"Are the preparations ready?" King Gadea asked his retainer.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good, then tell sir Hel to meet me immediately." The old king ordered his servant.

His retainer bowed his head and excused himself from his king.

It was already nightfall. Good. All has been going according to their plan. Just as Lord Hel said. With his new body, his sire would use Valencia to throw chaos on this continent. His Lord's dream would be one step awa-

"It's seems like your enjoying yourself, 'Milord'." A deep voice rang across the throne room, a voice too otherworldly to describe.

King Gadea was startled but later regained his composure. He saw the man wearing a black glassy mask that resembled a human face with red accents on his eyes and lips, golden eyes shone through the mask's dark eye piece.

"Welcome back Lord Hel." If someone saw the king bowed his head to a mysterious stranger, it would be terribly scandalous.

"I assume you already finished the preparations?" The masked man asked.

"Yes, Milord. The troops have been withdrawn and placed under House Naverre."

"Then what about the princes?"

"The firstborn is currently unconscious in his room but I suppose it has something to do with the youngest. The second born was killed in the siege of Castle Maine and the youngest took the whore and escaped, it is currently unknown where they are but it is highly likely they set to free her brother." The king reported to him.

"Then proceed as planned. We need to give them free access to the kingdom after all."

He then walked out of the throne room wondering how this little game would play out.

"Prince of Lombard, how will you move..."

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While Charlemagne already went to invade and rescue Sophia.

He promised him to stay at Maine so that any attempts to reclaim it would be futile.

So Roy really had nothing to do but wait.

Or...

He could poke his nose around the castle. He wondered if Sophia wouldn't mind him going through her room...

"Hey Roy, I need to talk to you about something." A beautiful woman wearing multiple jewelries asked him. The lady of house Macbeth was his right-hand woman, a valuable ally and friend.

"What is it Bianca?" He was curious to what she wanted to discuss. She was the type of person who loved to gossip. Maybe it was something interesting.

"Why did you decide to help them?"

Roy looked at her slightly surprised. He didn't expect her to gossip to him about... him.

"I was curious." He simply said, not looking at her as if he was interested in something else.

She blinked at him with wide eyes. "You dragged my men, Emilia's and Cynthia's, to help invade Valencia, just because you were curious?!"

"I wouldn't say invade but—"

"You let the prince borrow Emilia and Cynthia and their soldiers."

"I shouldn't leave a friend hanging, right?" He shrugged off her accusation.

She looked absolutely annoyed at him, she couldn't read him at all.

"Don't you think it's strange?" He spoke, his voice a bit distant.

She raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"After our graduation at the military academy, we all went back to our respective nations. It's been a week since then but Adelaide hasn't returned to the empire. And now, two kingdoms are at the brink of war. Not only that but Bolsung has been making their move." He said to her, his eyes became distant.

Bianca relaxed, she knew Roy always had good intuition so she decided to listen to him.

"It might be a stretch, but what if those three incidents are connected?"

She gave his words some thought, normally if someone said something so outlandish, she would have just laughed at them, but Roy was different, that mind of his was a weapon and he knew how to use it efficiently.

"I can't say yet, but do you have some proof?" She asked him.

"No, Not yet. Like I said, it's a stretch. For all I know those three aren't connected, since reports says that Bolsung is trying to invade Valhalla, Bolsung wouldn't have the resources to wage war with two other kingdoms. I lack the necessary information to conclude something." He said.

True, without evidence, no one could prove its validity and even then, evidence could be manipulated.

Then it clicked to her. He needed evidence to connect the all three incidents. Her eyes widened. "So that's why you sent Emilia and Cynthia with Charlemagne! To get proof!"

Roy's distant look disappeared, replaced by a cocky smirk. "That's right. I told Cynthia to report to me on what happened and gather some information, while I left Malcolm to deal with what's happening with the empire through their trade business."

She had to admit, he was definitely cunning. He used both Charlemagne's goals and house Duncan's relationship with the empire to his advantage.

"I'm surprised Malcolm actually agreed to this plan of yours." She said in resignation she was now seating with her hand on her cheek.

Roy was still smirking, he took the pony tail of his hair, letting his long brown locks flow.

"Well it wasn't easy, but I still got an earful saying that 'You are not setting a good example of nobility' yada, yada, yada." Roy did his best to sound incredibly pompous.

He turned to her with a serious look, one that he never let out. "Bianca, something big is happening. I can feel it. First, Valencia and now Bolsung is making a move? This is no coincidence."

"I hope you know what you're doing Roy."

He dropped his smile and instead, looked out the window.

"I do too..."

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"We're almost there Sophia."

She was anxious about her baby brother. She hope that they didn't do anything to him. But she has to wait patiently, the current of the water might be a bit calm but Cidel is only a man.

Despite the dark, she can make out a tall tower, uplifted by some huge and sharp rocks.

When they reached the prison tower, they entered it's gloomy halls. She couldn't explain it but it felt she was being suffocated by the air itself. The torch that they lit up didn't help in the matter.

"Your brother's below this tower, we need to find the stairs down."

She grabbed his hand, tightly. Cidel grabbed back. She was grateful for his consideration.

She could see the cells as they walked through the cramped walls. They were damp, small, and dirty, it looked like it hasn't been maintained for a long while. She could practically smell the corpses that rotted in each cage.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally found the stairs at the end of the hall.

The staircase seemed to be spiralling infinitely as they continued to go down.

After reaching the bottom, which had an even worse odor of blood and rotting bones, they walked through the hall of cells to find her brother.

Thet reached the end of the hall and found him. His body was bruised but not severely, thank the Goddess.

"Andriodos!" She opened his cell and ran up to the young boy, hugging him tightly, tears running down her cheeks.

"Sophia..." He muttered.

"Yes, it's me your big sister!" She was incredibly ecstatic to see him alive.

"Are you alright?" Her brother asked, his eyes are filled with concern.

"I should be asking you the same thing!"

"I hate to break up the reunion but we need to get out of here, it's not safe to stay around anymore."

She nodded at him and prepared to carry her brother on her back.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Andriodos glared at him. "Sophia, he's one of the guys that locked me up down here."

"Don't worry Andri, he came here to help us, he's gonna return to us to Lombard." She said to him.

"Just the border but whatever."

Andriodos still didn't trust him but the least he could was let him help since he saved them both.

Cidel was glad that all went according to plan, they needed to get to the main land soon to talk to prince Charlemagne about his father.

And put an end to this madness.

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It was easier than expected.

But that doesn't make any sense. Entering a hostile nation was supposed to be difficult and yet they already occupied a post at the border of Valencia.

There must be something going on.

"Cynthia, what's your take on this matter?" He asked the mage for her tactical input.

"We could follow the route and claim Castle Naverre but scouts says that a third of the kingdom's army resides there."

He thought about it, with his army growing with the help of Roy, they could try to do that, but why would they keep a portion of their army placed in one location instead of defending key locations? Like the Valencian Capital?

The white haired woman continued. "We could also ignore Castle Naverre and head straight to the forest directly to the Capital, Taifa and into the Royal Castle since reports says that the troops on Naverre and the Capital are lacking equipment."

"Then we go straight to the Capital. We'll depart with half of the army. Leave the rest here just in case troops on Naverre make their move."

"Understood." She then excused herself.

He excused her and went to the dining hall, there he saw his friends relaxing a bit, he saw the determined Judith eating silently with the laidback Inigo, flirting with Cynthia and Emilia without much success—

"How are you holding up?" His dark haired friend asked him.

"Lyon! Yes I'm fine, just... a bit stressed out." He sighed tiredly.

Lyon sat down across him and began eating his food. "We'll get them back, so don't get your hopes down."

He looked at the swordsman and smiled. "We still have three hours until we depart. Do you want to spar with me?"

He looked at the prince and smirked at him. "As battle hungry as we are, we ought to hold back or else we'll have no equipment left."

He grinned at the thought, they always did get into trouble because they always destroyed weapons used by the knight order.

During their peaceful meal, a scout returned and reported to Charlemagne. "Sir! We have good news!" He said, gaining the attention of his friends.

"What is it?"

"Lady Sophia and Lord Andriodos are safe. We began escorting them. Not only that, she was with someone else, she told us that he was the one who saved them."

"Yes! Finally! I get to see my beautiful Sophia!" Inigo joked but that didn't go all too well with Judith as she pinched his sides.

"She doesn't have time for your philandering."

Lyon being a bit sensible asked. "Who's the 'someone' who saved her?"

"That would be me." They heard a smooth voice.

Right behind the scout, the door opened and saw the thirdborn prince, alongside Sophia and Andriodos.

"Good evening prince Charlemagne, I would like to-"

Lyon immediately grabbed his sword, while Judith claimed her lance. Inigo dropped his laid-back smile and gave a cold stare beneath his dark gray hair.

"Wait everyone! Cidel was the one who saved me, please hear him out!" She pleaded to her friends.

Charlemagne's expression was hard to read, he walked up to her and her brother.

And held them tightly.

"Don't you ever make us worry for you two ever again!"

The sibling smiled at him and hugged him back.

"Never again, milord." She said with a grin.

"Yeah and you still owe me training Charlemagne!" The boy was happy that he could come back.

Cidel smiled at them... He was reminded of his time with his brothers and how unlike they are to them.

"Prince Cidel? You request an audience with me, right?" The blonde prince addressed him.

Cidel nodded to him. "I want to talk to you. In private."

"Then let's talk at the temporary strategy room."

He started walking out of the dining hall with Cidel.

"Let's get you taken care of, both of you." Judith said to her friends.

Sophia smiled at her, she truly do miss being back.

But she wondered if Cidel would be okay...

She just have to pray for him.

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"Please, help me save my father."

Charlemagne was shocked, he didn't expect to be asked by an enemy prince for help.

"Tell me one thing, why do you want my help?" He inquired.

Cidel straightened his posture befitting of a prince. "My father was being influenced by someone. I don't know who he is and where he came from but he was the one behind Sophia and Andriodos' kidnapping!"

He looked at him confused. "Do you at least know his name?"

"He was called Hel."

"Called?"

Cidel noticed his confusion. "That's what he calls himself, I never met him in person but I did see him talk to my father as he is his current advisor. He's always wearing a mask so I couldn't tell what he looked like."

He contemplated what he should do. They already accomplished their goal, rescuing Sophia and Andriodos. If he gets involved any further, things might get complicated.

But...

His heart doesn't really listen to his brain often.

Cidel saved the siblings, he was not like his brothers, brigands in royal garbs. He owed him. Saving his father was the least he could do.

"I'll help you. As thanks for what you have done." Charlemagne smiled at him

Cidel was a bit surprised that he agreed to help him so quickly, despite being a prince of an enemy nation.

'This guy...'

The Valencian prince smiled back. "Thank you Prince Charlemagne."

"Haha, no need for thanks and please call me Charlemagne, a friend of Sophia is also a friend of mine." He grinned at him.

He really was what the rumors said. Kind-hearted, courageous and stalwart. A model prince through and through.

"Prepare yourself Cidel, we will march through the Capital in about three hours."

"Right." Cidel then excused himself to get some air. Launching an attack against his father left a bad taste in his mouth, but he knew it had to be done.

It was the right thing to do.

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Judith was in her own room preparing for the attack.

Apparently, Prince Cidel knew that the Valencian Capital is wide open for an attack since his father scattered his army throughout out his kingdom.

Forty-five more minutes until they depart. She decided to check up on her best friend to see if she was doing okay.

She knocked on the door. Once. Twice.

"Come in!"

She opened the door to see her sitting on her bed, reading a book. Tales of Roland and the Paladins.

"Hey Soph, are you doing okay? Can I get you anything?" She walked up to her bed side and sat down on a chair beside her.

She smiled softly. "No, everything's fine... It's just that, I'm worried."

"About what?"

"You and everyone else." She said a bit guilty. She knew her friends had the pride of noble knights, knights that fear no death and wear their honor on their sleeves. Judith included.

"Hahaha, don't worry about it, everything will be fine." She smiled at her.

"Yeah you're right. Let's change the topic, I heard Roy came to your rescue at Maine Castle." She began teasing the knight.

She blushed slightly and laughed at her curious gaze. "It's not like I'm the only one he saved, he even saved His Highness, Lyon and Inigo."

She heard her giggled. "Speaking of Inigo, how is it going between the two of you?"

"Why am I the only one getting grilled here? How about you and Prince Cidel, I noticed how you look when you told us what happened." A smirk came to her face.

Now it was Sophia's turn to feel embarrassed. "O-oh, w-well it's only natural to think fondly of the person who saved you!

She laughed at her embarrassed state, and soon after the golden haired woman followed.

They talked about for nearly half an hour about their current affairs.

Sophia noticed that Judith's hair was sloppily tied up. "Hey Jude? Can you turn around for a bit?"

She raised an eyebrow but decided to let her have her way.

"Your hair is a mess, let me fix it for you."

She removed her hairpin, letting it flow onto her back. She then put her locks up and turned it into a bun, putting her hairpin at the middle of bun.

"There! Let me see how you look."

Judith turned to her.

"Oh my, you look magnificent!" Her green eyes and blonde hair tied up nicely complimenting her white armor. She was a natural beauty.

"You could charm the entire kingdom with those looks of yours."

Judith turned embarrassed by her compliment. "Thanks Soph, but was that really necessary?"

"Mm-hmm, You're all going out there to fight, The least I could do is to not let your hair get in the way."

The lady knight smiled at her. "Well, thanks again Soph, and rest well, it's time for us to depart."

"Alright, be careful and may the Goddess Osiris guide you all."

----------------------------------------

The route they took allowed them to sneak past Castle Naverre. the Castle of Valencia was at the most northern part of the country.

Going north through the forest was surprisingly a breeze since the territory north of Naverre was owned by Prince Cidel, Taifa.

After passing through the capital, they saw the Valencian Castle.

To get through there, requires the process of entering a dense forest, it acted as a safe guard for intruders.

Oddly enough, when passing through the forest, there was a lack of soldiers, Charlemagne's army was prepared for an ambush yet, non came.

'What the hell is going on?' The thirdborn prince thought.

"It's quiet." Charlemagne said.

Cidel agreed to the sentiment, it was unlike his father and brother to not set up some sort of tra—

Only then when they found out that they fell into a trap.

As a third of the Valencian army appeared out of nowhere, hidden in the forest as they immediately sensed their intent to kill.

'What the-? Did they use a Teleportation powder?!'

Cidel noticed that both armies' mobility became hindered, because they were riding horses and because the enemy were ironically, on foot.

Still the enemy had the terrain advantage due to being Valencian soldiers. Still this was doable. It was a good thing they only took half of the army.

"Charlemagne! We need to keep moving north! If we passed through this forest as fast as possible, we can mobilize our army faster!"

"Right! Defensive unit! Form a barrier around the mages and healers! Defend them with your lives! Cynthia!"

The mage heard the order. "Alright Mage Corps.! If they hit at us, hit them as hard as you can! Emilia! You and your healers are in charge of the wounded!"

And so, they pushed through. They were lucky, the enemy can only approach using bow and arrows, which can't penetrate the defensive wall they had.

They managed to got out of the forest with only few injured. All they have to do was to keep the defensive wall while their mages cast their spell.

Suddenly, a Meteor spell came down in front of them while they tried to advance, the traces of magic seemingly came from the forest. The horses were startle by the sudden explosion.

'Shit! They have mages of that caliber?!'

Just then, Cynthia casted her own spell, Wisp. A spell that can track down the traces of a spell and reverse it on them.

"That should take care of that!"

'To cast an advance spell like Wisp almost instantaneously... truly a wonderful ally.'

"Mass Heal!" Emilia casted her White magic.

Suddenly, all of the injured soldiers began healing their wounds.

Charlemagne looked behind and smiled at her. She noticed him looking and she smiled back.

After getting through that onslaught, they finally arrived at the Castle.

"Listen up everyone, I will only take a few soldiers with me! Cidel, Lyon and Emilia will come with me, the rest of you guard the entrance. We might get ambushed again from behind, so stay vigilant!"

All four of them entered the castle. Quite like the Carolingian Castle.

"The throne room is just up ahead." Cidel told them.

They opened the door of the throne room.

None of them were prepared for what they saw.

"Father!" Cidel shouted in horror and ran up to the throne.

The king's head was being held by his decapitated body on his throne.

They all looked horrified, they expected a battle. A battle to save his family.

And yet all they could do was listen to the Valencian Prince's quiet sobs.

"Hel..."

They turned around to see Castile, beaten and scarred. His tendons were full of cuts, it seemed like he crawled his way to the throne room.

Cidel rushed forward to his brother. "Hel did this?!" His eyes still filled with tears.

A harsh cough came to his brother. He tried to grab his brother's arm. "A... venge.... us... little.... bro... ther...."

"Castile? Castile?! Wake up you bastard!" He began shaking his brother's corpse.

"Don't do this to me! You still need to be punished for all your crimes! Wake up! Please..." He couldn't control his tears, he hugged his brother's dead body.

That night, only the cries of the only living royal of Valencia can be heard echoing throughout the castle.