Riftan was certain that the church had been preparing for this war for some time.
The question was: since when?
He remembered how, after the great war three years ago, the Temple Knights had remained in the north to pursue the scattered monster army.
Did they always know about the existence of the dark wizards or the city of monsters?
Did they hide this truth just to preserve whatever influence they had left?
The Reformed Church would certainly come under fire if that were the case.
After the monsters' invasion, many in the devastated northern regions had turned to the Orthodox Church.
The resulting weakening of the power of the Reformed Church would have deeply alarmed the pope.
No sooner had the idea formed in Riftan's mind than he realized he was jumping to conclusions.
He frowned.
He had not yet found substantial evidence to prove his suspicions.
Impatiently pushing back the strands that stung his eyes, he turned to Sejuleu.
“How long will it take to gather an army?”
Sejuleu stuffed a prune into his mouth, appearing deep in thought.
"It's hard to say.
It all depends on how firmly the new pope takes command.
Still, we should have an army before the end of the season."
Elliot, who until then had remained silent, stirred in the bathtub.
“Should we send a warning to Sir Ursuline?”
Riftan shook his head.
"We cannot leave Anatol ungarrisoned.
King Reuben will probably send an army, so I see no need for us to gather more men."
“I agree,” Hebaron said, his voice echoing over the tubs.
"We don't need this guy.
Our assault unit can do the job just fine without him."
Ulyseon grumbled, his cheek full of food he had shoved into his mouth.
“How can you be so confident?” The boy swallowed and wiped his lips with a towel.
"If you remember, you almost lost your arm in the last war.
If it weren't for Lady Calypse, you would be undead by now, Sir Hebaron."
Hebaron's face contorted into a furious frown.
"Kid!
How long are you going to keep bringing this up?"
“Sir Ursuline has ordered me to speak of this whenever possible.”
“That damn thing…”
“Silence,” muttered Riftan in a warning tone.
Hebaron closed his mouth immediately.
Ulyseon's expression turned worried, as if he was afraid he had made a terrible mistake.
Ignoring his men's reactions, Riftan splashed bathwater on his face, rubbing it irritably.
It still made his blood run cold when he thought about the surprise attack on Castle Eth Lene.
He picked up the long cloth he had hanging on the wall and stood up from the tub.
"I'm going to rest now.
Let's leave the discussion about the emergence of the undead for tomorrow."
“As you wish,” murmured Sejuleu.
Riftan wrapped the cloth around his waist and headed into the chamber connected to the sauna.
The servants operating the bellows rushed to attend to him.
He waved an irritated hand to dismiss them, walking over to the long table in front of the fireplace where neat piles of clean sheets and clothes were arranged.
“Do you have anything that would fit me?”
“The lord has prepared something.”
As soon as he asked, the servants brought him a clean set of clothes.
They were black satin pants and a blue velvet shirt with richly embroidered ornaments.
Frowning at Sejuleu's extravagant taste, he tossed the outfit, followed by his freshly polished boots.
In the long, bright corridor, cold air enveloped his face.
When he started walking, he realized he had spent more time in the sauna than he realized.
There were few servants walking around.
When he arrived at the hall, an old maid was waiting for him to take him to his room.
At the door of the guest room on the third floor, the maid said politely, “Please ring the bell next to the bed if you need anything, my lord.”
Riftan didn't respond, just waved his hand to dismiss her.
The maid went downstairs, leaving him alone.
He entered the room, throwing the towel he was holding on the shelf and plopping down on the chair in front of the fireplace.
As he bent down to take off his boots, he caught sight of the bulky form under the covers on his bed.His eyes narrowed, irritation stinging him.
It wasn't the first time a maid had sneaked under the covers.
He jumped up and marched over to the bed.
When he pulled the blanket back, intending to drag the woman out, he found no help from the castle.
It was his wife, sleeping like a child with her arms around a pillow.
Riftan froze.
Consciously or not, they had been treating each other rather coldly since their argument.
The last thing he expected was for her to come to his room.
His eyes quickly swept over your sleeping form.
She was curled up on her side with her cheek buried in the pillow, the hem of her skirt bunched up above her thigh.
His tortured gaze descended as the firelight cast a golden hue over his fair skin.
Her thin dress clung to her like liquid, giving him a clear view of her prominent nipples, the hollow outline of her navel, and the shadow between her thighs.
Fire coursed through his veins.
Like steel drawn to a magnet, his hand tightened on her shoulder.
“Maxi…”
At that moment, the smell of wine assaulted his nose.
He paused, turning his head to look at the tray next to the bed.
There was a messy mess of dishes and an empty bottle.
Picking up the almost empty vase, he took a small sip.
The strong drink burned his lips.
He took a deep breath.
“Drunk…”
He set the bottle down on the table and rubbed his throbbing eyes.
Was this woman trying to torture him?
He tapped the table restlessly with his finger, but it wasn't a big enough distraction to resist the urge to look at her.
He turned to her again, knowing full well that he would only be torturing himself even more.
All he could see was her dazzlingly beautiful form.
Except for her cheeks, which were flushed, her skin glowed with a pearly glow.
The image of her entire body blushing as they made love came to mind.
He let out a shaky breath.
Other memories came later“his brown hair spilled onto the pillow, his curls covering his chest.
His member swelled and grew painfully hard, and sweat stung his back.
He ran a hand over his face.
The intense desire to possess her was so strong that his body almost convulsed when he tried to suppress it.
In the end, he gave in and lay down next to her.
Pulling her into his arms, he cupped her soft breast.
She gave a sleepy hum and snuggled into his embrace.
His hot breath on her neck sent sharp pleasure digging into her stomach like a blade.
He let out a low moan as he pressed his pulsing body against her stomach.
“Maxi…”
He caressed her taut nipple, and a purr-like moan escaped her lips.
Despite this, she showed no signs of waking up.
Impatient, he covered her neck with kisses before burying his face in her hair and breathing in her scent.
It had been so long.
All this time, he had been holding back, and this situation alone was enough to bring him to climax.
A heartbeat later, intense self-disgust washed over him.
There he was, getting turned on by caressing a tired woman to the bone.
He looked up at the ceiling to calm his breathing before focusing back on his face.
This time, he noticed her dark circles and her slightly sunken cheeks.
His current appearance overrode his memory of his severe wounds in his mind.
Suddenly, he felt bathed in ice-cold water.
Squinting his eyes, he sat up abruptly on the bed.
He turned to sit on the edge, rubbing his face.
“Damn…”
As he sat cursing himself, Maxi fidgeted in the cool breeze that passed by.
Summoning all his self-restraint, he pulled the blanket over his shoulder.
Then, forcing himself to his feet, he walked away to throw a log into the fireplace.
He could feel the pent-up sexual energy like a tightening in his muscles.
He sat down in the chair and breathed a tired sigh.
Outside, dozens of carts of baggage rolled past the castle door.
Maxi was translating an excerpt from an ancient text onto parchment.
She walked to a window and craned her neck to get a better view.
Soldiers rushed to the carts, and when they removed the leather skins covering the load, hundreds of spears and crossbows fell out.His heart sank.
It had only been five days since they arrived at Castle Eth Lene, but the knights were already preparing for war.
They spent most of their time in the war room discussing strategy or supervising training in the boot camps.
Meanwhile, the wizards were immersed in deciphering the records left behind by the dark wizards.
Half of their discoveries were to be sent to the Wizards' Tower at the first opportunity, but Maxi doubted the Temple Knights would allow this without a fight.
“Come and see this!” exclaimed Anette, running into the room.
She placed a stack of parchment on one of the tables.
“This record tells the story of the dark wizards in detail.”
Maxi stopped looking for the White Dragon armor through the window and approached the table.
Anette excitedly took one of the parchments.
"See this?
It tells how they ended up settling on the Pamela Plateau."
“There is a similar story here too,” said Maxi, pointing to the record he was translating.
Anette snorted and shook her head vigorously.
"You're idiot, this is completely different!
Explains why they left the ruins and moved to the monster city."
This seemed to interest some of the older wizards gathered around the opposite table, deciphering runes.
They stopped pulling her hair and went to Anette.
“What does it say here?” asked Geoffrey, his eyes sparkling with interest.
"Apparently there was a split between them.
Between the Ilid and Callid factions, which I assume are names.
The two sides fought, forcing one out of the ruins."
"That's it?
That's practically nothing," Royald said, shrugging.
"We've already assumed that.
There was evidence of a battle throughout the ruins, and some devices in the cave were for defense against magical attack."
He arrogantly shook his finger and added, “It probably means there was a violent extremist among the dark wizards.”
“You weren’t even the one who found out,” Miriam said coldly from her position at the window.
"Stop acting so cocky.
It was all the work of Master Anton and Master Elena."
“It's just speculation so far, but we can find out the details if we translate this record,” commented Anette, remaining confident in her discovery.
Maxi's reaction was lukewarm.
"Our priority...
should be to create strategies to attack the monsters' base.
Shouldn't we focus on finding out how the monsters are controlling the wyverns first?"
"The mages of Urd are working hard to understand that rune as we speak.
In any case, it is a task beyond our capabilities," Anette replied flatly.
Then she arched an eyebrow.
“Have you decided to participate in the war?”
“I plan to discuss this with my husband… when he’s not so busy,” Maxi grumbled as she pulled out a chair for herself.
Sidina, who was dozing at the table, burst into laughter.
"Are you still upset about last night?
All that effort to sneak around and he made no attempt to touch you."
“Oh, shut up.”