CDTD 5

Chapter 5 

“How do you know that?”

“……”

Phil Evans asked again, but she did not answer.

Ludice recalled the family motto of House Draphania:

Trust in Draphania. Trust in the blood that flows within you.

Yes, she believed in Quinlan. That was why she had returned—to save him.

Ludice pressed her lips together firmly.

A moment later, with a deep smile, she opened her mouth.

“Look, there he comes.”

A sense of commotion filled the air, and beneath the trees a glimmering helmet appeared. Soon after, the figures of soldiers emerged.

And at last, towering among the men moving in perfect order, his figure came into view.

A knight clad in silver armor.

“Quinlan.”

Ludice whispered in a trembling voice.

My husband. My love.

It was Quinlan Draphania, alive.

The knights and common soldiers halted their march to rest, each finding a spot to ease their weariness.

Watching them, Duke Quinlan Draphania raised his vigilance.

If there was even the faintest hint of suspicion, he had to be the first to charge.

This location was not an ideal choice. A hill blocked their rear, and there was only one passageway out.

If the enemy came, it would be from that one place. His calculation was that if the worst happened, he himself could break through.

It was a gamble—a dangerous choice.

If only he had a few more troops, he would not feel such unease.

But the enemy was also at their limit.

For the past year, he had relentlessly pressed forward, reclaiming most of their lost territory. Surely the enemy, too, had been driven to desperation, worn thin and brittle.

Each battle had been fought with a ferocity so great that one could feel the hatred radiating from them.

“A year… has it been?”

The thought escaped his lips in a low murmur. At that moment—

“My lord Duke.”

Hugo Barrett, commander of the Draphania Knights, approached.

“How are the soldiers?”

“The situation is worse than expected. According to our scouts, it seems the enemy has gathered even their wounded, as if preparing for a final stand.”

“I see.”

Quinlan lifted his gaze to the sky. Heavy clouds were creeping in, covering it little by little. If rain fell, the situation would become far more troublesome.

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. Steeling his heart, he lowered his gaze—his face as strong and dependable as always.

“Ordinarily, things would not have turned out this way. It seems a spy must have leaked our secrets.”

“In war, spies are inevitable. Did we not send our own as well?”

He spoke with a smile, but the edge in his tone was sharp and dangerous.

Hugo Barrett averted his eyes. Though his lord was endlessly generous, he was the last man one would wish to face as an enemy on the battlefield.

This war, with its vast disparity in numbers, would never have lasted this long without him. Yet even now, their endurance was nearing its limits.

“Do not worry. Phil will play her part.”

“…But—”

“Do you think she would not support us?”

Quinlan’s smile carried quiet confidence. Hugo bowed his head.

“My apologies.”

“It’s fine. Anyone might think so.”

When Ludice first came to the ducal house, everyone had been wary of her, being Roxburgh’s daughter. But Quinlan’s thoughts had been different.

Never before had he seen eyes of gold that shone with such beauty and righteousness.

Quinlan rose to his feet.

The flow of the air was shifting.

“Do not worry. Ludice is a knight. She will understand immediately why I sent Phil.”

And she would find a way.

At his resolute words, Hugo once more lowered his head.

“My apologies, my lord Duke.”

Instead of replying, Quinlan lightly tapped his shoulder.

He, too, was anxious. But he could not reveal that before his men.

The Crown Prince’s promise of reinforcements was not a lie. But whether they would arrive at the right time was another matter entirely.

‘If not, I would not feel this uneasy.’

Quinlan let out a quiet sigh. Phil Evans would carry out her orders faithfully.

‘It may be nothing more than a futile struggle, but still…’

Suddenly, he found himself wishing she would come.

Ludice—his wife, with whom he had never truly spoken heart-to-heart.

He had sent letters to her regularly, yet not once had he received a reply.

Perhaps that was a blessing.

If her reply had been cold, he might not have been able to bear it.

What had begun as simple letters to convey news had gradually become his own means of steadying himself.

Quinlan placed a hand over his chest. Inside, he still carried the letter he had written last night—perhaps his last.

Half of him wished she would read it. Half of him prayed she never would.

Unconsciously, he sighed again. At that moment—

The blare of a trumpet split the air. The ground shook, furious shouts rang out.

“The enemy!”

With the cry, soldiers leapt to their feet, seizing their weapons and forming ranks.

The enemy appeared as they took battle formation.

“Hugo! Rally the men!”

Quinlan mounted his horse at once. His men needed time to organize their ranks, and he would be the one to buy it.

He spurred his horse forward, charging headlong into the enemy camp.

Even in the chaos where friend and foe blended together, Duke Quinlan Draphania stood out. A man in gleaming silver armor, cutting down his enemies without hesitation.

But the numbers were against them. Without reinforcements, annihilation loomed.

The enemy had known their location all along.

They had moved secretly along supply lines near the border, yet the enemy had been waiting.

Impossible to know—unless someone had leaked military secrets.

‘The spy gave away far too much.’

To hand border defenses to the enemy… it was treason.

He had to survive.

Survive, hunt down the traitor who had caused this disaster—

No. He had to survive to see Ludice once more.

As the thought struck, a sudden roar rose from behind the enemy lines.

“Reinforcements!”

“No, wait! That’s not the royal crest—it must be the enemy’s reinforcements!”

“Our men do not come, and now this!”

“My lord Duke!”

Despair spread among the soldiers like wildfire.

The sound of marching feet grew nearer. Some, overcome by despair, even let their swords fall.

‘Is this the end?’

Then, a long trumpet blast rang out once more. And with it, came a gust of rough wind and screams—but not from their side.

The screams grew louder, approaching from the enemy’s rear.

Impossible!

Through the chaos, Quinlan’s eyes caught sight of a figure: a knight in silver armor, astride a horse, swinging a halberd.

A halberd. Silver armor!

‘It can’t be—!’

“My lord Duke! They are not the enemy—they are with us!”

The joyful cry came from the young squire who had earlier asked about reinforcements.

Quinlan stared, transfixed.

A knight fought valiantly in the heart of the enemy lines, spear sweeping in arcs, scattering foes. Disbelief spilled from his lips.

“Ludice…”

It was his wife, Ludice Draphania.

“Waaaaah!”

At that miraculous timing, the arrival of reinforcements turned the tide in an instant.

True to the reputation of the man called the Empire’s God of War, Duke Quinlan Draphania immediately shifted tactics the moment he saw Ludice.

The battlefield became a maelstrom.

The knights of Evnia, whom Ludice had brought, fought with a skill befitting their name—each man fighting as though worth a hundred.

And among them, the fiercest warrior was Ludice herself.

Clad in silver armor, she swept her long spear through enemy soldiers who charged her. At times she overpowered with sheer strength, at times she pierced with sharp precision. She never stopped, fighting with every ounce of her being.

The other knights were the same. Even when thrown from their horses, they fought on. When their spears broke, they cast them aside and drew swords. When their swords shattered, they seized weapons from their enemies.

From the front, Duke Quinlan’s assault pressed the enemy. From behind, the newly arrived force struck hard. The barbarians were routed, retreating in chaos.

Survivors scattered in flight, while the once-green field of battle was drenched red with blood.

And so, after an entire day of brutal fighting, when at last the battle ended, the ones left standing were the soldiers of Draphania.