After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Hilder, who was lying on the beautiful woman's lap, was startled awake by the soldiers' wails.

"What happened? Where is my army?!"

He flung open the carriage door and looked up to see a dense rain of arrows hurtling towards him. Karl kicked him into the carriage, his broadsword flashing as he deflected the incoming arrows one by one.

With the battle at this point, Karl had nothing more to say. Although the Marquis was eccentric and unruly, he had completely handed over command of the army to him.

He made the most reasonable deployment strategy based on experience, but only now did he realize that he had repeatedly underestimated the fighting power of the Northern Army.

The cavalry had circled around to their rear, constantly using arrows to disrupt the main force's formation, but Karl could not order a pursuit, because right in front of them, the knights had already latched onto the group like hungry wolves.

The casualties were beyond calculation. Karl had paid a heavy price to stop the knights' charge, but even with the speed reduced, the knights' fighting power remained undiminished. Rows of spears pierced through the bodies of the marquis's soldiers, and they continued to advance.

Another wave of arrows came, and the soldiers' cries of agony rang out one after another. The troops were clearly showing signs of collapse under the onslaught of arrows.

The new recruits were hopeless; they had suffered heavy casualties under the Northern Army's counter-offensive and a large-scale rout had already occurred. Now, all Karl could do was lead the main force to continuously shrink their formation and hold their ground...

The cavalrymen changed direction again, their attack strategy being to use speed to close the distance and then suddenly unleash a volley of arrows to inflict casualties on the enemy.

"My lord, I've found the marquis's location!"

Timo returned just before the new wave of attacks began, pointing in a certain direction and saying, "I just saw a person in magnificent armor leaning out of that carriage."

After a moment's thought, Elena nodded. "Alright, you lead the way. Fire from fifty paces, break through the enemy lines, and charge in!"

Teemo immediately obeyed the order, turned his horse around, and charged towards the enemy. The horde of cavalry quickly followed. Teemo drew his bow, nocked an arrow, fired it high into the air, and then withdrew from the battlefield.

His arrow wasn't meant to hit anything, but rather to guide the cavalry in the direction of their attack.

"Lord Karl, the cavalry behind us are charging in!"

Upon hearing this, Karl's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "What?!"

He could hardly believe that the Northern Army had discovered the Marquis's location so quickly. If the Marquis were killed, not only would their army be wiped out, but the Marquis's territory would also suffer annihilation.

"Quickly!" Karl grabbed the scout and said urgently, "Go inside and change the Marquis's armor, then tell the Marquis to escape with me immediately!"

Before he finished speaking, a barrage of arrows rained down on their area, and clusters of blood blossomed across the field. In the blink of an eye, the scout in his hand became a corpse.

That's it... that was the only thought left in Karl's mind.

The next second, amidst the deafening sounds of battle, a red figure descended, the carriage was instantly sliced ​​open, and a long, black sword pierced out the panicked marquis inside.

Accompanied by the piercing screams of the beautiful women, Hilder's armor was shredded like cardboard. Eleanor stepped on the Marquis's body to land, twisted her sword, and while crushing the Marquis's heart, slowly looked up at Karl.

……

The war ended, and after the Marquis's death, Karl did not hesitate to surrender, capturing nearly 10,000 prisoners of war.

"You look just like your grandma, even your hair color is exactly the same. It's a pity I couldn't win against your grandpa back then."

Karl, now a prisoner, was probably trying to get on her good side, but Eleanor had seen a portrait of her grandmother, and the two did indeed look somewhat alike.

"First, disarm them, then send them to the Northern Territory to do forced labor. Remember to explain the Duke's policy to them: as long as they perform their labor honestly and pass the assessment, they can settle in the Northern Territory in the future, or they can continue to serve in the army."

Ignoring Karl, Eileen turned to Kate and began explaining the post-war arrangements. "Also, we can attack the major cities of the Marquisate now. Mobilize your troops as quickly as possible and try to secure more benefits for the Northern Territory."

"Yes, sir, I will arrange it immediately."

Kate was in high spirits after winning a great victory. With 5,000 men against 24,000, and the outcome decided in one battle, he was now considered a renowned general.

The Northern Army rested for a night, and after tallying up the rich spoils the next day, the troops prepared to escort the prisoners back to Green Gorge City.

Elena had just washed her face with water when she saw the Papacy's motorcade, complete with royal regalia, slowly appear in their sight on the nearby avenue.

The archbishop ordered the caravan to stop, and the godfather of the old duke of the Northern Territory walked toward them with a beaming smile, looking incredibly kind and amiable.

Elena raised an eyebrow, sensing that nothing good was going to happen.

"You must be the kid next to Oswald, haha. By seniority, you two should call me grandpa."

Karl, who was in shackles, rolled his eyes. Well, another one trying to curry favor.

"What is it, Archbishop?" Elena shook the water off her hands and replied calmly.

"Sigh, things have gotten too distant." John didn't seem to care about Alene's coldness. He took out a document from his pocket and remarked with some emotion.

"I heard that Oswald doesn't like his marriage, and coincidentally, his fiancée has been placed under house arrest by the king. I brought his marriage certificate here specifically, thinking of choosing another one for him..."

"grandfather."

Elena remained expressionless, but she called him "Grandpa" so naturally that Karl's jaw nearly dropped to the ground in surprise.

"What are you all standing there for? Let's go, escort Grandpa to the Northern Territory." At Elena's command, John's face immediately lit up with a smile.

The two acted like a real grandfather and grandson, with Eileen helping John along as they chatted and laughed all the way, before finally putting John back into the carriage.

When Elena returned to the group, her brows were furrowed, and this time her expression had truly changed.

"Pass on my order: scouts must depart immediately for Ice City to inform His Majesty the Duke!"

John, riding slowly in the papal carriage, was filled with anticipation. The fact that the saintess had become the embodiment of the curse was unimportant, for the blood-clad saintess had already been destroyed.

His assassination attempt on Paul is unimportant; he doesn't have many years left to live anyway, and he's the kind of person who's not afraid of anything.

But the fact that the nun who solved the plague became the new saint is very important!

Because this concerns the future of the Vatican and how it can rebuild public confidence, he is willing to risk his reputation and even his life for it.

In the same carriage, Rhea, the youngest daughter of the Western Duke, dressed in fine clothes, was unusually irritable.

"Your Highness, remember that you represent the royal family. Once you arrive in the Northern Territory, you must not show any disrespect to others," John reminded the young princess once again, but only received a resentful response from Leia.

"Yes, I understand, Archbishop."

In order to obtain a cure for the plague, Duke Drizzt of the Western Lands finally pledged his loyalty to the king. Frank was overjoyed and agreed to Rhea's political marriage to the royal family.

Duke Tristana had many children, and he didn't care about the wishes of one of his daughters. Frank thought that Rhea was a powerful pawn to strike at Queen Barbara, so the two hit it off and Rhea was sent to the palace.

There wasn't even a proper wedding.

Perhaps the only thing that could give Leia psychological comfort was that Frank had no romantic feelings for her and simply treated her as a useful mascot.

Before Rhea departed as the royal representative, she asked King Frank why, given how much importance he placed on the Northern Territory, the King did not arrange a marriage alliance with it.

Frank patted her head and laughed as if he had heard a huge joke, "I don't want to be hunted down by Duke Oswald, who is considered an undead, and it's obvious to everyone that Luna will become the master of the Northern Territory in the future."

At that moment, Leia felt an unprecedented sense of loss. She finally understood that she was the only one who had never been valued by the family.

Time passed day by day amidst the girl's melancholy. The group arrived at Green Canyon City, where Luna, accompanied by uniformed cavalry, came to greet the royal convoy.

Luna dismounted and was about to walk over when Elene suddenly appeared, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and dragged her to a corner.

Amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd, Elene seemed to be giving her something very important. After handing over three gold coins, Luna patted her chest heavily and gave a solemn military salute.

Still worried, Elena rambled on for a while before finally letting Luna leave.

After the team completed the handover, Luna escorted the royal convoy to Ice City. After handing the letter and the elf to Luna, Elena went off to attend to her work.

"archbishop."

Luna bowed to John as usual, but her attitude wasn't exactly friendly. The old man was really cunning; Paul almost capsized in the old city back then.

John feigned a sad expression. "Luna, even you're not close to Grandpa anymore?"

With her hands on her hips, Luna declared righteously, "Hmph, Paul and I are not only friends but also brothers. I'm just being polite by calling you Archbishop, so just take it as it is. I don't acknowledge any other relationship here."

After saying that, Luna turned and left, but in the corner of her eye, Leia's figure suddenly appeared.

Luna stopped in her tracks, stunned, and looked at Leia as she stepped down from the carriage. For a moment, she was completely bewildered and asked, "Leia, why are you here?"

Months had passed, and Luna was still as cheerful as ever, surrounded by her elite personal guards... Leia, however, felt as if she had lived through another world. Even though she was now married to the most powerful man in the kingdom, she was acutely aware of the difference in their social status.

Leia bit her lip tightly and refused to speak, so John had to step forward and explain on her behalf.

"Luna, this is the Queen, the royal representative who is on this mission to the Northern Territory."

"Princess? Is Frank out of his mind?" Luna frowned, and after a few seconds realized she had said the wrong thing, so she quickly covered her mouth.

The cavalrymen remained calm, but their gazes glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the royal guards. They silently gripped the longswords at their waists, while the guards kept their eyes down, seemingly oblivious to everything.

"Um..." Luna smiled awkwardly when she saw John still smiling. "Well, my brother often says that I've learned bad manners at Central Academy. Please don't mind it, and I believe His Majesty won't mind either."

"And my brother is the Duke of Oswald, well, that's it, you get the idea."