Rafael had intended to mention the person behind Yuvan''s actions, but upon reflection, he chose to hold back. He didn''t want to nt 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 ying 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 exnation. "I see."


    "If my suspicions are correct, they''re nning to rise. They''ll find some excuse to incite an uprising in various ces. Once chaos erupts in Starhaven, they''ll rally their forces under the pretext of quelling the unrest. That''s why you must remain vignt, 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 costs me my life, I won''t allow them to take Ebonflow."


    With the matter settled, Rafael knew it was time to 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 imprable ring of guards, he was finally getting the kind of disy he had always craved-though it was hardly the victory he had envisioned.


    As they stopped to rest, Carissa carefully ced 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 some tools and helped her fix it.


    If it wasn''t fixed, the angle would be off, making it hard to urately 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 hispanions with delivering


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


    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 inted the number of soldiers under hismand, pocketing the excess military funds meant for the soldiers he had imed but never had.


    The Southern Frontier army wasposed of the original Southern Frontier troops, the Sinir 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 im 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 ess to the ounts. Now that Barrett had uncovered the truth, Timothy and the others became more 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''te 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 be noble 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, hevished 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 some fault 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.