"Looks like our negative assumption came true." Gabriel spoke at the table.

"Yes, father. But at least… we are prepared." Lucius replied.

"Is that why you gathered the guards last week and set them to the borders?" Lita questioned.

"Yes, the guards have been sent to be ready for any impending conflict Countess." Captain Donald answered.

"I see… but do we know where they are going to attack us from?" Lita asked further.

"We do have some intel," John added.

"Indeed, my love. Our informants have been giving us information regularly. After all, their business is getting affected too." Gabriel replied.

The informants were none other than the merchants that have been wronged by the Viscount. While they were prevented from entering the territory, the merchants themselves were interconnected and had good relations with other merchants inside the territory.

Thus for a certain price, they were very willing to pass on some information to them, and then it made its way to Inanis city.

"But this option won't be viable for long. They should soon start to seal all borders for the war. As for the supplies, they should switch to their own people by now." Lucius replied.

Alessa who had been looking a bit anxious today spoke. 

"But Young Lord Asher, they say the charges were for the attempted murder of the viscount. Isn't he supposed to be dead according to you?" Alessa questioned.

"Of course he's dead. This is merely a strategy to keep up the morale of their people and also their image. If it was truly leaked that he died, the chaos that would break out will result in their downfall rather quickly.

Still… it's not like the truth can be hidden for long. It is bound to come out in some time. After all, they are in the same position as us and cannot use the soldiers of the kingdom to attack us.

And for them to use their guards, they will need a commander. Though the wife of Viscount might be able to finagle her way out of this. Especially if their backers have already extended their support." Lucius answered.

This was something the others were a bit confused about too, but now felt a bit relieved. To them, the words of Lucius were far more believable than that of the merchants or other informants.

"If we want to collapse their morale, we just need to reveal certain facts about the viscount's condition. For example, if he was really this sick, then how did he get better? What healer was it? Or did they get a priest from the Church of Alana to help them?" Lucius said with a smile.

Hearing this Gabriel nodded his head and so did John.

"We shall do exactly that. Let the people ask the questions on their own and let it all collapse." Gabriel replied.

"Still there is a chance that the crazy woman might go ahead with it all." John added.

"Oh she's definitely going to do that whether we spread this or not." Lucius spoke.

"Then why are we doing it?" John asked.

"It is not for the wife of the Viscount to fail, but rather to give us a legitimate reason to take over the land. This way we will be able to give an excuse to the king and the church as well." Lucius replied.

Everyone's eyes went wide after hearing this. With a few simple words, Lucius had managed to find a solution that may flip everything in their favor.

"This… it might really be good!" Donald agreed.

"Of course, all this comes later. First, we need to win against them. If we don't, everything will be in vain. I'm sure the other nobles will be waiting like vultures to dig through our territory.

After all, everyone knows they are envious that we have the headquarters of a Church in our land." Lucius warned.

Gabriel's gaze turned serious as he understood the danger from third parties that they needed to be cautious of. Not only was there Bergan's band, but the secret backers of the Viscount may also very well be other nobles that were coveting the land of Etara.

"We will ensure that nothing of this sort happens and we win," Gabriel said before looking at Lucius.

"How is the preparation on your end coming, with the… masked legion?" Gabriel asked, much to the curiosity of others.

Of the current people, only Kiana, and Lucius knew of the masked legion, while the others only had the idea that something like that was being made by Lucius. They didn't know where they were coming from now though.

"They are coming along well father. We should have significant numbers by the time for battle." Lucius replied.

"Alright, hopefully we can get everything right." Gabriel nodded his head.

"We are ready for the battle as well." John and Donald spoke up.

"You won't be taking part in it, John," Gabriel said.

"Why? But I serve under you." John asked.

"You still come under the ranking of the royal army and do not have a noble rank that will allow you to do this. I cannot let you do this." Gabriel replied.

"I see…" John understood.

"It's not that you can't participate, it's just that you can't be on the battlefield, you can still guide the guards and direct them here. Believe me, we need you here more than there." Lucius spoke.

"Thank you, Young Lord Asher." John said with gratitude.

The Inanis family and their subordinates discussed the plans for a few more hours before finally separating. The time for the battle was close, and no one knew how it would proceed.

Lucius and Kiana were heading to the re-education center and were in the carriage right now.

"When do you think they will attack, Asher?" Kiana asked.

"Hmm… from what I can judge, they shouldn't really have that much patience left. If anything, they would want to leave as fast as possible to assuage their condition. Viscount Drew dying in a battle would be a far better option for them.

At least this is what I think they will be framing it as." Lucius replied.

"Huh? But if the viscount is dead, how will they do that?" Kiana asked.

"Faking someone's death is rather easy. Especially when that person is already dead. If the wife of the viscount is really as what we have heard she is like, then I don't think she will hesitate to desecrate the remains of the dead.

All they would need to do is to send someone to fight on behalf of the viscount pretending that it's him then let him die there. After that, they would just destroy the corpse or replace the man entirely with the damaged corpse parts of the viscount.

To make it more believable, they might even burn it all down. After all, we know the cannons can create vast areas of flaming land when used correctly." Lucius explained.

"Ugh, that woman is really devious if she goes along with all this. I wonder where she gets the courage from." Kiana spoke.

"That is a hard thing to answer, even for me. It can be just her own self, or perhaps an external source of courage. It prods me to believe that the backer might be interfering in it as well." Lucius replied.

Hearing this, Kiana was a bit taken aback.

"You don't think… there might be someone controlling the entire situation from the start?" Kiana questioned in slight disbelief.

"Oh? You caught on to that too." Lucius was impressed by Kiana.

Her thinking ability was increasing by the day and the more she spent time with Lucius, the better it got. It was like she was observing and learning from every little thing Lucius spoke or did.

If this was some other person and did not have a mark of loyalty on them, Lucius would have been rather concerned. But with the mark of loyalty that Kiana had, he could be calm and not worry about it.

In fact, he had been feeling that the mark was only getting stronger as time went by. Which made him believe Kiana's faith in him was only getting deeper. This was one of the difference between the mark of loyalty and the mark of obedience.

The mark of obedience would not change once it was placed on a person, while the mark of loyalty would grow with them as their faith grew. It could also warn the caster when their faith started to fall and it would allow them to act when needed.

"You really think that?" Kiana said upon hearing Lucius's words.

"Of course. I had my suspicions, since what the viscount did was rather adverse and did not make sense. Even with the trade embargo to hurt us, it was not something he could sustain for long unless they wanted to kill their people as well.

The only option left was that they had additional people supporting them and would ensure that they don't fail." Lucius explained.