Chapter 303 – Trojan Horse

Elena took a calming breath and organized her thoughts, then turned to Martin beside her.

“Find out if Paveluc’s procession is heading towards the border. If what my father says is true, they may be moving as conspicuously as possible to cover up the fact that Paveluc is not there.”

It wouldn’t be difficult to confirm if Paveluc had been publicly seen. With the war underway, the people of Lunen were naturally interested in Paveluc’s actions, and the nearby towns would be filled with talk about him. Martin replied with a determined nod.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll confirm the news, then we’ll cross the border immediately—”

“No. If what my father says is true, we will not return to the Ruford Empire.”

“What? But—”

Martin blinked in surprise, but Elena’s face was set.

“If the Duchy of Lunen, the Kelt Kingdom, and the Jenar Kingdom are brought into an alliance, they will be too powerful for Ruford to stop alone.”

It was a dangerous risk that they could not afford. The Ruford Empire could manage Lunen and the Kelt Kingdom, even if they were formidable enemies, but the involvement of the Jenar Kingdom could easily tip the scales the other way.

‘Even if Carlisle controls the battlefield now…he may lose in the end.’

And they wouldn’t just lose—they would suffer total defeat. Not only would the Ruford Empire territory be picked away by their enemies like vultures, their people would become slaves.

This was not ideal for Paveluc either. He would also have to pay tremendous rewards for both the Kelt and Jenar kingdom for their services. However, this seemed to be the strategy he settled on, as if it was the only way to bring the current Emperor to his knees.

Elena turned back to look at Alphord’s face, which was so pale that he looked close to death.

‘Even though I was lucky enough to save Father now…what then?’

She didn’t know who would get hurt next time. Lying here in her arms could just as easily be Derek, or Carlisle. During a long war, there was no guarantee that they would be safe. The only way to make sure her family remained alive was to end this conflict quickly.

And Elena realized that the fastest way was…

Killing Paveluc herself.

Martin spoke up again, looking unconvinced.

“What will you do if you don’t return to the Ruford Empire?”

“We’ll have to stop him.”

“What?”

Martin’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer, but Elena continued calmly.

“There must be a reason why Paveluc is secretly traveling to Jenar. Perhaps he’s trying to ally with them to defeat the Ruford Empire. By the time we report this to the Emperor…it will be too late.”

“But how can we…”

“Have you ever heard of a Trojan horse?”

It was a mythical story about a people who snuck into enemy territory, doing so by tricking their enemies to open the gates.

Elena thought that her position was not much different from the story. Paveluc believed that she crossed the border, but in truth, Elena was still in Lunen. She intended to escape to the Ruford Empire, but now she was in prime position in Lunen territory without anyone knowing. The game board had changed drastically.

“Think about it. According to my father, Paveluc is headed towards Jenar without anyone else knowing. That means he would have only taken a small number of troops so he could move discreetly.”

“I suppose so.”

Moreover, Paveluc may not even consider the fact that his plans had leaked. Elena’s red eyes glistened sharply.

“Now that I’ve learned that Paveluc is traveling with limited protection, I cannot let him go.”

“Then Your Majesty…”

Martin’s eyes widened in realization. Elena gave a firm nod.

“If this is all true, now is the perfect time to assassinate Paveluc.”

She had only about forty people with her, but Paveluc’s forces would not be that much different in size.

Elena couldn’t let this chance slip away from her.

If she didn’t stop him now, Paveluc would continue to raze a path towards throne, and anyone in his way would be in danger. It was no different for the child growing in Elena’s belly. One day, maybe even this child’s life would be threatened by Paveluc. Elena may find temporary safety in fleeing to the border, but greater danger would always lurk and hunt them down.

Elena had to protect the people that were important to her…and this time, she wanted to end the source of her great misfortune here and now.

‘I won’t lose anyone in this life.’

If Elena was wrong, she may end up risking the child in her belly, but avoiding the situation wouldn’t make her safe either. She couldn’t let Paveluc bring the Jenar Kingdom into this war, which in turn would threaten Elena and her child. For the sake of the future, she could not turn away.

“As soon as we confirm that Paveluc’s false procession is heading towards the border, we will pursue the road to the Jenar Kingdom. Some will stay with me, and the rest will bring my father to the Ruford Empire as quickly as possible.”

Martin couldn’t help but marvel at Elena’s initiative. Not everyone had such keen judgment and daring determination. Elena was an empress and a wife, which meant that she had to be protected. But nothing more. She wouldn’t hide in the safety of her troops, but instead would lead them confidently into the battlefield. Failure meant that they would all die, but no one spoke a word against Elena.

Martin, his strength newly resolved, set his face in determination.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Elena lifted her head high as she addressed the knights gathered around her.

“I know you must all be exhausted. I am as well. But as you all have heard, it is no exaggeration to say that victory in this war rests in our hands now. To protect the citizens and the people important to us, let us be the one to end this.”

Kuung!

The forty or so elite knights simultaneously knelt together on the ground.

“Yes, Your Majesty! Eternal glory to the Ruford Empire!”

Though their numbers were not many, their fighting spirit was that of a group a hundredfold their size.

They carried out Elena’s orders, and went to nearby towns to determine whether Paveluc’s procession was headed towards the border. They discovered that although a great parade of soldiers had crossed through the streets, Paveluc did not show his face.

There was no more reason for Elena to hesitate. Elena and her troops flew like the wind in pursuit of Paveluc.

***

Just as Elena instructed, only two knights were left behind to transport the injured Alphord back to Ruford Empire.

What the knights didn’t expect were several medicine men, who had come from nearby to collect herbs, coming across the field of dead bodies.

“O-oh, what on earth happened here?”

The Ruford knight was slightly uncomfortable at the men’s appearance, but he soon responded calmly.

“There was a battle here.”

“Ah! There had been a lot of talk about finding the Ruford Empress lately, so I suppose that’s why.”

The knight nodded.

“Yes. If you don’t want to get caught up in anything, then keep moving.”

The knight spoke as curtly as possible, and hurriedly transferred Alphord into a carriage they had taken from a nearby town. The men watched them with a questioning look.

“But why are you trying to take that dead body? It isn’t even a Lunen soldier.”

“…!”

A medicine man was far too observant for his own good, and the knights glanced at each other in search for what to say.

The battlefield was littered with dead bodies from both Alphord’s and Paveluc’s armies. Because the Lunen soldiers were all dressed in the same uniform, the medicine man could see at first glance that Alphord was the enemy. A thousand thoughts crossed the minds of the knights.

‘Do we have to kill them?’

It was only the two of them that were there to move Alphord. If their whereabouts leaked, they alone could not fight off a significant number of enemy soldiers, and Alphord’s life could be endangered. They also had to move cautiously as to not expose Elena’s mission to assassinate Paveluc.

As the knights hesitated to give an answer, the medicine became increasingly suspicious. Suddenly, an idea came to the mind of one of the nervous knights.

“Ah, this one. We have orders to recover his body so that it may be hung on the wall.”

“Aha, I see.”

The medicine men nodded as if they were convinced. However, one of them spoke again with a curious look.

“So, is the body of the Ruford Empress in the carriage?”

While the knights were not pleased at the glee of their empress’ supposed death, they gave a nod to avoid any suspicion.

“Yes.”

“Ah, then I want to see it just once—”

The knights’ faces suddenly turned furious, and the medicine men took a step back and hastily changed their words.

“N-nevermind. I was just speaking randomly.”

“Y-yeah, we’ll see them at the wall later.”

As the frightened men stammered their apologies, the knights silently climbed onto the driver’s seat.

“Hyaa!”

The reins snapped, and the carriage set off at a brisk pace. The medicine men muttered in shame as they watched the carriage leave from behind.

“Tch, I wish I saw her. I heard that the Ruford Empress was beautiful.”

“Why do you want to see the face of a dead body? Stop it.”

The medicine men went back on their way.

***

Some time after, Derek arrived at the battlefield. Not a living soul was there, but evidence of a fierce battle remained. He had been informed by a soldier that Elena had planned to rescue Alphord. By the time Derek arrived, however, Alphord and Elena were gone, and hundreds of bodies soaked the landscape with blood.

‘What happened?’

It was unclear to him whether this was caused by Alphord or Elena. Derek hurriedly turned towards his troops.

“Find out what happened here.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Derek’s men began a search of the area, and soon enough they came across several medicine men picking herbs not far away. The knights were shocked when the men informed them what had happened. They took the men with them and dragged them before Derek.

“No, why are you doing this to us?”

A man yelled indignantly, but the knights firmly ignored his protest.

“Tell him what you said earlier.”

“I didn’t say—”

“Quickly!”

At the knight’s sharp bark, the medicine men cried out in fear, and one of them told exactly what he heard from the soldiers they saw before.

“We heard there was a battle here. And we saw two knights bringing the bodies of the enemy leader and the Ruford empress to the wall.”

“…What?”

The blood drained from Derek’s face. The Ruford Empress…that meant Elena. And the enemy leader obviously meant Ruford. Derek’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

“No…impossible. Did you see the bodies with your own eyes?”

“Oh, I’m sure. I saw them carrying a bloody body into a carriage.”

“It can’t be—”

All words fled from Derek. Elena had come to save their father, and both of them had died. Derek trembled as if he had been struck by lightning.

This war was going in a direction that no one expected.