Chapter 170 - The same pieces on a new board

Words : 1246 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Chapter 170: Chapter 170 - The same pieces on a new board PoV: Aurea "The second act of this war is about to begin." It’s not much of a declaration, more like a statement of fact. We knew from the beginning that the foreign countries would intervene. Our time-constraint goal was to wipe out the internal dissent before the foreign invasion came. We were partly successful in that. We secured the peace within our borders, and no territory is currently under control of the enemies. But we failed to completely destroy those enemies. Now the ragged remnants of the Blessed faction are in Essendia, running to catch up with the crusader army. Most of the troops surrendered when we took Beaudorf or when we killed their new leaders. But two counts managed to escape. Not that their armies were that big to begin with, and in the state they are, they don’t amount to much. But symbolically, they are still the Blessed faction that would be put in power if the crusade succeeds. Their importance resides in the semblance of legitimacy they give to the whole campaign. "What are your orders, Your Highness?" "Prepare a scout group and send them to investigate the size and composition of the army that the Church is assembling. Give them as many wax balls as possible, so they can set things up for later portals." "Yes, Your Highness." Lovelace is with the main army, the other girls are with their squads, and I’m here at Beaudorf Castle, alone with the swarm of officers that come and go. The board in which the war takes place changed. But the pieces remain the same. I’m at the throne room that was once used by the late Marquess Otbert. The bloodstains of my incursion here were already washed away, and the hall is pristine, almost as if nothing had ever happened here. I wonder how many assassinations took place in this very room before. Well, at least the woman and the baby seem to be good. They are living in one of the new temples for my mother, and the woman seems to have turned into quite the devotee. Oh, yes, and then there’s that thing. My mother’s divinity. If the goddess takes her power from the people’s prayers, then depriving the Church of access to Wesgoth is a huge blow for her. Wesgoth is like twenty percent of the population of this world, as we are the most populated country. Not only have we been the ones further away from the war, but we also have lots of fertile lands. So we are taking twenty percent off the goddess’ power. And it seems that we’re feeding it to my mother. Which is wild. "Your Highness, the Court Wizard sent you this package." "Huh? Okay..." Is this what I think it is? It’s an envelope, and it seems to contain papers inside. I eagerly open it, and... "Oooh. It seems that Lovelace has been pulling some all-nighters, huh?" "Yes. We’ve been trying to stop her, but she keeps saying that she doesn’t need to sleep." "As always. Until she is so tired that she sleeps without noticing. In any case, this info is precious. Tell her that I sent my warmest of thanks." "I will." The officer bows and then quickly goes on his way, as I keep staring at the pile of papers that came within the envelope. Very complete and thorough annotations on what she remembers of the inner workings of the adventuring system. Sadly I’m not Lovelace, so I do need all the hours of sleep a human needs. And there is no coffee in this world. I would pay my weight in gold to have a pack of coffee beans right now... but there’s no merit in dwelling on the impossible. I go to a side desk, take a notebook from my pocket storage, and start reading Lovelace’s notes while writing my own in my notebook. ::: "Your Highness?" "Huh? Oh, good morning, Levy." The officer that called out to me is bringing my mother, Levinna, along. I wonder if something happened? Levinna never comes to the hidden army. "It’s good evening, dear Aurea. How long have you been hunched over that pile of documents?" "The princess has been there since early morning." Hey, you don’t need to rat on me! "These are important documents..." "It doesn’t matter. Have you eaten?" "..." "She hasn’t." "Hey!" "I see. It’s good that I came here, then. It’s dinner time, and your guest is hungry. It would be impolite to not accompany me to the dinner table, then." I sigh, and then I organize Lovelace’s papers and put them inside the envelope again, then store both the envelope and notebook in my pocket storage. "Okay, Mom. I’ll eat." ::: Dinner consists of meat stew with lots of different roots, exactly the way I like it. We are in a dining room of the castle that used to be reserved for the owners of the castle. I normally dine with the soldiers, but today I have a guest. "So, Mom. Is something the matter? You rarely come here, and I think it’s the first time I see you coming alone." "It’s about Lily. She has been acting weird lately." "Acting weird? Weird how?" ::: PoV: Lillian Is this like a dream or something? I’m yet again at that white and gold place that looks like a temple. And yet again I wander aimlessly through the endless corridors until I arrive at the room where my statue is. ’Saint Lily, goddess of compassion.’ And, like every other time, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in here. All the other times I stayed here for what seemed like an eternity, until I found myself back in the normal world. I never manage to advance past this statue, this room. Like all the other times, the only door is the one I used to enter. And like all the other times, the door closes after I pass and then turns into a wall. A wall impossible to differentiate from the other walls. ’Goddess of compassion.’ That’s the title the golden plaque calls me. Maybe that’s the key? Compassion? It is the defining trait of my moral compass, after all. Where is my compassion? Here, when I think on little Aurea in the Barrens. When I think on the beastkin being enslaved. When I think on the farmers being robbed of their produce. Here, this feeling. This is compassion. My heart starts shining with a light blue hue from within my chest. The white in the walls and the statue changes color to match the hue of my heart. That hue then starts blending with the golden heart in the statue, turning it into a blue-and-gold material that looks like a daytime sky filled with stars. My heart then stops emitting that hue, and the room reverts back to its white-and-gold patterns. Except for the heart on the statue, which retains its new colors. The statue then recedes, showing a staircase beneath where it was before. The staircase leads downwards, and the way is as lit and pristine as everything else in this place. I feel like I just completed one challenge of several I’m yet to face. And that the remaining ones are in the path this staircase leads to. And in any case, I’ve just learned how to wield some part of my power.

Chapter 170 - The same pieces on a new board

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