Free Web NovelChapter 34: Day Two
When the sun rose the next day, Charles opened his eyes to find himself staring into the face of beauty. frёewebnoѵēl.com
Charlotte lay beside him, the two of them facing each other.
Her wide silver eyes were already fixed on him.
Her face looked delicate and peaceful, like some sort of doll.
"Good morning. Do you usually wake up this early?" Charlotte asked.
The question, combined with the situation, almost made Charles roll out of bed.
Last night, it had been easy for him to forget about everything and simply fall asleep due to exhaustion. However, now that he was fully awake, the reality of the situation hit him.
He was shirtless in bed with Charlotte, who was wearing only a sleeping gown.
"I... It’s a habit of mine."
After that, he wasted no time climbing out of bed, while Charlotte propped herself up on one elbow and watched him.
A steaming bucket of water had been prepared for him on the other side of the room. Beside it sat another bucket that had already been emptied.
"I was awake an hour ago, so I used the opportunity to clean myself up and prepare water and more tea for you."
Awake an hour before me? It must be like 5 a.m. right now.
Is this the life of an author?
Charles thanked her before taking the bucket outside to wash himself.
The sun was surprisingly bright, and the temperature was already high. On top of that, the camp’s morale was much higher than the night before.
Groups of soldiers sat together chatting. It seemed yesterday’s nearly effortless victory had boosted everyone’s confidence.
Good.
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After Charles finished washing and began putting on his clothes, he heard footsteps approaching.
They belonged to Prince Cain.
The man’s blonde hair was wet, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt, having clearly just finished bathing. His body was well defined.
This time, he wasn’t accompanied by any of his knights. He had come alone.
As he approached, the Prince nodded to Charles. It was the first sign of respect he had ever shown him.
"Today we strike first, adventurer. I wanted to let you know before anyone else, in case you needed to make any preparations," Prince Cain said.
The way he phrased it made it clear he was trying to uncover the truth behind the adventurer’s powers.
Charles nodded and tied his black hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way.
"Sounds good. Let’s make this attack even more brutal than the last."
Prince Cain looked slightly embarrassed after hearing that.
He knew that, as prince, he would not be on the front line. In fact, it was highly unlikely that he would even have to draw his sword today.
He cleared his throat to hide his discomfort.
"Expect them to adopt some sort of strange tactics. They know now that this battle won’t be as easy as they expected."
Charles nodded again, his expression remaining calm.
"They can adopt any tactic they want. The outcome will always be the same."
The words didn’t sound arrogant.
They sounded like the certainty of a man who had absolute confidence in his own abilities.
The Prince clenched his fists, desperate to know who this man really was, and why he had never heard of him before.
Afterwards, he turned and walked away.
...
Charles chuckled to himself before heading back into the tent, where Charlotte had finished putting on her blue suit of armour.
She had heard her brother’s words and knew the fighting would begin again soon.
"What are you doing?" Charles asked.
"Hmm? I’m getting ready for the fight."
"No, no... You should be resting. Just yesterday you were coughing up blood and burning through your mana."
...
Charlotte pouted slightly and remained silent for a few seconds.
"The kingdom sees me as one of their strongest mages. If I’m not on the battlefield, they’ll become suspicious."
Charles thought it over.
She was right.
Although she had already covered for herself by explaining to the King that her powers had become rusty after not using them for such a long time, she was still Master Grade.
Simply having her presence on the battlefield would boost the Silverblessed army’s morale.
Charles rubbed his smooth chin in thought but couldn’t come up with any excuse to make her stay behind.
"I guess you can come, but you’ll have to stay with the nobles, like your brother."
Charlotte’s expression straightened.
"That is fine with me."
...
Silence settled over the room.
It wasn’t awkward.
Instead, it seemed they had both come to the same realisation.
The way Charles had just acted was a lot like a protective husband.
They hadn’t even known each other for a month, yet somehow it felt natural to slip into those roles.
Charles scratched his head, about to break the silence.
But then, the call for soldiers to prepare for battle echoed through the camp.
It was time for the second day of the Battle of Greyford Plains.
...
The arrangement of the battlefield was slightly different from before.
The cavalry flanked the infantry as they prepared to charge an enemy shield wall with spears protruding over the top.
Charles, standing among the infantry, found the formation familiar.
It’s that formation the Blackrain Kingdom used during the Second Eastern Continent War... FluffyCat based it on the Greek phalanx.
King Cassius, ruler of the Blackrain Kingdom at the time, used it to conquer most of the territory the kingdom still controls today.
It was extremely effective against cavalry. At its strongest, mages would overwhelm the charging cavalry with debuffs, leaving them even more vulnerable when they crashed into the shield wall.
By the looks of it, Prince Cain isn’t aware of any of this.
The Silverblessed Kingdom is so weak... No wonder the other three kingdoms decided to invade and divide the land among themselves. They’re practically helpless.
"Cavalry units, charge!"
Prince Cain’s command cut through Charles’ thoughts.
Looks like I’ll have to save them again.
