Conner frowned after he arrived at the capital of Gladiolus. The first thing that was reported to him was the successful escape of the Third Princess of Freesia, the second thing was that their forces in the Zelan Dynasty had retreated in order to escape the Elves.
Conner had already expected this outcome. The Elves were an arrogant race. They would definitely not allow any kind of opposition to stand in their way. The problem lay in the Kingdom of Freesia.
He still hadn't received any news from the agents that were stationed in the far away Kingdom located in the East. Naturally, the officer in charge had been given a long-distance communication crystal.
However, it had been days since the leader had last reported anything to him. This only meant one thing, and that was that something unfortunate had befallen the man he entrusted to take control of the Kingdom of Freesia.
After carefully weighing the current situation, Conner decided to send three hundred of his trusted men back to the Hidden Domain. He, on the other hand, would stay in the Hellan Capital to take command of the current situation.
He knew that the peace here would be short-lived, since it wouldn't be long before the Elves came knocking on their doors.
'I need to buy time until the secret of the Undying Lands has been unearthed,' Conner thought as he carefully read the documents that were presented to him. It was the current list of forces that the Hellan Kingdom had. The list was composed of the young knights and students of the different learning institutions around the Kingdom.
Naturally, Conner focused on the documents pertaining to the students of the Hellan Royal Academy. These were the most talented students of the Kingdom and all of them represented precious manpower that he could add to his ranks through bribes or coercion.
'Still, just where are the officers that are supposed to look after the Prince?' Conner thought. 'Just what is Calum doing?'
When he arrived, the first person he looked for was his right-hand man, Calum. However, his subordinates only said that the Vice-Commander of The Organization had personally set out to find Princess Sidonie's whereabouts.
Right now, the number of agents that The Organization had in the Hellan Kingdom numbered around twenty thousand. Most of them were wanted criminals that hailed from the different kingdoms, clans, and hidden factions within the Southern Continent.
They were a rag-tag group with their own agendas, and their loyalty to The Organization would only last as long as their needs were met.
Conner understood this. In order to appease them, he planned to have them become the new retainers of the lands belonging to the Hellan Kingdom. Of course, they would give face to their Puppet King Lionel, because this was part of the agreement they had.
Even though Conner would be unable to keep his part of the bargain to make Lionel the Emperor of the Southern Continent, making him the King of his own Kingdom was possible.
Only when he was able to discover the secrets of the Undying Lands would he have enough ability to sweep away the foreign invaders and kick them off from his turf.
Suddenly, one of the rings on his fingers glowed. These rings were connected to the leaders under his wing and served as their means of communication.
Conner directed the ring on the wall and a projection of Calum appeared. The Vice-Commander gave Conner a brief bow before starting his report.
"My Lord, I have found the whereabouts of Princess Sidonie, but the current situation has surpassed our expectations," Calum reported. "Although I'm not a hundred percent certain, I believe that the Princess has managed to tame the Ant Queen and make it her subordinate."
Conner narrowed his eyes. He had known Calum for a long time and knew that his right-hand-man didn't have the habit of talking senseless things. If Calum said that the Princess might have charmed the Ant Queen then the possibility certainly existed.
"Also, there is more that I needed to report," Calum continued. "The Knight Commander of the Angorian War Sovereign, William Von Ainsworth, is with the Princess. How should I proceed, My Lord?"
"William and the Princess are together?" Calum tapped the top of his desk as he pondered their next move. This was an unexpected situation because he thought that the Half-Elf was currently unconscious.
After careful consideration he looked at this trusted subordinate and asked a question.
"Can you capture the Princess?" Conner inquired.
Calum shook his head. "I am not confident that I will be able to snatch her from the Ant Warriors. Even if I succeeded, they would be able to track me down. Also, I can't outrun the Queen's Millennial Flying Ants. Not to mention, the Knight Commander is also there. Our information regarding his abilities is non-existent."
Conner thought long and hard before he gave his order. "Return to the Hellan Capital for now. If you are discovered then getting away will be extremely difficult. Also, there is something that I want you to handle personally. I will tell you the details after you've arrived."
"Yes, My Lord." Calum replied before the projection faded.
Conner sat in silence as he considered negotiating with Princess Sidonie and William to work for him. Currently, the Princess was far from home and, if Conner offered her enough benefits then there was a possibility for them to come to a compromise.
As for William…
'The Crown Prince hates him, but he is also Celine's disciple. One wants him dead, while the other wants him alive,' Conner mused. 'I have promised both of them that I would fulfill their wishes, but I can't touch the boy due to my agreement with Celine…'
The leader of The Organization in the Southern Continent knew that he had to make a difficult choice. Support Prince Lionel or keep his promise with Celine. The Prince had given him the key to the Undying Lands, while the latter had given him the means to use the miasma to weaken the forces of the Hellan Kingdom.
Not only that, the research for the artificial super soldiers, that had led to the birth of the Gigantic Trollhound, was research that Celine had started many years ago. Unfortunately, she abandoned it. This gave The Organization a massive headache and they had no choice but to give the project to another scholar to continue her research.
Honestly, Conner didn't want to make things difficult for William. After all, both of them were Half-Elves. The race that was shunned by the Elven Race and treated like a disgrace.
Still, he was someone who looked at the bigger picture. The Undying Lands held untold possibilities. All he needed to do was send his men to explore the Domain and find the secrets hidden within.
'I guess I'll just let the Prince deal with William personally.' Conner finally made his decision. 'As long as I don't take part in it, Celine will remain loyal to The Organization.'
Conner knew that having Celine as an ally was way better than having her as his enemy.
-----
The Blade Wyvern soared in the sky as it made a detour towards the Northern Regions of the Hellan Kingdom.
Before returning to Lont, William wanted to talk to the Demigod of the Kyrintor Mountains, Takam, and ask for advice on how to break the spell that had turned the adults into crystal statues.
The last time they met, the Demigod had mentioned that the two of them could meet again "When the Sky Falls".
Although William was asleep, the narration of his Big Brother Matthew, and Big Sister Leah, conformed with the description of the Demigod. When the Aurora Borealis descended from the Heavens, it was similar to the sky falling.
'Did Takam know all of this beforehand?' William thought. 'If so, why didn't he do anything about it?'
William was deep in thought and didn't notice that Princess Sidonie and Morgana were paying close attention to his current expression.
As a strategist, Princess Sidonie wanted to gather more information, so that she could find William's weakness. Morgana was doing the same, but her motives were impure.
< Darling looks so handsome when he's thinking seriously. >
'...'
< Maybe I should put an aphrodisiac in his food and drinks so I can attack him tonight. >
'...'
Princess Sidonie sighed internally. She had never expected her Big Sister to fall head over heels for William after getting dominated by the boy in their faceoff. The image of her strong and dependable other half had long disappeared and had been replaced by a girl who just kept talking about making babies with the handsome red-headed boy.
Due to this, she decided to forbid Morgana from taking over her body. Princess Sidonie was afraid that if Morgana really did have her way, she would definitely resort to attacking William in his sleep.
What Princess Sidonie wanted was to find true love, not indulge in baby making sessions. She had already recognized William as a possible candidate to become her future lover. However, she wanted to know more about the boy.
As for William's other lovers, the Princess wasn't worried about them. She believed that she could overcome all competition if she decided that William would officially become her lover.
As a strategist, she was confident in her ability to win her battles. The only problem was, this was her first time to be on the battlefield of Love.
Princess Sidonie and Morgana would soon understand that the man whom they had chosen had very unusual tastes, which in turn would make both of them question their own taste in men.