The next day, Selune boldly entered the royal palace through
the main entrance.
He had been away for a while thanks to the previous king’s
displeasure and the nobles’ hatred, so when he strutted into the royal council
meeting with his tall body decked out in blue silk, no one could hide their
surprise at his return to power.
With the official title of Military Advisor General his, he
held the highest command position within the Orsini army. The military was now
his to command.
“Sigh. I suppose this means even our queen has fallen to
that man.”
When Malicia personally awarded him the fan that signified
his military authority, the other officials could not miss the seductive way
she looked at him like he was her paramour.
It seemed she had found some kind of peace in finding a man
she could trust with all her heart.
Her tense stiffness was gone and she had a soft femininity
to her. It felt a lot like a hard bud blossoming into a beautiful flower.
Under a new command structure with Malicia as supreme
commander and Selune as general, the Orsini army prepared for a counterattack.
Raymon, Meldis, Darcenis, Demulgast, and Claus worked hard
under their command, but if their beautiful queen had not come by daily to
cheer them up and tell them she was relying on them, some of them may have lost
all motivation to continue and plotted a betrayal.
Malicia had valuable talent when it came to popularity or
charisma.
While Malicia worked openly to keep the commanders and
troops motivated, Selune worked vigorously behind the scenes. He led the reorganization
of the army, the brainstorming of strategies, and the planning of supply
routes. Autumn wore on and fallen leaves covered the streets of Eleonora while
he continued his work. And once the army of ten thousand had been fully
reorganized, the situation changed in a negative way for Orsini. The Vasrah
Kingdom began gathering troops on the border.
“Vasrah is no more than a hyena hoping to dig through the
remnants of our corpse. They spend all their time warring with neighboring
kingdoms and having their territory invaded, so they do not have the troops to
spare to actively attack us. If we lose to Sabrina, they intend to rush in and
attack so they can receive some small reward from Sabrina.”
An untrained 18-year-old girl like Malicia had no hope of
putting together strategy and tactics, so everyone here knew these ideas came
straight from Selune. But when the young queen made the effort in front of her
commanders, the originator of the plan played dumb and simply stroked the
thighs of Court Magician Ralmesel who sat next to him.
Ralmesel tried to brush his hand aside time and again, but
he persistently continued and finally stuck his hand up her skirt.
“Please stop that.”
“Genius strategists are known for being eccentric. I am
merely playing the role expected of me to give everyone confidence in my
strategic genius.”