‘The platoon leaders wanted to send a team of each squad to scout ahead to see where the creatures are, which is a good idea, but I wanted your opinion, Your Highness.’ Alon stood in front of the duchess.

‘I already said that we will attack tomorrow; the soldiers need rest and we have patrols so that the creatures don’t sneak on us, I understand, but that's a no.’ Ariadne fanned herself while sitting with her legs crossed.

‘May I step in a little?’ Edmund waved at Ariadne as he entered the room.

‘No problem.’ She looked at him.

‘We don’t know what is happening, if we do this, it may trigger the attacks again, it may have nothing and we all get to the sword but when the crystal up there shines again, the creatures could just appear right in front of in the mix of our troops, we don’t know.’ Edmund held his chin while tapping his chin.

‘Because we don’t know, much better to wait for the known; tomorrow we will advance again. Everything is being supplied and the soldiers can rest. I care too much about every single one of you to risk it.’ She closed the fan, making a sound.

The soldiers in the room smiled ‌as they heard her words. Alon gave the order, which they passed down to the platoon leaders. There was no objection, as the last word came from Ariadne herself.

Between the camp at the entrance and the city where the troops were, the soldiers of the mortar company were lying down on their backs; no lights were allowed because the creatures could use them to spot the soldiers.

‘Alright everybody, before the turns begin, check your equipment; it needs to be good for tomorrow.’ Nortis spoke as he walked between the troops.

‘We did nothing today; I hope we can help tomorrow.’ One Chatzi soldier commented.

‘You will. We are the key to killing the dungeon guardian. The more creatures we kill, the weaker the guardian becomes, as the dungeon will use its power to replenish the troops. That is the play.’ He looked with his blue eyes at the soldier who had talked before.

‘Wow, now I’m feeling the weight of our responsibility.’ Another Shafran soldier said while cleaning the mortar.

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‘Just a reminder for everyone; the moment we use all our rounds, we will serve as frontline reinforcements. Pray our Goddess can slay the guardian in time; if not, our lives will serve as the rounds instead.’ He continued to walk, observing the soldiers do the check.

They all looked at one another; some gave a nod, others sighed or had a sarcastic smile on their faces. One thing was for sure: no one there would disappoint the person who gave them such an amazing life for them and their families.

In a separate room in the command building, Ariadne was looking out of the window and seeing the street below completely with two soldiers patrolling. One of them looked up and saw her; she gave him a friendly wave and smile, and in response, he smiled and nodded at her. The other soldier by his side quickly looked in the same direction and nodded desperately before continuing his patrol.

It doesn’t matter how many times it happened; she could never get used to the fact that she felt the genuine feelings of the two soldiers who looked at her, the genuine care and pride they were feeling for protecting her as she slept, even if she didn’t hear the two talk from so far above, a genuine feeling of being taken care of and everything was going to be fine, like when her father let her sleep in his room when she was scared or the other nobles had bullied her.

‘Your bath is ready, your highness.’ Alya spoke while holding a door open.

‘Thanks, Alya.’ Ariane walked towards the maid.

They discovered that all buildings had running water, bathrooms, and everything. Edmund said that it was magic; the dungeon provided it, but even if they let every single one open, it wouldn't help. With that, they cleaned the bodies of the fallen and tried to clean the field hospital before resting.

Eliza was sitting on a bench in the corner of the field hospital holding a cup of warm tea she got from one of the white helmet soldiers that was working with her. She remembers when every single one of them was learning with the doctor the basics of everything; it made her smile a little before sipping on the tea and hearing a familiar voice.

‘So this is where we find the good stuff.’ Edmund sat next to her on the same bench

‘Yes, with everything happening is good.’ She smiled at him while giving him the cup.

‘How are you holding up?’ He took a sip of tea before giving it back to her.

‘Some were just too far gone or I wasn’t strong enough.’ She sighs while looking at the wall across the room.

‘If it wasn’t for you, this would be impossible without heavy losses and to be honest, everyone here would be dead and we would have failed.’ Edmund gave a quick laugh.

‘That much I know from experience, some were here two times, maybe even three; I just don’t know.’ She shook her head slowly before taking another sip of tea.

‘They are alive because of you; be proud of that. I’m just saying this because, with time, you can put all the losses on your shoulders, not really a good thing to have on your conscience.' Edmund looked to the floor, between his legs.

‘I don’t think one day I will be used to it, but at least I can learn better ways or try to create better ways to use healing magic so that I can do more.’ She looked at the ceiling deep in, though.

‘For that to happen, you will need to be a better conductor of magic; I don’t know how you can do that without modifying your body, like, for example, the nail on my shoulder.’ He puts one hand on top where the nail.

‘We can try; why not?’ She smiled at him.

Edmund was surprised by her commitment, but ever since, he knew about the deeper link between Ariadne and her subjects. Edmund smiled back at her while wondering how much was their own or just a projection of Ariadne’s will manifested in her actions, like the hand of a parent directing a child towards a path but because it is invisible, the child doesn’t know where her will begins or ends; it all blends in perfectly.