Chapter 1359 - 1277: The Real and Fake Prince

Chapter 1359: Chapter 1277: The Real and Fake Prince

One Bing River battle, plus some aftermath, and more than a month had passed.

When the situation gradually stabilized, the Royal Court had already conceded a large amount of territory in the Roaring Corridor.

However, just when many Holy Alliance soldiers thought they could advance triumphantly, things changed once more.

In short, Serafe had summoned a large number of indigenous Ogre warlords used for suppressing rebels to counter the Holy Alliance Army.

Accompanied by the centaur cavalry, the total number was twenty thousand more.

Due to the Ogre tribe’s slow mobility and physiological fear of heights, they cannot be used as a standalone unit in offensive warfare.

They often need to be combined with regular Vampire Army units, under the cover of allies to launch an attack.

Otherwise, with the Holy Alliance’s clockwork artillery and marching speed, Ogres without mounts would just be kited.

The appearance of Ogres in the Roaring Corridor signaled that the Royal Court had basically abandoned the short-term strategic situation of this region.

André attempted several attacks, which were all repelled by Ogre war wagons (centaurs pulling Ogre short-range mobility).

Seeing no advantage, André straightforwardly slowed his offensive, disregarding temporary gains and losses, and steadily implemented the Rampart advance tactic.

Anyway, the rear of the Holy Alliance was stable, and he wasn’t in a rush. Besides, Horn had given frontline commanders considerable autonomy.

As long as the strategic goals were achieved, whatever decisions you made in between, the central Ry Court Barracks wouldn’t intervene.

Having completed this battle, André had accumulated quite a bit of merit.

He anticipated that once the war with the Royal Court was over, that old Hakuto would be stepping down, and Jeska’s health was not in great condition.

He was only one step away from the throne of the Exorcist Leader.

Evidently, his wish for unrestrained local autonomy was impossible. So, settling for less, he decided to serve as a loyal dog to the Saint’s Grandson.

The freedom within the chains was something already out of reach for many.

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded on the vast lands of the Roaring Corridor.

On the gray-white grasslands, two groups of outsiders hired a large number of nearby Norn residents to build hardened roads and Rampart fortifications.

Things that the Great Monarchs and Dukes hadn’t accomplished in hundreds of years, were done by this group of outsiders, including even the invaders.

Apart from military affairs, the spiritual world of the Norn Kingdom also underwent significant changes.

This major change was the preparation of a concise national history by Grand Duke Aleksey of the Norn Restoration Army, under the sponsorship of the Holy Union Sacred Council.

Grand Duke Aleksey felt that the Norn people’s willingness to surrender to vampires was because they were unaware of past hardships.

To inspire people (mainly the literate citizens), he published a booklet briefly explaining the history of the Norn.

In Horn’s words, history books are one of the best platforms for constructing imagined communities.

Of course, for the Norn people, this construction of an imagined community wasn’t based on history itself but on the biases of those compiling it.

As to what biases this history book would include, considering the political tendencies of the leader Aleksey, the origins of the historians, and who funded them, it was clear.

Ignoring the academic disputes, in the real world, the Roaring Corridor had become quiet.

Contrasting the quiet Roaring Corridor was the bustling Thorn Garden.

Since this time they were moving south to grab resources rather than gnawing on the hard bones of the Shattered Stone Plain, the northern clans finally weren’t slacking off.

By the end of 1462, the Northern Army quickly completed its replenishment.

Of course, a decline in troop quality was inevitable, so continuing to fight bitterly with the Holy Alliance was ruled out by Lakunio.

Their first stop was Thorn Garden.

Since the failure to advance into Changge City, the Omes father and son and the Oslar Clan were significantly weakened.

The trip to Changge City cost them their good reputation, wasted more than two years, and lost over seventy thousand gold pounds without earning a feather.

Since returning to the capital city of Thorn Garden, Silver Mountain Castle, the father and son had almost barricaded themselves in the fortress, indifferent to spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

But unfortunately, hiding in the castle couldn’t prevent the arrival of winter.

During the New Year Festival, the father and son drinking hot mulled wine, woke up daily to news that this castle had been lost, that city had surrendered.

Although Silver Mountain Castle hadn’t been assaulted yet, more than half of Thorn Garden had already fallen.

As the year turned over, more cities and castles chose to surrender.

A large number of nobles and their armies who had lost territory began to converge on Silver Mountain Castle.

The vampires even subtly hinted at a desire to encircle the human army near Silver Mountain Castle for a comprehensive capture.

Looking at this situation, what difference was there from nobles driving prey during a hunt?

Lakunio, after all, was an old general of the Empire, especially familiar with the terrain and humanity of Leia.

Under his command, several battles organized by the Oslar Clan’s nobles themselves ended in a major defeat.

When he once again defeated the Noble Alliance Army and returned to his tent, he saw someone unexpected.

"Emmerick?" Lakunio looked at the tall knight, at once wondering if he was seeing things.

Emmerick, having surrendered to the vampires, should have been still in the Border Knights’ realm, how suddenly he was here.

"I have something I want to show you." Emmerick’s expression was complex, as he threw a wooden cylinder onto the table.

Lakunio frowned but didn’t open it; instead, he asked, "What is this? Where did you get it from?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"Yes." Emmerick smiled wryly, "I suspect it’s from Cheka, one day I woke up and found it mysteriously appeared beside my pillow."

Lakunio instantly felt a moment of fear, the meaning was already quite clear.

If Emmerick didn’t help, the next thing to appear beside his pillow might be his head.

Despite Emmerick being a Great Knight, without armor and blessing in sleep, even one gunshot could take his life.

The scarier thing behind this is that neither the guards nor those close to him had already subtly started to disregard him.

Though on the surface, they were still forced by the vampires to serve Emmerick, privately... they were likely closer to the Holy Alliance.

"That’s why I’ve replaced everyone around me with vampires..." Lakunio stared at Emmerick.

Emmerick smiled wryly, "Then what the Holy Alliance can do to you, the Royal Court can do too!"

Lakunio fell silent, then quietly picked up the wooden cylinder and opened it.

Both were humans in the vampire faction, but Emmerick, due to being a Great Knight, was nearly impossible to convert into a vampire, while Lakunio was unwilling.

As former and current associates, they shared a deep camaraderie.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t open that wooden cylinder but should instead hand it over directly.

But this time, he had to make an exception for Emmerick.

"The things written on this, I think you’ll definitely be interested in, and if it’s true, I can’t bear you always..."

Lakunio didn’t listen to Emmerick’s rambling, just reading one line after another.

After quite some time, he gradually set down the letter, closed his eyes, and after at least three minutes, opened them: "It’s fake."

"Do you really think so?" Emmerick questioned.

Lakunio stayed silent, only rubbing the wooden tube: "Hair color and toes can’t decide anything. The Plantagenet dynasty’s history has members with varying toe lengths or hair colors being blond."

"But none of them were kings."

"But that doesn’t deny their bloodlines and identity!"

Listening to Lakunio’s hoarse, growling voice, Emmerick quickly raised his hands: "This matter has nothing to do with me, I’m just the messenger."

"I know." Lakunio stepped back, leaning against the table, rubbing his temples, "Go back, don’t let anyone know the letter’s contents."

"Alright." Emmerick stood up, released from chains, and headed lightly to the door. After hesitating several times, out of concern for an old friend, he softly said.

"Don’t you need to go see Prince Laslo after the New Year Festival? Just as Ailard is also in Windmill Field... I believe it’s fake, but just in case..."

"Get out—"

Before Emmerick could finish, Lakunio roared, interrupting him.

Knowing Lakunio was truly angry, Emmerick shrugged and quickly left.

As for Lakunio, looking at the letters and evidence on the table, his brow furrowing more tightly.

He couldn’t control himself from thinking about one thing:

After the first Thousand River Valley war ended, was Ailard so eager to find Kongdai’s two mistresses really to sell at a high price?