to eliminate you, your faction that’s been draining the Empire’s blood, and the encroaching Northwestern Allied Forces. Because of you, I can burn away the rats inside and out.”
The Emperor nodded to Deputy Commander Peter, who had entered the ballroom, then lifted his foot from the Count’s hand.
“You’ve done well, Count Laurel.”
Leaving with a single remark, just as he had told his uncle Emperor Gustav, “You’ve done well,” on the day he returned to the palace, the Emperor departed the ballroom.
***
“Should we mobilize the Count’s soldiers and the territory’s people to extinguish the fire?”
Commander Jacob, who had moved the new weapon underground, asked, and the Emperor shook his head.
“It looks like it’s going to rain soon anyway, so leave it. If more than half the mountain burns, other countries’ soldiers and smugglers won’t be able to sneak in. It wouldn’t be bad to make it a barren mountain.”
As the Emperor predicted, dark clouds were gathering above the crimson sky engulfed in flames.
“Have you delivered the message to escort the Lady to the castle?”
“Yes, Kyle went to fetch her as soon as we took the castle. She should be arriving shortly.”
Soon, the sound of hooves from the six soldiers guarding Arabelle’s tent grew closer.
The Emperor, passing through the hall towards the door, suddenly stopped. He glanced at his reflection in the foyer mirror. If she saw him like this, her large eyes would again avoid his gaze in fear.
The Emperor grabbed a long runner from the table and wiped the red stains from his face and neck. He was concerned about the stained armor but thought it might be fine as long as the lights were not too bright.
Kyle, the aide, dismounted and hurried up the steps as the Emperor stood at the main entrance. The Emperor’s jaw clenched at Kyle’s pale face, sensing something was very wrong.
“Lady Arabelle…”
Catching his breath, Kyle continued.
“She has disappeared. She rode into the fire on a soldier’s horse, saying she had to save the animals from the wildfire.”
The soldiers responsible for Arabelle’s safety knelt on the ground, reporting to the Emperor.
“We chased after her but lost her in the flames. She disappeared so quickly as if she knew the terrain of the mountain. Please punish us for failing to carry out Your Majesty’s orders.”
“Where did you lose her?”
A calm voice emerged from his unreadable expression.
“East of the river, where the fire is spreading.”
At the Emperor’s whistle, his white horse appeared from the stables. The Emperor, having discarded his armor and cloak, mounted the horse and vanished across the castle’s garden with terrifying speed.
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