Release that Witch

Besides giving Roland Wimbledon a formal reply, the duke also sent a private letter to Edith which embodied his ideas enthusiastically. Since Roland had yet to marry, if her daughter could marry Roland, it would bring him peace of mind.

There was no true love in a political marriage, or at least it did not play the main role in such marriages. The Pearl of the Northern Region knew this clearly. The duke believed this was a great opportunity, especially when all of the territories of the nobles would be taken back later, which meant the king would be the only noble in Kingdom of Graycastle. His queen’s position would be extraordinary.

Calvin believed his daughter could understand him.

However, neither His Majesty nor Edith replied to him.

”Don’t tell me it’s because you don’t like him,” the duke poured himself the third cup of black tea and said, ”I haven’t seen you like anyone before, and it doesn’t matter... You considered marring Timothy, why can’t you consider marrying Roland?”

”No, it’s different, father.”

”What’s the difference? Aren’t they both kings?”

Edith closed her notebook and said, ”No, Timothy needed a reliable ally or subordinate in the Northern Region. The only way to ensure that was marriage. If I said no, he would kick the Kant family out and find another more obedient family. In other words, our family’s position would be untenable if I could not be the queen. There would have been nothing we could do. So I have to drag this marriage in case... If Roland and his Western Region fail... I would play my role marrying Timothy. But if Roland wins, I don’t need to marry him.”

”What do you mean by that?”

”Roland chose me only because I’m capable, not because of my family, territory or wealth. All those things that’re behind me aren’t important in his eyes.” His daughter stroked her hair. ”Since the noble and rules won’t exist anymore, why should I obey those old regulations?”

”You know,” She continued talking, ”few officers who help him manage City Hall in City of Neverwinter come from noble families. They’re all common people who took the jobs after several rounds of examination. I have to admit they act badly in many ways, but when it comes to their own work, they don’t lose to any noble.”

”This is His Majesty’s new rule. You don’t need to worry about losing your position as long as you complete the work assigned by him. So you should get rid of the old rules as soon as possible, and get used to the new policy which is issued by City Hall so as that you won’t hold me back.”

”Even so, you could still be the queen. It’s harmless to you.” The duke did not want to give up, saying, ”You could show him how capable you are and give birth to a prince... so the Kant family would be his inseparable ally. Your brother’s future would be secured too.”

”I...” Edith hesitated for a while. ”I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

”Why?”

”His Majesty Roland... he seems to believe in love.”

”So he already has someone in mind?” The duke winced.

”Yes, a witch.”

”What?” He did not believe what he had heard and wondered if his hearing was playing up.

”Scroll said His Majesty Roland will marry a witch.” Edith confessed. ”Scroll is also a witch who works as a Minister of Education in City Hall.”

”So it’s a political marriage?” Calvin could only think of this answer. ”But it’s too absurd. Witches can’t have children.”

”It’s not a political marriage. He only wants to marry her because he loves her.” She leaned back in her chair and played with the quill in her hand. ”Yes, love plays a big role in this upcoming marriage. This may sound impossible, but after one month’s contact with him, somehow I just believe what he said.”

”Why?”

”You’ll understand when you see him. Among all of the noble that I have seen, he’s the most unlike one,” his daughter said with a little smile that twitched upon her lips.

”What about the heirs?”

”They’ll find a way to solve this problem.” Edith shook her head. ”But it’s not our concern. We shouldn’t get involved in this.”

*******************

Iron Axe was patrolling in the criss-cross trenches with a group of officer corps.

The primary use of these trenches was to evade thrower attacks and other ranged attacks from enemies. According to His Majesty’s orders, the trench was divided into several paths. The distance between each path was 20 to 30 meters and longitudinal grooves interconnected the cross trenches so the soldiers could walk forward and backward. There were wood piles and barbed wire on the surface, preventing the enemies from conquering this place quickly. Machine gun castle was located on both sides of the battlefield. There was a low bunker in the front with a tall tower at the back, forming a well-proportioned firing network.

Behind the trench, was the artillery position. There were 50 field artilleries standing side by side. Going back, it was the shooting area for the 152mm Longsong Cannons.

To ensure the project schedule, Iron Axe specially applied to His Majesty for Maggie’s express transportation and sent Lotus to Deepvalley Town in advance.

Just seeing the layout of the battlefield, the First Army’s Commander Iron Axe felt victory was in sight.

This group of people walked to the end of the battlefield, gazing out over the tan-colored mountains far away.

This place was located at the foot of the Impassable Mountain Range’s Big Gap, which was also the only way to go down the mountain. They could see the steep Impassable Mountain Range less than one meter ahead.

Coldwind Ridge just stood on the hillside.

Its strategic significance, same as Border Town, was to supervise Hermes. Once the signal fire was lit in the town, many of the villages in the Northern Region and the nearest Deepvalley Town would see the warning.

It was a day and a half’s march from Coldwind Ridge to the ambush place, so the First Army had plenty of time to prepare themselves for confronting the enemy.

”Can’t we just evacuate all the citizens in Coldwind Ridge in advance?” Brian who followed him to check the battlefield just could not help asking, ”Holy City may turn them into the first batch of enchanted people to charge the front.”

”If we do so, it’ll alert our enemies that we’ve set a trap here. We can’t take this risk before we finish the layout of the battlefields,” Iron Axe said with little emotion, ”Coldwind Ridge could only act as a bait rather than the main battlefield for it’s too close to Holy City.”

”Besides, no one would believe us,” Van’er added, ”You see, if someone run to the village and told those locals ’the war is going to begin, you should get out of this place as soon as possible, and please go to the foot of the mountain’... Who would believe him? Unless we force them to leave. But then Holy City would know our true intention if we did so.”

Brian signed. ”I know that, but...”

”Don’t worry. We can finish our work here within three days,” Iron Axe said in a low voice, ”and then we can tell people to evacuate. According to the spy’s information, the Holy City’s large forces are still stationed in the campsite, so we still have enough time to evacuate the citizens.”

”I hope so...” Brian said with his eyes widened abruptly, ”Wait. What’s that?”

Iron Axe’s heart sank slightly while seeing the mountains far away from that Brian’s eyes were fixed on.

A wisp of smoke rose from the back of the mountain, a black line against the gray cloudy sky.