After the Rubis family was reinstated, there were forces that had been lying low for a while. They were the nobles who had previously aligned themselves with Fabiana's family and its associates.
As Odelia stabilized Talamand, her influence was growing, and there were certainly people who did not like this.
In the midst of this, if the Emperor were to head to Talamand himself, that single action could have resolved many things.
Even now, the relationship between the two was a well-known story in the Imperial Palace, but it remained strictly on the thin line of being an 'unofficial relationship.'
However, if the Emperor were to rush directly to Talamand in the midst of battle, that line would likely become virtually meaningless. That must be why they are trying so hard to stop him.
Actually, it wasn't that he didn't have the opportunity to sort it out.
If Calix had wanted to, he could have removed their positions in the imperial palace a long time ago.
However, the reason for not doing so was simple.
It was because Odelia did not want it. She did not want another purge to take place in the imperial palace.
That is why the sight of the ministers blocking the road so desperately looked even more ridiculous. Calix watched them for a moment, then stood up from his seat.
As he walked a step forward without saying a word, one of them almost reflexively grabbed his cloak instead.
Another minister stood in his way, and yet another bent over as if to grab his trouser leg.
The scene in the office suddenly became a little funny.
The Emperor was trying to leave, but the ministers were holding him back.
Calix looked down at the sight for a moment, then quickly pulled his leg away.
Instead of losing balance, one was pushed backward as if sliding straight away.
"You don't need to act this ugly. Don't worry. Odelia isn't trying to take what belongs to you. So don't worry about losing it, just get out of the way."
***
Bang.
Gunshots tore through the night. It was a repetition of the same scenes for hours on end.
From the hill, Talamand soldiers were firing arrows, and the artillerymen were reloading shells.
Odelia was sitting on a horse, holding the reins with one hand and wielding a sword with the other, commanding the battlefield.
"Maintain the left flank!"
Commands were quick and concise.
"The cannons are on standby until the next shot!"
However, Philip, who was guarding her side, was in a slightly different state. Although he was also on horseback, his eyes kept drifting toward Odelia. Thoughts naturally crossed his mind about what might happen if the horse swayed violently or if the bullet missed.
Of course, Odelia will be safe. However, if there really is a child in her womb...
The moment he was thinking, Odelia's voice flew in.
“Philip.”
At a brief call of his name, his mind returned to the battlefield.
“There is a battle going on now.”
Odelia added while looking down the hill.
“Concentrate.”
Philip caught his breath for a moment and nodded.
"... I'm sorry."
He said that, but his gaze turned to Odelia once more.
And that was right then.
Odelia's warhorse suddenly let out a loud cry and lifted its front legs high.
Amidst the wind, the smell of gunpowder, and the noise of the battlefield, as the excited horse stood upright, Odelia's upper body was thrown back in an instant. The black mane swayed wildly in the air, and the horse's hooves cut through the air.
Philip's gaze instinctively turned in that direction.
“My lord-!”
However, at that moment, a completely different movement was taking place behind Philip. A soldier from Bernadia, who had sneaked up from below the hill, had already approached within close range, and he was raising his spear while crouching low. The tip of the spear was aimed precisely at Philip's back.
The moment the soldier bends his arm back to throw the spear...
Odelia's body moved first.
In the split second the horse held its balance on its hind legs, she twisted her body to the side and snatched the shaft of a nearby enemy soldier's spear. With a short twist of her wrist, the spear slipped into her hand in an instant, and Odelia moved forward like dust without a single moment of hesitation.
The spear left her hand.
Syuuu.
A sharp sound cutting through the wind rang out briefly in the night air.
And the next moment. The spear pierced the chest of the soldier Bernadia standing behind Philip. The soldier fell backward without even letting out a proper cry, and the shaft swayed as it struck the ground.
Only then did Philip turn around. He stared at the scene with a dazed mind.
Odelia's horse had already lowered its forelegs back to the ground. She pulled the reins short to calm the horse and regain her balance, and the excited horse's breathing shook the air roughly.
And a moment later, Odelia glanced at Philip.
"Now."
"..."
"Who is worrying about whom?"
Philip stood speechless. It was because he simultaneously recalled what he had been looking at just moments ago and what he had almost missed.
He let out a short breath.
"...I will concentrate.”
Odelia nodded briefly. Then she turned her gaze back to the battlefield below the hill.
The Bernadia soldiers were pushing forward again, and the artillery was preparing for the next round of fire.
The battle did not end that night.
There were a few moments when the cannon fire subsided, and the torches went out, but it was not the end, but rather a brief respite. When the night passed, and dawn broke, arrows flew in again, and before the smoke had even cleared, the flames of matchlocks flashed from below the hill.
The day passed like that.
And another day passed.
Talamand's hill was gradually beginning to bear the traces of a battlefield. The earthen mounds had been eroded by cannonballs multiple times, and the wooden palisades were blackened by arrow and bullet marks. On the beach below the hill, traces of several landing attempts by Bernadian soldiers remained, and broken shields and spear shafts lay scattered across the sand.
However, the Bernadian army did not retreat easily. They were tenacious.
At night, they gathered back down the hill, and when the sun rose, they reorganized their formations and attempted to attack again. They alternated between musket fire and shield formations to try to push up the hill little by little, and if a gap appeared, they attempted a flanking landing along the coastline.
Talamand also did not back down.
Odelia was commanding the battlefield with almost no rest. Sitting on her warhorse, she moved back and forth over the hills to organize the soldiers' formations, directed the artillery to fire, and redeployed the coast guard to continuously block Bernadia's attempts to flank.
She was also a persistent person.
So the battle did not end easily.
After the second night had passed, around the time the third day began to dawn...
Watching the battle from the hilltop, a soldier suddenly shouted.
“It’s a flag!”
Several eyes turned toward the sea at the same time.
A few masts were slowly emerging above the horizon. At first, they looked like merchant ships, but as the sunlight rose a little higher, flags began to become clearly visible.
It was the emblem of the empire, the flag of the imperial family.
“Reinforcements!”
A short cheer erupted on the hill.
Imperial warships were rapidly advancing toward the coast, and soon troops began pouring down toward the beach.
As the cavalry and infantry deployed simultaneously and began to press the flank of Bernadian's army, Bernadian's formation positioned below the hill was noticeably shaken.
From then on, the tide of the war began to change little by little.
As the Talamand soldiers had held out on the hill for a long time, the Bernadian army's formation had already been disrupted several times. With Imperial reinforcements attacking from the flank in this state, the Bernadian army could no longer push up the hill at the same speed as before.
Arrows rained down from the direction of Talamand, and below the hill, Imperial cavalry broke through the formation.
Odelia's eyes narrowed briefly as she watched the scene from the hilltop.
Victory was starting to show.
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