Chapter 150: Chapter 150 Don’t come to Buttuwat River in the summer (8)
Burleigh’s mention of Wendy’s body made him feel as if he was suffocating like his collar was in someone’s hands. It couldn’t be true that something bad happened to Wendy, he kept reciting to himself. He couldn’t stand it unless he repeated it. Anger surged from deep down and settled down over and over again. It was very painful. A lot of feelings came and went in his mind as if he was paying the price for his lack of emotions in the past. It was a pain he didn’t want to suffer if he could avoid it.
At that moment, there were several people quickening their paces toward the lobby.
All the knights who let down their swords raised them again. Soon the owners of footsteps appeared.
“Your Majesty!”
It was Duke Engre. There were numerous knights and soldiers behind him. They outnumbered the imperial knights remaining in the palace. Obviously, the duke bet everything on the success of negotiation with the emperor.
“Duke, I have never allowed you to come here. How could you act so rudely like this?”
The emperor asked with a frown.
The duke laughed gently and said, “Please excuse my rudeness, Your Majesty. What should I do?… I have a very ominous feeling that I will act more rudely to you today,” he said, after slightly looking at Lard standing by the emperor.
The emperor laughed it away as if he saw a clown’s stunt. His laughter disappeared in an instant.
“Did you also show me the rudeness of putting bentoxique in the late emperor’s cigar?
Huh?”
“…Wow, I have to congratulate you as you have found it out. I think I have underestimated you.”
The duke bowed to him as if he was asking for his forgiveness. The emperor hardened his expression at his mockery.
“You have confessed with your own mouth that you killed the late emperor. Everyone here knows that you were responsible for the explosion of the prince’s palace and the fire of the Cheddar Palace even if I didn’t mention your name. Each of those crimes is so grave that you won’t survive even without adding your treason to the crimes today.”
“Your Majesty, treason? Why are you so narrow-minded?”
“… ”
“This is a revolution. A revolution that will change the dynasty of this empire.”
When he said that, the imperial knights sharpened their eyes, pointing their swords at him.
“It is not a revolution. Today will go down as a meaningless day when the Engre family will disappear in the history of the empire. ”
“Oh, do you think so?”
The duke frowned slightly, as if he discovered Sir Burleigh lying on the floor of the lobby.
It was a big loss of power on his end.
“Duke Engre.”
At that moment Lard, who remained silent, stepped forward and opened his mouth.
Everyone’s eyes turned to him.
“I don’t think you are here to play on words with us. Can I behead you?”
As soon as he said that, Lard gripped his sword. There was deep anger in his subdued eyes.
The battle resumed again.
The cruel time of stabbing and cutting each other continued, causing lots of casualties on both sides.
Like a man born to wield the sword, Lard focused on cutting through the enemies. He never stopped swinging his sword. Nobody could stop him until he finally reached the duke.
To narrow the distance with the duke, he also had to pay the price of incurring big and small injuries. He had no problem wielding the sword, except that his right hand holding the sword handle was a little slippery. The wounds on his body were not an issue to him at all.
The pain in his body was nothing compared with his heartache.
“You look angry,” the duke said to him. Auguste, watching the killing scene while he was surrounded by the knights, checked Lard’s face as if to kill his boredom.
“Are you angry because of Miss Wendy?”
When he mentioned Wendy’s name with his dirty lips, Lard began to wield the sword more violently. It was not a name that a guy like him should recklessly call.
While striking back against the rebellious knights, Lard thought of another way to punish the duke before beheading him. After today, his head would be cut off for public display, but that alone would not be forgiven for his crime.
Lard didn’t believe that something wrong happened to Wendy. However, the duke had to pay for the price of using Wendy to distract him. Lard would have him pay for putting her name on his dirty lips and driving her to death.
“She was a woman who had a dangerously mysterious power. How could I neglect such a risk?”
The duke said as if he felt sorry for Wendy’s tragic fate, but Lard didn’t listen to him. He only
focused only on wielding his sword. Lard’s distance from him grew more narrow.
When Lard suddenly stretched his sword, the duke also felt threatened and stepped back, with a gasp.
Some other knights came forward to support the duke at once, pointing their swords at him.
“Captain!”
Instinctively sensing that Lard was in danger, Badge rushed to save him. The two joined hands to stop their immediate attack, but they outpowered Lard and Badge numerically. Nonetheless, it was not easy for them to beat back the strongest and most skilled knights of the empire.
For a while there was a sharp confrontation between them. The duke looked at Lard casually without any agitation. His gaze made Lard feel disgusted.
Right at that moment, one of his servants approached the duke and whispered. The duke smiled in satisfaction at that. He then exclaimed with joy slightly.
“Oh, what can you do now? It looks like the Engre family will never be erased from history. ”
He said happily as if he were delivering a congratulatory speech on the podium.
“I’ve just been briefed that the forces that follow me are lined up in front of the gate of the capital.”
As if he was checking the reaction of the emperor and Lard, he paused.
“The number… 20,000, all told. I don’t think that even if you combine all the troops following you in the capital, they will be able to deal with our troops. Most of the troops in the capital are stuck in Borams, so they can’t fight here. My troops will soon reach here. Would you like to do your best until then?”
Concerns about the movement of the capital troops to the provinces have become reality. The families under the influence of the Engre family disguised their local troops and moved to the capital secretly. The total number of the knights and soldiers were estimated at 20,000.
They were not enough for a war with another country, but more than sufficient to defeat the troops in the capital.
Silence continued. It was difficult to take the duke’s words at face value, but if it was true, the situation was hopeless. The imperial knights tried to hide their disappointed look, but it was hard. An uncontrollable anxiety spread on their faces.
And then, an imperial knight rushed into the lobby with urgent news. He reported to the emperor about the number of the pro-emperor troops outside the capital. However, it was a little different from what Auguste knew.
“I’m not going to express regrets, but I don’t want to feel sorry that your coup efforts have come to nothing,” said the emperor with a smile. He looked at Lard with full trust, very pleased with the results of his acceptance of Lard’s advice.
20,000 soldiers gathered outside the capital highly raised the flags embroidered with eagles.
The flag symbolized the family of Duke Engre. They were the knights and soldiers of the noble families who pledged allegiance to the duke.
Anxiety dominated the minds of the imperial knights who were watching them gathering outside the castle of the capital. Numerically, they couldn’t handle the rebellion troops. The fact that they might have to open the gate to them drove the imperial knights into endless anxiety.
The troops gathered under the flag waited for the attack signal. As if they were about to attack anytime, they held sharp swords and spears all at once. The shadow of death fell on the faces of the imperial knights standing on the castle and the soldiers under their control.
At that instant a dust storm occurred on the horizon at a distance. At first, it looked like just a sandstorm or a haze, but it gradually revealed itself. All the knights on the castle opened their eyes narrowly and looked at the dust storm. The wind was approaching little by little.
“That is…! ” Someone shouted.
“Gee, they are reinforcements!”