‘One week, for war.’

Schneider’s ulterior motive was clear as day. He knew that Hugrey Ulpaz would never hand over his territory’s people to the enemy. Giving a deadline was just an excuse, what he needed was a justification for war to take the mountain that belonged to neither side.

The burnt mountain, frequent provocations and friction, the child’s death, and finally the declaration of war.

‘He’s been preparing for a long time.’

The arson, provocations, and perhaps even the child’s death were all part of Schneider’s plan to seize the mountain from the start.

The mountain… It was originally an unclaimed mountain. But why that bastard was suddenly willing to risk war and break centuries of agreement to take the mountain, his deeper motive was still unknown.

However, investigating would likely reveal the reason soon enough. Just, one week. He had to complete the investigation and grasp the hidden intentions within that time.

Hugrey ground his teeth in anger.

One week. It meant his feet would be tied in this border region for a whole week! In other words, he wouldn’t be able to see Chloe for a week, and also, that damned lion bastard would have that much more time to pester her.

The one fortunate fact was that the bastard had returned to Burgen Castle. He found out through the swift messenger he sent to Burgen ahead of Chloe. If that jerk had still been at Chloe’s forest home, he might have had to leave this place to Joyce and rush to Burgen.

Still, one week…

Even if Tacan wasn’t sticking to Chloe, it was too long anyway. He had to wrap things up here as quickly as possible.

Guilt towards Clyne, sadness at having to part with the Duke, self-pity and disillusionment at her own selfishness in thinking of Clyne while also thinking of the Duke. These tangled emotions filled Chloe’s body with tears, but she didn’t cry during the day. Because it would make her mother uncomfortable. But as soon as night fell, she would go under the covers and cry, and in the morning she would avoid her mother’s gaze with her swollen face.

Fortunately, her mother pretended not to see her swollen face. After that day, she also didn’t tell her not to see the Duke. She just seemed to be waiting for Chloe to come to the decision to break up with the Duke on her own.

On the third day, she finally wrote a letter to the Duke.

‘I have no plans to return to Loizen for the time being and will be staying with my mother for a while. There is a possibility I may not return, so don’t wait for me and live your own life.’

That was the gist of the letter.

When she left Loizen, she never thought she would send a letter like this. But after crying her eyes out for two days, she couldn’t find any other answer. She didn’t have the conscience to ignore it all and enjoy the romance, and she couldn’t let her mother worry.

However, the fear of the Tigrium King that Charlotte was most concerned about was almost nonexistent. Even if he killed her father and Clyne, the fear remained vague because she had never actually met him. Rather than worrying about an uncertain future, it was overwhelming enough to think about the past that had already happened and the present that was happening now.

But as soon as she mailed the letter, she wanted to run back in and retrieve it. She couldn’t believe her mother’s words that she would be able to meet someone new soon.

How could she love someone else? When the Duke was already in her heart. Even if she met such a man, would the Duke who had imprinted on her be the same? Was that possible? What if she was the only one for him?

Then she worried about what to do, and on the other hand, she was afraid the Duke might really meet someone else.

There was always a selfish part in her heart. What if he really forgot about her as soon as he received the letter, yet she wanted him to still love her.

In the end, Chloe, who ran back in, gave only an awkward smile to the employee looking at her strangely, and trudged out of the post office.

Now that she had sent the letter, it would be easier to sort out her feelings. She just hoped it was the right thing to do for the Duke, for her mother, and for herself.

The investigation at the Schneider border was at a standstill. It had to start with finding the arsonist first. But the fire had started at night with no witnesses. It was hard to expect to find any traces in the completely burnt mountain. Hugrey ordered the knights to search the mountain from sunrise to sunset for three days, and to bring back any clues.

The knights grumbled about what they were supposed to find in the burnt mountain, but they didn’t want to give Schneider any justification for a fight. The side with justification gets the victory of justice if they win, and a vow of revenge if they lose. On the other hand, the side without justification is left with guilt if they win, and serious demoralization if they lose. Without justification, there was nothing to gain whether they won or lost.

Since Schneider had already provoked them, the fight was inevitable anyway. So they had to find justification. And finally, on the third day of the search, just before sunset, Nathan, the youngest of the Ulpaz knights, found something.

He discovered the entrance, or more precisely, the exit that had been dug in from the Schneider side, of a tunnel made at the foot of the mountain. Inside the narrow tunnel exit, barely wide enough for an adult man to enter, lay a dead man.

At first his identity was unknown due to the charring, but wiping the face of the man who seemed to have suffocated from the smoke, it was clear at a glance that he was a Schneider citizen. He was a slave with a brand burned into the back of his left hand with a branding iron, found only in the Schneider Duchy.

Oil and matches used to start the fire were also left at the exit.

Finally, they found the reason why the wildfire could have started on the Ulpaz Duchy side without any witnesses. Because inside the man’s coat was even a ducal document of emancipation promising to free his son from slave status.

His son…

The Duke carefully examined the face of the dead man.

“Doesn’t he look familiar?”

“Well…”

Most of the knights looked puzzled or dubious at the Duke’s words that a slave belonging to another territory looked familiar. They seemed unable to say it outright.

“He does look alike. Definitely.”

As expected, the only one who understood the Duke’s words was Joyce.

Hugrey had checked the dead child’s body as soon as he arrived in this area. He had barely managed to confirm it after insisting that he could not acknowledge the fact of death if the Schneider side refused to show it. The face of this dead slave looked exactly like that child. In other words, the dead child was the son of this slave.

“Now it all makes sense. The father probably promised to cross over through this tunnel and start the fire in order to emancipate his son. But of course, it was a mission he could never return alive from. As a result, he died like that. Of course, the Schneider side would have already known that the man was dead. They provocated and entered our territory several times to somehow retrieve the body, but it wasn’t easy each time.”

As expected, Joyce saw through Hugrey’s thoughts well. However, some knights still had no idea who the Duke was saying the slave resembled. There are always those who are good with their bodies but lacking in the head. It’s good to have both, but it’s fortunate to at least have one.

Anyway, he had to explain it so that those knights could understand. The more lacking they are, the more they need clear justification to fight for.

“So who do you think he resembles, Mackel?”

He singled out Mackel, the most dense and all brawn. As expected, Mackel fumbled.

“The slave’s child probably snuck into our territory after learning of his father’s death to relieve that injustice. Either to inform our Ulpaz citizens of Schneider’s arson, or perhaps to find his father’s body. Anyway, Schneider couldn’t leave it like that.”

Joyce frowned at Mackel and answered Hugrey’s question in his stead. Joyce tended to always be frustrated with the dense ones under him. Unlike Hugrey who thought they all had different uses.

“That’s right, it was strange that the child had a wound on his chest. They probably did it to make it look like we killed him, but really, if an Ulpaz citizen stabbed a child without knowing it was a child, they might stab the back, but from the front? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”

Hugrey frowned anew as he recalled the child’s condition.

Children and women.

They were targets the Ulpaz knights absolutely never attacked. The citizens also strictly followed this rule. Because they knew the terrifying punishment from the Ulpaz Duke that would follow if they broke this rule.

The faces of the members who finally understood the situation also contorted. Not only did they kill a child, but they pinned it on Ulpaz citizens. The indignation at being insulted filled their expressions. It was also a signal that they were ready to fight.

“I will stab those less than beasts Schneider bastards front and back and tear them into four pieces!”

Nathan, who first discovered the tunnel exit, shouted trembling.

Come to think of it, that kid’s younger sibling would be about the age of the dead slave’s son.

Nathan was a hot-blooded 21-year-old who just became an official member this year after only doing menial tasks as a trainee until last year, and the Schneider child apparently looked similar to the younger sibling he lost in a border conflict a few years ago.

“Save that energy to kill many cleanly, Nathan.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Nathan blushed slightly at the Duke’s words, but soon bowed his head and answered loudly.

Now all that was left was to fight. Win, find justification, and make it clear which duchy’s territory this mountain belongs to.