The morning after the banquet, all of the lords either prepared to join Mack in the campaign or started their journey back to their domain. The King bid farewell to all of the leaving lords, Mack by his side as he did so, politely smiling the entire time. "Lord Vere, wait a moment." King Elric called to the retreating figure of Lord Vere, who timidly turned around, "Lord Vere, I was hoping you would stay in Bamburgh and lead the kingdom in my absence." As King Elric said this, both Mack and Lord Vere's faces contorted into images of confusion, not understanding why Elric had chosen him. 'Maybe father has finally gone senile,' Mack thought to himself, having no confidence in a man he saw as completely incompetent. "Are you sure, my King? I am sure there are people more suited to the job than I." Lord Vere, clearly as uncertain as Mack, couldn't help but question the King's words. "Vere, I am sure, in that entire court room, you were the only one who actually questioned my judgement and openly disagreed with me, I need more of my Lords to do that." The King's statement had both Mack and Vere in relative shock. "Then, if you are sure, my King, I would be happy to stay here and manage the national affairs in your stead."
-----
After Lord Vere had agreed to manage the national affairs temporarily, Mack and Elric both went to pack for a quick campaign, expecting the war to last only 2-3 months. After packing, Mack went to speak to Charlotte and see if she had finished packing, only to realise he hadn't actually checked if she had anything to pack. After having this realisation, Mack felt guilty for how inconsiderate he had been to her situation. She had been kicked out of her home, called a witch, embarrassed and abused in the market and then forced into a deal with some random Prince, all in one day as well. If he were Charlotte, he would be massively overwhelmed right now.
Once he got to Charlotte's room, he was surprised to see her look completely fine, if anything even slightly happier than he had seen her before. "Why do you look so chipper?" Mack asked, startling Charlotte slightly. "How long have you been stood there!?" Mack, feeling like a bit of a creep now, rushed to defend himself "I-I've only just go here I swear!" Both of them were bright red at this point, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
Mack was looking at the floor when he said "uh-why are you so happy though, I thought you would be upset to leave your home." Charlotte looked infuriated the moment the word home left his mouth. "This place is not my home, if it was, do you think the people in the streets would call me a witch just because I can do something they can't? Do you think my own family would kick me out the moment they found out I was different? Do you!?" Charlotte was clearly enraged and Mack felt guilty just mentioning the word home without thinking. "I'm sorry, that was inconsiderate of me, I hope you can forgive my ignorance," was all Mack said before leaving the room.
-----(The Departure)
Mack mounted his horse, a stalwart, pure black stallion and looked around him to see his father and Charlotte doing the same, Charlotte with great difficulty having never ridden a horse before.
With one final wave to the people on and around the castle walls, including family, friends and at the top of the wall, Lord Vere, the troops finally began their march out of the city. As they marched and rode respectively, flowers and plants were thrown onto the floor around them with cheers echoing for the lands great defenders, and soon to be, great conquerors.
As they were approaching the city gate, King Elric nudged his horse, making it trot faster to walk beside Mack. Once he reached Mack, he slowed the horse to match his pace and then began to speak, "Mack, I think your friend may be upset with you, she has done nothing but glare daggers into the back of your head since we left the castle." Mack looked behind him and back at Charlotte and, sure enough, she was glaring directly at him, clearly still mad about the incident before. 'It seems my strategy of apologise and run away didn't work. Oh well, she still has to help me or she'll die', Mack thought to himself, confident he had complete control of the situation.
-----
"We should set up camp here, flat, high ground with plenty of food." Mack said to his captains as they were marching, "good idea, I'll issue the order", one of them replied. As the soldiers were setting up camp, Mack went to a nearby tree, the late hour making it look dark and twisted. Mack walked around the tree, trying to get some peace and quiet from the loud soldiers behind him shouting orders at one another.
As he turned, he bumped into someone, accidentally knocking them over. "Hey!" They shouted out, "look where you're going next time, idiot", it was a young man, belonging to the 9th infantry division, judging by his uniform, he hadn't looked up yet, not realising who he had called an idiot.
As he looked up, Mack could see the visible terror and realisation spread through his face, the man immediately got up and bowed. "M-my Prince! I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you! Please spare me!" To say Mack was surprised by the incessant begging would be a lie, this happened more than he would like to admit. "Stand up, soldier", as soon as Mack said this, the soldier instantly stopped bowing and shut up, looking up at the prince now, "it was an accident, was it not. I don't see any reason for you to be punished considering I'm the one not looking where I was going." The man instantaneously began profusely thanking the prince, seeming to not believe his luck. 'If it were my father who had walked into him, that would be a whole different story. This man would be hung from this tree already,' Mack thought to himself, grimly.
"Why are you over here? shouldn't you be with your regiment?" The prince asked, making the man look immediately uncomfortable. "Uh-yeah, about that" the man laughed nervously, now outright terrified. "I was kinda... deserting."