True King's Ecstasy

It wasn't a big surprise for the Rapidclaw kingdom that the empire started attacking them through the baron territory as it was the safest way to cross the border.

But they didn't expect them to be this wild, destroying villages and killing innocent people. Even though they heard that the new emperor was a tyrant, nobody expected them to be this brutal.

"I won't forgive them," Looking at a paper sent by the empire, Julius snapped.

"What do they want from us brother?" Seeing her normally calm and collected brother fuming with anger, Julie was surprised.

She was curious to see what this letter contained as it was almost impossible to piss off her brother normally.

"Nothing, it's not something you should know," Averting his eyes, Julius answered her question but it was obvious that his sister wasn't going to take it as an answer.

"Brother, tell me, did something bad happen?"

The whole room was silent for a few minutes as Julius kept looking outside through the windows with a deep look on his face.

"They want us to be a vassal state to empire, if we do that they will stop attacking," He said with a hard face.

"No way!" Hearing it Julie felt like her heart stopped for a minute. The idea of handing over their home to an intruder felt absurd to her.

"That wasn't it," With a reluctant face, Julius looked at her sister.

"They want you!" He almost choked on his words, as he felt disgusted muttering those words. The idea of handing over his beloved sister to a tyrant felt more absurd to him than handing over his own kingdom.

It was true Julius hated how her sister got greater better than him but still, he loved her more than anything. As a good brother, he always made sure to avoid all the bad proposes she got while supporting her to choose someone suitable for her.

"Why do they need me?" Julie was confused. She had a bad feeling about this whole event.

"It's a request from the emperor," He didn't want to reveal the true purpose of these people but seeing her brother's face Jukie got a vague idea about it.

"Brother, I don't mind doing that but we can't be a vassal state, even if we have to die we should protect this kingdom from external parties like them,"

Julius was proud of her sister's words but at the same time, he was worried. He wondered what would happen to his sister if they lost this war.

"Julie, promise me you would escape if we lose this war, I don't mind even if you abandoned us, can you obey this last wish of your brother?" He wanted her to live a good life somewhere else.

*Sob

"I won't, brother, I won't leave you or father," Tears started to fall from her beautiful eyes as she quickly stood up from the couch and went to hug her brother.

"Julie, do me this favour you should leave this place with your servant and live a good life, please do your brother this favour,"

With desperation in his voice, he wanted to hear a positive answer. On the opposite side, Juli wanted to deny his request. Both of them kept arguing with their hearts sinking in despair until Juli had to give up.

"Your brother will win, I won't lose to those tyrants," Muttering those words, Julius got ready to leave for the battlefield as the decisive time of war came close.

***

After three days of travelling from the rapidclaw kingdom to the war front, Julius couldn't help but remember his kingdom and his sister.

He still vividly remembered how she writhed in his hands with sadness.

"Lorance, what did our scout's day about enemies?"

Knowing that he should be strong than anyone else, he decided to pay attention to what was happening in the present instead of thinking about things that he had no control over.

"They are strong, prince," Lorance had a difficult face since he knew this war is nothing easy. Even though they had the advantage of the land, their food resources and human resources were very much limited.

"Their army is twice the size of us and they have siege weapons which will be really disadvantageous to us,"

Julius didn't know how to react to his words as they felt absurd.

"Did they harm baron territory near the borders?" Concerned about his vassals, Julius questioned.

"I don't know about that your highness, I only heard that the baron territory surrendered as before even conflict started,"

Both Lorance and Julius had bad premonitions about this war. They entered the viscount territory which was the next checkpoint if the empire wants to go for the capital. It wasn't a huge territory but it had good defences surrounding it since it was the next place that was close to the borders.

"Tell our soldiers to rest and get ready for the attack, and keep an eye on the empire army,"

Giving his orders, Julius went inside to meet the viscount and greet him.

"Greetings, prince," Before he could even enter he saw viscount looking at him with a grateful face.

He was really happy to see the royal army coming to help as he wasn't sure about facing the threat of the empire.

"Greetings, Viscount Cedric," Julius observed the man in front of him with a sharp kook. He was an old man but had a build of a warrior.

He wasn't surprised because, unlike the nobles in the capital, these types of people tend to be less arrogant and more effective when it comes to real war.

"Is everything ready?" Hearing Julius' question, Cedric just nodded his head with a super fast motion.

"Yes, prince,"

"Good, let's go, we won't let those tyrants overrun any of our lands," With people beside him, Julius felt confident.

Even though people didn't see any of the royal members or nobles in a positive light none of them was hostile to most of them except a few of them that were scumbags.