Cunning

"Austen!"

Prince Quentin turned his head to the side, trying to find the whereabouts of the deputy commander of the reinforcement. Austen was seen fighting with one of the soldiers until he was able to defeat his enemy and walked over to Quentin.

"Do you need anything from me, Prince Quentin?" asked Austen, standing up straight.

Quentin grasped Mary's hand and handed the girl to Austen in the midst of the battle happening inside the fort. Austen understood Quentin's intentions.

"Take care of her. She is precious to me," Quentin pleaded.

Austen nodded yes, taking Mary to Roderick's manor house with the help of two soldiers assigned to guard her.

Now, Mary was in the custody of Telmarath soldiers, safe from the death threats of Roderick's men. Austen returned near Quentin, reporting what he had done.

Quentin seemed to be casting his eyes around, taking in the area around him that was filled with screams of pain and suffering. Although Roderick had a large number of soldiers, it was undeniable that experience and skill were far more important in a battle.

They fought from the south side, and then the fight spread to the east side until a fierce battle broke out for control of the gate.

Not long after, Telmarath's army completely captured the eastern gate. A white banner with a golden lion flew over the gate, signalling that Hartwin's troops could begin their attack.

"Open the door! Let Hartwin come to help," Quentin declared.

Telmarath's soldiers did as Quentin commanded. The three-meter-high east gate was opened wide, showing two different sides inside and outside the door.

Inside the door, a battle was taking place between Telmarath and Roderick, while outside, thousands of cavalry soldiers were riding fast to push their way into the fortress.

Quentin walked close to the gate, ascending the stairs until he was entirely on top of the fortress. Quentin, along with Austen, were fully on top of the gate, watching Hartwin's cavalry begin to enter and attack furiously.

Quentin's eyes widened heavily. Hartwin's troops were not helping him but trying to take Oakenport from Quentin's control.

"What the—"

"For House Hartwin's victory!" shouted the cavalier, betraying Quentin.

"Hartwin's a scumbag! He chose control of Oakenport over an alliance with me," Quentin growled.

He looked ahead to see thousands of other soldiers from the infantry and archers beginning to run into the fort. Quentin immediately told his troops to close the gate quickly.

"CLOSE THE FUCK GATE!" shouted Quentin.

They nodded. Started closing the gate once again and held back the soldiers who tried to enter.

Austen saw that the chaos inside the fort was no longer inevitable; the defeat of Roderick and Telmarath was clearly displayed before his eyes.

Quentin roughly grabbed Austen's armour and pulled the man close. He stared at Austen sharply with resentment for feeling betrayed.

"Take Mary to the west!" ordered Quentin.

"Yes, My Prince," Austen affirmed.

Austen moved quickly down the stairs, running from the east gate to the manor house where Mary was hiding. However, Quentin was still on top of the gate, staring straight ahead at Clark Hartwin sitting upright on his horse.

"You! I'll make sure you're on my list for someone to kill, Lord Hartwin!" growled Quentin, determined.

Quentin took a detour through the path above the gate and the fortress wall to the west gate. Austen had a fight with some of Hartwin's cavaliers, but he managed to survive and take Mary out through the west gate.

The Prince was the same. He managed to escape the attack of the cavaliers and arrived outside the west gate. Three people were standing outside the gate: Mary, Austen and Quentin.

"They betrayed us," Mary replied sadly.

Quentin seemed to tighten the saddle of the horse while Mary was still standing just behind Austen's back, "They're a big house. I was the one foolish enough to propose an alliance without any guarantees."

"What should we do?" asked Mary, panicking.

Mary's brother remained silent for a moment, then directed his eyes westward towards the Lanercoast lands.

"I think we need to meet our uncle," revealed Quentin.

"Uncle Edgar?" asked Mary. Quentin cleared his throat in agreement with what Mary had said.

The west gate opened, revealing thousands of Infantry soldiers chasing Quentin and Mary.

The troops were ordered by Hartwin to bring Quentin and Mary's heads to Clark Hartwin. He wanted to make sure that Oakenport did not fall into the hands of anyone other than Hartwin.

Elsewhere, Hartwin, along with his confidants, began riding towards Oakenport. The leader of House Hartwin changed his mind after his wife persuaded Clark to take control of Oakenport.

The damn woman said clearly that if House Hartwin controlled the Oakenport area, Hartwin would benefit greatly from the trade and taxation sectors as planned by Quentin earlier.

"I don't want to see a single soldier from Roderick and Telmarath alive," Hartwin stated.

The soldiers who came with him nodded, beginning to slaughter thousands of people inside the city of Oakenport until the muddy ground began to mix with the stench of blood and scattered organs.

The severed heads, fitted on pikes, were displayed before the gate as proof of Hartwin's victory over Oakenport.

"Go, Prince Quentin. I'll try to hold them off," Austen insisted.

Quentin cleared his throat and mounted the saddle with Mary in tow. The two soon rode out of Oakenport towards the Lanercoast lands that were currently under the control of House Helferich.

House Helferich was the House of her mother's family. Helferich's ties with Telmarath had worsened since Catherine's bizarre death.

The Helferichs were famous for their vast mineral mining control in the Lanercoast, so they could confidently disobey Telmarath because they didn't really need Telmarath.

Quentin continued to ride away from Oakenport with a grumbling heart, feeling lied to and betrayed.

With an incident like this, it was possible Quentin would take revenge on many people, not just Telmarath.

Several cavaliers continued to pursue Quentin in the most tense chase, passing through the forest area and breaking through the stream until they reached the vast plains outside the forest area near Lanercoast.

Quentin occasionally looked back, looking intently at the hundreds of cavaliers chasing Quentin to gain Hartwin's praise and credit.

"Do we also have to die at their hands?" asked Quentin, annoyed while glancing slowly back, seeing obviously hundreds of soldiers still chasing him full of ferocity.

Just as hope was beginning to fade, the thunderous gallop of a cavalry charge from the opposite direction rang clearly in Quentin's ears.

He saw the soldiers coming with a flag with a red colour and an eagle crest, the flag of Helferich.

Helferich's cavalry far outnumbered Hartwin's. Realizing they were outnumbered, hundreds of Hartwin's cavalry halted and began to return to Oakenport in failure.

Quentin could breathe a sigh of relief, as could Mary. Helferich's thousands of cavaliers also stopped walking, staring at Quentin with a sharp gaze.

"It's ridiculous they're after a prince of this kingdom," remarked the cavalry commander.

"Thank you for coming," Quentin stated.

"Thank Lord Edgar Helferich. He commanded us to save you," insisted the commander.

Helferich's cavaliers began to clear a path, allowing Quentin to ride into Calden Castle, where Edgar Helferich was waiting for Quentin, his nephew.

A magnificent castle set on a rocky hill. The pillars of the tower rose high with a red flag with an eagle flying above the castle.

Arriving at the castle, Quentin dismounted from the saddle and helped Mary to dismount as well. Edgar, who had been on the castle balcony, immediately climbed down and went to meet Quentin, accompanied by Edgar's wife and two daughters.

"Prince Quentin," explained Edgar, greeting Quentin in a friendly manner.

"Uncle Edgar," responded Quentin.

The two embraced each other, and Mary did the same. They were both happy to be in Helferich, their second home after Telmarath.

"It's been a while since we've seen you. Are you doing well in Telmarath?" asked Edgar.

"Nothing was going well there. We almost died by the cunning plans of the people in the palace," Quentin emphasized.

"They even sent you to Oakenport to die, didn't they?" asked Edgar.

Quentin squinted, wondering how Edgar could possibly know about the plan, "How could you know?"

"Haha, I placed one of my eagles in every important castle in Athalaris. I can get important information from them," Edgar replied.

Edgar stepped slightly away from Quentin. He walked towards the south gate, "Let's pay a visit to your mother's grave first."