"Swoosh——"

A guard on the wall shot a precise arrow, piercing the neck of a strange human.

That was the last of "them" found that night.

"Nice shot!" Mike praised from the side, "But these guys are really annoying, huh? They come every night. I don’t know what these foreigners are thinking."

"Probably trying to distract us, then attack suddenly or spread diseases. But the people up there are already prepared."

"Those foolish foreigners. Do they think they can fool us with these tricks? Impossible!"

"That's true, hahaha..."

Throughout the long night, everything returned to that usual calm.

With instructions from their superiors, the guards remained alert, watching the horizon.

Even though they didn’t consider the foreigners as intelligent as humans, this continuous sending of bait raised suspicions.

Even without knowing what they were plotting, the guard couldn’t relax.

Mike yawned, looked at the sky, and rubbed his tired eyes.

After staring into the distance for so long, his vision began to blur.

"Hm?"

He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked down.

Aside from the corpses on the ground, there didn’t seem to be anything else.

I say "seemed" because he wasn’t sure if the bodies had shifted.

Comparing with what he remembered, Mike realized he couldn’t recall the exact position of the corpses.

When they fought, they focused on the living targets.

As for the bodies on the ground, they just made sure they were motionless and didn’t pay much attention.

Stolen story; please report.

Unease washed over him, but after observing for a while, he felt relieved.

The corpses hadn’t moved.

Perhaps it had just been his imagination.

Convinced of that, he returned to looking at the horizon...

......

"It seems that... the humans are becoming alert."

In the Bartoli family castle, Shirley touched her left eyepatch, as if she could see the human defense line in the distance.

"Shirley, we have too few usable humans," Karina said beside her.

After careful selection, they kept the quality humans and used the others as tools.

Thanks to Shirley’s transformation, these tools were now scattered along the human defense line.

"Yes, risking more would increase the chances of being discovered. If we act now, we might catch them off guard and inflict considerable damage before they react. That will be enough to consider the plan a success."

After days of work, Shirley was exhausted and leaned against Karina, closing her eyes for a brief rest.

"Regardless of success, after this plan, the real war will begin. We cannot give the humans any more time to strengthen."

"Yes..." Karina replied softly, embracing Shirley under the moonlight, both falling asleep.

In another room, Luna, Delia, and Eileen were talking.

"Soon, Princess Shirley will decide to go into battle..." Luna looked at the two.

"I will also participate in this fight, so I leave the castle in your care while I am away."

"Mother Luna..."

Luna interrupted them, continuing: "You are still young, but you have already shown competence. And due to your lineage, no one will oppose you."

"I've already explained how to handle emergencies... But if we return and find the castle in disarray, I won’t be lenient."

"Yes, Mother Luna!" they replied in unison.

"Rest while you can, for you will have much work afterward."

Luna left.

The war could start at any moment, but until then, Luna had her obligations.

.....

After Luna left, Delia expressed her concern.

"Princess Shirley will be fine," Eileen said firmly.

"Yes, Princess Shirley is strong... There’s nothing to worry about."

Though she said this, Delia was uneasy.

Having cared for Shirley for so long, she felt her emotions and knew how to serve her.

It was like Luna in that aspect.

But lately, she felt a strange unease.

It wasn't that Shirley was in danger, but Delia sensed that something had changed.

Ever since Shirley began wearing the eyepatch, there was a shadow over her, even while doing the same things and speaking the same words.

There was something dark.

Shirley shared nothing, not even with Karina or Luna, let alone with a maid like her...

She could only silently pray for Shirley to return safely and as she once was.

That alone... was enough.

.....

The twilight of the next day arrived.

After resting all day, Shirley stretched as she woke up.

"Princess Shirley, I’ll help you get dressed..."

It was Luna speaking, not Delia.

"Oh, of course!"

Due to the shortage of personnel, Luna needed to help with other tasks.

It hadn’t been common to personally care for Shirley in recent centuries.

"Princess Shirley, about the war..."

While helping Shirley, Luna asked.

"Oh, about that..."

Shirley smiled mysteriously, as the red in her right eye shone brightly.

"The war is about to begin..."