Raphael threw a quick look at me, put his hand on my head, and bent me into a bowing position. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to comprehend my situation properly.

- You may lift your heads.

The Empress's voice sounded calm and poised. When I raised my head to take a better look at her, I was genuinely surprised. It was a woman that couldn't have been more than thirty years old. She had long red hair, styled carefully, with each curl in its proper place, her skin was flawlessly white with a slight hint of peach color on the cheeks. Her eyes were two sparkling emeralds, placed precisely under the thick black lashes. She was wearing a dark-green dress that accentuated her eyes and hair, with silver threads sewn into the fabric to make it shine under the rays of sunshine. Her very position was so elegant, that one might find it impossible for a living person to sit like that.

"I bet she can sit like this for hours and not even bat an eye."

- I was surprised when I heard that Dorian called in the royal tailor to make some women's clothes so I had to come and check the situation myself. I did not expect to see THAT.

"Did she just call me "that"?"

- Your Majesty, this is miss Yoona, she is Ariana's disciple summoned to help us prepare for war.

Raphael looked at me again and made an almost unnoticeable movement with his head, instructing me to introduce myself.

- H-hello, Your Majesty, I am Yoona, it's nice to meet you. As Raphael noted just now, I am here to help the prince and his knights with their physical training...

The empress raised her eyebrows and stood up. She came closer to me and examined me with her gaze. She then rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue, indicating once again that she was disappointed to see me in front of her.

- The disciple, you say... So why do you need new clothes, then? Can't you use her little divine magic to make her own attire?

- Well, that's because --

Raphael pinched my back from behind and made one step forward to the empress, towering over me with his tall body.

- Her divine magic cannot be used for such trivial matters, Your Majesty.

The empress clicked her tongue again and turned around.

- Well, as long as she indeed helps Dorian win the war, I have no objections. Alright then, I shall go pay a visit to the prince while I'm here.

- There's no need, Your Majesty, I'm here.

Dorian's sudden appearance made everyone flinch at once. He was standing in the doorway, Merlyn and Dotty right behind him, scowling quietly.

- Oh my, you even visit the woman's room without knocking, how rude of you. But then again, I should not expect anything from you anyway.

I looked at Dorian and noticed his tense expression. He was clenching his fists trying to regain composure.

"Just what the hell is their relationship? She is his mother, right?"

- If there is nothing else you need, Your Majesty, I think it would be better if you left.

The empress smirked and gestured to her guard to start walking. She stopped right next to Dorian and whispered.

- None of your tricks will work, you will really need a miracle this time. I suggest that you give up and accept your fate instead of playing games with that pathetic knight of yours.

When the empress left the room, the atmosphere became so tense, that you could cut it with a knife. Everyone was for sure relieved that she had left, but no one still dared to speak. The first one to break the silence was the tailor.

- Oh my, just look at the time! I brought 5 sets of clothes for the lady - all comfortable, just as she requested. If you need more items, just send one of your maids to my shop. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way.

She grabbed her bag, bowed down to the prince, and dashed out so fast, that I could almost see the moving lines behind her.

- Wow, she sure runs fast.

My remark seemed to have loosened up everyone a little. Dorian wiped his face with his glove and walked inside the room. He stopped next to the bed and started examining the clothes. I followed his movements and inspected the items myself. There were five sets of clothes - 5 pairs of pants, 3 loose black and 2 white shirts of different designs, 3 vests embroidered with ornaments, 2 leather corsets with straps that looked like something that can be used for a fetish splurge, 5 tight black tops used by the knights, and 5 black leather belts. She also left 3 pairs of soft leather boots that fit me perfectly.

- This woman knows how to add style to comfort. Although I'm not sure about corsets.

- I guess she wanted to add some curve to your masculine figure.

Raphael appeared next to us so suddenly, that both I and Dorian dropped the clothes that we were holding.

- Masculine or not, at least I look more prepared for war than some of your beloved knights!

The knight chuckled while the prince furrowed his eyebrows and sat down on the sofa, previously occupied by the empress. He petted Merlyn and let out a tired sigh.

- What was with the empress anyway? I thought she was your mother, why did she act like that?

Raphael took a seat on the second sofa and gestured for Aurora to leave the room. The maid bowed down and left.

- That woman is not my mother. My mother died while giving birth to me.

- Oh, I'm sorry...

"So he does not have a mother too... Geez, what a miserable bunch we are."

- The woman you had just met was Agatha Torrade, the emperor's wife. My father's wife. Her son Luther, my older half-brother, is the Crown Prince and the heir to the throne. That wicked woman loathes me so much that she is sending me to the battlefield hoping I would die.

He leaned against the back of the sofa and looked at the ceiling. Raphael scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

- Well, we don't know about that just yet. The war was surely an unexpected decision but we have enormous military support from the Alred Duchy so we can't rush to conclusions here.

I felt like I couldn't bear it anymore.

- Just what kind of war is that, for God's sake?!

They both looked at me surprised.

- Ugh, I guess we haven't explained it to you yet.

Dorian stood up, walked ut to the desk and leaned on it, his hands crossed in front of his chest again.

- The Arcadian Empire is being threatened with invasion by the barbarian tribes coming from the north. Their first attempt to capture our land happened 24 years ago, when my father Benjamin, the current Emperor, killed their leader while being only 18 years old. He pushed them all the way to the Northern Sea and we hadn't heard about them since then. Three years ago they attempted an attack on the Caracia Empire and almost succeeded if it wasn't for the last-minute military aid Arcadia had provided. Two months ago our spies found out that they are planning another invasion that was supposed to take place next year during the harvesting season - it's the busiest season of the year and our fields and farms are located close to the borders, which means that if they do manage to attack, they will first aim to destroy our fields thus creating a huge hunger threat for the whole empire. My father decided to place a military base along the shoreline and our borders in case they try to come here earlier, but with all the information we have, we can expect them to come no earlier than in 11 months at least. In any case, the battle seems inevitable. At first, the leading position for this war was assigned to my half-brother Luther, the Crown Prince, however, with the aid of the Empress, it was transferred to me, the reason being "Luther's poor condition."

"Well, I don't know about that Luther fellow, but to say that Dorian is more fit for any military activities is quite a stretch."

Raphael slammed his fist on the coffee table and straightened his posture.

- Yeah, that dork is always locked up in the library reading books and making all those crazy experiments, he barely even knows how to hold a sword! That woman simply hopes that you would die on the battlefield just so she can eliminate you as a successor, I'm surprised she hasn't poisoned you yet.

- Well, one of her attempts to kill me ended up hurting Luther as well, that's why she was waiting for an opportunity that would definitely leave Luther out.

- Damn, what a b*tch...

I suddenly heard myself saying those words out loud, two pairs of eyes fixed on me right away.

"Just why?.."

Raphael laughed, Dorian followed him along.

- You are right, she is not a good woman indeed.

I looked at the window behind the prince and scratched the back of my neck.

- Anyway, why are these barbarians so interested in these lands? Considering their first attack was more than 20 years ago, it looks like they are obsessed with it or something.

Raphael looked at me from underneath his eyebrows and smirked.

- Well, from what we were able to gather with the help of the neighboring empires, the barbarians are simply very proud warmongers who like to kill and steal. The fact that they did not manage to get anything from the first attack had hurt their pride, apparently. It appears their land also has some kind of division of separate kingdoms so they trade and communicate only with each other. For all we know, they are not interested in the land itself, but rather in the riches our Empire possesses since Arcadia is considered to be the richest Empire on the whole continent. Due to the rather equal distribution of land amongst the northern kingdoms, the only way to grow their kings' authority is by increasing their wealth. And it is not possible without occasional raids on the outside kingdoms or empires.

"Hmm... I definitely read something similar about ancient tribes in the northern territories of Europe, I guess? But the question is how big are the armies those barbarians have if they can even raid big empires separately since their only goal is stealing."

Dorian let out an annoyed sigh and fixed his gaze on me.

- Don't get me wrong, miss Yoona, I'm not a warmonger myself, but we have tried countless times to try and come to peaceful terms with those people - we offered them education, means to tend the land, even financial aid so they can start trading with other empires, but it was all in vain. They are lazy warmongers who only know how to kill and steal.

"I guess the history is aligned even in this world... How can you even deal with the ones who refuse to acknowledge anything else but their own ways?"

- Okay, I see now. But what about the army? I don't think you can go to the battlefield with only 200 knights.

Raphael started beaming with unexpected arrogance.

- Well, thanks to certain someone, we will receive military support from the Alred family. They are great supporters of the Dio family ever since ages ago. In addition, my relationship with the "Black Flame" mercenary organization is still good so they will join us as well.

- Alred family?

The prince groaned and covered his face with both hands. I noticed his face getting red a little but I could not understand why he was blushing when we were talking about military help.

- The Alred Duchy is famous for having the strongest military base in all of Arcadia. They are very supportive of my father so when he announced his plans they promised to provide us with their men... On one condition.

Dorian's face instantly became tomato-red, Raphael had a hard time holding back his laughter.

- ... I have to marry the duke's daughter, Lilith.