Second Arc (His Art of War) - 114. Replacement

The sky in Ironwall City turned dark, the city was quiet as well as the Scarlet Stone Castle. After the meeting, Angel spent the rest of his time examining some documents in King Eudon's study room. While King Eudon, accompanied by Frost, took care of the city's recovery from yesterday's battle.

Angel lowered the document in his hand and pressed his temple. He leaned his back to his chair, a tired breath came out of his mouth as he closed his tired eyes. Meanwhile, King Eudon's aides were busy tidying up the documents on the side of the desk.

His head felt full of everything that had happened recently. He had been leading wars for several months, managing his kingdom affairs and stabilizing his authority in other kingdoms. But compared to Asteria, Zephyrus' problem was much more complicated.
'I hope this will be over soon.' When he attacked Zephyrus, he did not expect this kingdom aristocracy to be more complicated than he thought. This was even worse than after he had taken over Euphorion. But no matter how bad it was, he wasn't interested in doing things halfway. Apart from that, he didn't deny that his personal feelings for Rose continue to bother him, especially after he agreed with King Eudon's agreement.

The knocking sounds and the sound of the door being opened could be heard. Frost walked into the room and bowed to him.
"Your Majesty."

"How is it?" said Angel without opening his eyes. His two fingers massaged his temple. It seemed like he wasn't able to check out another document today.

"We have checked the city to make sure there are no rebel troops left. We have also cleared up yesterday's battle remnants," replied Frost.

"Good," he said as he opened his eyes and got up from his seat. He was a little tired of Zephyrus' documents and aristocracy so he decided to take a walk in the garden for some fresh air or move his stiff muscles in the training ground before returning to his room.

"Can you accompany me for one round? I need a sparring partner," he added again.

"With pleasure, Your Majesty," replied Frost.

They were just walking towards the exit. But knocking sounds came from the window.

- Tuk - Tuk - Tuk

They held their steps and turned to them. A red bird was knocking on it. Frost approached the window since they knew the bird was Flare's Magic Messenger and opened it. The bird flew into the room, Frost extended his hand as a place where the bird could land. As soon as the bird landed on his hand, it turned into a red light then shattered into pieces, a message came into his head.
'The rebels will attack Princess Rose tonight. Maybe they will also attack His Majesty. Be careful. ' Frost's face quickly turned serious.

"Is that from Flare?" guessed Angel.

Frost lowered his hand.
"Yes, Your Majesty."

Angel waved his hand backwards, ordering the guards and King Eudon's aides to leave the room. They bowed and followed his orders.

"What did she say?" said Angel after the door was closed. Since Flare reported it to Frost, she should still be able to handle this matter. But he still wanted to know what happened.

"She said the rebels would attack Princess Rose and she asked me to be careful," replied Frost.

"This is faster than I thought," said Angel. He was silent for a while, although he could leave everything to Flare, he was a little tired of spending his time with the documents in this study room or rather bored. As for the others, he just had to wait for the Black Devil Army to clear up the rebels' hideout and the information from his Dark Agents.
"Tell her I'm going to her place," he said.

"Are you going undercover again?" guessed Frost. Not only this time, Angel did it, but he had been doing this ever since he started to stabilize his authority in Euphoprion. With this, Angel could make decisions more objective and accurate.

"That's right. Tonight I will leave this castle's security to you," he said.

"I'll get your hunter clothes in your room."

"No, get me an elite soldier uniform and a sword," he said. Rather disguised himself as a hunter, he planned to go undercover among his own army.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Frost. Then he bowed and walked out of the room. Frost didn't question that any more since he could already guess Angel's plan.

After Frost left, Angel pulled out his sword and cast his dark aura on it. In an instant, the sword turned into the dark aura that formed like a human. Different from when he infiltrated the Moonspark's Mansion, he continued to flow his dark aura until that human changed to him.

As he lowered his hand, before him, stood another Angelus Raizel. What set them apart was that another Angel didn't have the King's badge.

He took off his badge on his collar and put it on his double.
"Replace me for a moment, Nightmare," he said in a casual tone.

Nightmare lowered his head.
"Yes, Your Majesty."