Chapter186

Thank you to @garima_bhardwaj, @Jisha_Bhardwaj, @Saleh_Omar, and @Madeline_Green_1777 for the stone points. I appreciate your support.

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Unfortunately, although the Emperor of Edelweiss had calmed down quickly after Dahlia suddenly broke off their alliance with the Kingdom of Gold, he hadn't expected how many hidden moves were still waiting to be unleashed in this war targeting Edelweiss.

Not long after he issued his latest order, another urgent report came from outside.

This time, it came from the southwestern border.

The messenger who delivered it was in terrible shape. He was covered in blood and mud, and his face was full of panic. "Your Majesty, bad news! While the southwestern army was retreating and moving east toward Qian'an Ridge as you ordered, the border of Plumera suddenly launched an attack!"

"There were actually two hidden armies stationed at the Plumera border! Combined, the number of troops has reached nearly one hundred thousand!"

Another unexpected piece of bad news. And it came from the Plumera border, which he had always seen as weak and unimportant.

This time, the Emperor of Edelweiss didn't lose his temper again. His face was just extremely dark and cold, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged as it rested on the desk.

He forced himself to hold back the waves rising in his chest and suddenly realized where he had miscalculated earlier.

Just the day before, Plumera had secretly sent a vanguard to attack the southwestern military base and granary. He had thought it was just to help Dahlia distract him, trying to draw his attention away to give Dahlia a chance at Qian'an Ridge.

But it turned out the truth was... Dahlia did want Plumera to draw his attention. But the distraction wasn't meant for Qian'an Ridge. It was aimed at the hidden strongholds he shared with the Kingdom of Gold!

After hearing about the surprise attack on the southwestern border yesterday, he had sent Puppet Soldiers to scout the border situation.

Dahlia had taken advantage of his Puppet Soldiers being occupied with the southwest to wipe out all of his communication points with the Kingdom of Gold in one go!

Dahlia must have also received something from Plumera that could suppress Puppet Soldiers. That was the only way he could have lost all his guards around the strongholds without noticing anything! Everything had been wiped clean!

As for Plumera, he had originally thought their sneak attack was already their limit.

But they had the nerve to attack Edelweiss directly! After the sneak attack and a day of silence, they launched another attack just as Dahlia moved forward!

A small third-class weak kingdom! Just a third-class one!

But it was exactly this so-called third-class kingdom that managed to stir up the long-standing stalemate at Qian'an Ridge! They started this war! And now Edelweiss was at a disadvantage from the very beginning! Caught between two fronts in a dangerous situation!

Even if the Emperor of Edelweiss wanted to be angry now, he had nothing left to vent with.

He had to admit he had underestimated Plumera.

That princess from Marigold... she was indeed a skilled strategist, and all those rumors about her were just misdirection!

The Emperor of Edelweiss let out a slow breath.

In the southwestern corner of the continent, having one Dahlia was already too much. He absolutely did not want another to appear!

After delivering the message, the messenger waited for a long time before the Emperor finally spoke again.

"Leave one hundred thousand troops in the southwest to hold off Plumera's army, and send three thousand cavalry to assist from the side."

"Tell them, Plumera's army must not be allowed to step into Edelweiss. If they do, bring me their heads!"

"The rest of the troops are to continue marching toward Qian'an Ridge. Not a single city in Edelweiss's east can be lost!"

"Yes!"

Besides leaving one hundred thousand to match the Plumera forces, three thousand cavalry were also sent to assist.

The Emperor of Edelweiss was no longer underestimating Plumera. He now matched their force with an equal army.

But even so, he was still one step too late.

After all, the Plumera army of one hundred thousand was no longer the same as before.

Though it wasn't the invincible Qi family troops leading them, Egbert and Hector were both seasoned generals who had fought in countless battles. The troops they trained were not far behind the Qi family in skill.

On top of that, they were fully equipped with strong iron weapons continuously supplied by Elara.

With the fierce Egbert as the vanguard and the calm Hector as the rear general, plus elite troops with superior equipment, Plumera's army had already gained the upper hand before the real battle began.

When it finally came to a full confrontation, these elite soldiers who had been itching to fight since raiding Edelweiss's army finally had their chance to let loose. Each one was filled with excitement and battle spirit.

So, even though both sides had over one hundred thousand soldiers, Edelweiss's army was pushed back again and again by Plumera's forces, aside from those three thousand cavalry.

Three days later, while the Emperor of Edelweiss was fully focused on the invasion at Qian'an Ridge, he finally received another report from the southwest. It had taken great effort to arrive.

Even though he had reminded himself many times to stay calm, he almost lost control from anger after reading the report.

At the point where Edelweiss's southwest met Belladonna.

In just three days, three cities.

Had basically all fallen to Plumera's army.

Inside the Marigold City residence, time went back a bit.

The morning after Elara placed the bait, her study was completely undisturbed. There were no signs of intrusion. Everything remained exactly the same.

No one had taken the bait.

Elara wasn't in a rush. She had trained her patience well in her past life. She calmly continued reviewing the constant stream of battle reports sent from the front lines.

She praised Egbert and Hector greatly for their successful surprise attack and immediately instructed the forge to keep sending the newly produced equipment to the battlefield.

She gave the same recognition and support to General Qi's side.

But regarding the major victory of the Qi family army, she ordered that the news must not be released for now.

The armies led by Zhu, Yan, and Lin still needed to maintain their connection with the Summer Capital.

However, they needed to replace the liaison officers with their own people.

This would help them gather some intelligence from the Summer Capital while temporarily keeping Damon and the others unaware of the truth. It would delay their discovery and stretch out the favorable time for war, helping with later planning and adjustments.

Two days passed like that.

Every day, Elara not only handled all kinds of reports from the battlefield, but also squeezed out two to three extra hours to secretly leave the city with Uno and go to a certain spot in the mountains outside the city.

Two days later, as both sides of the war were nearing the most intense stage, Elara got up in the morning and went to the study as usual to read the reports. She then noticed that the box under the desk in the corner, which had been untouched for three days, had been moved.

The cabinet under the desk looked exactly like it had three days ago. Even the small cabinets inside, the fabric drapes hanging around it, and the thin layer of dust and lint on top all looked the same as when Elara left them.

Even a professional scout might not have noticed anything wrong.

But when Elara took out the cabinet and opened the small compartments one by one, she retrieved the papers inside. Then, using the special incense from Oswyn, she carefully exposed each paper to the smoke.

Many of the sheets, which contained secret information, started to change color at the edges.

The changes in color varied in depth, but all of them revealed the shape of adult male fingers.

The incense was a stronger version of the scented pouch Oswyn had made for her at the princess's residence, used specifically to uncover clues about the "mysterious master."

Anyone other than Elara who touched the papers would leave a trace when the incense was used.

Elara had checked them quietly for three days.

This was the first time the color had changed.

Someone had come last night.

Elara didn't rush to compare the traces to adult male fingers, nor was she confused about how the fake Haochen, who appeared as a child, could leave such traces.

She calmly took out the papers that had changed color and began arranging them based on the intensity of the discoloration.

The deeper the color, the longer the paper had been held. The lighter the color, the shorter the contact time.

Once Elara sorted the papers from lightest to darkest, a line began to stand out from the mess of scribbles.

These randomly drawn and intentionally smeared papers now revealed a hidden but structured pattern.

And those lines looked very familiar to Elara.

They matched the totem carved on the stone tablet she had taken from the Summer Capital royal temple.

Elara narrowed her eyes and stared at the darkest, clearest line on the papers.

It seemed that the mysterious person—or the group behind the fake Haochen—was definitely targeting the stone tablet's totem.

Not only that, they seemed to know exactly how to use it.

This gave Elara a new idea. She had tried many ways before, but the stone tablet never reacted. She couldn't figure out how to unlock it.

Now, looking at the totem line on the paper that had been touched the most, Elara took out the stone tablet from inside her clothes. Her pale fingertips carefully traced that very line.

As her finger reached the end of the line, she suddenly felt a sting.

Elara pulled her finger back and saw that her previously unblemished finger had been "bitten" by the stone tablet.

What happened next was even more strange.

The drop of blood from her finger began to flow along the line she had just traced.

Within moments, the bloodline came alive. It glowed faintly red, and then suddenly slipped into Elara's hand like a snake.

Elara paused, switched the tablet to her other hand, looked at her palm, and shook it a few times.

Everything seemed normal. No blood, no wound, no sensation. Nothing felt different.

It was as if the whole thing had just been a hallucination.

The stone tablet in her hand had also returned to its original form.

Its chaotic and mysterious lines were still tightly tangled together. It was impossible to tell that one of the lines was now missing.