“Grand Commander, should I congratulate you first or shall I congratulate your accomplishments first?”

I looked at Leah, who was in front of me, and smiled, “That depends on your standpoint . If you still consider yourself a member of the North, then you shouldn’t feel either of those sentiments . ”

She looked at me and calmly replied, “I am not a resident of the North . I am my Queen’s bodyguard and lover . I sincerely hope that you can keep the promise between us and treat our Queen well once you have captured the city . You must know that I have always been working hard for your victory, telling the people not to stop your army, so you should keep your promise to us . ”

“Naturally . ”

I looked at her torn and tattered clothing . Her diligent efforts were evident . She didn’t lie . She continued to give her best effort for her Queen and me . I wouldn’t take advantage of somebody so loyal, and also respected my trust . She couldn’t do anything about it even if I did pull a quick one on her, but I wouldn’t, as I respected her, her love and her efforts .

“I will respect your Queen . However, she needs to survive our attack first . Sorry, but I value my soldiers’ lives more than our agreement . Leah, don’t get agitated yet . It’s not that I don’t have any plans . You should be aware that the soldiers think that they have achieved victory already . Dying right before your victory is the epitome of idiocy; therefore, they won’t be as courageous as they were before at the final battle . For that reason, I can’t just send them to their deaths . Can you sneak into the city and return to the palace to inform your Queen? Tell her to prepare food and thick clothes, and then hide in the dungeon . ”

She looked at me asked with suspicion, “What do you want to do?”

“I’m going to use the same method as last time . Do you understand now? I can’t ensure that your Queen will survive the snow avalanche, but I believe that you’ll be fine in the dungeon of the palace . Bring enough food and warm clothes to hide down there . We’ll then come and dig you out . Don’t worry . ”

Leah looked at me and nodded, “All right . In that case, I shall enter the city to inform my Queen . We will put up a red flag on the city wall once we are ready . You can start firing after that . ”

I nodded, “All right . You can rest a.s.sured, Leah . I will definitely respect you . I won’t forget what you did for me and I will bring your Queen back to the elven lands . ”

Leah looked at me with excitement and grabbed my hand . She excitedly asked, “Really?!”

Leah looked at me with excitement and grabbed my hand . She excitedly asked, “Really?!”

“Ah… Of course . Didn’t I promise you…? I’ll help your Queen, since her dream is to return home . That said, your Queen will lose her right to rule . This is our internal agreement, but you are still the losers, so you will also lose your right to rule . ”

“That does not matter . My Queen does not want to be a Queen in the first place . She just wants to return home . She wants to see the lands where flowers do not wither in any season of the year . That is all she asks . You just need to give her that . Nothing else matters!!”

Leah looked at me . She was so touched that she was on the verge of tears . I retreated a bit, because she gave me a little fright, “You don’t need to react that way, Leah . It’s what I promised you, and something I will surely do . In saying that, what comes after that will depend on Queen Vyvyan… I am not the Elven King at the moment . ”

“All right, all right . You have already done what you promised us . I shall give you my thank you here, first . I believe that my Queen will be grateful to you, as well . I am sure of it!”

Leah saluted me with excitement . I guessed that it was the salute used by guards in the palace . She looked at me, and then left without even taking a bath this time .

Leah saluted me with excitement . I guessed that it was the salute used by guards in the palace . She looked at me, and then left without even taking a bath this time .

I didn’t need to concern myself with how she entered . The citizens around the Imperial City were currently moving toward the Imperial City to take shelter . I didn’t want to concern myself with it . I, actually, hoped for more and more people to enter the Imperial City . All I had to do after was then surround the city until the hungry and angry citizens opened the doors for me . I just didn’t know if they had a supply warehouse in the city or not .

I noticed that there where was a large mill in the centre of the city . I decided that I would blow the mill up first whether or not they do have food . I might find myself a big present once I blew up that structure that was connected to food .

That meant I had nothing I could do on my side for the meantime . Next, was waiting for the cannons to arrive . They wouldn’t take too long to arrive . There were no more problems .

Although using the same method twice makes for a dull story, it’s fine as long as it works . Who cares about the rest? A good method never goes out of fas.h.i.+on . I had no need to send my soldiers to their deaths when fighting the enemy . My soldiers were no longer willing to go all out . Dying right before you win is just a waste . It wasn’t hard to imagine the result of having soldiers who wanted to live fight soldiers who were fighting to their deaths .

Courage is a consumable . Don’t waste it when you don’t need it .

I planned to use mortars to blow up the snowy mountain behind the palace to drown it, and then lay siege to the city . Then, I’d blow up the snowy mountains around the city . That’d leave many citizens homeless, consequently leading to them bickering .

Courage is a consumable . Don’t waste it when you don’t need it .

I planned to use mortars to blow up the snowy mountain behind the palace to drown it, and then lay siege to the city . Then, I’d blow up the snowy mountains around the city . That’d leave many citizens homeless, consequently leading to them bickering .

I heard that the city’s walls were reinforced with a layer of magic that was continuously reinforced . That would make it similar to a bone tough enough to shatter all my teeth . Their outer sh.e.l.l was incredibly tough, but their internal structure was as soft flesh is . I couldn’t break the city walls from the outside . So accordingly, I just had to get the people inside to help me open the doors . It was tough for us to capture the walls form the outside, but for the people inside, it was just a question of courage .

I just needed to give them the courage to carry it out . What was courage to them? When they’re cold and starving, even the lowest person would muster up the courage to run towards a chance at finding food and survival . It was only natural for people without firewood, food and hope to not trust the officials in the palace . They would definitely open the doors for us . Thus, we didn’t need to fight . We just needed to wait .

‘This is the future I want . This is the power and authority I want . Mommy Elizabeth was able to conquer half of the south alone . I conquered the entire North with one army . The residents at the border, who were hara.s.sed and harmed by the anthropoids, as well as the elves, will remember my contribution . Very soon, I will no longer be a Prince who’s just messing around, but an Emperor with his own accomplishments . ’

‘Yes, this is the ending I wanted . This land belongs to me . This is where I rule supreme . Everybody here must obey me . Only here, can my wives and children live in peace . Only here, can I rest a.s.sured, because the people here are absolutely loyal to me and will protect my family . ’

“Grand Commander, should I congratulate you first or shall I congratulate your accomplishments first?”.

I looked at Leah, who was in front of me, and smiled, “That depends on your standpoint . If you still consider yourself a member of the North, then you shouldn’t feel either of those sentiments . ”.

She looked at me and calmly replied, “I am not a resident of the North . I am my Queen’s bodyguard and lover . I sincerely hope that you can keep the promise between us and treat our Queen well once you have captured the city . You must know that I have always been working hard for your victory, telling the people not to stop your army, so you should keep your promise to us . ”.

“Naturally . ”.

I looked at her torn and tattered clothing . Her diligent efforts were evident . She didn’t lie . She continued to give her best effort for her Queen and me . I wouldn’t take advantage of somebody so loyal, and also respected my trust . She couldn’t do anything about it even if I did pull a quick one on her, but I wouldn’t, as I respected her, her love and her efforts

“I will respect your Queen . However, she needs to survive our attack first . Sorry, but I value my soldiers’ lives more than our agreement . Leah, don’t get agitated yet . It’s not that I don’t have any plans . You should be aware that the soldiers think that they have achieved victory already . Dying right before your victory is the epitome of idiocy; therefore, they won’t be as courageous as they were before at the final battle . For that reason, I can’t just send them to their deaths . Can you sneak into the city and return to the palace to inform your Queen? Tell her to prepare food and thick clothes, and then hide in the dungeon . ”.

She looked at me asked with suspicion, “What do you want to do?”.

“I’m going to use the same method as last time . Do you understand now? I can’t ensure that your Queen will survive the snow avalanche, but I believe that you’ll be fine in the dungeon of the palace . Bring enough food and warm clothes to hide down there . We’ll then come and dig you out . Don’t worry . ”.

Leah looked at me and nodded, “All right . In that case, I shall enter the city to inform my Queen . We will put up a red flag on the city wall once we are ready . You can start firing after that . ”.

I nodded, “All right . You can rest a.s.sured, Leah . I will definitely respect you . I won’t forget what you did for me and I will bring your Queen back to the elven lands . ”.

Leah looked at me with excitement and grabbed my hand . She excitedly asked, “Really?!”.

“Ah… Of course . Didn’t I promise you…? I’ll help your Queen, since her dream is to return home . That said, your Queen will lose her right to rule . This is our internal agreement, but you are still the losers, so you will also lose your right to rule . ”.

“That does not matter . My Queen does not want to be a Queen in the first place . She just wants to return home . She wants to see the lands where flowers do not wither in any season of the year . That is all she asks . You just need to give her that . Nothing else matters!!”.

Leah looked at me . She was so touched that she was on the verge of tears . I retreated a bit, because she gave me a little fright, “You don’t need to react that way, Leah . It’s what I promised you, and something I will surely do . In saying that, what comes after that will depend on Queen Vyvyan… I am not the Elven King at the moment . ”.

“All right, all right . You have already done what you promised us . I shall give you my thank you here, first . I believe that my Queen will be grateful to you, as well . I am sure of it!”.

Leah saluted me with excitement . I guessed that it was the salute used by guards in the palace . She looked at me, and then left without even taking a bath this time

I didn’t need to concern myself with how she entered . The citizens around the Imperial City were currently moving toward the Imperial City to take shelter . I didn’t want to concern myself with it . I, actually, hoped for more and more people to enter the Imperial City . All I had to do after was then surround the city until the hungry and angry citizens opened the doors for me . I just didn’t know if they had a supply warehouse in the city or not

I noticed that there where was a large mill in the centre of the city . I decided that I would blow the mill up first whether or not they do have food . I might find myself a big present once I blew up that structure that was connected to food

That meant I had nothing I could do on my side for the meantime . Next, was waiting for the cannons to arrive . They wouldn’t take too long to arrive . There were no more problems

Although using the same method twice makes for a dull story, it’s fine as long as it works . Who cares about the rest? A good method never goes out of fas.h.i.+on . I had no need to send my soldiers to their deaths when fighting the enemy . My soldiers were no longer willing to go all out . Dying right before you win is just a waste . It wasn’t hard to imagine the result of having soldiers who wanted to live fight soldiers who were fighting to their deaths

Courage is a consumable . Don’t waste it when you don’t need it

I planned to use mortars to blow up the snowy mountain behind the palace to drown it, and then lay siege to the city . Then, I’d blow up the snowy mountains around the city . That’d leave many citizens homeless, consequently leading to them bickering

I heard that the city’s walls were reinforced with a layer of magic that was continuously reinforced . That would make it similar to a bone tough enough to shatter all my teeth . Their outer sh.e.l.l was incredibly tough, but their internal structure was as soft flesh is . I couldn’t break the city walls from the outside . So accordingly, I just had to get the people inside to help me open the doors . It was tough for us to capture the walls form the outside, but for the people inside, it was just a question of courage

I just needed to give them the courage to carry it out . What was courage to them? When they’re cold and starving, even the lowest person would muster up the courage to run towards a chance at finding food and survival . It was only natural for people without firewood, food and hope to not trust the officials in the palace . They would definitely open the doors for us . Thus, we didn’t need to fight . We just needed to wait

‘This is the future I want . This is the power and authority I want . Mommy Elizabeth was able to conquer half of the south alone . I conquered the entire North with one army . The residents at the border, who were hara.s.sed and harmed by the anthropoids, as well as the elves, will remember my contribution . Very soon, I will no longer be a Prince who’s just messing around, but an Emperor with his own accomplishments . ’.

‘Yes, this is the ending I wanted . This land belongs to me . This is where I rule supreme . Everybody here must obey me . Only here, can my wives and children live in peace . Only here, can I rest a.s.sured, because the people here are absolutely loyal to me and will protect my family . ’.