Her Graceful War Song

After Harvey finished speaking, Yuvan fell into deep thought for a moment.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"But it's ultimately better for her to die. That way, all the blame will fall on the Sullivan family. Aurora is cunning and fears death. With her being so despised, I fear the common folk would find her words hard to believe. Also, the Sullivan family has guarded Victory Pass for so many years without ever harming a single civilian. If someone were to spin that narrative to clear their name, it could very well absolve them of any wrongdoing," Yuvan said.

Harvey replied, "But our goal isn't to wipe out the Sullivan family. We only need them out of Victory Pass so we can place our people to guard it. Oliver hasn't aligned with us yet, so we must take control of Victory Pass. As long as we control the elite troops in both areas, or if the conflict drags on, we can implement our original plan of inciting the civilians uprising across the region. This will highlight the king's failures and make him the target of public outrage, which is the perfect chance for us to make our move."

After he finished speaking, he secretly glanced at Eleanor's expression as he lifted his cup. As expected, he saw a flicker of anger cross her face.

Eleanor's voice was sharp as she said, "No! All the Sullivan family members must die."

Yuvan frowned. "Eleanor, don't act on impulse. Harvey's right. Our goal is to remove the Sullivan family from Victory Pass. As for you wanting them dead, you can decide how they die and how brutal you want to be with them once they're back in the capital." Harvey anticipated a rebuttal from Eleanor when he voiced his opinion, but he knew that she would listen to Yuvan.

Besides, Yuvan was right. There was nothing more satisfying than witnessing the suffering of those one despised before their very eyes.

Seeing that Eleanor had no objections, Yuvan continued, "There's something that needs to be addressed urgently. We must incite the noble families and common folk scholars. We'll sing Rafael's praises for his accomplishment in reclaiming the Southern Frontier. The goal is to make sure the people only know about Rafael, and have no idea about the king's involvement."

Eleanor and Harvey nodded in agreement.

Eleanor sneered and said, "Yuvan, something interesting has come up. It seems that our dear nephew has taken a liking to Carissa."

"Are you referring to when he issued the royal edict stating that Carissa must enter the palace if she didn't get married in three months?" Yuvan shook his head. "I doubt it. Clearly, he was trying to manipulate Rafael into giving up his military authority. He knew Rafael had feelings for Carissa for a long time, so he used her as leverage to get what he wanted."

Eleanor shook her head, and said coldly, "No, there's been a rumor from the people in Sylvia's palace. When he was intoxicated one time, he held Sylvia's hand and called her Carissa."

"Really?" Yuvan was surprised. "He really has feelings for her?"

"It seems to be true."

Yuvan traced the rim of his cup with his fingers, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "How amusing-brothers vying for the same woman. It's only natural they would fall into conflict." Harvey remarked, "But the king doesn't seem to have any intention of claiming her for himself."

"Whether he wants to or not

depends on how things play out. Perhaps he's waiting for the right chance to turn the tables..." Eleanor trailed off, and chuckled coldly She left her statement hanging, but Yuvan and Harvey understood the implications.

"That won't be easy," Harvey cautioned. "Carissa is quite skilled in martial arts. Dealing with her will be a challenge, and your usual tactics won't have much effect on her." Eleanor scoffed. "So what if she's strong? She's still just a woman."

Yuvan contemplated in silence for a moment, then said, "Let's first deal with what I mentioned earlier. As for whether the king has feelings for Carissa, I'll need to investigate further. I can easily find out, given that I'm often in and out of the palace."

"And there's the Septimus Tetra reconnaissance team members. Lawrence is of no use anymore, but Felix and Thomas are important. We should meddle in their marriage arrangements, Eleanor." Eleanor slowly smiled. "I actually have someone suitable for Thomas. I was just planning to find a matchmaker."

"Who is it? Can we trust her?"

Eleanor's smile turned enigmatic. "She's completely loyal to me, and I've saved her life before."

"Which family does she belong to? How old is she? What skills does she have?"

Eleanor stretched lazily and said, "Her background isn't important. She could be Fiona's sister or even Henry's sister, who was raised outside the palace. It's up to us to fabricate her story. She's around 25

years old, and is exeve

skilled. When she was

in

Stonebridge County, she was pursued and nearly killed. I saved her, so she's absolutely loyal to me."

Yuvan said, "If she's truly loyal, we can use her without worry. Since she's 25 years old, we should see if the Farrell family would accept her as Thomas' bride."

Harvey interjected coolly, "Did you really save her, or did you manipulate the situation so that she would need saving? Could it be that she's like those other women in your courtyard and bears a face similar to Melanie Sullivan?"

"You know me so well, Harvey," Eleanor replied with a laugh. "She does bear a slight resemblance, but what's most striking is the red mole on her lips."