After experiencing a brief period of excitement, the palace, and even the entire imperial capital, began the work of seeing off the expedition team early the next morning.
The nobles and officials dressed in formal attire arrived at the gathering place of the crusade early in the morning. Although the people could not come in, the streets were already full of people, leaving only roads open for passage.
Everyone knows that it is extremely important to eliminate the rebels. It's not just for venting anger, it's also about the empire's face.
Because of this, once the decision to crusade against the rebels was made, the instructors in the army emphasized again and again to the soldiers: Even if the advantages of this trip are huge, they must still be cautious and strict, and this battle must be fought beautifully!
Liliana came earlier, but it was not time to speak yet, so she did not stand on the high platform. She is only one step behind her in the drama troupe. The strange thing is that Leonhardt, who is supposed to stand beside Liliana with Sasuke, has not yet arrived.
Xiaoyue did not wear the usual dress of a palace maid today. The dress was much more convenient than before, and she also wore a layer of leather armor on the outside.
Today she is going to act as the supervisor of the crusade on behalf of Liliana and travel with the crusade. This outfit was prepared for her by the people below, and it has a certain degree of protection while not losing appearance.
This outfit is mostly symbolic. As a military governor, Xiaoyue will naturally not go to the front line. What she needed to do was wait in the military camp and send the exact news back to the imperial capital. But this does not mean that she will never encounter danger: no one can say what will happen in the battle between trapped beasts.
"Sister Xiaoyue." Liliana, who had been looking at the soldiers, turned back and used the intimate name to attract Xiaoyue. Her expression was more serious than ever before, "Be sure to pay attention to safety!"
"Your Highness, please rest assured..." Xiaoyue's eyes softened and she did not correct Liliana's address. "It is the soldiers of the empire who have worked hard on this trip. Compared with them, what I faced is insignificant."
Liliana couldn't argue. Her words were spoken subconsciously out of concern for Xiaoyue. She also understood that even if the empire had an absolute advantage over the rebels, the imperial soldiers standing below would definitely suffer casualties after this crusade.
Liliana is not as willful as she usually behaves. When she was young, she saw Brother Wang returning from the war with blood that had not been cleaned in time. At that time, she felt the fear of death.
Liliana is also not as strong as other rulers, and she cannot regard the casualties of soldiers as just numbers. No matter how much compensation is given, the deceased will never be able to return, and all that will be left behind are the tears of their loved ones.
In Liliana's eyes, the reason why Brother Wang is great is not only because of his achievements in unifying the chaos, but more importantly, because he has minimized all casualties.
Subduing the enemy without fighting is the most common situation in the middle and late stages of the empire's unification war!
"Can I do better?" Liliana's murmur contained her longing and thinking.
Unfortunately, the current arrangement is already the best solution she can think of.
War cannot be without casualties.
"Even gods can't take care of everyone comprehensively." Seeing the disappointment in Liliana's eyes, An stepped forward and said, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Miku's eyelids twitched.
"You are the least qualified to say this!" Liliana said this for Miku angrily.
An was choked by these words. He obviously wanted to comfort people.
After a long time, he said in an explanation: "I didn't..."
But no one paid attention.
"Sister Xiaoyue, this is a snack made by An and I. You can eat it on the way." Miku handed a small package to Xiaoyue.
On the march, the food will certainly not be much better. Thinking that Xiaoyue could not follow the army, but still did so to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of frontline news, Miku and An went to the kitchen that night and made such a box of food to express their gratitude to Xiaoyue.
Realizing that Miku meant "If you don't pick it up, I'll keep holding it up", Xiaoyue could only extend her hand, and then nodded in thanks: "Thank you both for your kindness."
"No, no, we are the ones thanking you." Miku waved his hand quickly.
"It's just the added responsibility, Miss Miku doesn't have to be like this." Xiaoyue took Miku's hand and put it on the package, "But please accept this kindness, please accept it shamelessly."
Seeing Xiaoyue's sassy posture and feeling the warmth from her hands, Miku couldn't help but blush, and said in an unskilled official voice: "What we are doing is to make you accept it, please be sure..."
"Understood."
Xiao Yue solemnly put the package under the leather armor on her chest and abdomen.
There are actually no pockets there, it's just the only place on her body that has space and is not too conspicuous after being tucked in.
The door to the room was opened, and Leonhardt walked in with a weary step. Behind him was a man wearing black leather armor. The man was wearing a hood and could not tell the difference between men and women.
"Sorry, I'm late." Leonhardt panted slightly.
Liliana glanced at the hooded figure. On this day, the reason why Leonhardt was late could only be because of this stranger.
She asked: "This is it?"
Liliana didn't go out to see the hooded man. It was difficult to explain clearly without knowing the identity of the other person, but she knew that Leonhardt could understand what she meant.
"See Your Royal Highness." The hooded man saluted with a very respectful tone, and his voice sounded like a woman's. "It's disrespectful to humble oneself."
She had no intention of taking off her hood, and it looked like she was being rude.
Liliana heard that she claimed to be in a humble position. Needless to say, someone who used this title in front of the princess must be a person in the official system, but Liliana had never heard of a person in any position dressing up like this and having such a nagging style. of.
"It's a long story, let me explain it briefly." Leonhardt said, "Not long after joining the guard, I heard from the instructors chatting that besides the Imperial Guard who are proficient in combat skills, the people trained by Brother Wang personally In addition, there is also a secret force that is good at intelligence work, and this secret force only obeys the orders of Brother Wang."
"What?" Liliana was shocked by what she said behind her back, "Why have I never heard of it?"
"At first I thought they were talking nonsense, because they didn't say anything when I asked." Leonhardt panted evenly, with a look of pride on his face, "But then after I took over the work of the escort team, I found that the sources of intelligence obtained during the many operations of the escort were relatively vague, so I paid more attention to this matter."
"There was no suitable time in the past, so I never asked. It wasn't until I returned to the Imperial Capital this time and asked my instructor in person that he relented and told me that this secret force does exist and cooperates with the escort team."
"This unit is indispensable for the efficient and concise actions of the escort team."
Liliana was still a little skeptical. She didn't think Leonhardt was talking nonsense, but she was just curious: "Then why have I never heard of it?"
Leonhardt explained: "That's because Brother Wang gave a death order when he established this army. This army can only take orders from him, and the style of conduct must also be based on 'secret' as the highest criterion. Not only do they Responsible for gathering intelligence..."
"Lord Leonhardt, let me explain." The hooded man interrupted.
Leonhardt immediately realized that he was overly excited, quickly controlled his emotions, and motioned for her to come forward.
"Few people know about our existence because Mr. Lecco is kind-hearted. Most of our members are ordinary people who are not good at killing, and they are engaged in intelligence work that is easily hated and hostile by others. In order to ensure that our members are not persecuted , so Master Leko asked us to act in secret, and at the same time took action to hide our existence."
The hooded man said respectfully.
"Your Highnesses, we have no intention of hiding anything. Lord Leko said that we will not be able to report until both of you are sixteen years old. At present, we only maintain contact with a small number of people in the escort team. If it were not at this time The situation is special and we still won’t show up.”
When she heard the hooded man say "your two highnesses," Liliana gave up her doubts about her. Knowing the true identity of Leonhardt can prove the authenticity of the hooded man's words to a certain extent. Furthermore, the escort team is connected to this so-called "secret force", so at least in the imperial capital, the possibility of impersonation is almost non-existent.
"That's it." Liliana nodded, indicating that she accepted this statement. At the same time, she also thought of the reason why Leonhardt brought the hooded man here even if he was late, "Then, I leave it to you to deliver the news. And... make sure to ensure Xiaoyue's safety!"
Liliana didn't even listen to what the hooded man said about not being good at killing.
Cooperating with the escort team and doing intelligence work, how could he be so helpless?
Those who are not good at fighting are probably the middlemen who deliver information. Those who hide their appearance like the hooded man are definitely the core members!
Liliana doesn't care about the hooded man's tricks, as long as she is one of her own and can protect Xiaoyue.
"Please rest assured, even if I die, Miss Xiaoyue will be safe and sound." The hooded man lowered his head.
Xiaoyue saluted at the same time: "Thank you, Your Highness, for taking the trouble."
She greeted Liliana and Leonhardt in turn.
After getting up, Xiaoyue glanced out the window and said to Liliana: "Your Highness, it's almost time..."
It's almost time for the pep talk.
Liliana perked up and said, "Let's go."
An said: "We will wait here."
The current time is not suitable for the theater troupe to appear on the podium. Although An could do it, he couldn't do it in order to deal with it afterwards.
"Okay." Liliana's voice seemed to be sighing.
She and Xiaoyue went out together.
The hooded man bowed respectfully to Leonhardt and An, and then walked out.
Even though Leonhardt paid careful attention, he did not notice any form of communication between Xiaoyue and the hooded man.
He muttered: "Isn't Sister Xiaoyue a member of the secret force?"
Previously in the royal capital, Xiaoyue's intelligence-gathering ability allowed Leonhardt to immediately contact the secret troops he had been paying attention to. At that time, he had doubts about Xiaoyue's identity.
Leonhardt would not be dissatisfied with this, he would just feel that Xiaoyue is more powerful than he imagined.
He always thought that his process of becoming the captain of the God's Guard and concealing the identity of the prince was too smooth. If there was someone who focused on intelligence work behind the scenes - that is, Xiao Yue, who he thought was a member of the secret force, was helping, then everything would be It becomes reasonable.
But it seems that this is not the case?
"Lian, what did you say?" Miku asked confused.
"Ah...No, it's nothing." Leonhardt shook his head quickly.
No matter whether the guess is correct or not, since the highest principle of the secret force is "secretness", it is not suitable to tell too many people about this matter.
Leonhardt glanced at Ann who was standing by the window.
An only moved his eyes, and then continued to look at Liliana, who was about to take the stage.
