A True Army

Lili arrived at the house hoping Alexander would be back already.

She had calmed herself down since the conversation she had with her mom.

Lili went to the window and looked outside, she was hoping to see Alexander in the garden but he wasn't there either.

She turned back to her room and sat down on the bed.

'If mother wasn't so stupid, selfish, and arrogant, I wouldn't have to hide him and everything would be so much easier' Thought Lili.

'Maybe we should just run away? We could live somewhere else... Anywhere is fine as long as we stay together'

She took a deep breath and then got up to go outside. The idea of running away was really tempting but she still wasn't ready to make such a decision.

She walked down the corridor and opened the door to the garden.

It was dark already and she could see the starry sky.

Unfortunately, before she could relax, she heard a noise from behind her.

She quickly turned her head and saw Jennifer who was walking through the garden while looking around.

"H-How did you find this place?"

"I'm your sister, at the very least, I know where you live and spend most of your time. It wasn't hard to track down somewhere you could be after that whole month you spent without returning to the castle"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why? If I told you, I would just have made everything more complicated. You would have created another hiding spot, or even worse, ran away"

"I don't get it... Why would I run away?"

"Don't play the fool in front of me, please. I know about the little secret you've been keeping. He is quite the catch I must say, who would think that you could find such a promising warrior just by being stuck in a room"

"That's none of your business!"

"Really? If only you knew how much he is worth! Just his blood alone is enough for mother to spend her whole fortune to keep him in a cage beside her"

"Y-You can't tell mom! If she finds out, Alexander will..."

"Don't worry, I still haven't told her... Yet"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I could tell mother about that... Or, you could do some things for me"

"What do you want?"

"I want you to go to the battlefield. Go with our mother and do everything I ask you to do there. And don't worry, I will be there to protect you if anything goes wrong. As a reward, I won't tell mother about Alexander, I promise"

Jennifer liked the look on Lili's face.

"Now go, you better hurry though, Mother doesn't like waiting"

Lili gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, she wanted to scream at Jennifer but she knew that it wouldn't change anything.

She walked out of the garden, away from the house, and teleported again.

She appeared at the throne room staring at Shira who didn't look even slightly surprised to see her.

"Have you finally decided what to do?"

"Yes"

Shira smirked.

"Good. Now, we should talk about your new equipment"

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Alexander arrived at the first's division and was received by one group of soldiers. They brought him to the captain's tent.

The men in the tent were all around him and Alexander felt like he was surrounded by wolves. The moment he entered, their gaze fixed on him but without any hint of emotion.

After a few seconds, one of them spoke.

"Lord General, we have prepared the necessary documentation for your departure. It should take us a few days to reach the battlefields but because of the royal castle magicians, the trip will be shortened to only a few hours, so it's advised for you to prepare faster"

"I see... Thank you for the report"

"It's my honor sir"

They all left the tent and Alexander stood there alone with the commander.

His muscles were aching from running beyond what his body could take but he couldn't care less about the pain right now.

The division commander stared at him and Alexander didn't hesitate to stare back.

"Royal highness warned me about you. You will be placed at the front line, the closest place from the enemy"

"..." Alexander didn't care where he was placed as long as he could see Lili and keep her safe.

The commander stared at Alexander evaluating him "You'll make a great soldier."

Alexander shook his head.

"I don't think so" He was thinking about the situation that happened before, remembering something Lili said.

The commander didn't say anything anymore and went out of the tent.

A few minutes later, All the division's soldiers were gathered in a huge magic circle made with blood, similar to the one the royal family uses.

The soldiers all looked young, very fit, and looked deadly with crimson armor.

Alexander was going to be placed near the center of the battle, closer to the enemy than anyone else.

Then the royal magicians started activating the magic circle.

Alexander was standing next to the commander and the other generals who were all looking at the sky as the dome of blood started rising, preparing to teleport them to the battlefield.

Once the dome was completely closed, everyone inside it disappeared.

Alexander opened his eyes and found himself in a strange place.

Everything around them was burned. The ground was covered by ashes and the air stunk of death. The air was thinner, the sun was burning hot.

There was nothing but scorched earth, corpses, and smoke.

All Alexander saw were corpses everywhere. There was not a single living soul anywhere.

He looked around, trying to find something alive when the commander spoke.

"We are a few hours north from the front lines, we will march ahead and kill everything we see!"

As he finished speaking, all the five hundred soldiers started moving. The pressure from their steps was heavy and filled with determination.