I woke up feeling a little warmer than usual. I looked to my side and saw that Ellie was still sleeping soundly. As happy as I was to see her, the unfortunate nightmare from yesterday continued today. She had murdered Lillia in cold blood again.
I had read about magicians having dreams that depict the future, but it was doubtful if I was one of those dream divinators. All I knew, is that Ellie will most likely develop a hobby for blood. It wasn't normal to not react when seeing something die. She was fine. Like she was used to it. More than that, it seemed normal to her that it would die by her hands. I wondered if she had any nightmares from yesterday when I looked at her. I should ask her when she wakes up.
Lillia still hadn't entered the room, which meant it was still early. I decided to channel my magic and train for a bit since I couldn't get up or I'd wake Ellie up.
My entire body was in good condition and I had grown from yesterday. I knew I was slowly improving, but I needed to put more effort in. If I want Ellie to grow up doing whatever she wants, then I'll need to become strong enough for my parents to allow her to do so. Even though I don't have a particularly good relationship with them, I still need to follow certain rules to not be disowned.
I have already started building up a reputation within the military and today, we're going to raid the Nevotre kingdom's camp today. I will be leading the raid, so I need to prepare myself today. I need to make a name for myself within the military so I can further ignore my father's orders. People are power. We serve the people.
While my father may disagree due to his ignorance, my mother agrees with the people. While our relationship isn't the best, she should at least be able to see the flow of the kingdom. She's much wiser than my father who is only good at fighting. My mother, Bella Arce, is the true mastermind behind the stratagems of the kingdom. Many don't know this fact, and to her I'm only a pawn. But that's temporary. Soon she'll see she can't control me.
I kept training until Lillia walked into the room. She was carrying a letter from the military and I assumed it was from my mother. Since I was already awake, she didn't say anything and simply handed me the letter and left the room. I opened it silently and read that we would be attacking the camp and to completely annihilate everyone. It was an easy order, did this really require my mother's attention?
Two hours passed and Ellie finally woke up. She was very groggy but forced herself to talk.
"Can we play again today?" She looked very cute and I felt bad for having to turn her down.
"I have some business to attend to today, but after I come back, we can play."
"You can go back to sleep. I'll have Lillia get you some clothes."
"Okay." She groggily went back to sleep.
I took the chance and stood up.it was still very early, but I had to meet my troops before we departed. I dressed myself and gave orders to Lillia to take care of her today. Maya shouldn't be back for a while, so this'll have to do.
I combed back my black hair and looked in the mirror to make sure I didn't look disheveled. The uniform for my knights was a black with gold buttons and ornaments. I wore it as well and it matched well with my hair and blue eyes.
I brought my sword with me, but I didn't like to use it. It was easier to cast magic and attack from afar than to get close and personal to attack an enemy. I was forced to learn it anyway though.
When I met my troops outside, they all bowed.
"We greet the prince of the Arce Kingdom." I waved my hands and they all relaxed a bit.
I didn't really like all the formalities, but there was nothing I could do. It was tiring trying to keep up a front.
"Right. So today we will be attacking a camp that's 2 hours away. We have to kill everyone there and return."
They all saluted and I got down from the podium I was standing on.
"Everyone get ready now. I have things to do later, so the faster we finish this, the more I'll reward you guys."
They all cheered at my words and quickly got their stuff and horses ready.
I went into the stables and got my own black horse out. I thought it'd be better to run there with some magic reinforcement, but to save energy, I'll take my horse today.
We departed and made our way to the camp the Nevotre kingdom had set up near us. In a way, it was a form of saying they weren't scared of us. They set up so close to us and my mother wants to use this chance to hurt their pride. At least, that's what I believe the situation to be.
"Commander, will we be attacking in the same formation as usual?"
"No. I want to try using a new spell I've been working on to initiate the attack. After that, we can follow the same formation and get rid of everyone. Make sure to not let anyone escape alive."
"You are as talented as always, commander."
He slowed down his horse and told everyone about the plan.
When we arrived, we had set up on a hill, ready to invade the camp. We were using the tall hill and trees to hide ourselves.
However, I wanted to have a look at the situation before we attacked.
People were walking around casually and there was a few tents set up with a huge tent in the middle. That will be my practice target for today.
"On my mark, get ready to attack." I told the troops.
I began gathering magic in my hand and then I shot it up above the tent. It was still a work in progress so I wasn't expecting too much. I had planned out a theory this morning and was working on how to properly adjust the size and power.
After a few seconds, my magic began sizzling in the air and a massive lightning bolt exploded downward into the main tent. It left a huge hole in the middle and it caught on fire.
"Charge!!"
We began our assault on the camp.
I got off my horse and began cutting people down with my sword as I summoned more lightning to destroy the other tents. I made my way toward the main tent to check up on the progress of my spell and saw that not everyone inside had died. Some were burned to a crisp and were lying on the floor while a few of them were crawling and getting up on their feet. They had blood all over their bodies and got ready to fight as soon as they saw me.
"Prince Sel?" Asked one of them.
"Why are you here?"
"Killing time. I was bored." I responded with a smile.
They looked angry but there was nothing they could really do. From what I can tell they're probably the strongest out of everybody here. Which didn't mean much to me.
Screams and the sound of people burning surrounded us.
They charged at me but they were already injured from the lightning attack.
I easily cut them down and then made my way around the camp to ensure nobody escaped.
After about an hour of slaughtering, we reconvened.
"Great job, guys." I said to them.
"Commander that attack was amazing!" Said mark. He was my lieutenant and was a big fan of magic because besides reinforcement, he wasn't able to cast spells.
"Thank you. Since you all did well and this excursion only took about an hour, I will reward you all with 5 gold each."
They began cheering.
5 gold is nothing to me as a prince, but for them, they can live off that for a few months comfortably. They were already getting paid really well, so this was just a bonus for them. I was happy that they performed well so I could go back home early and meet with Ellie.
My unit consisted mostly of highly trained knights that I myself put effort into raising and were above average knights. It only consisted of about 30 people but most of them were able to use magic reinforcement. They were all highly skilled and not a single one looked injured.
"Let's go back now. My sister is waiting for me." When I said that some of my men had a surprised look on their face.
I decided to ignore it and rode my horse back to the kingdom.
When I arrived at the stables, Lillia and Ellie were playing with a small pony.
"Sel!" Ellie quickly saw me and ran up to me with a hug.
I patted her little head and then spoke.
"We can play now."
My troops were watching from the side and didn't utter a word. They simply watched my interactions.
"Are you interested in horse riding?"
"I'm not sure." She thought for a moment.
"It looks a bit scary."
I picked her up and placed her on top of the pony she was playing with. It was walking slowly around the stables and I was right next to it while holding Ellie.
She was laughing while riding it and it made me happy. I didn't know my little sister would be waiting for me to return. I had an inexplicable feeling of joy.
After we finished playing, we went in for tea and cookies. Then I taught her a little bit about magic and how to use it. We spent our time leisurely and pleasantly. No one disturbed us and Lillia was there to attend to our every need. I needed to report back to my mother by the end of the day, so I left Lillia in charge of Ellie and she said she would wait for me in my room.
I made my way through the palace and into her office. She had a drawn-up map with pins pinned on specific locations of enemy camps. There was a lot more than I thought there would be. I knew the war was getting worse, but I didn't have any idea how much worse until now.
"Hi, Sel, sweetie. Did you complete your mission?"
"Yes. No one escaped."
"Good."
"We have to show those bastards from the Nevotre kingdom that they can't just do whatever they want."
I watched as my mother furiously crunched up a letter.
"Can you believe they sent a letter saying they would offer up their princess in exchange for peace?" She uncrumpled the paper and handed it to me.
"They want to marry her off so she can work as a spy here. The nerve!"
I read the letter but it didn't seem like they wanted peace or to send a spy. It was more like an understanding of having a hostage in exchange for land. The princess is probably powerless and can't do anything about the situation. If they offered to do that with Ellie, I'd prob kill my parents and take over the throne.
"As of tomorrow, you'll be going to clear these camps. I want everyone dead. Not a single soul left alive." I understood why she was mad but I didn't say anything.
She came up to me and hugged me tightly.
"You're the only one I can count on, sweetie. You're my precious little boy." She caressed the back of my head gently, but I didn't feel any affection. I knew she didn't care about me. Otherwise, she wouldn't send me into the battlefield every day.
Of course, I had other plans. While I'm out, I will visit the Nevotre kingdom and meet the princess. Maybe we can come to a mutual agreement in the future. My parents wont reign forever and maybe she can take hold of her kingdom with a little bit of help. And if not, I can just kill her.