Free Web NovelChapter 34: Event Altered Permanently
Clink.
Vincent placed his teacup down and stared at the two ladies seated at the round table.
He couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore.
"Can we talk about what happened this morning?"
Almost immediately—
"What happened?"
"Good morning."
Anastasia slowly sipped tea after her question while Leona took another bite of her sandwich.
Neither appeared remotely concerned.
"..."
Vincent looked from one to the other.
Then back again.
"...The sleeping."
"The sleeping?" Anastasia tilted her head.
Leona swallowed.
"I slept quite well."
"That’s not the point."
"It isn’t?"
"..."
Vincent suddenly found arguing with them more exhausting than reading reports all night.
’This conversation is a lost cause.’
Vincent held sandwiches in both hands and bit into them at the same time.
’Breakfast it is.’
Anastasia and Leona briefly stared at him, their mouths slightly agape, and went back to doing what they were doing.
Anastasia looked into her tea and stared at her reflection.
’My habit of sleeping with body pillows is going to be the end of me!’
On the other side, Leona held a report in one hand.
Her eyes moved across the page without truly reading it.
’I indeed slept quite well.’
She never had such a good night’s sleep before and couldn’t forget the refreshing feeling after waking up.
She ate the last bite of her sandwich.
’Is it a coincidence?’
Her eyes subtly glanced at Vincent.
’...Maybe I should repeat it to be sure.’
The three finished their breakfast and morning tea shortly after.
As they were about to start working with their undivided attention, Vincent picked a small bundle and placed it before Leona.
"These are my own notes from yesterday’s reports. It should make things easier."
Vincent leaned back at the chair and picked a report, shaking his hand at Leona.
"There’s no need to thank—"
"I read them yesterday."
"..."
The report in Vincent’s hand slowly lowered.
Leona blinked.
Vincent picked up another report and stared at it as if he was severely myopic.
"I arrived before dawn."
"I know."
"I read all of them."
"I heard you the first time."
Silence.
Leona looked at Vincent.
Vincent looked at the report.
Grain reserves.
Grain prices.
’Grains. Hmm... they are called grains because they can’t be made up without rains...’
’...is grains actually just ground (g) plus rains (rains)?’
The report suddenly became very interesting.
Across the table, Anastasia slowly sipped tea.
Leona lowered her gaze.
Only now did she realize Vincent had been somewhat proud of the notes.
A brief pause followed.
She reached beside her chair.
Clink.
Vincent heard something metallic touch the table and paused his finger pretending the printed letters were braille.
A dagger was placed before him.
The blade was dark silver.
A subtle tidal pattern ran along its surface.
Even without touching it, one could feel a faint spiritual fluctuation coming from within.
Vincent stared.
Leona pushed it slightly closer.
"I made it."
The dejected look disappeared instantly.
"...you made this?"
"It is my first spirit weapon."
Vincent immediately put the report down.
The dagger was carefully picked up moments later as if it was the most sacred treasure.
He examined the blade.
Saw his reflection in the sheen.
Turned it around.
Examined it again.
The exhaustion from earlier seemed to have vanished.
Vincent’s myopia and blindness were cured too.
Leona watched quietly.
For some reason, she found the outcome much more acceptable.
Across the table, Anastasia glanced up from her tea.
Vincent was looking at the dagger.
Leona was looking at Vincent looking at the dagger.
"Couples."
She clicked her tongue.
"Ridiculous."
Vincent and Leona did not hear her.
Vincent turned to Leona and pushed the dagger back to her side.
"It’s amazing."
Leona looked at the dagger with a puzzled look, wondering why she was being given it back.
Vincent smiled at her and kept staring.
Leona stared back with an expressionless face.
The two kept staring at each other.
’Get a room!’ Anastasia cursed inwardly and chugged the remaining half of tea.
"This is for you." Leona pushed the dagger towards Vincent.
Vincent raised his eyebrows in surprise and softly gasped.
He pointed at the dagger.
Then at himself.
Then at the dagger and back at himself.
Leona rolled her eyes and pointed at the dagger, then at Vincent.
Vincent covered his mouth and gasped.
He immediately made a heart sign with his hands and picked the dagger with a sparkle in his eyes.
Leona was quite confused by the sudden turn of events. It physically hurt her head.
Vincent took the dagger and carefully used it to slice a sandwich in two, finding the sharpness extremely sharp.
He handed half to Leona in sincere gratitude and kept the half for himself.
"Thank you, really."
If Vincent had a tear in his eyes, he would’ve wiped it now. Sadly he was too focused on eating the sandwich.
"..."
"..."
Leona and Anastasia both took a deep breath.
Leona mercilessly ate the sandwich Vincent gave her and decided to pretend her first cultivation weapon’s usage was not on a sandwich.
She turned to look at Anastasia.
The two stared at each other for a good few seconds.
’He’s your fiancé, Leona.’
’I know.’
’He’s done a lot for you.’
’And I’m thankful.’
’Don’t kill him... right now.’
’I’ll try.’
The two eventually broke eye contact.
A few minutes later, everyone had a serious expression on their face as they went back to work.
Yesterday’s reports were tackled first. The least important ones were discussed first, then the most important ones.
Leona lowered her gaze at the most important report.
Silver Town.
It had fallen right when she found the Spirit Iron.
Vincent could’ve told her about it and asked for help right there. freewebnøvel.coɱ
But he didn’t.
Her eyes drifted toward the dagger resting beside him.
While she was refining it, Silver Town descended in chaos.
The Knight Order had been suspended.
And the crisis only continued to worsen.
Yet, Vincent never interrupted her smithing.
...
Leona took a slow breath.
These thoughts lingered in her mind longer than they should have.
Eventually, she looked at Vincent.
"So what did you do after finding out Silver Town’s state?"
She did not see any decisions regarding it in his personal notes and had to ask.
"Ignored it." Vincent said without looking at her.
"You ignored it?"
"Yes."
A loose strand of silver hair fell across Leona’s face.
She tucked it behind her ear.
"Why?"
Before Vincent answered, Anastasia slid a few papers toward Leona.
Leona picked them up and began reading while Vincent spoke.
"There were no casualties. They weren’t vandalizing either. They just took control and placed it in a lockdown."
His finger tapped on the table.
"The Knight Order turned out to have spies. I did not want a situation where I sent them to retake the town, only to have their backs turned against me or worse yet, putting the civilians in the crossfire."
In Leona’s hands were now Anastasia’s personal notes.
They were concise.
Almost brutally so.
Silver Town ignored.
Food crisis prioritized.
Refugee management prioritized.
Communication lines expanded.
Administrative buildings ordered to operate day and night.
Additional workers hired.
Emergency overtime approved.
Each entry was only a few words long but together they painted a clear picture.
After Silver Town fell, Vincent simply shifted his attention elsewhere.
More importantly,
The Knight Order had been suspended.
Leona paused.
The single line carried more weight than everything written above.
The Knight Order was one of D’Arc House’s pillars.
Suspending it without proof should have been impossible.
Yet Vincent had done exactly that.
Her eyes further moved down the page.
Beneath it were the reasoning for suspension and also Anastasia’s own observations and thoughts regarding it.
Mine collapse, delayed escort response, Silver Town, intelligence failures, and the refugee incident.
The refugee incident was the smallest incident but resulted in the biggest spark causing a wildfire.
Leona found herself unable to disagree with any of it.
Eventually, she lowered the papers.
Her gaze drifted towards Vincent.
This short raven-haired heir of D’Arc House was leaning back on his chair, balancing a pen between his lips and nose as he read a report.
Her eyebrow twitched.
She silently picked up another report.
Several minutes passed.
Then she placed a fresh sheet of paper in the center of the table.
Vincent and Anastasia both lowered their reports.
"Why are these bandits so strange?" Leona asked.
Vincent and Anastasia exchanged a glance, before pulling their chairs closer to the table.
All three looked down at the report.
"Northern border invaded by bandits..." Vincent read out loud.
None around the table were surprised by it.
The northern rail lines connecting D’Arc County to Heinrich Duchy had already been sabotaged.
The Knight Order was then misled with false intelligence and they channeled most of their knights to the Central Region.
Silver Town had fallen shortly after.
The border being struck next was almost expected.
Vincent continued reading.
"Resources seized."
"Villages occupied."
"Roads controlled."
His brows gradually knit together.
Leona lowered her gaze and read next.
"No casualties."
"No burnings."
"No executions.
"No hostage killings."
The three momentarily paused and looked at the report again, wondering if they had just read wrong.
Vincent tapped at the lines and said, "Such movements don’t look like bandits."
Leona and Anastasia nodded.
That was exactly the problem.
Bandits were a greedy, unruly, and impulsive bunch but the reports said otherwise.
"It’s as if... they’re moving with a purpose." Leona replied.
Anastasia frowned as she heard this.
She closed her eyes and pinched her glabella, trying to recall something.
Another report was placed beside this.
Vincent picked it up.
"Silver Town remains occupied."
"Civilians unharmed despite protests."
Silence ensued at the table.
Anastasia picked up a pen and began writing something on a blank paper.
Vincent and Leona did not disturb her train of thoughts.
Leona quietly slid another report over.
"It’s from a few hours ago."
Vincent skimmed it.
"Grand Commander, Commanders, and Captains of the Knight Order have reached the northern borders."
"Fighting ongoing."
"No major casualties."
"Bandits pushed back by one village."
"Border still holding."
Leona slowly looked at Vincent.
The corner of Vincent’s lips curved up.
He leaned back and casually placed both hands behind his back, staring in her direction.
She rolled her eyes. "That wasn’t your intention."
Vincent smiled and shook his head. "You doubt my intelligence?"
"Yes."
Vincent clutched his chest and showed a pained expression.
Leona ignored him and picked up another report to read.
Across the table, Anastasia’s scribbling intensified. She drew an arrow, circled a word, connected a line, then crossed something.
She took another fresh sheet of paper and began writing again.
Mine collapse.
Silver Town.
Knight delays.
Border pressure.
Food crisis.
Bandits.
Vincent glanced over.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking."
That was all she said.
Vincent and Leona let her be once again.
Minutes passed.
The morning discussion gradually turned into quiet work.
Reports were sorted.
Notes were written.
Fresh information continued arriving.
Meanwhile, Anastasia’s wrist moved swiftly over the page.
A line connected Mine Collapse and Knight Delays.
Another connected Silver Town and Bandits.
A third line was drawn, then immediately crossed out.
Her brows furrowed.
The pieces fit.
But many still seemed missing.
The sun climbed higher.
Golden light filtered through the tinted arched windows and stretched across the wooden floor.
Tea cooled.
Ink dried.
The shadows beneath the table shortened.
A clerk approached from the far end of the table.
A report changed hands twice before finally reaching their table.
Leona took it first.
Her brows creased.
Then creased deeper.
Without a word, she placed it at the center.
Vincent leaned forward.
"Royal Hounds found dead in the Capit."
"Central districts under lockdown."
"Crown Princess personally leading the investigation."
Clack.
Anastasia’s pen slipped from her fingers.
The sound drew both Vincent and Leona’s attention.
She stared at the report.
The Royal Hounds.
The King’s hidden blade.
In every iteration, they eventually died.
That wasn’t unusual.
What was unusual was how quickly it happened.
It was just the fourth day, and they were already gone.
Anastasia felt a faint irritation rise in her chest.
Not because they were dead.
Because they died before accomplishing anything.
"...what a waste."
Vincent blinked.
Leona blinked.
Neither understood what she meant.
Anastasia picked up the pen again and returned to her age.
Vincent quietly exhaled.
For a moment, she seemed so serious that she was about to stab someone.
He looked back at the report.
The Prince.
The Royal Hounds.
The unnecessary trouble they caused at the ball.
’Deserved.’ He thought and returned to work.
Silence settled over the round table.
Only the scratching of Anastasia’s pen disturbed it.
Vincent picked up another report.
"The border is holding."
He lowered it and looked at Leona with a tired smile.
"So at least something is going right."
"...No."
The voice was quiet but rang in Vincent and Leona’s ears.
They turned to Anastasia.
Almost absent-minded, she drew another line across the page.
Then another. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Then circled three different entries.
Leona watched the paper.
"What are you connecting?"
Anastasia didn’t answer. Instead, she kept at it and asked,
"What was the first problem?"
Vincent slightly knitted his brows.
"The rail lines?"
Leona shook her head.
"No."
"The mines?"
"No."
Anastasia slowly looked up and finally spoke.
"...Food."
Vincent blinked.
"...Remember what the Railguard said?"
"Ah...!"
It finally began clicking Vincent.
Leona nodded.
"Three weeks ago, Central Region requested an extra month’s grain supply."
Vincent nodded repeatedly. "Right. I remember."
"Two weeks ago, northern rail lines were damaged."
"One week ago, plague fear led to destruction of remaining food supplies."
Leona nodded and placed her written report before them.
"It started three weeks ago, but I feel it began much earlier."
Vincent and Anastasia looked at her.
"Why did the County require imports when it has such a river basin and fertile southern lands?" Leona questioned.
"Problems occurred with growing food. Perhaps it was natural, perhaps not. But this was the first spark."
Leona pointed at her personal note.
"The flames officially erupted three weeks ago."
"Food stock diminished."
"Food imports stopped."
"The mines..."
Vincent continued, "...Collapsed."
He looked at the two.
"The floods."
"Nanteaux Dam."
"The southern farms."
"Then the refugees."
"The Knight Order."
"Silver Town."
"Border."
Every problem appeared before the three.
One after another.
Nobody spoke.
Vincent slowly glanced at the two with knitted brows.
"Every disaster..."
Leona quietly finished.
"...removed another pillar."
The three stared at Leona’s personal note.
Food.
Transportation.
Mining.
Agriculture.
Administration.
Military.
Territory.
One after another.
One after another.
One after another.
Not simultaneously.
Sequentially.
Purposefully.
Vincent felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"This wasn’t opportunistic."
Leona nodded.
"It was prepared."
She glanced at Vincent and Anastasia.
"From nothing, they created an opening."
"Then they started."
"Each move became possible because the previous one succeeded."
"The rail lines only mattered because food was already scarce."
"The refugees only mattered because the food destroyed the harvest."
"Silver Town only mattered because the Knight Order had already been diverted."
"The border only mattered because Silver Town fell."
Her crimson eyes slowly narrowed.
"...None of this was coincidence."
Across the table, Anastasia stopped writing.
The pen remained suspended above the page.
Then she drew one final line.
Every circle.
Every arrow.
Every report.
Connected to a single point.
Vincent looked at the page.
"...You’ve been making a map?"
"No."
Anastasia quietly replied.
"...A campaign."
Silence.
Leona stared at the paper.
"...Military."
She slowly whispered.
"Only someone trained in military logistics thinks like this."
"Supply."
"Pressure."
"Isolation."
"Encirclement."
"Advance."
She looked toward Vincent.
"This isn’t how bandits fight."
Vincent’s expression gradually stiffened.
"...This is how armies fight."
Leona gave a small nod.
"...Yes."
Another round of silence ensued.
Away from them, the telegraph machines continued clicking.
Near them, nobody reached for another report.
Nobody spoke.
Anastasia slowly closed her eyes.
Something from a previous iteration resurfaced.
A battlefield.
Burning banners.
Cities surrendered without being destroyed.
An army advancing village by village.
Not through slaughter.
But by strangling its enemy.
She opened her eyes.
"...Goodness."
Her voice was barely audible.
"...It can’t be."
Leona looked at her.
"...You know someone."
Not a question.
A verdict.
"I..."
Anastasia hesitated.
"If..."
"If my assumption isn’t wrong..."
She looked at her notes.
"If this really is one continuous campaign..."
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the pen.
"...Then there is only one person in the kingdom who fights like this."
Vincent unconsciously leaned forward.
"...Who?"
Anastasia remained silent.
For several long seconds.
Then—
She peered straight into Vincent’s eyes.
"...Duke Brunelle."
The moment the name left Anastasia’s lips—
[Ding!]
[Fate Deviated!]
[Fate Deviated!]
[Fate Deviated!]
.
.
.
[Ding!]
[Major Fate Deviation!]
Lines of red stacked on top of each other before Vincent’s eyes as the constant ringing of mechanical voice made him clutch his head.
[Ding!]
[Fate Anchor identified.]
[Anchor: Silent Witness.]
[Status...]
[...]
[Destabilizied.]
[Ding!]
[Fate Anchor identified.]
[Anchor: The Hidden Campaign.]
[Status...]
[...]
[Destabilized.]
[Ding!]
[Fate Anchor identified.]
[Anchor: Refugee Riots]
[Status...]
[...]
[Destabilized.]
[Ding!]
[Fate Anchor identified.]
[Anchor: Collapse of D’Arc Supply Lines.]
[Status...]
[...]
[Destabilizied.]
...
[Warning!]
[All anchors linked to event #001 have entered unstable resonance.]
[Calculating...]
[...]
[...]
[Event #001 can no longer occur.]
[Reset point updated.]
[...]
[Ding!]
[Major Fate Deviation!]
[Ding!]
[Event Altered Permanently!]
