Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

For some reason, Ryuka suddenly felt that this fourth prince might be an even more dangerous character than the third prince...

Chapter 7 Joe Harvey's Negotiations

Looking at the crystal ball in Qiao's hand, Liu Xia realized that if she could obtain a batch of these items now, it would give her a significant advantage in the upcoming battles. Without hesitation, she asked:

"For sale?"

"Hey, this?" Joe's smile turned awkward, and he waved his hand exaggeratedly. "What are you thinking, buddy? We don't give things like this to just anyone, do we? Unless you and Tartu join our side..."

"Until we meet again."

Since Joe wouldn't sell, Ryuga immediately turned and left. To be honest, he was already fed up with this annoying guy who was both ugly and had an annoying personality.

However, Qiao frantically called out to Liuxia again: "Wait! There's something important I haven't said yet! Advise him! If you advise His Majesty now that Sochi has been attacked, His Majesty will order the Third Prince to withdraw his troops!"

Liu Xia turned her head helplessly, looked at Qiao who had finally revealed the key information, and frowned and complained: "Why didn't you just say it from the beginning? Why say so much nonsense?"

At this moment, Ryūka finally understood the Fourth Prince Ilias's idea. With the communication crystal, messages could be transmitted to the Emperor more quickly through his channels. Since it was his suggestion, it meant that he would also support this matter in the capital alongside Tipalotura. In this way, he only needed to hold out until the Emperor ordered a withdrawal of troops.

but……

"What are your conditions?"

In response to Liu Xia's question, Qiao waved her hand and said, "Oh, what's with all the conditions? Your Highness is the Thirteenth Prince's older brother, isn't it only natural for you to help?"

That's hilarious! There's no such thing as a free lunch. Ryusha didn't believe that such a brotherly and sisterly affection could exist in the fiercely infighting Ottus royal family. If Elias really thought that way, he could have simply discussed it with Tipalotura in the palace and then directly advised the emperor; there was no need to send someone to wait for him at the border.

After all, being able to accurately determine one's position and direction amidst the internal turmoil in Sochi and sending people to wait in advance is also a form of demonstration.

Sure enough, in the midst of Liu Xia's silence, Qiao dropped his carefree demeanor and looked at Liu Xia with a dangerous smile, saying:

"Can you release Olivia, the daughter of General Traul Nikolai, whom you have captured?"

Do they know about this? But why?

Liu Xia laughed: "Did that Heavenly Rank General reach some kind of agreement with the Fourth Prince?"

"No, to be precise, it was her mother's request."

Sophie, the sage of the South? How could she know?

Ryuka was slightly surprised. She thought that Olivia's secret technique for suppressing the magic power in her body was invented by her mother. Could it be that this secret technique would create some kind of connection between the two of them?

Surely Olivia's mother knows about what he did to her.

It was called a request, but the other party was a Celestial-rank mage guarding the south. With the enemy already at odds with General Traul in the north, adding another Celestial-rank enemy would not be a wise move, even if it was an enemy far away in the south of the empire.

"His Highness is merely acting as a helpful mediator. If you can release Olivia, His Highness can speak on your behalf to His Majesty. Lady Sophie will also express her gratitude..."

"Thank someone who humiliated my daughter?" Liu Xia's lips twitched. Putting aside Olivia's parents, just considering her personality, letting her go back would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains. Who knows if she would immediately join the Third Prince to attack me?

Joe seemed to understand this as well, and comforted Ryūka:

"You don't need to send her back to the North. Just leave her to us. We'll take her back to the capital; her mother is waiting for her there."

These words silenced Liu Xia. Olivia's mother was in the capital? A ten-star general guarding a region is like a military governor, holding a large army and usually wouldn't go to the capital. Could this unusual event mean there's been some major change within Otus?

Although it was a simple message, it filled Ryūka with a profound sense of powerlessness. Despite his overwhelming success on the Sochi Plain, he was far from the power center of Ottus and had no idea what those above him were doing. His choices were always dictated by circumstances, causing Ryūka to grip the reins tightly, his breathing becoming heavy.

"I understand……"

Finally, Ryūka breathed a sigh of relief, loosened the reins, and said to Joe:

"But besides speaking up for us, isn't there any other benefit?"

"That's too greedy~ If His Highness intervenes, he will definitely ensure your safety, so you don't need anything else, right?" Joe smiled smugly. "If you agree, I will immediately contact the capital, and then there's Olivia's matter..."

Ryuka was somewhat displeased. If the other party went back on their word or the deal fell through, he would suffer a huge loss, since Olivia was the energy core of the magic workshop. However, he was currently in a precarious position and couldn't afford to make any more enemies.

However, Ryuka wasn't going to let Joe take the person away so easily, so she said:

"Once the Third Prince withdraws his troops, I will hand the man over to you."

“No problem.” Qiao nodded and extended his hand to Liuxia.

"Pleasant to work with."

After shaking hands, the two parted ways, and the Harvey family's army disappeared on the horizon. Hetia, seeing Ryūka's solemn expression, understood that the young man was not in a good mood; his choice today was entirely beyond his control. Making the young man bow his head was a painful thing, and Hetia understood that even if Olivia was merely a defeated prisoner, Ryūka didn't want to give up his spoils of war to someone else.

Seeing Ryūka's somber expression, Hetia couldn't help but want to comfort him. However, unlike Kania, she wasn't good at talking or being affectionate, and didn't know how to make Ryūka happy. Feeling somewhat anxious, Hetia blushed and tried to comfort him in the only way she knew how to make the boy happy:

"Hey... the South is pacified, tonight... do you want to... just..."

She stammered softly, her toes digging into the soles of her boots, her body covered in dust and blood becoming increasingly awkward. Just speaking these words made Hetia feel a surge of heat, and the muscles on the inside of her thighs involuntarily contracted.

"Anyway... if it makes you happier... no matter what..."

"That guy..."

"Hey?"

Ryuka's sudden words interrupted Hetia's embarrassing speech. The boy seemed not to be listening to the female knight's monologue at all, but instead stared at Joe Harvey's departing figure, his brows furrowed, and he said something that surprised and angered Hetia:

"He's gay, isn't he..."

"Huh?! What are you saying?!"

Hetia's eyes widened. She had finally mustered the courage to invite him! And he hadn't even heard her, and was still thinking about such a boring and absurd thing!

"Because, every time he talks about the fourth prince, Elias, he gets really excited, right? His eyes practically light up... And unlike others, he seems to genuinely think I'm just your subordinate, but he always talks to me instead of you... His chattering manner is less like that of a friendly woman and more like that of a gossipy social butterfly... Plus the way he shook my hand at the end..."

Ryuka looked at her right hand with a disgusted and twisted expression, as if she couldn't even accept the memory of that feeling, and quickly rubbed it vigorously on the horse.

Hmm! This guy is definitely suspicious!

Hetia, somewhat defiantly, said to Ryuka, "You're so narcissistic! Do you think men would be interested in you, not just women?"

Seeing her throwing a tantrum, Liu Xia gave her a forced, bright smile. The handsome young man smiled like a peach blossom and teased the older female knight, "Oh dear~ Am I not good-looking? And you said women are attracted to my looks, are you the same?"

"Ugh..." Hetia blushed and shuddered, turning her head sharply to the side in denial, "Disgusting! There's a saying that people who can keenly identify gay men are also secretly gay. I think you should just stick to hanging out with men from now on! Waaah! What are you doing!!"

Seeing Hetia's angry expression, Ryuka easily jumped onto her horse, hugged Hetia from behind, and skillfully untied the straps of her armor, pressing them against her sensitive spots from above and below.

"Wait, wait! Hah~ No! Ugh~"

"Hmph, you just said anything was fine, right?"

Ryuka easily pinched the two small nipples with her fingers, and the gentle yet rapid stimulation instantly rendered Hetia powerless to resist. Her body involuntarily leaned forward and convulsed on the bumpy warhorse. Ryuka was naturally very familiar with this body that she had fully explored, and in just a few seconds, she made this slippery body, which had been confined in the armor for several days, ooze sweet juices.

"I didn't say that... You misheard! Wait, wait! I said it was tonight... We'll talk after I shower... Ugh~"

The boy's fingers circled around to the female knight's crotch, two fingers gripping and lifting her up, forcing her to stand up in the stirrups. The force of his fingers, enough to lift her armor and her weight, pressed down on the sensitive spot on the boy's fingertips. Hetia's pretty face, covered in sweat and blood, immediately rolled her eyes back, and she bit her lip tightly...

"Does a dirty, smelly sow feel ashamed for not bathing? You probably enjoy being humiliated when you're drenched in sweat, don't you?"

"I...I didn't! Oh!" (This is a nonsensical string of characters and symbols, likely a result of OCR errors.)

Rip—Ryusha tore Hetia's thick black stockings, pulled her plump buttocks between his legs, and gathered his fighting spirit at his fingertips, vibrating rapidly. The female knight was forced to reach her peak amidst a muffled groan like a female beast, her wet juices spilling between her legs.

"Front or back?"

"Well!"

Stimulated by the scalding friction, still lost in the afterglow, Hetia was unable to answer, for the boy's hands did not stop. Not only was her lower body burning hot, but her upper body was also amplified several times over by dark magic; even her soft flesh...

Her breasts were being kneaded, as if her brain was being gripped by Ryuka. Waves of pleasurable stimulation washed over her, accompanied by her soft, white flesh and erect tip…

Again, again... Ugh... I'm doomed... After enduring for days, my body is exhausted, and if it's played with like this... I'll turn into a pathetic, despicable person again...

She had been so powerful and invincible on the battlefield recently... but now she was being toyed with like a weak little girl... no, even less than a little girl... just a toy to be played with... a toy that would tremble and leak water at the slightest squeeze or rub...

"It's still ahead, isn't it?"

Seeing Hetia speechless, Ryuga straightened his body. The heavy impact seemed to crush the female knight's soul, leaving her limp on the horse's back, her plump, bouncy buttocks sticking out helplessly. The edges of her torn stockings revealed her smooth, white buttocks, tightly bound by the stockings, rubbing against the boy's lower abdomen with a glistening sheen of sweat. And just as Hetia was about to break down, a thumb, dripping with fluid, ruthlessly invaded her other side, hooking onto the soft flesh and relentlessly stimulating her sensitive nerve points with its aura through the thin wall.

"You need to ride properly, look how far you've veered off course! Come on~ left, right, left~"

Under such intense stimulation, Hetia was completely unable to control the horse, and Ryūka was actually using his thumb to manipulate it back and forth, turning her into a human rein. If she didn't immediately adjust the horse's direction according to the movement of his thumb, a violent stimulation that would make her scream incoherently would immediately follow...

"Why does it keep veering to the right? Is the tender flesh on the right more likely to be bullied?"

"No, no... Ugh!!"

"Clench your thighs, speed it up! At this rate, when will we ever get back?"

"Wait, wait! Oh my god!!"

The warhorse galloped like the wind, each stomp of its hooves transmitting a heavy impact to Hetia's feet. Her tired, numb soles were held tightly by the stirrups, and the force of the impact pounded against her long, muscular calves and thighs, causing her body, half-crouched between the boy's legs, to tremble uncontrollably.

Her strong, powerful body arched in a curved shape on horseback, like a jockey in a race. Though her firm, shapely buttocks had left the saddle, they remained connected to the young man. She struggled to maintain this position, being repeatedly thrust to climax, until her lower abdomen was filled time and again…

Chapter 8 Clovis's Vanguard Legion

In the narrow pass of the Middle Mountains, a massive black army spread out like a viscous torrent. Several squads of scout knights had already been deployed ahead of the army, while mages' familiar birds circled overhead.

Leading the vanguard was a solemn-faced middle-aged commander, followed by three hundred cavalrymen, one hundred of whom were full-fledged knights, the rest apprentices. Behind them followed a ranged force of five hundred infantrymen and two hundred mages and archers, then a logistical unit of one thousand conscripts and laborers. These two thousand men formed a battalion within the Otus military organization; since the number of regular soldiers was one thousand, the battalion commander was called a "thousand-man general," typically a well-born imperial viscount. Behind them were five more battalions, interspersed with two supply battalions of two thousand five hundred men each, primarily carrying provisions and siege equipment.

These 15,000 men were called a legion, but they were only the vanguard. Two other legions followed behind the vanguard legion on the left, right, and rear, planning to advance from the plains west of the Mitippi Mountains and the ridges east of the Mitippi Mountains in three directions, forming a pocket to encircle the Sochi Plain.

A week's journey behind them, a massive army of 80,000 men, including two legions and various independently organized squads led by the third prince Clovis Otus, marched in a grand procession towards the Sochi Plain under the banner of 100,000 iron cavalry.

However, apart from this vanguard legion and one legion led by Clovis, which were directly under the command of the Otus Empire's military headquarters, the other three legions were all composed of allied forces from various noble families. They ranged from several thousand to a few hundred men, assembled in an extremely complex manner, with their legion commanders and other officers elected by internal noble councils, and their battalion-level structures also differing.

Apart from the other legion beside Clovis, which was entirely composed of Payne's power without any other nobles joining it, the Payne family's influence was interspersed among the other legions.

At the forefront of the vanguard legion, Viscount Belloc House, the battalion commander, wore a grave expression. Three days ago, his scout cavalry reported that the Sochi Plain beyond the Abyss Mountains had been almost completely destroyed, rendered virtually uninhabited. The only things remaining were rampant bandits and endless snow.

He wasn't worried about thieves and bandits at all; they would simply hide when they saw regular troops. But the completely emptied towns and villages concerned him. This would undoubtedly increase their supply pressure, and as a professional officer, he rarely saw anyone make such a drastic decision.

"Linhu Territory not only preemptively completed its punitive expedition but also utterly destroyed northern Sochi. This is clearly a strategy to slow us down. If His Majesty the Emperor doesn't issue a new decree, we will lose our justification for advancing, and Prince Clovis's expedition will become a joke..."

But Belloc House wasn't concerned about whether the prince would be embarrassed; rather, he was worried about the future of the Otus 7th and 12th Legions, which had been transferred to obey Clovis's orders. The 7th Legion, which followed Clovis in the rear, was considered Clovis's staunch vassal, while his 12th Legion, as the vanguard, seemed poised to gain early military merit, but there was also an intention to send them to the front lines to wear them down.

After all, the two legions flanking the vanguard were composed of private soldiers from various nobles. They were the kind of men who wouldn't act until they saw a clear advantage, shrinking back from tough battles but eager to claim credit. Expecting them to work in unison with the regular legions was like hoping that prostitutes in brothels were virtuous and chaste.

But Belloc knew very well that the Third Prince Clovis would not give up simply because he learned of the Duke family's demise. His goal was to dominate the Sochi Plain and then slowly control the eastern part of the empire. In this way, a third of Autus' territory would be under his control, the political landscape of the capital would be completely altered, and Clovis becoming the next emperor would be a foregone conclusion.

Others were naturally aware of this as well. The eastern part of the empire had a suitable climate and fertile soil, and its easternmost point was the desolate World Barrier and the Endless Sea, not bordering any other vassal states. Apart from the central heartland of the empire, this area was the most prosperous and secure, so the composition of power here was also very complex.

In the eastern part of the empire, there wasn't even a single dominant noble faction. Aside from the eldest prince who died young, several other royal heirs, including the second princess and the fourth prince, had long since cultivated their influence among the various noble families, seeking supporters. They naturally didn't want to see Clovis, whose base was in the northern snowy regions, further encroach upon this territory. After all, Clovis already held the title of prince, two earls, and was nominally the protector of the northern barbarian kingdoms. As the emperor's oldest surviving male, if his power continued to expand, the others would truly be in trouble.

Therefore, being sent to serve Prince Clovis was a thankless and unpleasant task, one that offended many, especially within Belloc's Twelfth Legion... They weren't anyone's confidants; Clovis had pushed them to the front lines, while others didn't want them to advance so easily. Legion Commander Earl Karen Hill naturally understood this, and Belloc, as the commander of Karen's most trusted elite battalion, was well aware of his commander's concerns, especially after hearing the news from Sochi...

After the assassination attempt on Princess Tipalotura at the end of last year, the least prominent of the three princesses sent one of her meritorious female knights, who had been granted a title, to the Linhu Territory. In just one year, the Linhu Territory, which was still a remote mountainous area, underwent a complete transformation. With an army of less than a thousand men, it swept across the entire Sochi Plain and immediately became one of the major powers in the east, like a slime devouring a lion.

Others might simply recount this incredible feat as a legend, a thrilling and exhilarating tale told by wandering minstrels, its heroic figures celebrated in song. But Bellock, a professional soldier, saw it differently. Military victories certainly involve chance and luck, but morale, equipment, logistics, troop deployment, and organization are also crucial. A few high-ranking officers alone could not possibly achieve such a sweeping advance and control of a vast territory. And the results displayed by the Linhu Territory over the past month demonstrated their formidable power…

And this terrifying adversary is now right in front of them, hidden behind this snowfield, waiting for their vanguard army to enter.

"What's wrong, Lord Belloc? You don't seem very happy."

Belloc was deep in thought when a weak, mocking voice came from behind him. He turned around and looked at the unrefined man behind him, his eyes full of hostility.

Quaid, as a member of the Twelfth Legion planted by the Third Prince Clovis, did not hold any official position in the army, but his presence could not be ignored.

The supervisor and the spy—Belok made no attempt to hide the disgust in his eyes. He loathed this behavior, but it was, after all, the prince's order, and even the legion commander couldn't disobey it. But he wasn't about to let Quaid treat him like dirt.

“This is a place where even Lord Quaid suffered, so I will naturally treat it with caution.”

Bellok scoffed in response. Quaid had also served in the military in his early years, and Bellok had heard some things about him. He had heard that Quaid had previously visited the eastern part of the empire, then returned to the capital severely wounded, and that heretical incident had happened in Sochi.

Although Quaid ostensibly went on a private visit, the Seventh Legion was missing half a battalion of knights, which led to the issue of the Duke family's bloodline. Anyone who had ever been in the capital could figure out what was going on, but no one dared to say it openly.

Bellok's words made Quaid's lips twitch. As a fellow high-ranking official, he couldn't do anything to Bellok, so he could only snort in frustration.

Neither of them noticed that above their many avian familiars controlled by magicians, there was an additional one in the sky.

"It's like running into an old acquaintance."

In an abandoned wooden house in a village outside Mount Mitsubi, Ryuka slowly opened her eyes.

"An old acquaintance? Who is it?"

The hissing sound between her legs, accompanied by indistinct noises, came from Haifulian, who was looking up at Ryuu with curious eyes. Her cool yet alluring eyes gazed upwards, her soft face protruding slightly, and half of her pink tongue darted out from her full lower lip, gently teasing Ryuu's small opening, creating a scene that made one's breath catch in their throat. "Where are you, Rin? Where are you...?"

Besides the two of them, there was only a crackling campfire in the room. Heflian's armor and clothes were scattered to one side, and her delicate skin trembled slightly from the cold. Only her white soles were warmed by the red firelight. Her toes and plump thighs swayed gently with her upper body, flickering like flames that tantalized the eye and emitting a faint fragrance.

Quaid.

"I'll answer you," Ryuka replied, grabbing Heflian's short white hair.

"Damn it, I should have known better than to come. I should have sent Megan or Melanie with you."