The Joy Of War

The Knight riding his horse at full speed was worried because right now the castle of the Castus Count was surrounded from all sides. It would be very difficult to find a reliable and fast way. The Castus Count family was a noble from the deep-rooted and authoritarian Othon Duchy that had ruled the northern part of the Aernthan Empire for centuries. House Castus, whose lineage was at least as old as the duchy, had always had intense loyalty and respect for their lord, so for generations the houses had made marriage agreements and alliance negotiations with each other, thanks to which the Castus House, whose prestige had increased, had become the most powerful and loyal house in the north for decades and had protected their lands from all kinds of enemies.

until the Empire came to the brink of a civil war. The members of the Imperial Family, who were extremely unsuccessful in governing, had plunged the Country into an era of anarchy. The nobles were rebelling one by one. The tension in the country was very tense. Taking advantage of this tense tension, other northern nobles claimed the lands of the Castus House six months ago, but the Head of the Castus House never accepted such a thing and chose to fight. When the war period began, the Head of the Family, who called for help from his allies, understood what kind of a conspiracy he was in when he could not get support from any of them. No, this was not a secret land war, this was a conspiracy set up by those who wanted to destroy his family forever for him and his family.

Therefore, Lorcan Castus, who did not want to prolong the war, immediately gathered his soldiers and took action, leading his army from victory to victory. The head of the House, who usually fought with his soldiers, was deeply saddened because individuals from the houses that had been friends with his family for generations were now being stabbed by his sword on the battlefield. The army of the Rowen Marquisate family, who claimed the lands, had begun to suffer great losses as time went by, so they asked for help from their allies, who in turn asked for help from their allies.. and soon the Castus Count was fighting the entire north. Lorcan, who had anticipated this, clenched his teeth and cursed his failure. Now the war would last even longer.

-3 days before the siege of Wolfden Castle-

Lorcan, who was listening to the casualty reports after the war in his tent, had a serious expression on his face. He was the current head of the Castus Count House. He had earned the nickname 'Silver Wolf' in the countless battles he fought against the barbarians. This name gave both fear to his enemies and confidence to his allies. One of the few high-level Aura Knights in the Empire, Lorcan was known on the battlefield. He was known for his confidence and ruthlessness. The knight commander Artorias, who read the report, said "It's over, my lord, that's all" and looked at the man in front of him who was like a statue. The man was a memorable person with his comfortable clothes and serious demeanor, especially his raven hair that contrasted with his silver eyes made him unforgettable. The man opened his mouth and spoke "Okay, Artorias, you may go now." Artoias bowed and showed his respect to his Lord. He had just turned around when his Lord called out to him again "What do you think?" Artorias quickly turned around again and looked at his lord "I think we are doing well, my lord, the enemy forces have suffered heavy losses and their supplies are running out, there are days left until this war ends, all we have to do is hold our ground." Lorcan looked at him with deep eyes and spoke

"The closest you come to losing a battle is when you are closest to victory." Hearing this, Artorias filled his blue eyes with respect and opened his mouth "Yes, my lord" A few seconds later, he quickly entered the tent A messenger entered with sweaty steps and spoke "Sir! I bring you very important news, you must listen to it!" The Knight Captain, who was thinking of beheading the messenger because of his disrespect, was interrupted by his master's voice. "If it's urgent, tell me immediately, messenger, I'm very tired today." The messenger took a breath and spoke "Sir, according to the news I received from the palace physician, Lady Grace's labor pains have increased, the doctor said that the birth will be very soon." Hearing this, Lorcan reacted with a deep and impossible to see smile on his face. "Thank God for the North!, did you hear that Artorias hahaha!" Seeing his Lord's smile, unlike his usually serious face, Artorias found himself smiling involuntarily and opened his mouth. "Yes sir, I congratulate you."

but seeing the messenger's internal state, Lorcan didn't take it too long and gave him permission to continue. The messenger who received the permission continued speaking "Sir, I'm afraid that the Rowen Family has asked for help from the Central Nobles and they have sent an army of twenty-one people. They are currently heading to Wolfden Castle and your lands." Lorcan was shocked to hear this. He hadn't expected something like this to happen because the central powers had never interfered in the internal affairs of the north in all this time. He couldn't hold back his anger and slammed his hands on the table in front of him. The stone table couldn't hold this force and collapsed instantly. Lorcan immediately gave the order to the Knight Commander "Prepare an elite force of five thousand people immediately by morning, we are going there to defend Wolfden!" Artorias who heard the orders nodded and left the room with quick steps. Lorcan looked at the messenger with pure anger in his eyes. He signaled him to leave the tent. When the messenger saw his anger, he had already calmed down and flew out of the room without thinking twice.

Seeing that his hands were shaking with anger, Lorcan stopped them and opened his mouth "never but you should never have involved my family in this, you bastards!'' In the morning, Lorcan Castus went to the part where part of his army was gathered and jumped on his horse and rode in front of his army, which was currently in line. The height advantage the horse gave him allowed most of his army to see him. Lorcan, who was sure of this, opened his mouth and spoke because he wanted to address his army. ''My soldiers! We have eradicated our enemies who started this vile war! Next, we must defeat their true masters! For this, we must continue to fight, but do not worry, the end of the war is near! Never, never doubt, for you are the brave soldiers of the Castus household! and I, your leader, swear to lead you to another victory!'' The soldiers who heard these words felt a sense of confidence and pride in their hearts and unsheathed their swords, pointed them to the sky and shouted ''Long live Castus!, long live the Silver Wolf!'' Seeing that the fatigue of his army had melted away in an instant, Lorcan did not lose his serious expression and continued his speech. ''Let's advance, my soldiers! "Let's win another victory together! This will undoubtedly be another great step for us, long live Castus!" he said and raised his sword, Wolf Claw, to the sky. The soldiers, inspired again by the burning fire in their hearts, started to march.

-at that time in the war camp of the Central nobles-

The head of the family of the Marquisate of Rowen, Slysen Rowen, was walking from one side of his tent to the other with a worried look on his face. This continued for a few minutes until finally someone entered the room. When the Marquis saw him, his face contorted with anger and he started shouting angrily, "You were supposed to come earlier! I lost almost all my soldiers until you came!" Hearing this, the green-eyed and brown-haired person put on a mask of tension on his face and replied to him "I'm sorry Marquis Slysen, to be frank, even we didn't expect the Silver Wolf to be this successful." Hearing this, the Marquis got even angrier and continued to shout "They don't call that man the Silver Wolf for nothing, you idiots, we all made a big mistake by taking him on!" Hearing this, the leader of the Central Powers' troops, Marquis Ashter, put a grin on his face and continued "Don't worry Marquis Slysen, it's true that he's so unpredictable, but we're not unprepared for things like this either"

He exhaled and continued to speak "Even if they can't compete with the warriors of the North, we're bringing a lot of strong soldiers and 3 Aura Knights with us. This will undoubtedly be the last war and when this war is over, you will gain your new lands, trust us, the Central Powers never leave their friends alone." Of course, this is a promise it was a lie because even though they were superior in number to the enemy soldiers and even brought 3 Aura Knights, they still had a very high chance of losing to Lorcan Castus because despite his young age, he was an experienced war veteran and also a very powerful Aura Knight.. but the Central Nobles who had already thought about all this had already hired the necessary people. They knew that Lady Castus was close to giving birth due to their spies in the palace, so they were waiting for the birth of the child to attack, so they would capture the Count's newborn child and end the war, everything was already ready, all they had to do was get to the palace before Lorcan.

but nothing would go as planned...