"In a week and a half, I expect all plans to be submitted. And after 4 days of rest, everyone will begin mission training for all scenarios! Actors will be hired, and you will all swoop in and save 'princess' Tilda under supervision. Getting information and scouting the Coastal city when we arrive will also be tested out too. As for those in the Navy, your scenarios will be at sea. And last but not least, we have to consider the bond between the target and her grandmother."

Her grandmother?

Instantly, several people's eyes lit up as they recalled the information about the old lady of 47 years of age.

(Yes... For women, that was indeed quite old. But for men, not so much... They would be old but not seen as ancient/old as women their ages to many. Nonetheless, they would be considered old at this point too. After all, men typically marry girls a few years younger than them. This was a common trait even in medieval times, like some noblemen at 18, who married 14-year-old girls and whatnot. So their age is mostly not considered. And as the couple ages, everyone would base things off by the woman's age instead. So if the old lady was 47, then her husband must be in his early 50's or late one depending on her wife-rank.)

...

Everyone recalled the target's grandmother in their minds.

She was the 4th wife to the target's maternal grandfather, who married 5 wives. 2 wives have already died over the years, and only 3 remained.

And it looked like this granny's life was a tough one. 

In short, she seemed to have refused to die.

They weren't fools.

The woman had been kept in the cold courtyard for over 21 years now but still stayed alive even though she had limited help, never receiving love from her so-called husband too.

One might even assume that she might not have seen her husband for decades now... (Of course, this would've been true if she didn't try to rescue Tilda and get her out of the palace. After Tilda was caught, Alexander contacted Tilda's grandfather, and the rest was easy to guess... But the Baymardians didn't know this.)

Anyway, when noble or royal ladies get sent to the cold courtyard or cold palace, they would face all sorts of harmful treatments there.

Firstly, the entire courtyard would be falling apart and so dusty that it looked like beggars would have to live in it.

Leaking roofs, broken windows, con webbed cupboards, no beds or furniture, and so on.

That's the image of the cold courtyard for many.

And in this case, picking up illnesses and even colds during the cool summer nights was also common.

Additionally, insect bites and constant visits from several crawly friends were a guarantee.

But apart from nature, humans also made things worse for those who stayed within the cold courtyards.

.

Generally, their food rations become smaller and smaller as the palace servants start bullying them and making things hard under the influence of the other wives.

This would continue until eventually, they might only receive food 2~3 times a week or so.

Of course, they dared not starve for long because if those in the cold courtyards die from starvation, it would be a slap on the face of a noble or royal once the word went out.

Some might joke and belittle the noble household or royals for being so poor that they couldn't even feed their people.

And even though it was a joke, it wasn't amusing to them!

Thus, the servants who dared overstep their boundaries would follow the deceased corpses that they killed.

Of course, sometimes, to those living in the cold palaces, receiving food was always a nightmare as well.

Why? Because the food might be poisoned too.

Again, those in the cold courtyard faced countless destination attempts from all wives, as everyone just wanted to eliminate them fast. 

All in all, the old lady had remarkably faced countless attempts on her life but had still survived, which not only shocked them but from the report, also shocked many in the Capital too.

She was not once, not thrice, but a total of 9 times... Yet, she still survived.

She also faced assassination attempts but was still standing.

In short, because of her survival, back in her younger days, people thought there was some big force behind her. 

And her husband started mistrusting her too, especially after listening to the sugar-coated words from the other wives.

But in Landon's mind, he knew the reason why she survived.

Yup!

The old lady didn't know it, but her purpose was to stay alive and try her best to look over Tilda until Landon took her out.

In this life, some people could be in the most horrendous accidents or experiences multiple times but would come out without a single scratch.

They had something to do, and until it was completed, heh... It was a very difficult task to go against the heavens.

So if the old lady actually got killed, that meant that her purpose had already been fulfilled.

.

Landon looked at everyone sternly:

"The old lady has been part of the target's life since childhood. Thus, if we leave her behind, I'm sure the target will be afraid that something will happen to her once we leave. And that's why the target might not be the only one we have to rescue. Hence, just like when we rescued the now King-father Micheal and some others in Terique... the target's grandmother and her few faithful servants might be joining us too. So I expect plans of infiltration on the noble estate too! Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" They all replied in unison.

"Good. Remember, In a week and a half, all plans must be submitted at noon! And after 4 days of reviewing from us, training will begin and continue for another 3 weeks. From there, I expect you all to use the remaining days to meet your families, have a mini-vacation before heading back to pack your stuff, and set off... Now, Dismissed!"

With that, Landon turned around to face the other leaders while everyone calmly got up and vacated the hall to have a brief meeting with the units as fast as they could.

They were all positioned and seated according to their units. So it was easy to know who was where.

Landon chatted with the superior while removing his mic and putting all equipment away.

But suddenly, a sharp alarming noise went off in his mind.

['Warning! Warning!

Civilians held hostage. Civilians held hostage.

Your targets are 'The Witches!']

'_'