"Your Highness..."
"Hm?"
"It has been already been a little over a week since the execution of the knights that had raised their swords against Your Highness' wives, however, this one is still yet to see the issue that Your Highness mentioned to this one alone inside the carriage on that day. So this one was wondering..."
"Ah, you fret too much, Lia! Had I not told you not to worry and that this humble husband of yours has already arranged for everything?"
"Yes, you did, Your Highness..."
Lying in the bed with Lia resting by my side, I reached over to her, embracing her petite naked body, feeling her soft delicate skin pressed up against mine.
Then, I ran my hand under her short black hair with purple streaks, feeling the strands of her silk-like hair falling in between my fingers.
Lia gazed up into my face, her ruby red eyes glinting like gemstones.
"Your Highness..."
The words escaped her pursing cherry lips, her voice soft and submissive unlike her usual calm, collected demeanour.
With my free hand, I ran it down the side of her waist, feeling her naked skin and the curvature of her sublime body, causing her to moan gently into my ear.
Despite how beautiful Lia was, there was still something sitting on the back of my mind, beckoning at me like a perfect painting that had been left partly unfinished.
"Lia, how come the three of you are never in the bed with me at the same time?"
Lia's eyebrow twitched at that question and she sighed.
"Your Highness, please don't mention the other two when we are in bed together. This one likes to forget about their existence all together in these brief moments where it is just Your Highness and this one alone. Simply putting the thought of those two in this one's mind makes this one wants to curl up into a ball and scream. That is why this one's favourite time of the day is when this one is either asleep or in bed with Your Highness alone."
I glanced at her, slightly surprised by her reaction.
Although there was no doubt that the three wives always bickered and hurled insults at one another whenever in the same room, there was also the very brief and rare moments where I had observed them making normal conversations with one another or working quite well together in a team such as when they were guarding me.
I had thought that there was perhaps a chance, albeit small, that deep down, in the recesses of their hearts, there was a tiny spark of care they had for each other.
"Do you really despise them so much?"
"Your Highness, if this one were alone in a room with Duarte Thatchere, Alice, and Sephiel, and this one had a revolver with two bullets, this one would first remove the bullets, break the revolver in half, pummel the two bullets into Sephiel's brain with this one's foot, after which this one would then proceed to beat Alice to death with this one's fists."
"...Who's Duarte Thatchere?"
"A war general from 500 years ago that started a genocide, wiping away 80% of the world's total population."
"Oh..."
"The only reason that this one has not already slain Alice and Sephiel is that this one knows Your Highness would not be pleased if this one were to kill the other two."
Lia moved away from my embrace, picking herself up from the bed and started dressing herself.
"This one is able and willing to do anything that Your Highness asks this one to do... however, sharing a bed with Alice and Sephiel is not within this one's capabilities..."
"Lia,"
"I bid you goodnight, Your Highness."
The door to the bedroom slammed shut and I was left alone in the bed.
...
Tch.
What a problematic girl.
I had spent the majority of my time, pampering the wives, but Lia was still not opening up to me emotionally.
Although I had her body, I could feel a barrier between us that was preventing me from seeing what Lia was truly thinking.
At least with the other two I could feel that I was getting somewhere.
I needed the three wives to be at the very least on ally terms if my plan for this empire was going to work.
Apart from that, my own mixed feelings about cheating was causing this itch in the back of my head every time I was in bed with one of the girls.
Ah, if only the three of them did not hate each other so much.
That would be the ideal situation.
Then I wouldn't have this weird feeling in my heart whenever I was with one and not the other two.
~x~
The next day.
"Your Highness, there has been an attack on the remote town of Reyla in the east of our empire."
The day I was waiting for finally came.
I glanced up from the book I was reading about the history of empires, looking at Sephiel who had brought forth the news.
I had appointed Sephiel to oversee military communications, liaising directly to and from top military officials on behalf of the Emperor.
A duty that had formerly been responsible for by Count Caldwell, as well as many other duties and powers that I had been gradually removing from the Count.
"And the attackers?"
"They have not been identified yet, Your Highness. We were not able to confirm whether they are from a foreign empire or an independent faction."
"What about the numbers? How large are the enemy forces?"
"A survivor has stated that he estimates the numbers to be at around 2,000."
Such a measly number of attackers against an empire with a total military force at around 60,000.
But yet the numbers were too large to simply be the shenanigans of a group of disorderly bandits.
I could clearly see what was going on here.
"Gather 500 soldiers, as well as 100 soldiers from the Elite Legion. Keep the rest of our armies stationed at the same place as I had instructed a few days ago."
"600 soldiers, Your Highness...?" Sephiel repeated, her eyes widening for a second. "That is not even half the estimated number of enemy forces..."
I closed the book I was reading, placing it down on the table.
Then, I walked up to Sephiel and planted a hand on top of her slender shoulder.
Her normally aloof smile had turned unsure, waiting for me to speak.
"Quite clearly, this is a test, Sephiel."
"A test, Your Highness...?"
"Yes, a test. And for their efforts, we're going to reward our audiences with a little glimmer of the Tzuya empire's might."
"..."
"Now, please arrange for my transport, Sephiel."
"Where to, Your Highness?"
"To Reyla, of course!"
"Y, Your Highness plans to go in person as well...?"
"Yes, ah, and bring the other two with me."
~x~
"They say His Highness has gone crazy..."
"I heard he is suffering from dementia and lost all his memories..."
"Those non-human freaks that married the Emperor are starting to run the empire now too... just because they're screwing him..."
"But things have actually started to improve in the empire, haven't they...? Since His Highness' wives have taken over duties from the Count..."
"How could you say that...! Where is your loyalty to His Excellency...!"
"..."
I stepped out of the tent and the lines of soldiers standing outside the tent went silent.
What a pain in the ass.
In my excitement I had forgotten that real life battlefields carried all the inpleasures of human life that were not prevalent in video games.
We had traversed over several days and nights just to get to the outskirts of Reyla.
And now that I was here, I had to live in a makeshift tent that didn't even have air conditioning in this heat that we were in.
Ah, I just want to hurry up and get back to the castle.
Following behind me coming out of the tent was Lia who was soon joined by Alice coming from another tent set up around the place.
"Alice my dear," I greeted Alice, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "My morning has immediately brightened upon seeing your lovely face."
"Good morning, Your Highness!" Alice beamed, "Although I was unfortunately not able to spend the night with you yesterday, I can understand your delight in seeing me over Lia."
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Lia furrowed her eyebrows at me from behind me.
"I, It's just that I am happiest when all my three wives are together, and since Sephiel is not here, it's just you and Alice, that was what it was supposed to mean! Ahahah...!"
I had purposely instructed Sephiel to stay behind at the castle to manage things while I was away.
Before Lia could make a comment, I quickly changed the topic, "So now that we're here, Lia, what's the situation like inside Reyla?"
"Well..." Lia sighed, then pulled out something that looked like an ipad in my old world, but was made entirely of glass. It was a magical device that allowed one to communicate to others in writing. Writings lit in a yellow glow began to appear on the surface of the device -- a letter from Sephiel back at the castle. "It seems the attackers have occupied the town and are using the townspeople as hostages..."
"Naturally."
"Also, revised estimates of the enemy forces are now in the 3,000..."
I chuckled hearing that, "What about the identities of the attackers? Have we identified whether they belong to any empires yet?"
"No, Your Highness."
"Hm, alright."
"Your Highness,"
A third voice appeared and I glanced away from Lia and at the front of me to see a man in lieutenant knight armour, painted in a blue and gold sheen that indicated he was not part of the normal Tzuya empire army, but from the first-class Tzuya empire army known as the Elite Legion which consisted of 5,000 of the Tzuya empire's best soldiers.
He knelt down, and I rose my hand to tell him to stand.
"Yes?"
"Our men have found one of the attackers' men."
"Really? Where is he now?"
"Dead, Your Highness. We were able to confirm that the attackers are mercenaries from the Timore mercenary group. However, we were unable to confirm their employer's identity. It seems the attackers have been placed under a magic contract seal by their employer that kills them if they try to speak about their employer."
Of course.
Whomever had sent this group wasn't going to make it that easy to find out their identities.
"Were you able to obtain any other information from the man before he died?"
"No, Your Highness."
"I see."
"Also, Your Highness, if I may, I believe our best strategy for this battle is through a battle of attrition. Reyla is a small walled town with a population of at most 500 people and based on the estimates that the enemy forces are in the 3,000, food and water within the town should already be close to depletion by now. Additionally, with our current positioning between the town of Reyla and the larger town of Oasine, we will be able to replenish our troops for a much longer time using resources from Oasine. Considering our numbers disadvantage, I would seriously advise against a head-on battle."
"What is your name?"
"Leofwine, Your Highness."
I placed a hand on Leofwine's broad shoulder, staring him in his blue eyes.
"Leofwine, consider this. You are a wealthy aristocrat and you have just ordered a splendid fruit basket to surprise your next door neighbours. Would you be satisfied if your neighbours simply took the fruit basket, said a quiet thank you, and you never heard from them again?"
"N... no, Your Highness...?"
"Exactly! How could we disappoint our lovely audiences that had set up this fruit basket for us and give them such a yawn-inducing snooze of a show? What should our audiences think when they watch such a lacklustre performance? And what will our audiences' next actions be upon such a display?"
"I do not know, Your Highness..."
I slapped Leofwine on the back, pushing him back to the lines of soldiers standing ready, "Have a think about it on the battlefield."
What Leofine had said would had been all fine and dandy for winning a battle.
But I was trying to win a war here.
I turned back to Lia standing by my side.
"Prepare the troops for battle, we're going to breach Reyla."
~x~
"Roughly 200 enemy forces have left the front entrance of Reyla."
"What type of unit did they send?"
"Infantry."
"Continue marching our men forward in the formations I have assigned."
"Yes, Your Highness."
I was standing at a nearby hill that was high enough for me to clearly observe the battlefield that was the town of Reyla.
Due to the vast plains where the Tzuya empire was situated, the natural terrain didn't make it too difficult to find a good vantage point.
Besides me were Lia and Alice, and standing nearby on hold were 100 regular soldiers.
Lia was communicating with the forces that we had sent out via the device she had been using earlier.
I had split our 600 soldiers into 5 groups; Group A being 200 soldiers including the Elite Legions approaching Reyla from the north where the town's main entrance was, Group B, C, and D being 3 groups of 100 soldiers approaching Reyla from the east, west, and south respectively, and Group E being the remaining 100 soldiers on standby with me.
"Your Highness," Lia glanced up from the device to look at me, "Group A is going to make contact and clash with the 200 enemy forces soon."
In terms of numbers, they had sent out the same amount of forces to match the group approaching the entrance of the town.
So it seems that the attackers were intent on conserving their forces and be efficient by matching the same number of men.
A defensive strategy since the attackers did not know the numbers of our forces.
They were probably assuming that they were the ones with a numbers disadvantage.
Little did they know our forces totalled 600 men against their 3,000 men.
"Halt Group A. Continue advancing Group B, C, and D towards Reyla."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Reyla was a remote town on the borders of the Tzuya empire and as such, the town had walls on all four side with the only entrance being the front entrance in the north.
They were probably wondering why we were sending men from the other 3 sides where there is no way to enter the town except to scale the walls.
On my other side, Alice was lying in the grass, observing the battlefield with a bored look on her snow-white face.
"Your Highness, why did you stop the men from clashing?" Alice asked, "The enemy forces are just mercenaries, right? In a battle with even numbers, the regular soldiers and Elite Legion soldiers in Group A should be able to easily come out on top."
I chuckled and simply said, "You are not incorrect, Alice."
Hearing me say no more, Alice remained quiet docilely.
"Your Highness," Lia spoke, "The 200 enemy forces are continuing towards Group A."
"As expected. Have Group B and C converge to the north from the side."
"And Group D, Your Highness?"
"Continue marching for the south walls of Reyla."
"Yes, Your Highness."
----------------------------------------
LEOFWINE. FIRST CLASS LIEUTENANT OF THE ELITE LEGIONS.
"Sir, the enemy forces are continuing to march towards us!"
"Relay that to His Highness."
"Yes, sir!"
When I was told that I would lead a squad to fend off an attack on some remote town located at the edge of the Tzuya empire, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that His Highness, the Emperor of Tzuya himself would be tagging along.
And even more surprising was that there would only be a handful force of 600 men sent to defend against estimated enemy forces of 2,000.
Then imagine my horror when the revised estimates became 3,000 upon our arrival.
I didn't know what His Highness was thinking, but as a soldier it wasn't in my place to think.
The only thing I could do as a soldier was pray that whoever was in command had not gone mad.
"Sir, the enemy forces will be approaching soon!"
Sitting atop my horse, I glanced over the green plains, seeing the enemy mercenaries charging towards us.
Their numbers were about 200 roughly.
An even battle, huh?
We shouldn't suffer too many casualties here considering that the enemies were mere mercenaries up against trained soldiers.
Since we have not received any instructions besides the last one which was to hold our position here, I assume this is where we will fight.
"Prepare for battle!" I shouted at the soldiers behind me, rallying our troops.
"Sir, I have received news that we have reinforcements from our forces coming from the sides as well!"
"Reinforcements? Even better. Let us destroy our enemies and show them the might of the Tzuya empire!"
----------------------------------------
NIO DE TZUYA. EMPEROR OF THE TZUYA EMPIRE.
"Your Highness, the 200 enemy forces are trying to retreat back to Reyla."
"Have Group A charge forward to pursue the enemy forces from in front, then have Group B and C flank the enemy forces from behind. Do not let even a single mice escape."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Lia bowed her head in acknowledgement of the order.
----------------------------------------
LEOFWINE. FIRST CLASS LIEUTENANT OF THE ELITE LEGIONS.
"Charge forward! Slay the mercenaries that dared to make enemies of the Tzuya empire!"
I was shouting to our forces, charging atop my horse.
Seeing as the 200 enemy forces that had been sent out were all infantry without horses, it didn't take long before our group managed to catch up to them.
I passed a mercenary mid-run atop my horse, stabbing him in the chest with my sword, and allowing the motion of my charging horse to pull the blade back out to look for more mercenaries fleeing desperately.
It was futile for the mercenaries.
They were fleeing into our reinforcement forces that were cutting their path off from the back, and the few that stood their ground were outnumbered and cut down easily without their fleeing comrades.
Everywhere the mercenaries looked was the face of death.
"Do not let them escape! Kill them all!"
----------------------------------------
NIO DE TZUYA. EMPEROR OF THE TZUYA EMPIRE.
"Your Highness, enemy reinforcements are coming out from Reyla."
"How many?"
"Roughly 400 it appears."
I smirked, "Continue our attack on the fleeing enemy forces. It's already too late for them. Once our forces are done with the first 200 enemy forces, immediately assume the pincer formation and encircle the next 400 enemy forces as they approach."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The mercenaries were still reluctant to use their full forces, continuing to desperately expend as little resources as possible.
Or in other words, they were stingy as fuck.
Just as I expected from the nature of mercenaries that fought for the sole purpose of profit.
Lia was transmitting the message on the communication device that she was holding when she noticed a new message coming in.
"Your Highness, Group D has almost reached the south walls of Reyla."
"Ah, really? Then I guess it's about time."
"Your Highness?"
Both Lia and Alice glanced up at me with a puzzled look on their faces.
I grinned, looking at the both of them.
"Are you ready to see some fireworks?"
~x~
A flawless victory.
I stood outside the barricaded front entrance of Reyla, watching as the raging flames soared up into the sky, spreading thick black smoke into the wind.
The doors of the entrance to the walled town pounded, shaking vigorously with the sound of human screaming filling my ears.
Unfortunately for the mercenaries, the walled town had a magical security system erected that allowed royal members of the Tzuya empire to lock up the town in times of need such as during a natural catastrophe or in times of war, a safety mechanism that was common across all walled towns across the Tzuya empire.
The only escape for the mercenaries then became the tall walls that surrounded the town, something that they had thought was their best defense now became their worst nightmare.
I watched as the occassional mercenaries that manged to scale the tall walls of Reyla was immediately shot down by our artillery forces that had set up positions all around the town.
The smell of charred meat and flesh wafted past my nose and I closed my eyes.
Human meat burning didn't actually smell that bad.
It was just like the smell of roast cooking an animal over a fire.
"Your Highness..."
I opened my eyes, glancing at Lia standing by my side.
"What of the hostages inside...?"
I sighed at Lia's question, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.
"Do you really think that the mercenaries, who made no demands, would had kept much hostages alive? Or what kind of suffering those remaining hostages would had been going through under the mercenaries occupation of their town?"
"..."
There was also a message I wanted to send to the audiences of this spectacle.
"Besides," I pulled her close to me, as we watched the fire consume the town, Alice on my other side, sitting in the grass and also watching the fire, "sometimes, it's necessary to cut off an arm in order to keep the rest of the body alive... or, in this case the ends of a fingernail."