Second Arc (His Art of War) - 113. Fortaare Town

In his room, Angel who sat on his sofa exhaled a long breath.
"My last bait failed," he said as he cancelled his spell and opened his eyes. As before he used his Evil Eye to spy on King Eudon and the nobles in the meeting room. To be honest, he didn't expect his last bait to fail since the nobles seemed eager to get rid of King Eudon as soon as possible. Even though killing King Eudon in his own house was dangerous and definitely would lead the attackers to the death penalty, with that chaotic situation, there should be one or two people who would dare to do that. But Duke Bartlet and Ivetta calmed them down and thwarted his plans.

"I will tighten the guard, Your Majesty," said Frost who was standing in front of him. Since they didn't attack King Eudon head-on, they would have set up an assassination plan for King Eudon and Angel.

"I will entrust King Eudon's safety to you," said Angel. He indirectly said that Frost should put more guard on King Eudon than him.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Although Frost had objected since he felt that Angel's safety was more important than King Eudon's, he could not defy Angel's orders. After all, he knew Angel's abilities were far above King Eudon, so he wasn't worried.

Angel took the teacup in front of him and took a sip.
'I just need to wait,' he thought.

Several hours passed, the sun in Zephyrus' sky began to set. In a small town southeast of Zephyrus, Fortaare Town, the guards lowered their heads and gave away to a red royal carriage without inspecting it, a platoon of Euphorion troops and an Euphorion General in front of it. Despite that royal visit, there were no crowds on the side of the street, even though they knew it was the Princess Rose of Zephyrus in that royal carriage. All of them hid into the buildings and houses out of fear.

This morning, they had received the news about Euphorion's victory over Zephyrus, as well as the news of Euphorion's convoy arrival in their town for the night. Therefore the mayor asked the civilians to close the shop and return to their homes early before Euphorion troops arrived. Apart from that he also asked the guards to secure the town tighter to avoid bloodshed and especially to prevent civilian's resistance.

As her carriage passed through the lonely streets, Rose's eyes were on her surroundings, trying to find a weapon shop or whatever she could use as her weapon. She knew spending the night in the town was much safer than spending the night in the forest, but that only applied for monster attacks and not for rebels attack.
'Looks like they have prepared everything,' thought Rose as her eyes swept her gaze around her. All the doors and windows around her were closed.

Their convoy approached the only large building with an elegant design that still opened its doors, the largest inn of the town. The Mayor, the inn owner, several guards in Zephyrus uniforms and the inn servants were already at the front of the building. This was an order from Angel, that Rose should not spend the night in the town hall or the mayor house to prevent her from cooperating with the officials or running away.

The convoy stopped at the front door, some inn servants put a short staircase at the door of the carriage and guided Rose out of it. While Flare and several members of her troops got off their horses.

The mayor bowed to greet them politely.
"Welcome to Fortaare Town, Your Highness." Then he turned to Flare.
"Miss General."

Rose replied with a slight nod.

While Flare quickly cut off the pleasantries.

"Show us our room." She needed to bring Rose inside because the rebel archers could be hiding in the buildings around them.
"Please follow me," said the inn owner as he gestured to follow him.

They walked into the empty lobby since the owner had prepared that no one could stay there other than them. As they passed through the quiet lobby, several servants who were curled in fear. Rose's eyes swept around her, trying to find anything that could be used as a weapon. Ropes in the corner of the room and some knives that neatly arranged at the dining table gave her the idea.
'Maybe I can create my weapon out of it.'

Their feet continued to move towards the second floor and into the largest room.
"Your Highness, this is your room. If you don't like it, we can change it," said the inn owner as he opened the door.

Rose was just about to step into the room, but Flare extended her hand to the side, stopping Rose who tried to enter.
"Check the room," ordered Flare. The important thing was not like it or not, but whether it was safe or not.

Euphorion troops entered the room and spread out, checking every corner, making sure the room was safe and also making sure there was no other way out of it other than doors and windows.

After a while, they returned to Flare.
"Everything is safe, General," they said.

"Good," said Flare as she lowered her hand, allowing Rose to enter.

"Thank you," said Rose in a formal voice. Although she was a little annoyed by Flare's attitude, she knew Flare was doing it to ensure her safety. Therefore she decided to swallow it.

"We have also prepared another room for General Flare and your troops," said the inn owner again.

"I'll stay with Princess Rose. Just take my troops to their rooms," replied Flare.

"Yes, Miss General," replied the inn owner. Then he gestured to the servants to carry out her orders.

"Do you need my help or anything else, Miss General?" asked the mayor.

"You may leave," said Flare. She wanted her troops and her trustee subordinates dominated this inn, the fewer people she didn't know, the better.

The mayor turned to Rose, who hadn't given any orders since the beginning and looked at her sadly. Who knew Rose Ambrosia Heart, their brave princess who could crush the rebels, must obey and become Euphorion's political prisoner.
"I'll excuse myself," he said as he bowed and left.

"I will prepare your dinner, Your Highness," said the inn owner. Since the mayor had left, he didn't want to be here for too long.

"Very well," replied Flare.

Then the inn owner bowed and left.

"Are you joining me for dinner, General?" said Rose as she sat on the sofa. Her brain quickly thought for ways how she could get what she needed in the dining hall.

"Of course I will, Your Highness," replied Flare. Her eyes stared out of the window and caught some suspicious movements on the quiet street near the inn.
'Looks like they'll make their move tonight.'