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Disappointment (2)
Markus watched intently as the Royal Pack knights, who had arrived with the General, began to move around him, preparing to take him down. His pupils darted quickly, searching for an opening to attack and break through, and it didn’t take long before he found one-a female knight. Markus grinned, spreading his clawed fingers before roaring and launching himself at his target. Attacking a woman was unworthy for a knight like him, but Markus was desperate. He could only strike at the female knight looking at him with hesitation. Why the hesitation?
Because the female knight was part of Veniam, she hesitated to choose between her superior and her Alpha. This choice naturally fell easily to the Alpha. After that, he attacked the other knights and took advantage of the opportunity to enter the throne room. However, before he could touch the door, a needle flew and lodged in his back.
Markus instantly collapsed on the palace floor, roaring as he felt a burning heat spread throughout his body. His golden-red eyes fixed on General Almbra, who was holding a rifle in his hand. Markus roared and writhed in pain, then slowly, his form began to revert to that of a human, making the searing heat twice as painful. His heart felt like it was being stabbed, and his head felt like it was going to explode. He struggled to breathe, and his throat felt choked. General Almbra stepped closer and knelt beside Markus’s writhing body. “Forgive me, Your Grace. I had no choice. I cannot allow you to harm my subordinates any further.”
“You… gave me… silver poison… Almbra!” Markus hissed through his pained groans. “I… will make you pay!”
“Once again, I apologize, Your Grace. I am merely following the procedures set by His Majesty the Emperor to ensure the success of the ritual ceremony. I will face my punishment once this is all over.” With that, General Almbra stood up, and with a hardened, resolute expression, he ordered his men to secure Markus’s hands with silver handcuffs. Once the effect of the silver poison subsided, Markus’s body was carried away on a stretcher by the Royal Pack knights.
“Please… just let me in for a moment… I want to see…” Markus finally murmured weakly just before the knights took him away.
General Almbra, feeling uneasy and awkward hearing the Duke plead with him like that, stood there uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to the other before sighing softly and deciding to relent. He thought the Duke wouldn’t cause any trouble due to the lingering effects of the silver poison and the handcuffs on his wrists, so allowing him to enter for a few minutes wouldn’t be an issue even though it meant disobeying the Emperor’s orders, which prohibited anyone from entering without a pass. General Almbra sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration before signaling his men to lower the stretcher.
“Why are you so desperate to enter that you would do something so reckless? What is the reason? This isn’t like you, Your Grace. You’ve never cared about matters concerning the Emperor, except for Vasilos.” Then General Almbra helped Markus to his feet, supporting him as they approached the throne room door, carefully and discreetly opening it. The two of them entered and moved to one side.
Markus groaned before lifting his head. That was when his world shattered into pieces. He saw his sister lying weakly on Alkrevas’s lap. Her eyes closed. Blood dripped from her wounds onto her arm and then to the floor-Alkrevas’s satisfied smile and the members of the court and the noble werewolves congratulating the Emperor.
I’m too late, Markus thought sadly. Oalo whimpered sorrowfully in his mind, realizing that their only family had suffered greatly.
He could only stare blankly as Alkrevas stood up, carrying Luna’s unconscious body in his arms, then stepped down from the throne and walked out of the hall.
“Take me away…” Markus whispered to General Almbra when the throne room door had closed after Alkrevas’s departure.
Markus didn’t want to listen to the conversations of the people still gathered in the hall. As he stepped outside, only one goal was spinning in his mind. I have to do something for Luna… no, for Evelina.
…
Alkrevas, seated at the head of the table, held a closed-door meeting with all the top military leaders, including the generals and ministers, in the main war room west of the throne room. In the center of the room was a large rectangular oak table with a map of Vasilos and the entire Rhodes continent spread across it.Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.
The Minister of Defense and Military Affairs and the Minister of Internal Affairs sat in the two chairs on Alkrevas’s left side, their faces serious and tense. They were busy contemplating the answer to the question the Emperor had just posed to those seated at the meeting table. Alkrevas tapped his fingers on the table’s surface, observing the Vasilos flags placed at various points on the map.
He paused for a moment to observe the expressions of everyone present in the meeting before asking again, “You cannot always rely on me and the protective shield I create, because it’s possible that this incident could happen when I’m not here to create a new shield or to do something to minimize the damage and destruction that could occur to Vasilos. So I ask once more, how will you handle this problem? You are the people I have chosen and trusted.”
There was a brief pause before he continued, “This kind of thing could happen again in the future, and without any preparation on our part, sooner or later the Goblins will overrun the Vasilos territories. Is that what you want? Just so you know, the protective shield will disappear if I die, and if my successor is not a wizard, what will happen next? Do you think the Grand Sorcerer and the Magic Tower will help us if that happens?” Everyone shook their heads.
Alkrevas sighed heavily. “General Thea, report the latest situation on the Vasilos border.”
“The Goblins have entered the western and eastern regions of Vasilos. They have begun to terrorize small packs and remote villages near the Vasilos fortress. It has been reported that five small packs and two villages have already suffered from their terror.”
“For now, all we can do is exterminate the Goblins that have already entered our territory, Alpha,” Beta Savon, seated to the right of the Emperor, replied flatly.
Gamma Mathias, sitting next to the Beta, immediately murmured his agreement. “I will prepare the military forces to go to the western and eastern regions to deal with the Goblins that have entered our territory.”
Gamma Mathias lowered his head and reviewed the documents in his hand before continuing, “For now, we can deploy the first unit, White Night, and the second unit, Blue Moon, to deal with this situation, while we can assign the Royal Pack’s special unit to replace White Night’s duties in the southern region and secure the imperial palace. Since the fourth unit is focused on securing the capital’s borders, we can request the Duke Veniam’s knights to track the whereabouts of the dark sorcerer alongside the Magic Tower.”
“Regarding Duke Veniam…” General Almbra suddenly spoke up but held back when Alkrevas gave him a sharp look for interrupting the discussion without permission. However, before Alkrevas could reprimand him, there was a commotion outside, and shortly after, the war room doors burst open, and Duke Veniam, along with several Royal Pack knights, entered the room. Everyone immediately stood up upon seeing the Duke’s arrival and bowed respectfully, except for Alkrevas, who remained calmly seated at the head of the table. The Duke’s dark and anger-filled expression did not escape the notice of everyone, including Alkrevas. However, Alkrevas remained relaxed despite his gaze being as cold and piercing as a sharp knife.
“Ah… Duke Veniam… I didn’t know you had arrived in the capital. How are you? Have you completed the task I assigned to you?” Alkrevas asked with a small smile, though his tone sounded very serious.
“I wish to speak with you in private, Your Majesty.”
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