I open the letter from Matteo. It has taken him some time but he has managed to reach Ante. He will begin the next step of the process: planning the murder of Antonio. His method matters little to me so long as the job is done discreetly.

“My lord, Lady Casttica wishes to enter.”

“Let her in.” I look up to see Francesca. The last time I had seen her was her first night here. I had thought I would see her at the ball but I never did. “How is your stay?”

“Your wife was trying her best to make it difficult.” I raise one of my eyebrows. I won’t say that I didn’t hear about this from Luca but if I were to explain it... I would have to say that I didn’t care. Isabella had hardly done any lasting damage and Francesca hadn’t brought up the issue to me. Has she decided to do so now?

“And?”

“I concede, I didn’t mind being a mistress. But after living here a while I have given up. Even if I did succeed I would be poisoned to death if I got pregnant.” I narrow my eyes. While Francesca was a noble lady she wasn’t particularly high in status and her background as a general pretty much disqualifies her from any decent marriages.

“Being a mistress is hardly befitting of you. I recommend you give up the silly notion.”

“I will listen to your guidance. I had actually come here to talk about my staying here.” It was rather haphazard of me to change plans but Luca had stated he thought it best. It matters not to me if she is a Cerva or here, I have plenty of generals.

“The matter has been settled. I will give you two choices. First, you follow orders and do as you are told. Secondly, you are sent back home in shame for disobedience.” She lowers her head as if deciding whether I truly meant what I had said. I doubt she will be able to tell because I am not entirely sure about the matter.

“Then may I ask one question?” I merely nod my head in response. “Was it sir Luca who requested I stay here?”

“It was, he brought up some compelling points. I didn’t like sending you to Cerva but you requested it so I decided to do so. Luca put a compelling argument against sending you.” She bows before leaving the room. I hear a pigeon fly into the room. It seems news from the war has just came. I read the letter and immediately crumple it up. It merely took a month and a half for him to take the castle.

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He is progressing much too fast.

Luckily this means he will be invading the mountainous area of Arria. Travel is limited to the roads and even then it is difficult to bring along any siege weapons. If he decides to take Cerva it would take him at the very least an entire year.

“Luca!”

“My Emperor, Luca has left for a short while. He has commanded us to stay and guard you until he returns.” I wave my hand. He is gone? That means I will have to wait for his input on this. There is plenty of things he has to do for security but it would at least be respectful for him to tell me.

I will have to remind him to do so next time.

I guess it is about time for me to carefully plan how to position my forces. I need to be able to react to whatever William decides to do. If he does go down to Scando I want to be able to trap him into a corner.

There are two possible outcomes. Internal factors cause William to return to Allonia or I battle him within the mountains and nullify his cavalry option. Either way I would be able to attack Aveven and actually take their capital.

Soon I should begin a series of war games. I need to test the ability of not only the soldiers but also the commanders. I open up the map of Arria. I need to train the soldiers to handle cavalry. If discipline breaks it could be very punishing.

I should be receiving some info on what his army is comprised of soon. “My lord, I humbly apologize. I had something to look into.” I look up to see Luca enter the study. It is good that he finally showed up.

“I have something for you to look into as well.”

“I shall get to it immediately.” He bows and begins to review the papers. We have to find a way to keep this war away from Arria. Ante trying to put a pretender on the throne followed by a war with the Yanzhou might be just enough to destroy Arria beyond repair.

Antonio must die. Once this problem is solved defending against the Yanzhou will be easier. Their military lags behind as they have fallen to internal strife and stagnation. They isolated themselves so much that they stand alone.

“I have decided, we shall spread our forces out in these places. This will allow us to react to the situation as it unfolds without being completely defenseless.” I look at the troop placement. It is a good set up but a get a bad feeling within my gut.

Nothing seems wrong so it must simply be me worrying about it.

“Then it is decided, we shall have the war games and when the troops are deemed ready we shall place them in these positions.” It seems I shall be sleeping on the couch tonight, I hear the Allonians have an even more nightmarish bureaucracy. I wonder how the bloated thing works if I am having difficulty with simply corruption.