Victor stood before Mark, watching as Mark got ready to attack him. His body wasn't tense, in fact, a light smile was on his lips. He was really interested in what Mark was going to do.

Mark looked at the light smile on Victor's face and couldn't help but shake his head. Taking a deep breath, he rushed towards Victor.

Victor could feel the air change, almost sharp. His eyes were still grinning as Mark reached him, swinging a punch towards his abdomen. Blocking it, Victor sent a kick towards Mark's legs, hoping to trip him.

Mark hurriedly avoided Victor's kick as he quickly got behind Victor's back, his hands moving much faster than the eyes as they reached to grab Victor's shoulders. Victor let Mark grab him. As soon as Mark had gotten ahold of him, his hand grabbed Mark's wrist, holding onto it tightly as he lifted up Mark's hand and turned around, smiling towards Mark. Winking, he used his strength to flip Mark's body, swinging Mark over his shoulders.

Mark was able to see the light change in Victor's eyes but his smile was simply deadly. He could've avoided it, but Victor had already distracted him with that one wink. When his body fell on the ground, he merely got back up to stare at Victor's reaction. Still smiling, his face untamed.

[Male lead's love percentage is at 40%]

Finally, Mark decided it was time to act real. With a very light smile on his cold face, he hurriedly kicked Victor's shoulder. Victor dodged as soon as he heard a sound in the air. Right then, Mark was already by him, ready to punch his face.

Victor was definitely shocked and surprised, but he couldn't hide his joy as he saw the light smile upon Mark's face. Right as Mark's fist was inches away from him, he hurriedly lifted both his hands.

"I lost," Victor said as he watched Mark's hand stopped, inches before his face.

Mark set his hand down, saying, "That was a good spar." His eyes had changed, from cold to...more light within them.

Hearing that, Victor softly laughed, "You were going easy on me since the beginning. Well, it seems that the genius general title given to you is correct."

Mark couldn't help his fluster, "No, there is still much that I need to work on. You were also very good, your reaction time was quick and your ability is very high. I wouldn't have expected you to be able to figure out my moves so easily, it seems that I still have some work to do."

"You were excellent, and I won't be able to beat you. It is a great relief to know that I will be fighting beside someone so strong." Victor smiled as he picked up a water bottle, taking a big sip from it. Turning to look at the horizon, he said, "Looks like we will have to set out soon. It is getting closer to the time that we will have to begin our takeover of the Y Nation's capital."

Mark also followed his gaze, "Yes, we will have to set out soon." But then, his eyes turned to look at Victor, whose face was embraced with light. His heart couldn't help but race when seeing Victor's face.

.

.

.

Victor held a map in his hands as he explained the plan to the other generals in the tent. "Our first objective is to take over this capital, Standil, it hosts most of Y Nation's military supplies and weapons. If we can take over this capital, then we will be cutting off their route to getting more weapons. After we take over that capital, we will then set off to Uniels, the capital that has over two hundred thousand soldiers within it. We're not going to fight against them, but we will help them revolt against the government, especially with the recent food shortages for the surrounding towns."

Then, pointing to another capital, he circled it with a red marker, "Our real objective is to send spies into the capital and the Y Nation's castle. We will send some people to infiltrate the castle from the inside. I will say the truth, my main objective is that I will enter the castle as a soldier. As most of you each have your role to carry out, only I can go to inside the castle undetected. My lack of presence won't affect the soldiers under our control, and this way, I can find some sort of means to contact my father." Victor said as he looked at the generals.

"Your Highness, this is too dangerous for you. If we send you into the palace, there is a risk that you might be found out," General Rykiel said. His face was a bit older, maybe nearing the age of his late thirties.

"I agree with General Rykiel, this plan is too dangerous for you, Your Highness." General Noe shook his head while saying so.

Victor knew he couldn't go up against the other fifteen generals in this room and decided to offer a solution. "Then, we can have another general come with me, how about that?"

General Rykiel finally nodded his head and turned to Mark, "General Mark, this role will be given to you. As you are the youngest general, blending in as a soldier wouldn't be as hard for you."

Mark agreed, "Alright then." He was already ready to do so even if he hadn't been told to.

Seeing that Mark agreed without a second to spare, Victor couldn't help but smile. Then, he revised the plan he had made. "General Noah, this means that you will be taking over General Mark's position and leading the soldiers to begin a riot in Uniels. General Rykiel, you will be leading the attack on Standil. Our main goal is not to destroy anything but to take over. If possible, I would wish for us to limit the amount of deaths that could be caused. General Mark, you will have to disguise yourself as a soldier working in the castle."

"Your Highness, this means that you already have a plan to hide your identity inside Y Nation's castle, right?" General Miende said. He was a man nearing his thirties. His face held a tiny scar on it but his eyes shone with light.

"I do. In actuality, I had already known about this matter for a while. My father had also advised me to think carefully before doing anything. Since finding out, I have been making another identity for myself. I have also been working on a second identity, just in case you all would want someone else to go with me." Victor could only nod his head and reply honestly. This was his way of getting the generals' trust.

General Miende nodded in return. "Alright then, Your Highness. We will try to follow your plan as much as possible and your requests. But remember, if anything gets to rough on your side, you must drop your actions right away and escape."

"Yes, General. I understand my position and how my identity might affect the outcome of this war. But, General Mark will be by me too, I'm sure that there will be very little that I'll have to worry about." Victor pointed at Mark as he said this.

"General Miende, please leave the safety of His Highness to me." Mark finally spoke again after watching from the distance. If there was anything that was bothering him now, it was that Victor was sacrificing his safety too. He, himself, could be hurt, he could be dead for all he cared, but nothing must happen to Victor. That was what a voice inside his head repeatedly told him.

He didn't know why, but whenever he looked at the image of Victor, it always felt like his whole body was flickering. It was as if he would disappear just like that in a single moment. And, Mark felt like he somehow understood the pain from it too. Even though he clearly didn't understand.

[Male lead's love meter is at 45%.]

"Thank you for gathering today, I know that you all will do a fantastic job." Victor sent away the generals with one sentence before he returned to looking at the maps in his hands, his brows knitted.

A voice from behind called to him. "Victor?"

Victor turned his head to see Mark standing behind him. Putting away his worried face, his face lightened up as a grin appeared on his lips. "Hey, are you going to be staying behind with me?"

"Yes, I should accompany you since I will be tagging along with you to spy from within Y Nation's castle. Is there anything I should know before I jump right in?" Mark walked forward, standing beside Victor, able to see the fluctuating emotions from Victor's eyes.

"Well, I guess there are some things I should tell you. Your identity will be Daniel Lovensci, the son of a middle class family. Since the castle doesn't seem to focus much about academic records and barely anything else, they just focus on your power as an individual." Victor said these words before he quickly went off to explain more about Daniel, Mark's identity once they enter the castle.

Mark listened in carefully, noting every detail that Victor said, suddenly feeling a light tremble from his heart.

"What about your identity?" Mark asked, noticing how Victor flinched for a second before he began explaining.

Victor hated how he had flinched when he heard Mark's question. It had something to do with Mark's eyes, the hidden beast from within it, the slightest recognition, the similarity to Daniel's eyes, the identity that he had given to Mark.

"I will be Andy Jules. The basis of my identity is mostly the same as yours, not too many things will be different. If there is one thing that is different though, it is that we will be childhood friends from when we were young and meeting once again. That's about it," Victor explained, trying not to look into Mark's burning eyes.

Andy Jules...for some reason that name felt familiar. But Mark couldn't recall anything. Shaking away his thoughts, Mark turned to see the hidden relief within Victor's eyes. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, and he somehow felt like Victor knew the answer to them. But for now, he would keep quiet. He wasn't going to get into any business that might hurt Victor in any way.

Seeing how Mark had been quiet for a while, Victor broke the silence by saying, "Well, I hope we can get through this, partner."

Mark looked into Victor's eyes for a split second, his eyes digging for an answer before he replied, "Agreed, partner."

Victor couldn't help the warm feeling in his heart. Seriously, he needed to control this stupid heartbeat of his from racing so much.