I entered the parlour with my mother and Alice in the lead. Anais and the Luna sisters were sitting on a sofa and gossiping amongst each other. After entering, mother sat at a nearby chair, whereas Alice gave me a final glare before joining the girls on the sofa.
It seemed that Alice still hadn't forgiven me and was still grumpy for me not devoting time to her. Well, I was not against spending time with her now as I had gotten riled up from our earlier 'session'. And I was not planning to spend much time on arrays because mother had already taught me all the basics.
Seeing me enter, the Luna sisters waved their hands, whereas Anais stood up and walked up to me. She was wearing an exquisite vermillion gown that accentuated her curves. Her tantalising motions and those captivating emerald eyes drew my whole attention.
She approached and hugged me out of the blue. I didn't feel averse to this as I had missed her company for the past few years, and thus put my arms around her too. As I hugged her, I felt a wrathful gaze directed towards me, and I looked in the direction to find Alice staring daggers at me.
I tried to loosen my hug and separate from Anais, but instead, she hugged me tighter and whispered in my ear in her seductive voice.
"I missed you all these years, you know. Didn't you miss me?"
"Yes, I missed you too."
I answered her honestly. Getting the desirable reply, she licked my ear and separated from me.
She went back to the sofa and sat with the girls. The Luna sisters were still a little shocked at the transpired events, whereas Alice was fuming with frustration and directed all her anger in my direction.
I couldn't help but avert my eyes from hers and took a seat near mother. Mother smilingly leaned a little closer to me and said in a hushed tone.
"My darling son, how brave of you to show your love to her rival, in front of Alice? Aren't you afraid of her ire?"
I looked at the still-angry Alice and shook my head in helplessness.
"Anais and I are just good friends. There is nothing like love between us. Alice also knows that. She is just angry because I have ignored her for a long time."
Mother didn't say anything and just smiled. I composed myself, still averting my eyes from Alice's and started the discussion regarding the rebellion.
"Elfie, how is the situation with your grandfather? Is he able to hold his front?"
The Luna sisters had composed themselves in the meantime, too. After hearing my question, Seline pulled out a map and placed it on the table, whereas Elfie started explaining the condition.
"There are a total of 8 dukes, reigning over a region in each cardinal and ordinal direction. Except for the 3 dukes in the west, all the dukes are participating in the rebellion. These three dukes are loyal to the empire, with matrimonial ties between them.
Over the past years, leaving the western territories closer to the capital Angor, all the other regions were captured by the rebel army. But after their power got concentrated near the capital, it became hard for the rebels to push forward towards the capital. And we are still in a stalemate, with the royal family in a slightly favourable condition.
Due to the fast growth of food and large fields for farming in the western area near the capital, the royal family troops will be able to even fight in a war of attrition."
Their mood turned downcast due to their inability to breach into the capital. I looked at Anais and, picking up the signal, she started explaining her preparations.
"With the 'Soul Lock' on me gone, the emperor has taken me to be dead. I got the news from one of my few spies in the royal palace. The remaining boys were spread through all the armies present in the empire. They have stabilised a responsible position in each army, whether of the emperor, his loyal dukes or the rebel dukes.
Each and every piece of information of all the armies is under my observation. Except for the abrupt changes in orders, I can easily grasp all the movements on the battlefield."
"You did a great job, Anais. It will also notify us beforehand if any of the rebel dukes want to switch their sides."
I praised Anais for her contribution, which could turn the tide of any war. Anais accepted it with a smile, but Alice didn't look happy and continued to drill holes into me with her glare. To avoid her gaze, I asked Anais a random question out of the blue.
"Who are these boys? Have you trained them yourselves?"
Hearing my question, Anais had a nostalgic expression. She answered me with a smile but couldn't hide the wistfulness and melancholy present in her eyes.
"You have seen them. They were the young receptionists in the carriage company branch of Stilpan. They were orphans, and I brought them up from a young age. Although I trained those boys, they are my family instead of my disciples. They are my 'little brothers'…"
The mention of the word 'little brother' reminded me of her adopted brother she told me about. And I understood the importance of this new family to her.
Alice, who was grumpy till now, also understood how Anais felt. She looked at me with a sad gaze. She comforted Anais by stroking her back and said.
"You don't have to worry. After the war, you will once again reunite with your brothers. Also, now you have friends too. With our company, you will never feel lonely again."
Anais cheered up from Alice's soothing words. She thanked her. A little embarrassed by her getting emotional, Anais turned her head only to look in my direction. Looking at me, a glint of mischief flashed through her eyes, and she pulled me into a quagmire to divert everyone's attention away from her.
"But due to your brother here, we can also become family too."
Her words shocked everyone present in the room. The Luna sisters couldn't handle such shocking developments taking place simultaneously and had their mouths agape in amazement. My mother had a satisfied smile as if the drama she had been waiting for a long time was now finally taking place.
And to put the icing on the top, Alice stood up from her seat and stood before me, hiding me from Anais's line of sight. She looked at Anais very seriously and declared.
"He is mine! You can not take Lucas away from me."