Commander Range was a great young man. At the prime age of twenty-five, he managed to rise up all way to the commander rank with sheer talent alone. Plus, he was good-looking and came from a noble family.
That kind of achievement was bound to gather envy and jealousy. I suspected that was the reason Commander Range ended up here, in a hopeless battlefield with no reinforcement, the graveyard where the seventh prince was supposed to die.
I pitied him, who meaninglessly fought hard till the end.
"Commander," I greeted him.
Commander Range stood up from their chairs and bowed to me. Everybody else who attended the meeting quickly followed his example.
I hoped I didn't look as uncomfortable as I felt.
"Your Highness, I heard you're sick. You should rest."
Short and precise as always. This was truly the Commander Range I knew.
"Commander, I would like to join the strategy meeting."
The men around the table glanced at each other.
"But, Your Highness, what about your sickness?"
I wasn't lying when I told them I felt sick. I had a weak body, partly because of the non-fatal poison my Father feed me over the years, the other part was because I had been born that way. They had seen me throwing up and fainting a few times on the way here, sending me looks of pity when I requested a break.
Even now, just walking from my private tent to the meeting took all my stamina.
"I am fine," I lied through my teeth. "More importantly, please continue your discussion."
The Vice Commander offered his chair to me, which I took gratefully.
Just as I ordered them to, they dutifully continued the strategy meeting. I crossed my arm and listened.
The upcoming battle against Fentena was considered helpless because they had powerful mages by their side.
If Father had bothered to send more troops, we might have a chance to win the battle.
The army had roughly the same amount of soldiers as the enemy, but they still managed to destroy all of us in one day. That was how strong they were.
Right now, our only advantage was me. Or specifically, my knowledge of the future.
[[What are you planning?]]
I nearly jumped out of my skin at Tu's sudden appearance. She peered up behind the table beside me, her head moving around excitedly. She was pretty much like a kid at a picnic.
"Your Highness? Are you alright?"
Commander Range looked at me in concern, putting me in the center of attention. Nobody seemed to register Tu's presence.
||What you see of us is just a mirage, Prince.||
I frowned at the text message. It might be just my imagination but-
...Did Huan just read my mind?
||I did! (＾∇＾)ﾉ♪||
It would be nice if I knew that kind of thing earlier.
I almost face-palmed, but if I did, Commander Range would see it as an act of weakness and send me back to my tent for sure.
"It's nothing, Commander. Continue with the meeting."
Commander Range narrowed his eyes at me, and after two minutes of relentless staring, he finally carried on as if nothing happened.
[[Prince, what are you planning to do? Shouldn't we run away? Are you going to fight?]]
...So noisy.
||Lol Prince Erik just called Tu noisy||
They were just floating voiceless texts, but Tu somehow heard it all the same. She pouted once again. It would have looked cute in a normal kid.
I looked away from her and stood up. Immediately, all the eyes in the room were pointed at me.
"I want to have water mages on standby," I announced.
The only one who dared to question my order was, almost predictably, Commander Range.
"Is it to anticipate the Mage of Fire Storm, Derita?" He asked calmly. "But, no matter how I think about it, there's no way Derita would show up just to fight against Albertani."
Right, I'd forgotten I was the only one who thought this battlefield was hopeless. Father sent me here because he knew we were going to lose. These naive men didn't know that.
Albertani was a big Kingdom but comparatively weak in terms of offensive power. Would Fentena employed their best mage just to fight the weak Albertani? The answer was yes. They didn't come for war.
They came for a massacre and enjoyed it.
