"So you and your soldiers managed to survive the demonic wolves because of this potion?"
That question was directed to Bryce while he was reporting to his commanding knight at one of the camps of Duke Shaughnessy's forces where Bryce was stationed at.
"Yes, sir! My soldiers and I were told that this potion could disguise our presence from the demonic wolves." said Bryce. "Thanks to this potion, we were able to escape the mountains and saved the farmers."
His commanding knight was Count Dolan, one of the duke's vassals. He used to serve at the Imperial Army before retiring and pledging allegiance to Duke Shaughnessy.
During the count's time in the army, never had he seen this potion before.
"300 soldiers were sent to evacuate the villages in the mountains, but only the six of you alongside the family of farmers you brought that came back." said the count.
His face was riddled with curiosity. "Are you really telling me those 294 men died because they weren't using your potion?"
"Well, I am standing right in front of you, aren't I, sir? How else could we have survived?"
"Are you certain it was because of this potion that the demonic wolves did not notice your presence?"
Bryce nodded strongly.
"I'm certain, sir. We've seen the wolves walking right past us despite being so close to them." said Bryce. "Unless we directly provoke them ourselves, the demonic wolves would leave us alone if we pour this potion all over our body."
Count Dolan sighed. There was a reason why he wanted to be certain the potion was what saved Bryce and his party.
"If what you said is true, then we could use this potion to turn the tide of this demonic invasion in our favor." said the count. "I needed to be sure that this potion works before I suggest to the duke to use this potion for our army."
"Many lives could be saved if we make use of the potion, sir."
"Why didn't you tell the soldiers that went to the mountains with you to use this concoction? They could've stayed alive had they used this."
Bryce was distraught by this fact. He knew what the count said was true. But the lives were already lost and the only thing left to do was to share the truth.
"Forgive me, sir. Back then, we still weren't sure yet how potent the potion would be. We planned to experiment on ourselves before we brought it up to the other soldiers." explained Bryce.
He then kneeled in front of Count Dolan.
"Sir, if I had known we were going to be ambushed by that many demonic wolves, I would've-"
"That's enough, Baron Leonardo." stopped the count.
He then frowned upon Bryce's statement.
"So you initially planned to experiment yourself with this potion. Where did you learn of this concoction? Surely you must've trusted your source, enough that you'd experiment the potion on yourself."
Bryce paused for a moment.
He wondered if it would be wise to tell the count that Evelyn was the one who told him about the potion. Since the count would likely ask more questions about Evelyn considering how effective the potion she suggested to her father.
The baron of Leonardo sighed after mulling over his decision.
"My daughter, Evelyn Leonardo, told me about it, sir."
"Your daughter? My domain is not that far from yours so I have heard the news that your daughter was bedridden from a curse all these years. You really expected me to believe she told you about the potion?"
"I'm not lying, sir. She was the one who told me about it." said Bryce. "My daughter recently recovered from her curse and has been a true blessing to our family ever since."
"You do know Duke Shaughnessy won't accept that your sickly daughter was the one who came up with the recipe for this camouflage potion, don't you? Baron Leonardo, if I discovered that you were working with a foreign-"
Bryce walked closer to the count and interrupting the man before he could accuse Bryce with wrong accusations.
The baron slightly raised his voice so his superior would listen to him.
"It's the truth, sir! In fact, I just received a letter from my wife." said Bryce. "I'm not sure if you're aware of the news, sir, but 22 gargoyles raided a town in our domain the day I departed to join this battle."
He pointed to the potion that saved him from the demons.
"My wife said in her letter that my 16-year-old daughter, Evelyn, the same one whom told me about this potion, led 20 of my knights to that town and successfully exterminated the demons without losing a single soldier."
Count Dolan looked at Bryce with a serious gaze.
"And just when I was going to ask you why did you only brought 5 soldiers with you. I swear, baron, I will punish you if you're lying to me."
"You can send someone to the Leonardo domain to confirm my story, sir. I wouldn't dare lie to you. All I wanted is to quickly resolve this demonic wolves incident and return to my family."
Seeing how serious and persistent Bryce was, Count Dolan could only let out a sigh.
Then, a few days later in the Leonardo Estate.
Hannah and Evelyn were having dinner while discussing through some of the letters they received.
"This one is from the procurer for the Imperial Magic Tower." said Hannah to her daughter. "We've now received all the money we're ought to from selling the gargoyles you hunted in Stonewall and in the mountains."
"Did the Magic Tower ask anything about the gargoyles from the mountains?"
"Well, they were curious how our family sold them hundreds of gargoyle remains. But, as you requested, I said to the procurer that our soldier happened to find them by accident while patrolling the Jibril mountains." said Hannah. "But they're not gullible, Evelyn. People in our domain have been talking about how great of a mage you are. The Imperial Magic Tower will eventually figure out it was you who killed the gargoyles in the mountains."
"It's not that I wanted to keep the Magic Tower from knowing. I just don't want them to figure it out so soon. They'll want to recruit me once they figured out what I can do." said Evelyn. "But what I want right now is to focus on improving our army."
Hannah then pulled another letter from the pile, it had the Leonardo seal on it.
"Well speaking of the army, your father sent word for us."
"How's everything on father's end?"
"Apparently Duke Shaughnessy is going to use the potion you told your father for the duke's army during the remainder of the demonic wolves extermination operation." said Hannah. "Your father said the potion will greatly help with containing the infestations in the eastern region of the province and prevent it from spreading anywhere else in Euphrates or the rest of the Empire."
"That's great! I was hoping they would do that." replied Evelyn. "I'm sure he's heard about Stonewall from the letter you sent him last. Does he want us to send more reinforcement from the Leonardo army?"
Evelyn was holding her breath to hear the answer to this question.
Seeing her daughter was greatly anticipating the reply, Hannah then gave a shook of her head.
"Your father said Duke Shaughnessy has been notified of the gargoyle raid in Stonewall. As such, the duke pardoned your father for sending only 5 soldiers to the demonic wolves cause.
"Since the duke has acquired information about the camouflage potion your father used, the duke doesn't require the Leonardo Barony to send more troops. Instead, he wishes us to remain vigilant of more gargoyle raids."
Evelyn sighed and smiled at this news.
"That's really great! I want the soldiers to focus on training for now. There's a lot we need to work on before we embark on the next expedition."
It had been a week since Evelyn hired Hilda and the squires into the Leonardo Barony. Since then, she was focused on training her soldiers and giving lectures on Demonic Studies to all subjects of Leonardo.
"Well, I know you've been working hard this past week in training the knights and squires." said Hannah. "That's why, in my last letter, I asked your father if he could try not requesting the rest of our soldiers to join him. Since I knew you wanted them to focus on their training for now."
Evelyn reached her mother's arm. She was touched by Hannah's gesture.
"Thank you, mother. That was thoughtful of you."
"Like I said, Evelyn. I know there're many great things you need to accomplish. But all your father and I wanted is for you to keep relying on us." said Hannah.
"And I will make sure to take you up on that, mother." replied Evelyn.
She then pointed to Bryce's letter.
"Please tell father to keep informing us on the current state of the demonic wolves infestation.
"Despite having the potion I told father, I'm sure they would still need several months to drive off and exterminate the demonic wolves that had entered Euphrates's border."
Hannah nodded.
"Your father did say in his letter he won't be back for a while longer. His commanding knight said the whole operation could even last until the Twelfth Month." said the baroness. "Ah! But your father promised to be back before your birthday."
Evelyn Leonardo's birthday. It fell on the first day of the first month of the year.
Considering Einsof chose this body to reincarnate Princess Mariana into, Evelyn's date of birth seemed predestined to Einsof's Chosen One.
"Is there any specific reason why you wanted your father to keep informing you about the demonic wolves infestation?" asked Hannah to her daughter.
The baroness knew Evelyn did not give that request just because she wanted to make sure her father is safe in the battlefield.
There must be a reason why Evelyn wanted to know how things are progressing with the demonic wolves.
Evelyn replied Hannah's question with a smile and a sentence.
"Let's just say Duke Shaughnessy will be sending me a lot of presents on my next birthday."