I Grabbed the Tyrant’s Heart - Chapter 232

He led me into the bathroom, with my head resting on his shoulder. After washing me up, he dried my hair and spoke gently.

“I like that you seem comfortable when you’re with me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You didn’t even wake up.”

His touch was incredibly soft, and my eyelids grew heavier.

“I feel like I’m an important person to you, Euseniel.”

Battling the drowsiness, I said what he wanted to hear.

“I love you, Tess.”

“I love you too, Euseniel.”

Since he liked it, I thought I should say it more often…

Then, everything went dark.

* * *

Battles typically happened once every few days, but it had been a week since I went out, and the Southern Empire’s army had been quiet.

During that time, we worked hard to prepare for the Southern Empire’s invasions, trying to figure out how they were sneaking into our land without leaving a trace.

We couldn’t find anything conclusive about the latter, but the reason for their quietness soon became clear.

“Those bastards!”

The Kelt commander, with his gray hair, pointed to the distant hill and cursed loudly.

“They’re doing that!”

Soldiers in white armor were dismantling the mountain that had been protecting our territory from their invasion.

“It seems they’re preparing for a full-scale invasion.”

“Using blind spots that aren’t visible from the watchtower… what despicable bastards…”

General Panet and the rest of the meeting members, including the Kelt, stood on the watchtower, observing the incoming Southern Empire army. They were demolishing the mountain and charging towards us.

“Uwaaaa!”

Although it was a low hill, the mountain that blocked the passage was a natural defensive line.

The Southern Empire’s forces often appeared through a shortcut between the mountains, and we had previously managed to block their access there.

There were only a few routes they could use to enter, so usually, if we focused our defenses there, it was enough to repel them.

While the Southern Empire had the advantage in terms of magic and manpower, our army had been able to defend well, thanks to the terrain.

But from a certain point, the Southern Empire’s army began appearing from an unknown method on the front of the mountain. This was around the time I arrived in Holen.

And yet, the situation was about to get worse.

“We sent in minimal personnel, but…”

“…It’s already too late.”

By the time we noticed, the mountain had already been destroyed.

According to reports, the Southern Empire soldiers had apparently risked everything to destroy the mountain. Even though we launched indiscriminate attacks, they pushed through with sheer numbers.

When one group fell, the next stepped forward. And then another…

Did they really want to kill Tess this badly?

My anger boiled at the thought of an enemy I had never even seen before.

“Uwaaa!”

Unlike the previous scale, a large army was coming.

Our army had already retreated, and the castle gates were securely locked.

“Where are the reinforcements?”

“They’re expected to arrive the day after tomorrow in the afternoon.”

“Just hold out until then. They have their limits when it comes to mobilizing forces, so it’s within the expected range.”

“Since Prete Castle is designed more for defense than offense, it should be able to hold out.”

General Panet added his input with the usual calm tone.

“Luckily, this won’t be an issue going forward.”

Tess responded coldly.

“They’ll have to pay a heavy price to destroy the mountain. They might try to scale the castle walls, so be thorough in our preparations.”

“Yes!”

Tess took my hand and led me toward the bedroom. While he seemed as calm as ever, I couldn’t shake the restless feeling.

“How can you be so sure they won’t try to destroy the mountain again?”

“Do you remember the heart of Kirapt that Euseniel destroyed?”

“Huh? Oh, right. Weathering took it.”

I glanced at Tess, worried it might upset him, but luckily, he didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Did you know that the shards of it, infused with magic to its limit, contain two types of magic that co-exist? They’re different, but they work together.”

“I knew that after hearing it, but when I gave it to them, I didn’t know. I only heard it could be used as an attack weapon.”

“Exactly. That can be used to make it explode. Whether through physical impact or magic, a small shock will make it explode on its own. After watching what they were doing, we buried it in the mountains.”

Ah, so when the Southern Empire soldiers tried to scale the mountain, it would explode by itself.

“If it had been completed earlier, we would have taken care of them already. Unfortunately, it didn’t.”

“The Southern Empire’s army would have kept coming, even if thousands of them had been blown up.”

The Southern Empire’s Emperor was clearly a madman.

“I was going to throw it today, but it would be a waste if they figured it out already.”

Yeah, Tess doesn’t seem entirely sane either.

“When reinforcements arrive, I’ll go out too.”

“Euseniel.”

“I’m the only one who can clear the way.”

“…”

“And I won’t forgive that Southern Empire Emperor.”

“I told you to just think about me, okay?”

In the midst of such a serious situation, Tess began whispering softly as he touched my ear.

“Just look at me, Euseniel.”

Wham!

“Stop with the nonsense.”

I gave him a good smack after a long time.

* * *

To my surprise, reinforcements arrived half a day earlier than expected. The soldiers who had been waiting since the morning opened the castle gates and marched out as soon as the reinforcements arrived.

The Southern Empire army had surrounded Prete Castle, so the reinforcements couldn’t sneak in.

I took the lead, clearing the way, while a few aides went to explain the operation of the day to the reinforcements. This was the most important task.

There was no point in reinforcements if they were just a disorganized mess of soldiers.

“Everyone, clear the way!”

Tess had said that when he took the field, the Southern Empire’s Emperor would also show up. Their strengths were evenly matched, so the outcome wouldn’t be easy, and even if they fought each other, the soldiers would also need to engage.

So, the Southern Empire’s Emperor won’t come out easily either.