After three weeks of tenaciously defending against the besiegers, the crown side had to give up their wall due to the devilish plan of the Temple.

The Temple smuggled monsters into the city and planned to set them free in the busy crowded places of the city.

The palace got the message from the King's guards at 'Centric' and was notified of the enemy's atrocious plan in late morning. They urgently deployed hundreds of palace guards to the city to search and seize any barrels that looked suspicious. Luther went to the port and investigated all the barrels. As he suspected, some cargo marked as food had monsters inside. The urgent operation was able to destroy several barrels but over a hundred barrels which were smuggled during the three weeks were lost.

To contain the sudden monster threat inside the city, the Spellcasters of Revenant were pulled back from the wall defence which led to the downfall of the glorious wall of Midlake. But the Crown managed to save the city from monsters. Ethan and Spellcasters cleared the monsters in the city when the Retribution army breached the wall.

The wall had fallen but there was still hope left for Midlakers. The crown still controlled the city. Cleo's inner city-defense lines were not broken by monsters. They held off the invading army firmly.

"I am sorry." Ethan apologised to Cleo. He didn't want to return to Cleo in a sorrowful state. He wished to return as a triumphant warrior worthy to be King for Cleo. His wish did not come true. Battered, he and the wounded soldiers were dismal due to the disheartening outcome. They returned to the palace gloomily. The spectators watched them in silence, each drowned in their own thoughts.

Cleo looked into Ethan's eyes which were avoiding her in shame, and said, "No. Look at me. You did great. You saved the city and the people from monsters. Don't lower your head. Lift your chin." Cleo told him to be confident but Ethan felt like he lost his purpose. "But the wall, Cleo. We lose. ...the enemies are in the city and..they will destroy everything. I should have...I...I failed you," said Ethan, his voice cracking. "No. No, Ethan. We have not lost yet. We have the city, and we have the people. The enemy will regret stepping foot in our city if they believe they have won. We will make them leave our city crying." Cleo rebuilt the confidence that Ethan lost.

The sun had set so soldiers of both sides called it a day. Taking over the wall was enough for besiegers to call it a victory, and for defenders, it was good enough to be able to stop the enemy at the wall without letting them further inside.

Ethan was told to rest but Cleo was called to the war council for an urgent meeting at night. She was attacked by her cousin as soon as she entered the room. "Here she comes. The greatest tactician_ who makes us lose the wall." Louise greeted her sarcastically. Cleo pretended not to hear him but Louise kept attacking her. It was his best chance to bring down the trust of realm lords in her. "I told you not to recall the spellcasters from the wall. Look what you did. You acted on your own and used your authority over Revenant to recall the spellcasters. Now, the boots of Temple are in our city. We have lost our biggest advantage." Louise argued the credibility of Cleo's tactics. He asked Cleo to transfer Revenant under his authority.

"No. You are wrong, brother."

"It is 'Your Majesty'. You shall address me as such."

"...My King Brother, you are wrong. Our advantage is the people whom we managed to protect because of Ethan and spellcasters. A whole lot of people would have succumbed to monsters if the spellcasters were not there." Cleo stood with her decision firmly. She trusted that her decision to save the people was the right thing. "People are power!" Cleo affirmed. Louise argued otherwise. "What good is the people when the enemies will take the city over soon."

"You shall see, my king brother."

"No. We are not doing your method anymore. I will take over command." Louise seized the opportunity. He took command of the war council by blaming the fall of the wall on Cleo. Cleo turned to the lords to get support but the lords turned silent. As much as they supported Cleo in the past, they believed Cleo was wrong to choose people over the city. They stood with Louise.

The dawn of a new day arrived with tension above the city. No one could sleep through the night, especially those with higher status. With the fall of the wall, they could no longer pretend the war was not their concern. It had reached their next door. They bribed hefty amounts to recruitment officers so that their precious sons would be stationed as inner city guards, and never meet the ugliness of war. "Yesterday proved otherwise. Our sons became food to the monsters. Even the inner city is no longer safe. I swear I have served loyally to the crown all my life but... I doubt we will win. The crown might lose." A high-status man had a secret meeting with his close circle inside the underground wine cellar. They banded together to find a way for their survival. A woman suggested a revolt and asked for mercy from the Temple. "Don't be ridiculous. The inquisitors will cut off your head and parade it on a pike. We flee. I heard the south gate is clear. No army of Crown. No army of Temple. Only a few city guards. We can bribe them."

It was a solid plan. A group of nobles and merchants sneaked out of the city through the south gate. The army was thin. The commander in charge was easy-going and quite frank about taking bribes. The nobles were on easy track, they went out the city gate without much hurdles. Then, an unexpected turn of events happened.

A massive cavalry pulled up on the city gate by crossing the southern plain, with their banner raised. They stood in formation, blocking all paths which led from Midlake. The city, three weeks after the siege, was fully under blockage.

The nobles and merchants ran back inside the gate to save their necks. They knew they would never make it out alive against Harrimore's cavalry. The war horses from House Harrimore were infamous for their vitality and speed. The Temple only took war horses from Harrimore as mounts for their Templers. "We are doomed. Our fate is sealed. There is no way to get out of the city now," yammered the nobles.

The news reached the ears of the palace soon. It broke out a storm at the morning war council, especially when Louise had taken charge. Louise paled up when he heard it. He thought he could escape into the desert from the southern gate even if the rebellion against Mordu' failed. He secretly prepared a ship to sail to the East continent. His escape plan was ruined.

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The court was in uproar. The lords were upset. House Harrimore was a reputable house of Midlake, its Lord was the deputy commander of the army during King Dane's reign. They could not believe the house of the deputy of King Dane stooped so low bowing to Mordu' and Goldfield. "This is what happens when you don't discipline your firstborn properly. A shame." One of the lords spat at the crest of House Harrimore hung at the wall of the war council. "Why is it still hanging there? Throw that crest of betrayers away!" Everyone at the war council was angry, except Cleo. Cleo was not even allowed to attend.

The sudden added event also reached the camps of the Retribution army. When they heard the news, most of them threw a fist pump. "We got these maggots now. They have nowhere to run anymore. How dare they challenge Lord Mordu' in the first place? We will gut them, and their champion then feed it to the pigs." The soldiers of Temple showed excitement before their charge against the defence of Midlake. They were riled up. However, their commander, the Grand Templer, found the event questionable.

"Isn't this great news, sir, Lord Harrimore finally joining us? He is blockading the city," one officer told Grand Templer. The Templer stood still as if he were in deep thought, "have you killed rats before, my lords?" The Grand Templer asked. The officers looked at each other. "Of course not, sir. That's the work of peasants and slaves." "Then, you wouldn't know. I had killed a lot when I was a boy. My parents were poor and they were exhausted when they came home. So, it was my sisters and I who had to take care of the house. Anyway, I had to kill lots of pests with my own little hands. It was an easy job. Until that one rat. That rat, it was a fast runner. I couldn't hit it. So, I asked my sisters to set a perimeter and close in slowly as I chased it. We pushed it to the corner soon. 'We got it' we shouted. As I swang my stick, you know what that rat did? It fricking flew and bit me in my arm. Scared, both my sisters and I ran. It got away. A rat beat me." The officers intently listened to his story at first but the end made them smile. They stifled their laughter not to anger his Grandeur. The Grand Templer did not care. He was deep in his thought. "I guess things will get tougher for us now."

The mist dispersed earlier in the city than the plain. The battle started early with the soldiers of the Retribution Army riled up. They dashed fearlessly towards the defence blockage. Cleo's defensive barricades reinforced with pikes and archers courageously stood against the fierce charge, but not for longer. The soldiers of the Crown could not match the ferocity or the morale of the Retribution Army. They were pushed inward slowly. The Retribution Army pushed the Crown army inward from both north and east.

One by one, neighbourhoods fell under the control of besiegers. The citizens who failed to escape to the inner ward in time were met with ruthless punishment from soldiers of the Temple. Their properties were robbed, and their houses were pillaged. Men were tortured in front of their families. Women were raped in front of their loved ones. Babies were thrown into the fire pit in front of their parents. It was complete barbarism. There was no rule of law anymore. The soldiers of Temple acted atrocities all in the name of their Lord. "This is what you sow for defying the true Lord of lords, Lord Mordu'. Where is your King? Where is your Champion now, huh!?" The soldiers of Temple laughed at their victims.

That day, the world was ending for the people of Midlake. They were scared to reach the next day.

But time is not something anyone can stop.

Up on the marble tower of the Palace, Cleo could not fall asleep the whole night as she heart-wrenchingly watched her world crumbling part by part before her and there was nothing she could do. Her brother and the Lords had pushed her out of the war council. Ethan came up the stairs and stood beside her the whole night to give comfort. "The war council is convening a morning session soon. Nothing will change by watching idly from up here. Let us go. Just like you said yesterday, we will find a way to kick those bastards out crying from our city." Ethan talked to Cleo. Cleo, without looking at Ethan, removed Ethan's hand which was comforting her, "What's the point going there? Look at what I did. I made a mistake and the people are paying the price." "No, Cleo. You did not make a mistake. The monsters would have swallowed the city inside out by now if you didn't recall spellcasters. You did right." "I was right? Then, it means we have no hope in the first place. No hope to win." "You too can't lose hope when the rest of the people in the palace are losing sh*t. Not you especially." Ethan told her to be strong. It made her smile.

"But Louise has taken over now. He will do better than me."

"No. Louise doesn't care sh*t about people. He and Arthur didn't bat an eye when I told them about prisoners being treated inhumanly for experiments. You are the only one. I will vouch for you in the council if that will put you back in position. Let's fight back. You and I together. We will take back the council and the city."

"You don't know, Ethan. I had already fought. I used you and fought. Even so, I still lost...the city as well as the council. Louise managed to get the lords' support away from me. Maybe...he may be a good fit for a king, too. After all, the only reason I fight with my brother for the throne is because I am scared the lords will rebel against the crown if Louise becomes King. Now, that problem is solved. He gains support from both generals and lords. He is fit to be a King. He will lead us...better than me." Cleo surrendered from the competition.

Both of them stayed there silently, thinking about all the life decisions they had made_ What went wrong?_ as they gazed upon the burning city which was crumbling before their eyes.

At that moment, they heard footsteps from behind. It was Luther. Luther came up to summon Cleo and Ethan for the morning war council. "Louise doesn't want me, Luther," told Cleo. Luther shook his head, "Louise? He and Maria are nowhere to be seen since dawn. I am afraid...he may have taken a boat into the lake and run away secretly. We have only you now."