Two days after Roger had given the task of locating Alys, he sent another ssage, this ti requesting that I escort her sowhere safe—sowhere no one would ever find her.
It was almost too easy. I simply inford him that she had been taken to Mordino, a place where she would be well cared for, far from prying eyes. Roger didn’t ask for proof, didn’t question my words. He trusted enough to accept my statent without hesitation.
After that, I found myself waiting. The imdiate tasks had been handled, leaving only the war looming before . The tides were shifting, the pieces moving as they should. I already knew the end result; it was rely a matter of ti before everything fell into place.
Eric and Rune had been pushing forward relentlessly, carving their nas into history with every battle they fought. And Davian... Davian had beco sothing else entirely. His na was now carried on the wind, spoken in awe and fear alike. "The Beast of the Battlefield"—that was what they called him.
I wasn’t surprised. This was exactly as I had expected. Given enough ti, he would carve his own path to power, his own legend. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess would undoubtedly be proud of their son, watching as he rose through the ranks with unshakable montum.
Eric and Rune were no less remarkable.
Eric, once known as the Shadow Prince—a title given to him in the days when he stood alone, shrouded in uncertainty—had now claid a new na. The Prince of Flas. A fitting title, given how he had ignited the battlefield with his sheer will and skill.
My brother, Rune, carried his own weight with effortless grace. They called him The Prince of Frost—a reflection of his icy precision and unshakable composure.
The people adored them, eager to see these two princes rise above expectations, proving themselves not just as warriors, but as symbols of strength and resilience.
I couldn’t say it out loud, but deep down, I was proud of them.
At this mont, however, I had more pressing matters to attend to.
I sat in my office, the weight of responsibility pressing against my shoulders as I sifted through reports laid before . Three candidates—each given a critical task, each presenting their proposed solutions to the problems plaguing the territory.
Julio had been assigned the issue of unemploynt, tasked with finding ways to create stable jobs for the people.
Blake had been given the delicate responsibility of restructuring the tax system, ensuring a balance that would benefit both the people and the ruling authority.
And lastly, Es had been given the challenge of reviving the territory’s stagnant agricultural developnt.
This land had suffered under the rule of its previous lord—a man so consud by greed that he bled his people dry, hoarding their hard-earned coin while they starved. When I first arrived, their wariness had been palpable. Suspicion lingered in their eyes, their expressions hardened by years of suffering. To them, hardship was the norm; prosperity was a foreign concept, sothing they had long since stopped believing in.
That was why I had no regrets.
The forr lord had sealed his fate the mont he turned his back on his people. The world had no need for rulers like him.
Now, I had a chance to change things—to reshape this land into sothing better. And I would not let that chance slip away.
At this mont, I was in my office, studying the proposals presented to by the three candidates regarding the pressing issues within the territory. I studied their individual reports and was quite impressed by their thinking, I didn’t let it show on my face though as they stood in front of . Roan had already read through so he was only waiting for my final verdict as he sat in his desk looking at .
"I believe I had told you that two of you will be hired for the job and one of you who would fail to carry out this task would have to return." I started making the three to straighten up.
"I read through all your proposals. And," I said as I looked at their proposals making them fidget ever so slightly.
"I could see you worked really hard over it and gave your best." I said and then gave them a small smile, "I’m impressed."
The relief washed over their expressions imdiately and I added, "But I want you all to explain your proposals yourself since you three will be in charge of implenting these solutions into the territory so, I want to know how better you know of it."
"Can you do that?" I asked and they nodded.
"Julio can go first." I said gesturing towards Julio.
Julio, the strategist, had co up with a clever way to tackle unemploynt.
"Why not use the skills of the people themselves?" he had proposed.
He suggested expanding trade guilds and apprenticeship programs, ensuring that blacksmiths, tailors, and masons took on willing hands. More than that, he saw an opportunity in fortifying the militia and employing n to maintain roads and defenses. It was practical, and most importantly, it would give the people a sense of purpose.
Blake, the numbers man, had reworked the tax system to balance fairness and prosperity.
"We must let the land breathe, or it will stop giving," he reasoned.
He suggested a fair tax rate based on productivity rather than blind demands, allowing peasants to pay in grain or livestock if necessary. He even had the audacity to propose taxing idle noble lands more heavily—a suggestion that would surely ruffle feathers but could yield great benefits.
Es, passionate about the land, had a vision for the future of agriculture.
"We must not only plant but plan," she had said, advocating for smarter farming techniques, better irrigation, and expanding livestock breeding. She even suggested organizing market days where farrs could trade their surplus directly, ensuring prosperity spread across the region.
I leaned back in my chair, tapping my fingers against the desk. Each proposal was more than just words—they were ideas that could change the future. They wouldn’t be easy to implent, and resistance was inevitable, but if we pulled it off, the territory would flourish. The war lood, but for the first ti in a while, I felt the stirrings of progress. The tides were shifting—not just on the battlefield, but in our lands as well.
I observed the three candidates in front of them, they looked nervous as they looked at and I kept a blank face.
"Good, it seems like you have a draw." I said making them glance at each other.
I could feel the tension between them, they were nervous and pressured.
"So, how do we decide?" Roan asked and I humd.
"I have one question for you all, if you give a proper answer then you will be hired." I said and they nodded.
"When it cos to a territory..." I started,"What do you think is the most important?"
The three were quite for a mont before Blake spoke up.
"I think the most important thing for a territory is trade." He said, "if the trade of the territory is smooth then it brings a lot of benefits for the people."
Julio spoke up next, "I think the most important thing for the territory is the source of their trade, the reason why the trade would happen in the first place. If there is no produce then there is no trade and if no trade then no progress of the territory."
I nodded and then all the eyes turned to Es who spoke up.
"I think the trade and the produce of the territory is important," she said, "but what’s more important than that are the people."
I tilted my head as she continued, "If there are no people in the territory then it’s not territory at all, it’s just the barren land. The people make the territory, kingdom, country. If there are no people then even the King’s title is useless."
I was impressed.
I leaned ahead and looked at the three candidates who had surpassed my expectations by a mile especially Es and I looked at Roan.
"Prepare appointnt letters, Roan." I ordered and he looked at the three before looking at .
"For whom?"
"Es Magnolia," I said watching as the other two tensed up like strained strings.
"And also for Blake Blossom and Julio Johannsen."
"You’re hiring all of them?" He asked and I smiled.
"The purpose was to hire the best suited individuals for the job, they all are best in their own sense. It would be a waste to let one go." I said with a smile and watched as the three relaxed.
"Now you three, don’t grow slack just because I praised you, I want to keep seeing the results so, keep up the good work." I said as I rose to my feet.
"Yes, Master." The three bowed and I looked back at Roan who smiled as he grabbed the sheets of paper.
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