It seemed… Sparjoxin was only a mere twenty kilometers from Dulin! But why is it so cold? It’s as cold as the Northern woods. In the winter, practically everyone stayed at home, only the ones who were struggling to survive would work. Every year, between the 12th month to the 3rd month of the coming year, the sky above the town would be covered by cold air and thick clouds that collects snow. The earth would transform into a frozen land, woods dried up into crackling branches. After some snowfall, only foxes and wolves would roam the countryside.

However, all this would soon pass. In the eyes of the Northerners, winter is the fastest season to pass. A few cold wave and boom! The warm air would visit the land again.

In a blink of an eye, the spring of Year 792 had arrived.

In the eyes of Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette however, this winter was the longest! He locked himself in a small room in the Imperial Military Library, and would only leave for mealtimes and sleep.

His young messenger helped a lot! Born in a military household, Second Lieutenant Wellington Steinberger was no doubt more of a soldier than little Oscar was. On the northwestern border of Titan, House Steinberger was a huge deal that can determine the flow of a war. Once upon a time, before Titan had completed its military system, an invasion would require the Emperor to rely on the personal powers of the nobles. During the territorial war with the Deiss Kingdom, House Steinberger had been one of the central pillars to the war.

In this household, the youngsters were like the Andrews, they had been depending on their ability to fight. The young Wellington could wield a good bow and arrow, and even though no one had seen him brandish the double sword he had by his side, as the symbolic martial arts of the family, it must be believed he could use them well too.

Wellington had a fine foundation with the theory of military, Oscar even thought he had done a disservice to the second lieutenant, he should have at least a title of colonel or even a major general. Wellington didn’t seem to have minded, he said, the motto of the Steinberger is ‘A general who was never a soldier couldn’t be a good general.’ So everything had to start from the foundation.

Oscar agreed with Steinberger’s family motto. He, too, wanted to start from the beginning. The thick compendium of military terms would be the source of his basic military knowledge. According to his tutor General Rayleigh Thomas, he needed to memorize all the entries in the compendium.

Oscar couldn’t understand what he meant by it, but as soon as he flipped open the title page, he had been captivated by one sentence on it. That was a gift from Rayleigh.

‘War can be learned, and must be learned. Learning in depth about the history of war, understanding the essence of war, is the foundation to understanding how to use an army. Before that, you have to master all the names contained in the word “war” and what they mean. Only by mastering these can you experience the specific meaning of war.’

He definitely was a teacher with a unique perspective! General Rayleigh Thomas had used a simple sentence to summarize the early education of warfare.

Oscar was a kid who understands things, he carried out his tutor’s commands diligently. The dictionary had some easier terms like ‘formation’, ‘battlefield geography’, and ‘scale’, there were also difficult entries like ‘passive defense’, ‘tactics of uncertainty’ and ‘accidental operational guidelines’. At this point, Oscar would need to depend on his military advisor and Second Lieutenant Wellington. The messenger would bring the relevant books for Oscar to read and debate with the military advisor to deepen his understanding.

This process was long! Oscar had a deep curiosity to know things and strong desire to get to the bottom of things, so he had held everything he’s read with a pinch of salt. This personality trait had determined his path of studying to not be so smooth, but also strengthened his ability to find the truth.

Because of his approach to information, General Rayleigh Thomas had to keep pushing back the date of Oscar’s entrance exam. By the time Oscar had finished most of the compendium, winter holidays had long ended, and including his stop in Dulin, he had missed a whole semester of studies.

However, Oscar still feel this studies during that time was fruitful. In the beginning, like all other students, he had been plagued by the feelings of boredness and monotony. He would take naps and would prepare snacks, sweets, cigar, and alcohol in the study room.

Things did change. For Oscar, it was very sudden. Specifically, when he understood what a word means. Page ninety-one, second line of the Year 743 version of the military dictionary, Narcissus Knights!

About this military force Oscar was so familiar about, the entry states:

“A personal force of House Andrew. On Church’s Year 356, 29th Day of the 7th Month, founded by the first Emperor of the Morisette Dynasty. The swear-in ceremony was held on a hill in Pabahn County of current day, where Narcissus flowers bloomed. After the Narcissus Knights successfully defended against the invasion of the Persians, they were granted the Eastern border of the Empire. Until current day, they were still defending that land. The Narcissus Knights were comprised of the Andrews and the citizens in its territory, but no matter who they are, whenever they donned the battle armor for the God of Light and the Divine Land of the West, they shall be called the ‘God-chosen Warriors’!”

“Ola! That’s me!” Oscar rubbed his stiff back. He noticed the text wasn’t the most precise text to fully explain the kind of entity Narcissus Knights is, but he only cared about the honor the name brought! This dictionary would tell the story to those who desired to learn about war, of a forces call the Narcissus Knights, and how it defended against the invaders for hundreds of years without losing even an inch of land.

“Andrew Haila!” The youngster stretched his back, he should start taking things more seriously.

Needless to say, not only are the theories and principles of battling a kind of knowledge, they are also a form of capability. Oscar realized that when he was scratching his head on the terminologies. This youngster was good at one thing, that’s his imagination and his thinking. He realized if he analyze a war like he would a human body, then whatever that makes up a war would be all these terms he memorized.

It could be understood this way! Oscar reckoned, since it was all these terms that make up a war, then the victory would be contingent on the understanding of the terms!

Another thing he noticed was that it was a skill to understand terminologies. Only with combining war histories and practical commanding exercises can these nouns and principles become one’s own abilities.

By acquiring these abilities, one could make the most accurate judgments for battle missions and make the best decisions. War theories, on the other hand, was the foundation to battle principles. The understanding of these terms would contribute to the increment of battle abilities. At this point, what Oscar lacked was the place to utilize these terms. As for physical practice, the Prince had sent His Majesty Alfa III a letter penned by himself. Looks like the Red Tiger Division will soon be utilized again.

***************

The Red Tiger is here! On the day of His Majesty’s approval, a whole troop of cavaliers were sent to Sparjoxin in the snow. Oscar inspected his men on the military training ground of the academy. This scenery was new to the students, some of them who didn’t go home for the winter holidays stood on the side of the field to audit the parade, there were even the dean Marshal Robin, as well as most of the high-ranking officers of the Imperial Academy.

The Red Tiger’s impressive bearing had robbed the students of their stature, they watched the remarkable horseback riding parade, they observed the chosen warriors perform their sparring practice. Naturally, students who crave the hot-bloodedness of a battle got attracted to the young man who was clearly someone important. Slowly, actually, almost immediately, they planted themselves near Prince O’Neil.

Compared to Prince Oscar who could sometimes seem slightly out of it, Countess Aeolia was the real woman-in-charge. Her workload suddenly increased by dozen-fold, not only did she need to investigate all the students near the Prince, she had to analyze their background, history, and social skills to extrapolate the reason they got close to the Prince.

All these happened in the 1st Month of Year 792. By the 2nd Month, the Red Tiger Knights had built a large camp in the area between the Northern forest and the city. According to the request of the academy, the Red Tiger would be treated as the imaginary enemy of the whole Dulin Imperial Military Academy.

As the 3rd Month neared, officers started coming back to the academy to resume their studies. Some of them were happy at the revelation, some others looked depressed.

Second Prince Lobmus Alfa Morisette was one of those who was disappointed. He realized his own fame had slid to a historical new low. To recover some of that fame, he made a declaration to himself in the warm wind that visited the city that spring.

“I will be better! I will work hard!”

This was followed by a warm body climbing into bed against the Second Prince. He yawned, and drifted away.

3rd Month, 10th Day, it’s the first day of school. Young officers changed into their uniforms, packed books they don’t even know how to read, and met the dean under the leadership of their class monitor. Afterward, they were hustled into their classrooms like mules to continue their boring studies, which, to some of them, weren’t even that useful.

On this day, Oscar finally took his entrance exam. It was within everyone’s expectation, but General Rayleigh Thomas was still proud to show his colleagues that exam paper that scored full marks.

There were some other things that were more cumbersome, like the fifty-nine middle-ranking officers from the thirty-ninth class of War History and Theory seminar who held a short inauguration ceremony for the class monitors. On that night itself, Oscar invited his fellow students to a reception at the most luxurious hotel in Sparjoxin, and even though little Oscar’s facial recognition skills weren’t strong, he still picked out a few people who stood out.

Firstly, it’s that Viscount Tove Van Sukhoi who lost fifty Golden Tis to Oscar, he’s a major, and the second son of the most famous firearm seller of the Empire, House Sukhoi.

By Oscar’s analysis, this kid who was nicknamed “Walking Stick Torry” was a scoundrel through and through. Not only did he not cough up the money he had lost to Oscar, it’s also because of his superficial brain and vapid behaviors. This kid was recommended by the Northern Army Headquarters, but Oscar reckoned they must’ve wanted to get rid of him.

Birds of a feather flock together, in this class, everyone who mingles with Walking Stick Torry were pretty much similar in behavior.

The second one was pointed out by Oscar’s military advisor, Baron Gondol Abassia. It’s the Don River’s 11th Infantry Division Commander. Gondol had said when he was still a general, Krapitch Drake, this son of an ironsmith was still a staff of a major. This shocked Oscar. Abassia had only retired for four or five years, so this kid might be the fasting-rising commoner-officer. This guy was worth investing in.

The third one, Oscar had seen him a few times, he’s a burly man with some Deiss military blood in him, a Northerner who’s obsessed with the stories of Narcissus Knights. His name was Mendez Blane, he had been at it with little Godot since the first time Oscar’s seen him. The showdown between the two warriors had Oscar’s jaw dropped. Oscar remembered they had to use beast hooks to separate the two.

So, why did such a simpleton caught Prince Oscar’s attention? Mendez Blane’s only notable point was that he never questions Oscar’s words! As we know, to measure a person’s worth, that would be enough.

The fourth one was George Romiero. He’s from Vielonna, and was one of the few cavalry commanders of the Southern Army. In this class of students, he’s one of the highest ranking ones, as well as the most mature in age. At forty-eight years old, he’s very respectful toward Oscar. In his own words, Oscar had won the Southern Army an opportunity to battle, this was more exciting than any new war knowledge.

General George had also had a little fight with someone, and that’s naturally Murat who’s also a cavalry commander. They started fighting over some questions to the point that Murat left the room after calling George a “stubborn geezer”, to which George replied with “disrespectful brat”.

There’s one more!

Before moving our attention to the final gentleman, something had to be said. The Thirty-ninth Class of War History and Theories was like a small group of military officers, which includes different kinds of people. Some of them were like “Walking Stick Torry” and were the exemplary hooligans in the army, the plebs among the nobles; Some of them were strong, just like Mendez Blane; Some were like General George Romeiro and were conventional bureaucrats; and finally, some were commoners like Krapitch Drake.

Aside from the four types of people, there was one type of soldiers, and those were the maniacs. There weren’t many of these in this particular class, so we will focus on the ones that were more representative.

Colonel Tantalus Piche, originally the staff operation of the Sixteenth Army. It was said he was sent to the War History and Theories class because he submitted his report directly to the superiors without going through the standard procedure. His battle plans were also teased to be “a fantasy of middle-schoolers”. That was why the army sent him to this class so he could study war history, as well as to overcome his overactive imagination.

Oscar had read two of Mad Tatan’s battle plans, “How to Conquer the Westland in 80 Days” and “Seventeen Months to Conquer the Far East”.

After finished reading the two reports, Oscar told Colonel Tantalus, “My friend, were you trying to disgust your superiors or were you trying to cause yourself nausea?”

Almost immediately, Tantalus Piche viewed O’Neil Andrew Morisette as his best friend.

The reception ended around midnight. Under the leadership of Walking Stick Torry, some of the drunkards were claiming that they wanted to go look for prostitutes. Oscar was worried they might trespass the girls’ dormitory, so he arranged for a team of knights to send these drunkards back onto their beds, as well as preparing buckets for throwing up and bath water for them.

The 10th Day of 3rd Month ended that way, but Oscar didn’t have much of an impression of it. He was so busy with school work, he barely had time to go home. General Rayleigh Thomas arranged for the young man to take an array of subjects. According to school regulations, he had to take the War History and Theories class, but the tutor also added subjects like Physical Education and Military Etiquette.

Oscar finally started his school life. He had a small suite on campus, and like all higher ranking officers, he hid alcohol under his bed and cigars inside the vase. He’s a Prince, however, so he still had some advantage over the others, for example, Snowstorm and little Godot who’s perpetually by his side, and all the little weapons he hid on him and underneath his pillow.

Every morning, the Prince would open his eyes half an hour before the morning bells rang, and Godot would have prepared his training outfits for him. Oscar would leave the suite after getting ready, not to buy newspapers or breakfast, but to jog to the Red Tiger base at Sparjoxin as part of his training.

After dragging himself to the base, Oscar would have been tired like a Deiss hunting dog, General Rayleigh didn’t stop the training. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings were horseback riding and strength exercise, and every other day would be group practice with the cavalry, as well as free sparring.

Oscar questioned every single topic he was presented on. He didn’t want to practice like other people do, but General Rayleigh had plenty of ways to fix it. He passed around the Prince’s schedule to every single Red Tiger warriors. In that way, some of the early-risers would start gossiping about the Prince. The Prince was late today; The Prince didn’t try so hard to get out of practice today; The Prince didn’t even wake up today!

Before long, Oscar knew the whole camp had their eyes kept on him, with every disciplinary faux pas he performed, it would be all over the camp within hours.

The young man made a promise to himself, this was nothing! He only didn’t want to be under his tutor’s control so easily, but since this development happened, he had to be more serious.

Since then, the knights noticed a plump kid was always sparring with other people in the mud, riding a horse on the field, practicing the military stances. Slowly, they observed something familiar in his eyes, to which General Murat commentated, “That’s a soldier’s heroic spirit. Now, our superior has it.”

“Does it mean His Imperial Highness is finally a proper soldier?” Someone asked.

***************

“Of course not!” General Rayleigh pushed Oscar aside.

Oscar frowned. “Hey! Old geezer! I defeated him, my sword was on his throat, it doesn’t count?”

“Of course not! It doesn’t count!” The General shook his head like it was a pellet drum. “Kid! I know none of the people here would be able to defeat you one-on-one, but this is not a duel! We don’t need your fancy swordsmanship or complicated tricks! Look around you, remember you’re on a battlefield, you’re a general who’s drilling deep into the enemy’s base. Your enemy had your head priced, they will charge against you until countless blades and axes tear you apart.”

“What do I have to do then?” Oscar thought about the battle just months before.

General Rayleigh snapped his finger! Oscar started becoming alert, but as he turned around, a team of sword knights had already formed into an attack formation.

Oscar wanted to curse his tutor, but his thigh suddenly hurts. The knight he felled had bitten him.

“He… he cheated… you little bastard…” Oscar yelled holding his wound.

“No! You’re wrong! This is not cheating, he’s not dead yet, if I were him I would bite you too! Just be careful of your surrounding!” General Rayleigh left right after he finished saying.

“Dammit!” Oscar turned around awkwardly, but before he even started waving his sword, a team of sword knights tackled him to the ground.

“Hey, have you heard?”

“What…?”

“His Highness was beaten up by the assault team today.”

“Oh my god really?”

“Yes, really! I saw it with my own eyes, His Highness’s jacket had at least a hundred footprints on it.”

“That’s terrible! May the God of Light save his soul!”

From that day onward, every morning became Oscar’s nightmare, he would need to face a whole team of infantry or cavalry alone. According to his tutor, that will train his judgment on the battlefield. Concussion aside, he had experienced a broken nose, swollen eyes, accidentally kicked in the nether region, had his skin sliced off with a wooden sword, and most outrageously, one of the knights had tossed at him his riding boots, causing the spiky spur to pierce into his shoulder. The incident resulted in him lying on the stretcher with a boot stuck on his shoulder like some clown. Oscar believed if his physical condition allowed, he would have murdered everyone who witnessed it and kill himself afterwards.

His tutor spoke again, “This is the battlefield, you knights did well, the more misfortune His Highness endured here, the higher chances he’ll be alive in the future.”

Days flew past in mud-groveling and dirt-wallowing as Oscar shot up in height as well as weight. Nevertheless, his figure was considered to be more well-proportioned. If he would eat less every day, he would definitely grow to be a handsome young man.

General Rayleigh did consider to limit Oscar’s food intake. He customized a meal plan for Oscar who fell into a hysteria after he’s seen it. Oscar pulled out a dagger and pinned the menu onto the table with it, shouting at his tutor, “You can either get that as far as you can away from me, or you can leave your body behind.”

The tutor could tell the kid was not kidding. Everyone have their moments of uncompromise. To Oscar, he could tolerate the hellish daily training of being beaten up, but if anyone touches his dinner table…

The daily exercise needed a large amount of energy to support, so Oscar did have a reasonable excuse to slaughter those idiots who tried to make him a vegetarian, although General Rayleigh wasn’t an idiot, his practices had, in fact, been quite effective. Initially, around the end of the 4th Month, Oscar’s face would be swollen, battered by a swarm of knights. In half a month, even though Oscar was still the one lying face down in the mud, he could already take on some of the tackles and lightly scratch some of the unlucky ones on the other side. Another month had passed, the charges of the infantry units no longer could threaten his safety unless they use lances or heavy shields. Of course, he still couldn’t endure the cavalry charges, usually one round was all it needs for him to kiss the earth.

“What can I do now?” Oscar was stressed! He couldn’t care less about his honor, he was really trying to overcome this issue. Like his tutor had said, many things could happen on a battlefield, some famous generals and marshals did die by stray arrows or a stampede.

Baron Gondor Abassia used to be a division commander of an infantry, he had successfully created a history with his victory against an advantageous cavalry at the Don River. Oscar found out about this, so he asked his military advisor’s opinion on how to defeat a team of cavalry.

Baron Abassia’s explanation was ‘to figure out if a cavalry was strong, look at their stables.’ This makes sense! In modern warfare, the quality and quantity of the cavalry had become the key to winning a war, that was because the mobility and destructive power of a cavalry was incomparable by other army types.

However! Baron Abassia knew the power of that word, “however” could usually change the property of an event into some other things.

However, are an army of cavalry really that difficult to overcome?

No, it’s not. The reason why Abassia could win against the cavalry, was his understanding of a cavalry’s weakness, their radius of battle.

“Radius of battle?” Oscar’s military dictionary was still new, he remembered the term, it’s regarding the effective range of an army against their enemies. On a cavalry army, that would mean the distance they need to launch the second assault if the first assault didn’t work out the way it was imagined.

It sounded difficult to understand, but Oscar wasn’t completely clueless. Cavaliers depend on their horses to provide the impact and destructive power. Horses need a long time and distance to gather momentum from idleness to galloping. This means the first attack that failed would put the cavalry in a position where they need time and space to regroup for the second attack.

This was the cavalry’s weakness. Their radius of battle would be limited by the geography, enemies’ disruption, a bow and arrow’s range of attack etc.

“That means, when an enemy started closing into your front line, the key moment would be arriving soon!” Abassia almost danced as he explained. “I would have chosen to put the heavy knights on the side of the battlefield, you know why? Your front line determines your enemies column, because the assault team needed the penetration.”

“That way, the archers behind the heavy knights would be able to send a barrage of shots accurately on your enemies. Don’t believe in scatter shots, I can guarantee those can’t do anything! Don’t go stingy on your arrows at this point, aim them at the dust cloud, and fire from above.”

“Next, the most important point, the archers need to retreat behind the heavy knights before the enemies approached the front line. At this point, the enemy commander would definitely change formation, either into two columns to attack both left and right sides simultaneously, or into an evasion formation out of the space between the two heavy armor sides. No matter what, their radius of battle would have shrunk by a lot, and their speed would slow down as they…”

“Hold on! Hold on!” Oscar interrupted, this wasn’t what he was asking. “I was hypothesizing if I only have one man with a stick, and the enemy is a whole squad of fully armed cavaliers, what do I do?”

The former hero of the Imperial Guards General Abassia only spends a fraction of a second to think before using his arm to hook at Oscar’s neck.

“Child! Listen to adults! Compared to the piece of stick, you need a white flag more.”

Because of that, in early 6th Month of Year 792, as summer slowly befell the university city, Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette fired his military advisor, and through some personal connections, reinstated Baron Abassia’s military rank. Not only that, on the second day of becoming the major general of the Imperial Guard, he received a notice to be transferred into the War History and Theories thirty-ninth class. Quoting the Prince, “Don’t be fooled by his status as a war hero, he still have ways to learn!”

So, Abassia became an imperial guard bafflingly, and became Prince Oscar’s fellow student mysteriously. His wife and children were also invited to Sparjoxin, he still hadn’t received his infantry division, but at least this disabled veteran had returned to the troops! At least… he had gotten his military-signed payslip back. If it were before, he would have cried. But now, he kept forgetting where he put it. Lady Aeolia seemed to have been misinformed, because his payslip as a military advisor still comes in monthly. Abassia wanted to discuss this with the Prince, but he was stopped by his wife. As she said, “His Highness would want it back some day or another, why the need to hurry?”

Yes, the Prince will eventually come to collect his investment returns, we need not be so hurried.

So how did time fly by so quickly? Oscar asked when he showed his fiancée who had returned from Faran.

“Looking at my scar you’d know I don’t feel much better than you do!” Oscar tried to comfort the princess, “In 3rd Month my injury was focused on my head, then it switched to the upper abdomen when I noticed it the following month. I noticed that again in the 5th Month, but in the 6th Month I hurt my legs! My knights were more shrewd than rats!”

Alanis teared up and caressed her future husband’s scars. Her overflowing scents and her little hands almost drove Oscar over the edge, but she started crying like a baby. She cried and whined about both their fates, about how the People of Dulin were brutish animals, that her father was a pig, her mother was a witch who only knew how to force her. She also promised to execute all the people who bullied her, showed her disdain, and forced her to Faran to endure the humiliation.

It didn’t matter if the Princess’ curses were real, Oscar nodded and promised every little thing, making Alanis smile again. However, Oscar could tell the Princess was still very depressed. That probably had to do with the news that came from Dulin. A few days ago, the court chief delivered the message from His Majesty to Princess Alanis, saying she’s banned from participating in politics, flipping her off of the power ladder she was climbing.

“You shouldn’t have been so aggressive.” Oscar regretted it as soon as it left his mouth.

“You think so too?” Alanis looked like she was about to cry again.

“How do I put this…” Prince Oscar kept touching his nose, his fiancée was a little too overbearing. She shouldn’t have suggested ideas for the Emperor in Dulin’s political storm. She would definitely become a shining target for other people.

“Blame your father!” Oscar finally found a suitable scapegoat. “He used your strategy to make old Kachev enter his cage. Honestly, Alanis, this tactic is clever! But what happened after? He sent you to Faran to deal with the pressure from the Queen, and now he banned you from politics. He’s the wicked one!”

Alanis was not an idiot, she knew Oscar was trying to avoid the important issue, and that made her furious.

“In that case, shouldn’t we also look into your responsibility?”

Oscar was taken aback slightly. “My responsibility? What has this got to do with me? You didn’t even discuss with me before taking your idea to His Majesty! How has that got anything to do with me?”

Alanis squinted. “Nothing to do with you? Don’t forget your surname! That’s the main reason the Royalty banned me from participating in politics, they will not let an Andrew have that kind of power! They…”

“Take that back, Alanis!” The wrath got to Oscar too. “You mean to say my surname is the problem? Stop kidding with me! You’ll only let me think you’re trying to cover up that idiotic political brain of yours.”

“My word!” Alanis bolted from her chair. “Oscar, thank you! I finally understood what you really think of me!”

“Where are you going?” Oscar pulled at Alanis’ arm before she banged the door close while leaving.

“I’m going to go wash my hair… and open up my skull! If my political wits are not as idiotic as you said, I will make you take those words back!”

***************

“What happened to His Highness?” A knight asked in a murmur.

“Not sure, he had defeated at least half a team of knights, I heard a few of them had broken bones!”

“That’s crazy!”

“I saw it myself! He looked just like…”

“A mad dog?”

“That’s right! Like a mad dog!”

“Why?”

“Not sure, according to hearsay he had a fight with Her Highness Princess Alanis.”

“Oh…” The knight exhaled and made a face to indicate his understanding.

“He’s coming! At attention!”

Yes, Oscar was approaching! He dragged his exhausted body into the resting room. He finally couldn’t hold it in when he was receiving the salutes from the guards.

“Hey! You two! What else do you know?”

The one on the door’s left was young. He smiled shyly. “Your Highness, I also knew your hotel will be officially opened end of the month.”

Oscar rubbed his head while shaking it.

The one on the right countered. “That’s wrong! The hotel had some issues with the operations, so it will only be officiated early 9th Month.”

“That’s enough!” Oscar yelled. “Who told you this?”

Of course Oscar had the reason to throw tantrum, he didn’t like his private matters being broadcasted.

“It’s me!” Lobble Alfa Morisette shuffled out from the side hall of the resting room.

“My partner! Only when you step into the bright spotlight can I hide behind you and manage the property safely!”

Oscar frowned. “I’ve got to say, you and your sister Alanis is of the same sort! Sometimes, you’re just unbelievable!”

Lobble hooked himself onto his partner’s neck joyously. “No matter how you say it, it’s normal for couples to fight. Your war is still ways away from being done! You will argue in bed and out of bed, you will fight from the kitchen to the bathroom, and you will battle from your own manor to Hamilton Palace! My friend, this is life. The true meaning of life is to war, between couples, between parents and children, between followers and the God of Light. This is the way of our existence. To live, we must continue fighting.”

“You’re not serious?” Oscar glared at Lobble.

“Of course I’m serious! The opening day of our hotel will be the biggest battle of my life!”

Oscar nodded and looked at his own scars before turning to the thick pile of books on War Theories on the desk in the room. Is this going to be his life? Where does his battle lie?