Alfred didn’t seem pleased with Alexa’s decision. He crossed his arms, scoffing.

  “If you think I’m letting you go join the Army of the Leine without me by your side, you’re mistaken.” Alfred turned to Wilhelm with a scathing look. “You really shouldn’t trust this guy much. He’s doing a lot of shady nonsense behind us.”

  “Even I’m starting to doubt him,” Phoebe leaned close to Wilhelm. “Sir Wilhelm, you’re not trying to do something crazy again, are you? I warned you already. You’re not going to harm Lady Alexa, you hear?”

  “Quite frankly, I just want this to get over with,” Adele let out a slight yawn. “Naturally, I’m also coming. I can’t trust even Phoebe to keep a good eye on her. She’s too soft, and she enables every silly stunt Alexa makes.”

  “W-what? I do not!” Phoebe gravely insisted.

  Alexa, on the other hand, facepalmed. It felt like everyone in her team was just fighting each other now. It had been this way since the insurrection started. Everyone was tense and on edge, so naturally, disagreements always came out.

  “Everyone, I make the decisions, okay?” Alexa reminded them, her tone clear. “Wilhelm convinced me that his plan of action has merit. I’ve…approved it.”

  “Are you sure that you could have disapproved of it though?” Alfred poked.

  “Don’t push any further, even if you’re my knight.” Alexa wasn’t a fan of it. Alfred quickly folded, bowing his head lowly.

  “As long as you let me escort you on the way there, I’m good. Quite frankly, my only desire is to keep my liege alive, unlike a certain someone, who’s drunk at chasing glory for himself.”

  “I just want to win,” Wilhelm bitterly said. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Alexa quickly shoved her shoulder on his side, which elicited no reaction from Wilhelm. That annoyed her further, but at this point, she had already given up. This was just Wilhelm being Wilhelm as always.

  He’s too focused on winning, even at the cost of everything else. What a jerk.

  Now that everyone went silent, Wilhelm cleared his throat. “Alright, everyone. If you all want to come with us, I should warn you that we have to reach the Army of the Leine by morning. We might also get intercepted on the way by cavalrymen from the Second Continental Army, as they are still an active and genuine threat in the central region.”

  “We know that,” Adele nodded.

  “So, we’re going to be riding out lightly, and we’re not going to rest or sleep until we reach the Army of the Leine.”

  No one replied. That seemed to annoy Wilhelm a bit.

  “...I’m making warnings here.”

  “Yes, and?” Alexa smiled a bit at Wilhelm. “Did you really think anyone here is going to let me or you go alone to a fight? Tsk, you have way too little faith in your friends.”

  “...Friends?” Wilhelm asked, bewildered.

  “Me? His friend?!” Alfred asked, offended.

  Alexa snorted.

  “Geez, you two. Whatever! Let’s just go. Wilhelm, what are we riding on?”

  “We’re doing horses.”

  “Great.” Alexa looked at both Phoebe and Adele. The two of them seemed to not mind it much.

  “I’ve passed my horse riding lessons,” Phoebe awkwardly smiled.

  “Been riding horses since I was twelve,” Adele nonchalantly said.

  Meanwhile, Alexa felt herself groaning. She, in fact, had never ridden horses before. She always rode inside her carriage, or in other carriages, so, well, she didn’t know how to ride one.

  “It’s fine,” Alexa uncomfortably shrugged before trying out a more confident tone. “I need to discuss something with Wilhelm anyway. Hey, you can let me ride with you, right?”

  “Why me? Go with Alfred,” Wilhelm refused.

  “Why him? Your Highness, I told you, don’t trust him!”

  “Because I still need to discuss something with him, Alfred. You’re going to be watching close behind anyway, right?”

  “...Right, you make a good point.” Alfred straightened himself. “I’ll be ready to chop his head off if he touches you wrong.”

  “You’re all a massive headache.” Wilhelm massaged his temples. “Let’s go. Let’s not waste any more time. I still need to get a better picture of the situation on the ground.”

  Everyone nodded at Wilhelm’s words. As such, they left the command post tent area, going straight to the edge of Battlegroup Clausewitz’s camp, where a few horses were requisitioned in advance earlier.

  Some of the officers from the battlegroup rushed to them, trying to convince Wilhelm and Alexa to at least grab a few cavalrymen to escort them, but the two rebuked it, as they wanted to prioritize speed and stealth above all.

  Soon, Alexa found herself sitting in front of Wilhelm after they mounted his horse. She shifted a bit, trying to balance herself, before nodding.

  “I’m ready.” Alexa said.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Hold tight, alright?” Wilhelm still seemed a bit embarrassed by the fact that Alexa chose to ride with him, but he didn’t make any comments. “...If you have questions, just throw them at me.”

  “I have so many questions.”

  “Good thing we have a whole night to discuss that.”

  “Exactly. You’re not escaping me, you insubordinate knight,” Alexa frowned at him.

  “Look, I am sorry. I’m just trying to make sure that we don’t take any further casualties.” Wilhelm explained. “I know I always look ugly with what I do, but if I have to stain my hands with blood to make sure you see less of it, I’ll do it.”

  Alexa stopped before looking at his gloved hand, which was holding the reins of his horse. Certainly, since she took Wilhelm under her wing, it always felt like this. Sure, she was the one directing where to go, but he was the one holding the reins of the horse they were on.

  In the end, even Alexa noticed that it was therefore always Wilhelm that made the difficult decisions while they trekked the route to getting her throne. And in response, Alexa always berated him for it, even when she was riding with him.

  “At least you’re trying, I suppose,” Alexa sighed. “...Just explain things to me, please? I’m not that stupid girl you met back then. I’m serious. I’m trying to be the Empress. Tell me your plans and your methods. I want to understand them so I can trust them.”

  “...”

  “You can do that for me, Wilhelm, right?”

  Wilhelm took a deep breath before nodding.

  “I can, yes. Sorry. I’m surprisingly bad at communicating. It’s because I think I’m always so suspicious.”

  “You are always suspicious, you rotten knight.”

  “...I know.”

  With Wilhelm looking down in defeat, Alexa finally felt a little bit more at ease with what was about to happen. At least, she wasn’t just blindly going into trouble. They had a plan—Wilhelm’s plan, to be exact.

  All that was left now was to enact it.

  Before they could ride out, a figure came out of the camp. It was Lieutenant General Max Clausewitz, alongside a familiar knight captain from the Royal Guard, Henry’s younger sister, to be exact.

  “Your Highness,” Max spoke up, bowing a bit with the knight captain. “Captain Rosa here wishes to speak with you.”

  Rosa raised her head and walked forward.

  “I’ve heard that you refused to have yourself escorted by an armed contingent. Your Highness, if that’s the case, then may I offer to send three of my best knights from the Azalea Ordo?”

  Alexa exhaled tiredly. She already explained earlier that they wanted to get out now and fast, and that being a larger group would place them in more danger, but she supposed everyone was just worried about her.

  So, she relented.

  “Fine. Send them with us. Wilhelm, that’s fine, right?”

  “As long as we reach the Army of the Leine on time, anything’s fine. I think three extra people won’t be a problem.”

  “Perfect! Captain Rosa, send them in then.”

  The knight captain bowed again.

  “As you wish, Your Highness.”

  “Oh, and,” Alexa continued. “About your older brother.”

  “Yes, Your Highness?”

  “Don’t be too ashamed. You might start overcompensating and put yourself at risk because of that,” Alexa groaned. “I’ve seen way too many people do that when these scenarios happen.”

  “I…”

  “Yes, your brother revolted against me, and a lot of people are dying because of it, but you’re not, in any way, shape, or form, connected to it. Neither is your family,” Alexa smiled. “So don’t worry, okay? I’ll even try to get your brother back if I can. Maybe you can straighten his dumb head while he’s in prison.”

  “I…I see. I’ll keep that in mind, Your Highness.”

  Alexa nodded, satisfied. Things were working out well so far, she thought.

  +++

  On the way to rejoin the Army of the Leine, Alexa tried her best to stay awake. It helped that Wilhelm talked a lot on the way there, as she had so many questions.

  In addition to his previous reasons to be aggressive, Wilhelm explained that it was necessary to finish the war quickly because winter was coming. It was already mid-November, so within a few weeks, the first snowflakes would arrive in the central region and beyond.

  Wilhelm explained to her that during these times, military operations would be extremely difficult. Soldiers, wagons, cavalry, everything, and everyone—they would all find it hard to move around effectively. Supply lines would be difficult to maintain, and soldiers run the risk of dying from the cold if they aren’t in their winter quarters.

  Wilhelm was highly experienced at fighting in the cold. In fact, the Defense Forces was especially well-suited for it. Those soldiers were so hardy that even in the thick of the cold, they would fight in their trenches and forts to hold the line against the demon horde indefinitely.

  But the Imperial Army wasn’t the Defense Forces. Not only were the average soldiers of the Imperial Army less strong stats-wise, but they were also less used to lengthy campaigns. Wilhelm predicted that once winter arrived, he wouldn’t be able to reasonably move troops for any offensive operation.

  Henry, on the other hand, would have the advantage of being the defender. While he would suffer from the same issues, Henry would have an easier job moving his troops to defensive positions and fortifying his territory.

  That was when Alexa fully realized the error in her ways. According to Wilhelm earlier, Henry would never surrender to words, but only to force. If he was right, and Henry dragged out the talks during winter only to refuse, Alexa would have to sacrifice more lives to defeat him next year.

  Since realizing that, she kept her head low, a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t considered that possibility. In her naivety and desire to save lives on both sides, she would be risking more blood if she failed at extending an olive branch.

  Perhaps having such an insubordinate knight isn’t a downside. Alexa lightly exhaled as she leaned her back on Wilhelm. After all, if I have subordinates, wouldn’t it be best if they can think for themselves?

  Ultimately, as the overall leader, Alexa’s job wasn’t to micromanage everything. Her job was to set the goals that her followers should achieve. What mattered was if she made the right call on the values and missions that her camp should possess.

  Then, it was up for people like Wilhelm, Alfred, Phoebe, and Adele to do the finer details. Alexa smiled a bit when she realized that. All of her friends always butted heads with each other, but in the end, they somehow worked things out together.

  Wilhelm always managed the battlefield in the background well.

  Alfred always protected her well whenever Alexa ran around to do her thing.

  Phoebe was always there to get her out of sticky situations.

  And then, there was Adele, who made sure that their team ran smoothly.

  “I’m glad to have all of you with me,” Alexa mumbled.

  “What?”

  “I said what I said.” Alexa then turned to look at Wilhelm smugly. “Let’s win this battle, okay? I want to come back home soon and have a good celebration with all of you.”

  Wilhelm smiled a bit.

  “Sure, princess. I’ll do my best, as always.”