Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

Chapter 1274

Rafael had intended to mention the person behind Yuvan's actions, but upon reflection, he chose to hold back.

He didn't want to plant wild suspicions in Chester's mind.

Instead, he said, "At the time, there was no concrete evidence. If Prince Yuvan had been killed without cause, the

king would have earned the reputation of mercilessly slaying his own kin.

"That would have only fueled the rebellion further. After all, rebellion is never the work of one man. With the

reach Prince Yuvan's power has gained, someone would inevitably step forward to carry his banner. As for

allowing him to return to Valken, it was to prevent him from reconnecting with those who had ties to Eleanor."

Chester hadn't thought too deeply before Rafael's explanation. "I see."

"If my suspicions are correct, they're planning to rise. They'll find sexcuse to incite an uprising in various

places. Once chaos erupts in Starhaven, they'll rally their forces under the pretext of quelling the unrest. That's

why you must remain vigilant, General Murray. Ebonflow is the heart of Starhaven's food supply and trade. If it

falls, the consequences will be dire."

Chester took the warning to heart, his expression hardening. "Rest assured. Even if it costsmy life, | won't

allow them to take Ebonflow."

With the matter settled, Rafael knew it was tto return to the capital. Not a moment could be wasted

now.

Meanwhile, Tiberius was being escorted back to the capital. Throughout his lifetime, he had always been

concerned with appearances, with making a show of his position. Now, surrounded by an impenetrable ring of

guards, he was finally getting the kind of display he had always craved-though it was hardly the victory he had

envisioned.

As they stopped to rest, Carissa carefully placed the steel needles back into her bracelet. When they had been

clearing out the private soldiers, she had used up all the needles. She had to admit, they were incredibly useful

especially in mountain warfare, where enemies were scattered.

Once they were spotted, she didn't even need to use Lightfoot Skill to chase after them-the steel needles could

shoot quite far.

They worked really well.

However, she had fallen a few times on the mountain, which caused the bracelet to get a little bent. So, Rafael

asked the people in the garrison to borrow stools and helped her fix it.

If it wasn't fixed, the angle would be off, making it hard to accurately shoot.

As they neared the capital, word reached them that Barrett, in the Southern Frontier, had finally arrived at

Victory Pass.

It was an order from Oliver, who had personally tasked Barrett and his companions with delivering

birthday gifts to Dominic. The three people who went with Barrett were all familiar with him from their tin

the Southern Frontier.

Barrett had been reluctant to go at first, but Oliver's word had been final. Despite efforts from Louis and Timothy

to intervene on his behalf, Oliver would hear none of it.

Barrett sighed, resigned to his orders. There was little he could do but comply.

He knew exactly why Oliver had sent them to Victory Pass. The four of them had been quietly

investigating Oliver's embezzlement of military funds. Barrett had confided in Timothy about what they

had uncovered, and Timothy had instructed them to continue looking into it.

However, it seemed Oliver had caught wind of their suspicions and decided to remove the threat by sending

them away.

Barrett had handed over everything he had gathered to Timothy. It turned out that Oliver had inflated the

number of soldiers under his command, pocketing the excess military funds meant for the soldiers he had

claimed but never had.

The Southern Frontier army was composed of the original Southern Frontier troops, the Sinclair Army, the Hell

Monarch Army, and various temporary soldiers recruited during the war.

Many of these temporary soldiers had long since returned home, but Oliver continued to report their numbers as

if they were still in service. This allowed him to claim much more in military funds than was rightfully his.

Timothy and the others hadn't been aware of the full extent of the fraud-after all, they never had access to the

accounts. Now that Barrett had uncovered the truth, Timothy and the others becmore alert and continued

to investigate.

Amid their investigation, Timothy received urgent news from Rafael. He was to be wary of Oliver and, even more

so, to watch out for Sandoria's movements.

The old generals in the Southern Frontier had already grown disillusioned with Oliver. It was clear he hadn't come

to the Southern Frontier to defend it. Rather, he was there to enjoy the spoils of his position. In the past, his

behavior had been terrible-he had seduced several Southern Frontier women, promising them that if they

followed him, they could return to the capital and becnoble wives. His actions had caused a great deal of

scandal and turmoil at Redstone Manor.

Now, with Cece-Madam Spencer-by his side, he had toned down his antics, but only in the public eye. Behind

closed doors, he lavished her with extravagant gifts. Since she had borne him a son, there was nothing he

wouldn't give her he would have plucked the moon from the sky had she asked for it. The soldiers called Cece a

siren, a temptress who had ensnared Oliver with her charms. However, Timothy believed that Oliver must have

had sfault or weakness for Madam Spencer to have gotten involved with him.

After all, Oliver was never a good man to begin with.

What was concerning was Cece. Barrett had already seen her acting suspiciously in the past, meeting with

people in secret.