Rain Soaked Battle
Rain began to fall early in the morning. The spring drizzle was a welcome gift from the heavens to the seeds that awaited the sprouting of new life. Yet to the soldiers of Peale Castle, it was nothing but an unwelcome burden.
The Rotinzel army felt the same way.
The sky, as if refusing to side with anyone, rained mercilessly without regard for human plight.
The torrential downpour rendered Bluisol's cannons and Rotinzel's firearms useless alike. Rain seeped into clothing, stealing away body heat.
The Rotinzel forces launched their all-out assault.
The defenders of Peale Castle had withdrawn just far enough to feign retreat, yet the fortress showed no sign of yielding. They had expected even a reconnaissance party to sally forth. Instead, the gates stood bolted tight, and the soldiers remained silent. At that crossroads, the enemy found themselves torn between retreat and one final strike.
Had it been Aaron in his original guise, he might have chosen withdrawal. But now he opted for the assault. With a little more effort, they could seize the castle.
“Attack!”
Hereis Aden charged straight for Peale Castle, leading the vanguard. The outer wall was briefly seized, and the defensive line shattered.
The Rotinzel soldiers pressed forward with renewed ferocity.
The gates of the outer wall were breached.
“Block the gate!”
Jeanne shouted as if screaming, then descended directly to the spot herself.
If the enemy poured through the gap, defeat was inevitable. Jeanne and the Second Knight Order moved to the gate area to confront them. Meanwhile, the castle soldiers scrambled frantically to find temporary barricades.
Clang! Clang!
Swords and spears clashed.
Any knight who entered through the narrow gate would be killed by the waiting knights. Even among the Rotinzel, they had pushed their own knights forward first.
Boom!
In the meantime, the Peale Castle soldiers gathered their useless cannons and piled them in front of the breached gate. A makeshift barricade of iron chunks rose up.
It was enough to halt the immediate enemy advance. But a few had already slipped through the narrow gap.
Among them was Hereis Aden.
“It is you, that lady from before.”
Jeanne kept her lips pressed tight and offered no reply.
“I would like to hear that beautiful voice of yours as well.”
Jeanne frowned at his nonsense. The only thing she would give him was the dance of a single sword.
A bluish light burst forth from Jeanne's blade.
The still-young-looking Jeanne activated her aura, and Hereis Aden gasped in admiration.
“So you can even use aura. Impressive.”
Her words were unwelcome, so Jeanne struck first.
Slash.
The edge of her sword met his, ringing with metal. She had not expected to kill him with this single blow, but the easy parry made her frown.
Jeanne and Hereis Aden dueled one-on-one.
The soldiers and knights around them kept their distance, drawn into that aura. They knew they would be caught in a disaster otherwise.
‘He is no ordinary Rotinzel knight.’
Hereis Aden possessed skill on par with the top three among the Rotinzel knights who had personally crossed blades with Jeanne.
Unlike other Rotinzel commanders who demonstrated general command ability, he focused heavily on the pure martial power of a knight.
He was similar to Nael in that respect, but unlike Nael, he had no bottom-tier strategy or tactics.
He was no opponent to be taken lightly.
Their swords crossed. Hereis Aden's blade grazed Jeanne's shoulder, and Jeanne's struck his flank. The aura on the blades cracked the armor, spraying blood.
By the injury's location alone, Hereis seemed more in danger, yet Jeanne's wound was shallow. Hereis wiped his blade casually and looked at her.
“You're quite skilled. It pleases me even more. To be honest, I don't wish to kill the lady.”
Jeanne clutched her wounded shoulder.
At Nicholas's hands, she had offered it to spare his life. This time, she had simply lost in skill.
If she had been given a little more time, perhaps she could have matched him. But thinking such thoughts amid their clash was pointless.
“After all, Bluisol is a falling kingdom. Holding onto falling sand is pointless. If you come to Rotinzel, I will treat you well. With your ability, even His Majesty would welcome your surrender with joy.”
Hereis continued to speak. Jeanne, who had been silent until now, replied irritably, unable to bear his words any longer.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
Jeanne stared at him with a bewildered expression.
‘Is he crazy?’
In the middle of war, talking about love with an enemy knight?
Yet his skill was impressive, and Jeanne's pride was stung.
Jeanne gritted her teeth and moved her arm.
***
Laurent looked out the window, where even the view was obscured by the rain, worrying. He paced restlessly inside the room.
As the battle intensified, loud noises echoed in. Trying to understand the situation from sound alone was frustrating. Yet, as the fighting remained fierce, he decided defeat was unlikely and felt relief.
He was grateful to the soldiers fighting well even without him, but he felt pathetic watching helplessly like this.
“Princess!”
A voice screamed as if tearing.
“Commanders defeated! Push harder!”
Another voice urged the opposite: keep attacking.
From the voices alone, the situation was clear.
He had left his post. The one commanding Peale Castle now was Princess Jeanne Roire. She had been the one who had fallen.
Laurent knelt in the center of the room and prayed to the gods.
“I will die. I will die fighting the enemy. If someone must die, let it be me. Please…”
At that moment of preparing to die, images of his wife and son surfaced. Even his unborn second child came to mind, and hot tears streamed from his eyes.
Outside, the sounds grew increasingly intense.
Laurent drew his sword.
Laurent was not a knight of exceptional talent.
In his youth, he had envied Ethan for his skill with the blade.
Now he was her husband, yet when Nina once said that a girl who had fallen for Ethan's swordsmanship was wonderful, he felt jealous.
So he practiced the blade secretly at night, but lacking talent, he always fell behind Ethan.
Time passed, Ethan continued down the path of knighthood, and Laurent became the lord of Peale Castle by following in his father's footsteps.
His swordsmanship was lacking, but as the lord of Peale, he was more than adequate.
But in this moment, he regretted his lack of skill.
‘Gods, please…’
Laurent prayed desperately to the gods and swung his sword with all his strength.
Boom!
A loud crack as the door, once firmly shut, shattered.
Laurent immediately climbed the walls and took command of the soldiers.
Though part of the outer wall was breached, the inner wall remained intact. The Rotinzel soldiers attempting to breach it and the Peale Castle soldiers defending it fought with all their might.
The sky refused to side with anyone, yet the weather worsened abruptly as if the gods were enjoying the tragic battle.
The rain that had been falling since morning grew even fiercer.
Whether enemy or ally, fighting the opponent meant fighting the weather too.
With no more arrows left, the soldiers retrieved them from the fallen.
Thinking it was the end, the Rotinzel army fought desperately.
“Not much time left! Hold on just until today and this night!”
Laurent took command of Peale Castle's army in place of the wounded Jeanne.
Though he did not know when the enemy would retreat, he told them to endure one more night to boost morale.
The soldiers, inspired by hope, drew out their last strength and fought the Rotinzel.
Laurent had filled Jeanne's empty spot perfectly.
Thanks to his usual popularity, the Peale Castle soldiers obeyed his orders faithfully. His command ability as a leader was decent, and with his efforts, they gradually turned the tide.
While fighting fiercely both inside and outside the castle, a gun barrel was aimed at Laurent.
Among the Rotinzel soldiers, one with red eyes.
A man who had served under Nicholas and then Aaron.
The one who had tried to kill Jeanne after their confrontation with Nicholas.
His gun's wick, protected by a small metal umbrella to keep the rain away, burned. He carefully aimed at his target.
Bang!
Amid the noise filling the war, one clear shot stood out.
Laurent slowly fell.
‘…Please, even in a world without me, may Nina be happy.’
Red blood spread on the wet ground.
Jeanne fought Hereis, injured and wounded. She endured the pain in her arm and swung her blade away.
Hereis showed no full effort, as if the words “love at first sight” were true. Jeanne could not defeat him, but if he had charged to kill her, it would have been dangerous.
Thanks to that, Jeanne found a moment of respite. While fighting Hereis, she also kept an eye on her surroundings.
The man directing the troops in her place came into view.
‘Laurent? Why!’
His hair, loosely tied, whipping wildly, he patted the soldiers from the highest visible spot—the lord of Peale Castle. His martial skill was not great, and she had thought he would stay hidden away.
But thanks to Laurent's command, the soldiers who had been pushed back found strength to hold the castle. If the commander Jeanne had not left and he had not come, they might have wavered and fallen.
The battle intensified. Jeanne fought Hereis while also watching Laurent.
While she watched, Laurent staggered and fell.
“Laurent!”
The moment he fell, she screamed as if in despair.
Jeanne shook her head.
“No. No.”
How could she be given a second life? How was this second chance granted?
She had locked him away in the room to save him, yet this happened.
Even in this life, she could not let the person she must save die.
Thump.
Jeanne's heart pounded fiercely.
Was it anger? Or was it something more than just anger?
An intense mix of fury, grief, pain, and emotions too profound to name.
She simply did not want to see her loved one die before her eyes again.
Thump.
Power surged from deep within her. It was as if there was an infinite spring, constantly drawing from it.
No, this was not her own power.
Even the Rosary she carried, despite the divine's rejection, activated.
Thump.
A blue aura enveloped Jeanne's body.
The aura flowed calmly at first, then raged like a stormy sea.
‘I will not let him die.’
Jeanne stood up. Vitality surged through her body. She felt she could fight for hours more.
Her blue eyes burned red. Her tightly pressed lips radiated strong will.
Hereis, too, felt fear and stepped back.
“Why… How can it change like this?”
Before Hereis could finish speaking, Jeanne drew Joyeuse and charged forward like a spring.