CHAPTER 61: TRAITOR

Third-person POV - Ronald’s Headquarters

The tent reeked of leather and iron. Lanterns flickered, casting restless shadows of the generals bent over sprawling maps onto the canvas walls. Ronald had loosened the clasps of his heavy armor and slammed a goblet onto the table in anger.

The entrance flap burst open. A dust-covered messenger stumbled inside, gasping for breath. His knees buckled as he collapsed to the ground, his voice trembling:

"My lord... the supply convoy..." He faltered, fear choking the words in his throat. "...has been seized. Almost none survived."

A low murmur swept through the tent. Officers exchanged tense glances; some slammed fists onto the table in fury, while others bit their lips in silent panic.

Ronald rose slowly. The rage burning in his eyes was so sharp that no one dared breathe. "Who did this?" he asked. His voice carried no calm, only a blade of frozen threat.

The messenger lowered his gaze. "An ambush, my lord... from within the forest. The roads were cut off. It was all premeditated."

Silence. Then Ronald drove his sword into the table. The map tore at the edges, the wood splitting beneath the blow.

"So... they mean to starve us," he growled.

From the corner of the tent, a soft yet steady voice cut through the tension:

"To sever the roads is to sever the army’s stomach. You should have expected this move."

All eyes turned toward the source. From the shadows stepped Willabelle, adjusting her black cloak. Her face carried neither fear nor haste, only an icy calm.

Ronald’s gaze locked on her. For a heartbeat, his eyes wavered between anger and intrigue. "Then tell me, Eliza," he said harshly. "How do we secure victory in this game of hunger?"

The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly. "With a direct assault. Lord Leonardo struck because he fears open battle. If you fail to capture him, he will continue these sabotage raids until we are weak enough for him to strike at will."

The tent fell into a heavy silence. None of the generals spoke. Ronald’s stare remained fixed on Willabelle, caught between fury and reluctant need.

He let her words sink in. The hiss of lanterns broke the oppressive quiet only.

"A direct assault..." Ronald’s voice rumbled low. His eyes swept across the subordinates. "What say you?"

One officer stepped forward, veins bulging at his temple in rage. "My lord, to attack with a starving army is madness! The men’s morale is already broken. If you drive them to the front like this, they will crumble at the first strike."

Another slammed his fist onto the table. "No! Waiting is worse. As hunger grows, desertions will spread. We’ll be dancing with the enemy. An assault is our only chance!"

As the officers’ voices rose, Willabelle remained silent, her gaze fixed on Ronald, as if to say the answer lay only with him.

Ronald wrenched his sword free from the table, slinging it onto his shoulder with a clang. "Enough!" he roared.

"This army will not stand on fear; it will stand on my power! We will test Leonardo’s courage. I will drag him out of the forest he hides behind."

His eyes narrowed at Willabelle. "You... will guide me. But if your words prove false, it will be your neck that falls first."

Willabelle dipped her head, a faint, almost mocking smile tugging at her lips. "Understood, my lord. Then we shall catch the enemy in the very snare they wove themselves."

——————————

First-person POV – Leonardo’s Headquarters

I sat alone in my tent. Maps were spread before me, yet my eyes drifted past the lines into the void. A strange calm lingered within me, though unease whispered alongside it. Ronald had lost his convoy. That was the first stone to shift the course of war. But to think an army of that size would stay quiet... that would be naïve.

My fingers traced the edge of the table. The only sound was the crackle of the lamp. Then the flap stirred, and my spymaster entered. His face was shrouded in shadow, yet the weight of his news was written in his eyes.

"My lord," he said in a low voice. "We have word from the enemy’s camp. Ronald has not swallowed his loss. He is preparing an assault. It seems he will not wait."

My brows furrowed. A flicker stirred inside me. Something in that report felt incomplete, as if it carried a hidden thread.

"Is the source reliable?"

"No, my lord. But I thought you should hear it regardless."

His words hung in the air. It could be a lie, a carefully placed trap. Ronald was the type to mask his wounds with reckless fire, even if it meant burning his own men. And yet, this haste... it suggested he wasn’t moving alone.

A faint smile tugged at my lips.

"So, he will strike immediately, will he?" I murmured, almost to myself. "Just as I wished."

The spymaster looked up, startled.

"Of course, we’ll prepare," I continued. "But do not forget, someone wanted us to hear this. If Ronald truly advances, he places a golden opportunity into our hands. And if it is a lie..." My finger traced the edge of the map, stopping at a narrow pass hidden within the forest. "...then we will choke that lie with its own game."

The spymaster bowed his head silently.

Later, after tending to other matters, I stepped outside. The night had not fully descended. The sky still bore the blood-red traces of sunset, fading slowly over the dark forest.

I drew a deep breath to quiet the unrest in my chest. The chill cut into my lungs, clearing my thoughts.

My steps carried me up the rocky slopes behind the camp. Each stride crunched stone beneath my boots. The silence was broken only by the distant cries of night birds and the muffled sounds of the camp.

At the cliff’s edge, the forest stretched endlessly into shadow. The view was almost beautiful. The moon had not yet risen; a gray shimmer filtered through the branches, dissolving into mist as it sank deeper into the woods.

The wind lashed hard, making the treetops whisper. It was as though the forest spoke to me in its own tongue, murmuring of the battle to come. I listened; each rustle, each distant cry seemed to carry meaning.

Then, a sharp pain tore through my back. It was quick, searing, and then replaced by a heavy exhaustion that swallowed my body whole.

The echo of that pain still rang in my mind as my knees buckled against the stones. I forced myself upright, if only for a few seconds more, before collapsing at the roots of a tree. My heart pounded wildly. Again? Had I been careless again?

I willed my fingers to move, but my body refused me. Only my eyes and lips remained my own.

My vision blurred, the gray light above fracturing into shards.

My breath faltered, my chest burned.

My limbs were no longer mine. Only my eyes flickered, only my lips clung to sound.

A shadow drew near. The hem of a cloak scraped against a stone with a faint hiss. Moonlight sliced across the figure, and when I saw the face, a storm tore through my heart. Those white eyes... I would know them anywhere.

"Willabelle..." The word rasped from me, thick with fury.

My mind froze. To see her in my camp, allied with the enemy — that was expected. But here, in this solitude, revealed as the hand behind my pain. This was beyond betrayal.

My pulse thundered, my blood boiled. My eyes widened in rage and disbelief. "You... you... why?" The words stumbled from lips that barely obeyed me.

Willabelle stood before me with an expression as cold as ice. The wind tugged at her cloak, strands of her black hair shimmering faintly in the moonlight.

"I’m sorry, but this had to be done." Her voice held neither regret nor triumph, only sharp certainty.

Anger scorched my throat. A ragged growl tore free. "Traitor..."

She stepped closer, kneeling beside me. Her face came into clearer view, her eyes fixed on me with a chilling calm.

"No, Lord Leonardo," she said softly but firmly. "This is not betrayal. If I had truly betrayed you, you would not even be breathing right now."

Her words echoed in my skull. My breath quickened. My heart still raged, yet a sliver of doubt stirred within me.

My gaze burned into her, as if I could set her aflame by will alone. My lips twitched with pain.

"Then... tell me why. Why are you doing this?!"