Precious Hostages

***

The next day.

Calden Castle

Lanercoast

The meeting with Edgar was held not to discuss the problems between Quentin and Castlebourne but to discuss Quentin and Arabelle's wedding plans.

Quentin had no objections to it. Edgar called all the officials in the city to discuss the matter in the assembly room of Calden Castle.

"I think the sooner we arrange the marriage between Prince Quentin and Arabelle, the stronger Helferich's position will be among the other houses in Lanercoast," offered one of Edgar's advisors, Sir Colton.

"I was thinking the same right after I refused all of their proposals to Arabelle," Edgar countered.

"What about the horoscope?" asked Edgar, asking one of the sages at Calden Castle, Sir Dorren.

"This month, the constellations are very favourable. Having Prince Quentin and Lady Arabelle married this month will bring us good fortune," Sir Dorren replied.

"God sees all!" echoed everyone in the room except for Quentin.

Edgar's gaze was now fixed straight ahead, looking at Prince Quentin and Lady Arabelle standing in a line facing Lord Edgar, who sat on his throne.

"What do you think, Prince Quentin?" asked Edgar, wanting to hear the young man's opinion.

Quentin remained silent for a moment, still staring ahead and then looking to Lord Edgar's right, where Marcella and Princess Mary stood and stared at him.

"The advisor and sage's suggestions are completely good. I cannot refuse a good thing," Quentin replied.

"Then what about you, Lady Arabelle?" asked Edgar, confirming to his first daughter.

Prince Quentin glanced softly to the side, looking at Arabelle seriously. The 25-year-old woman could only nod without any words.

"Very well. Since both of them agreed to hold the wedding sooner, we will do it in the next week," Edgar replied.

Lord Edgar seemed to stand up from his seated position, ordering his men to immediately deliver the news of Quentin and Arabelle's marriage to all the houses in Lanercoast.

The man also requested their presence at the wedding to swear their oaths to Quentin, who would become Helferich's lord.

Sir Colton and Dorren nodded, stepped back and bid Lord Edgar farewell. The meeting to discuss the wedding was over.

Surprisingly, someone knocked on the assembly room door. The soldier near the door opened it immediately.

A soldier walked inside and knelt obediently with his head bowed. He had a message to deliver to Lord Edgar Helferich.

"What is it?" asked Edgar.

"My apologies, Lord Edgar. A soldier from the outpost in the east of Lanercoast saw a procession of soldiers with a white flag with a golden lion crest," the soldier replied.

The information shared by the man shocked Edgar, as well as Prince Quentin. Lord Edgar squinted, gazing forward at the soldier.

"How many soldiers are there?" asked Edgar.

"Not much, about 1000 men, and they are marching from Northcrest to the south," the soldier replied.

"Then we're not worried about them," replied Edgar.

"No!" insisted Quentin.

The eyes initially focused on the soldier, who turned to look at Quentin. Edgar narrowed his eyes, wondering what Quentin was trying to say by denying Edgar's words.

"What do you mean, Quentin?" asked Edgar.

"The procession. It must be the second prince's entourage, Prince Alexander," Quentin replied.

"How did you come up with that?" asked Edgar.

"An informant told me Prince Edmund will marry Lady Melissa of House Hildemar, while Lady Sera will marry Prince Alexander," revealed Quentin.

"I cannot explain in detail, but Howard and Edmund likely requested Alexander's presence at the castle to confirm the man's willingness to marry Lady Sera," Quentin continued.

"Is that so? So you made a suggestion to prevent Alexander from returning to Castlebourne?" asked Edgar.

Quentin nodded with a face full of seriousness, looking ahead precisely at his uncle, "The marriage between Edmund and Sera has been long planned. Prince Edmund's unexpected change of spouse has disappointed House Lorelei."

"But Howard is the Duke of Athalaris. He will definitely use any plan to ensure House Lorelei gets the compensation it deserves," Quentin replied.

Edgar seemed to nod his head several times. Quentin's explanation made sense in response to the political turmoil between Castlebourne and House Lorelei.

"Then what do you want to do?" asked Lord Edgar.

Quentin smiled broadly, staring ahead as he stepped closer to Lord Edgar, "Send your troops to ambush Alexander's entourage. Kill all of the prince's escorts while keeping him alive."

"I want Alexander to live. He will be useful for me someday," Quentin replied.

The young prince looked back, staring at the soldiers still kneeling before the important people of Lanercoast, "Make sure they haven't crossed the Trident."

"How many soldiers on guard in the east are ready to be deployed?" asked Edgar.

"About 5000 to 7000 men, Lord Edgar," responded the soldier.

Edgar nodded, stayed silent for a while and then decided to carry out Quentin's orders.

His right hand stretched forward, ordering his soldiers to send 7000 men to ambush Prince Alexander's procession and bring him to Calden Castle alive.

The soldier nodded, excused himself, stepped away, and ran from the room. Quentin raised his hand again, asking Edgar for approval.

"By kidnapping Prince Alexander, you've made the pond of water from calm to choppy," replied Edgar.

"Prince Edmund and Duke Howard already started their first wave in that pond. I'm just following up on what they did for me," Quentin replied.

"What exactly are you trying to achieve with this plan of yours?" asked Edgar.

"House Lorelei will become further frustrated with Castlebourne because Alexander is difficult to find. The terms of the agreement between Howard and Edmund with House Lorelei involve Prince Alexander," Quentin replied.

"By imprisoning Alexander here, the longer they wait, the more dissatisfied House Lorelei will become and eventually throw away their loyalty to Reingard, which has been built up over hundreds of years," Quentin stated.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That term seems to work in this world," Quentin continued.

Edgar surprisingly clapped his hands together, gazing at Quentin with an ambitious look in his eyes. 

The middle-aged man had never expected Quentin to use his intelligence to make politics in Athalaris even more chaotic.

"I don't know what happened to you, but you showed something different from Quentin I knew before," Edgar praised.

Arabelle was mesmerized, turning her head to the side with both eyes fixed intently on Quentin. 

Prince Quentin realized he was being watched by Arabelle, and he immediately returned Arabelle's gaze.

"As I said before, wait and see for the enemy to move," Quentin said.

"I fully understand how you think, Prince Quentin."

The assembly ended with the decision that Quentin and Arabelle would marry the following week. 

Arabelle and the others went to their chambers, but not Quentin and Edgar.

The two appeared to be leaving Calden Castle on a horse. They needed to confirm the battle in the east of Lanercoast and whether they were successful.

From afar, the battle seemed to finish early, with the ground covered in blood, thousands dead, and the bodies of the escort scattered in the north of Oakenport.

The men in red eagle armour seemed to be returning from the battlefield, carrying a man with them.

The man was bound with ropes, blindfolded with a black cloth and carried by a horse like a hunted animal.

Quentin and Howard arrived at the eastern outpost of Lanercoast. The two men arrived immediately greeted by thousands of Helferich soldiers who had already finished fighting.

Since the escort guarding Prince Alexander was not the special forces type, Helferich's soldiers could easily defeat them and bring Alexander to Lanercoast harmlessly.

"Did you clear your trace?" asked Quentin.

The soldier commander nodded. Not a single Helferich attribute or flag was present at the battle site. 

They had also killed all the escorts without a trace, leaving not a single eyewitness.

"Good," replied Quentin.

The young prince dismounted, striding over to Alexander, who had been roughly dropped from the horse.

Quentin crouched down, reached his right hand forward and removed the black cloth from Alexander's eyes.

Alexander's eyes opened slowly. The first person he saw was his step brother, Prince Quentin.

"Quentin? I thought you were dead in Oakenport," Alexander revealed.

"They planned to kill me, but I survived," Quentin replied.

Alexander's head swivelled, taking in his surroundings where he was surrounded by soldiers in red robes with white eagles, Helferich's soldiers.

"Helferich killed my escort!" insisted Alexander.

"I know because I was the one who sent them," replied Quentin.

"You?!" asked Alexander angrily.

Quentin smiled, then punched Alexander hard in the face, knocking his step brother unconscious at once.

"Take that bastard to the dungeon."