Thyra got down on her knees to receive the letter from the king. The letter bearer turned towards Jacob, saying, "The viscount and his army should join the Marquis Walter's army at Crema within ten days. The army will leave on the new moon."
'It's about twelve days for now. But if they start from Crema after twelve days, reaching the western front will take over a month.
Thyra thought for a moment before looking at the letter in his hand. For a letter that contained only paper, it was pretty heavy. It was sealed with golden wax and stamped with the Royal seal.
The letter bearer again turned towards Thyra, adding, "The royal knights need to report to the frontline within three weeks."
'I don't need to go to Creama. So, reaching the southern frontline will take at least seventeen to eighteen days.' Unlike the Viscount, she was given only three days to set out.
'I just allotted a two days holiday. Now I have to reduce it to one.' Thyra sighed, thinking, 'This is the last vacation for them. Let them have their time. I can just increase the march by two kilometres every day. Then we can make it within sixteen days. We can have a rest day too.'
Thyra was making plans on how to traverse about 560 kilometres. But the letter bearer might have misunderstood Thyra's expression. He clarified, "If the army of the royal knight failed to reach the front within time, it would result in punishment. I suggest you leave as soon as possible."
Receiving Thyra's nod, he again added, "The content inside the envelope is for you to see. You mustn't show it to anyone else other than your direct superior at the frontline. Also, I recommend you keep the letter safe."
After that, the letter bearer didn't waste any more time and climbed the horse and left with the knights.
"Tell 'Mother' to come to my manor in the evening."
"You!" Even if Jacob was angry, he couldn't say anything. No, he did not have the nerve to tell Thyra anything. That day, which had happened a few months ago, was still fresh in his mind. He wanted to kill Thyra but didn't dare go through the same pain he had experienced that day. So, he stayed silent.
"And Tell your brother not to come in front of me during his time at the frontline. It might be his last time breathing." Thyra didn't even look at him before returning to her manor.
Hure was already waiting for her, as was Jullia. Thyra couldn't see the scar on her stomach, but she wasn't wearing her eye caps anymore.
"How are you feeling?" Thyra asked.
Instead of answering, Jullia gave a deep bow to Thyra, saying, "Thank you, your majesty. I will never forget this in my life."
Thyra shook her head, saying, "Let's go to the room. We have something important to do. We will be leaving in three days."
After Hure closed the door, Thyra pulled out the letter and opened it. There were actually three pieces of paper inside. The first one was the deployment notice, with the details of the situation and other details.
It was as the letter bearer had said. They had to reach Digen within three weeks. According to the situation, they had noticed an increased number of encroachments by the offspring of beast gods. They destroyed about seven villages and two towns. So they would be responsible for the clean-up service.
"It would be illogical steps if it were really just to clean up some orcs and goblins," Jullia looked at Thyra, adding, "but if what you had said is true, then such steps make complete sense."
"The empire had already started their offence. From the deployment notice, I am sure that he is aware of it. But hearing about the deployment date, I think he is still thinking the empire will wait for winter to end."
"Deployment date?"
"We are just the vanguard. The main army would reach the frontline about three to four weeks after us."
"Won't it be hard to hold on that long?" Jullia asked.
Hure was also curious, "Who else has been deployed with you?"
"There was no detail. But three more barons and seven more royal knights would be sent there."
"Including your 200, 1500 to 2000 soldiers will be sent," Jullia added.
"The fourth prince will lead 2000 more soldiers along with him. Considering that at least 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers are stationed there, the total number will be around 7,000. It will be hard to hold off for a month, not impossible."
"The fourth prince?"
Thyra looked at Hure and smiled. She could understand what Hure was thinking about. The fourth prince, Tanja, was the brother of the first princess, who was assassinated at a very young age. He was also the grandson of Duke Spiegel.
But the problem with him was that he was easily moved by his feelings. Thyra could even think of some people in the royal court who were trying to use this chance to get rid of him.
"My lady, you should be careful around him."
Thyra nodded and opened the second piece of paper. It was a map. It was not a very complex map, but it showed the roads, cities, and rivers.
Thyra had already commissioned the mercenaries to draw out the map of the southern area. And the map she had received was much more elaborate than this.
"The royal court shouldn't be sending something like this here."
Unlike Hure, Jullia was calm. She said, "Read the other letter."
Thyra read it before handing it to Hure. Hure, too, then handed it to Jullia after reading it.
"What is Count Borg trying to do?"
"He just said that one of the barons and two royal knights were part of Duke Dent's fraction. It was also mentioned that Tanja was a very malleable person."
"Practically, he had warned you of the upcoming dangers."
"But the question is why? What would he gain by trying to get on my lady's good side?"
As Jullia and Hure were trying to decipher his intention, Thyra took another look at the map. Only then did she notice that there wasn't just one, but two or more paths were drawn between each city.
"Good. If he wants to give me a gift, why should I use it." Thyra gave the map to Jullia. "Order them to add this detail to our map. Use red ink for the detail."
She turned to Hure, adding, "Order the servants to start loading up the carriages. We plan to leave early on the morning of the third day from now."
As Hure and Jullia were about to leave, Thyra added, "There will be a guest coming soon. Tell them to prepare a room for the evening."