"I didn't bully him at all! In fact, he volunteered to care for you in my stead so that I'd feel more at ease to leave and proceed with the war against Kevin. Besides that, there's literally no one else in the entire imperial capital that I'd trust with your care save for him. Though I loathe to do, it still..."

"Well...are you certain that you'll manage to defeat Kevin this time?" Harper asked softly, searching his face. She didn't want to cry anymore and embarrass her husband, but she needed some confidence. She wanted some assurances that Matthew would return from this endeavor.

"It'll be alright. If I can manage to convince Kevin to surrender voluntarily, everything should go smoothly. The real risk is that he escapes up north to start a rebellion. Then I don't think we'll be able to make him surrender unless he dies. It's a little challenging, of course, but nothing I can't handle," Matthew replied with frankness, laying these facts all out as simply as someone planning a garden plot.

Taking it all in, Harper nodded at last. "Still...regardless of ho

ing by before him and immediately snatched up his younger brother Carlson. Clearly, this was the emperor's plan. Matthew held the military power, and Kevin had defected. And now, the emperor planned to express that he was the one in control of Matthew, and sent him to pit them against each other.

"But Clark, is Harper...?"

"She should be alright...at least for now." Clark told Carlson reassuringly. "We can only pray that Uncle Matthew remains safe. If he wins this battle, Aunt Harper will stay safe as well. But if anything should happen to him, then she'll share his fate. This is His Majesty's way of forcing Uncle Matthew to do everything he can to win. Looks like everyone underestimated how important Aunt Harper is to Uncle Matthew."

Shawn sat upright on his horse, eyes trained on Harper. Now, he was the general of the soldiers tasked with guarding the city. Travis was unwilling to let him go out to battle as well, so the emperor had bestowed him with the position of the Patrol Battalion's leader, with the authority of protecting the imperial capital.