ALL NOVEL
Chapter 57: The Princess Returns
Night descended, and Morea’s capital fell as silent as the city of the dead.
The Venetians had been planning to properly manage Morea’s port after conquering the region, so no one had thought that it would have become so desolate.
But which merchant would dare do business in Morea when Shu Yichao and his blood twin-headed eagle flag were slowly making its way toward Morea, devastating everything in their path like a stampede?
With the momentum displayed by the Scourge of God thus far, Morea could really go up in flames, despite being a highly defensible fortress. If so, any investment they had made in the region would go down the drain.
Only those who had foolishly poured their money into Morea earlier and had their assets stuck here had no choice but to remain in the city with tearful faces.
“Haaa!”
A Venetian mercenary patrolling the city walls let out a worried sigh as he thought about the disastrous situation at the frontlines.
Da da da da!
“What’s that sound?”
Alarmed, the Venetian mercenary anxiously turned his torch toward the sound… but in that direction was a cliff! How could the sound of horse hooves be coming from a cliff?
Huuu!
A furious gale gushed at the Venetian mercenary’s face, forcing him to close his eyes. When he finally opened his eyes once more, he was met with a flash of light.
His mouth fell agape in incredulity, then he simultaneously felt a coldness in his neck and excruciating pain. He reflexively reached for his neck out of confusion, only to feel something hot gushing out.
He instantaneously lost all energy, so much so that he couldn’t even let out a sound. Before he knew it, he had already collapsed on the floor.
“Tsk!” Shu Yichao, who had just landed on the city wall with Galewind, lowered his Jeweled Bow as he mumbled in dissatisfaction, “I was off the mark.”
He was planning to shoot the Venetian mercenary in the eye, but this mishap broke his streak…
He leaped down from the city wall with his steed and swiftly opened the city gates.
His Elite Horse Archers, who had secretly approached the city walls under the cover of the night, charged into the city without a sliver of hesitation, morphing into an unstoppable force like a natural disaster.
It was already too late by the time the Venetians realized that Shu Yichao and his troops had entered the city, and they descended into a panic. It didn’t help that they spotted a familiar figure among the enemies.
“Morea, I am back,” Sophia glared at the frantically fleeing Venetians with venomous eyes reminiscent of a vengeful spirit. “Don’t even dream about getting away, you disgusting vermin.”
This was the sight Vernier was met with when she rode her galley back to Morea, and she jolted as if she had been struck by lightning.
“What?!”
Looking over from the deck, she could see the blood twin-headed eagle flag flying on Morea’s capital. Crimson flames had ravaged the city, and black smoke cloaked the sky. If she listened closely, she could even hear the clashing of blades, screams of despair, and pained wails.
Morea’s capital had fallen in the Khitan Caesar’s hands!
It’s over.
Vernier’s vision went dark, and she nearly fainted on the spot. She spat through clenched jaws, “How did this happen?!”
She couldn’t comprehend the sight before her. How could Shu Yichao and his army, despite traveling via land, be faster than her when she had traveled via sea? Even if she had to slow down a fair bit to dodge a storm, it was still unthinkable for the Khitans to travel that quickly.
Shouldn’t they take some time to reinforce their hold on Athens after conquering it? Or at least, they should have spent days plundering the city to enrich themselves! And even if the Khitan Caesar wants to advance fast, surely he and his troops need to rest too?
Just what in the world is fueling their insane advancement speed?
“That bunch of good-for-nothing mercenaries!” Vernier gritted her teeth as she attributed the blame to the mercenaries. “Trash! TRASH! Morea has advantageous terrain for the defenders, but they can’t even hold the city for hours?”
Losing Morea meant losing their grip on at least half of their colonies and ports in the Balkans, not to mention that this loss was irreversible as the Khitan Caesar would likely burn down all of their warehouses, ports, ships, and kill all local Venetians, thus unraveling the foundation that had taken them countless years to build.
It was no longer about whether Venice could hold on to its position as a regional powerhouse, but whether it could even survive or not!
Even if the Khitan Caesar ended his aggression here, Venice’s rivals would still exploit this opening to jam all their salt into their wounds. It was hard to tell whether Venice would survive this ordeal or not.
It’s over. It’s all over.
The implications of Morea’s downfall didn’t elude the notice of the others in the galley as they watched Morea’s downfall with pale faces. Bitterness and helplessness loomed over the galley.
“Senato,” someone broke the silence, “what should we do now?”
“…” Vernier took off her glasses and wiped them. Her hands were trembling.
“Envoy,” she turned to Venice’s Athens envoy and spoke words that drained her energy, “I might have to trouble you to make a trip to the Eastern Romain Empire and… beg their Augustus to let us off.”
It felt like a dagger had been plunged into her heart. This was the first time she had felt such bitter regret.
If only I wasn’t blinded by the potential profits of that golden sea route…
【Argh! Of all things, why is the screen jammed here?!】
System 12345 was frustrated. The feed lagging into powerpoint slides already grated at its nerves, but to think that the screen would freeze at night. It could only barely see Shu Yichao galloping in the middle of the night…
It thought that having a latency of 9999 was the worst thing in the world, but having a dark background on top of that made it so much worse.
【My host, there’s something weird about your situation. Why is Vernier so frightened of you? What did you do to her?】
System 12345 recalled Shu Yichao’s movement trajectory, and an idea popped into its head.
【Wait, did you directly propose to Vernier in the letter?! Eyy, that is really…】
【Look, I know daring confessions can be unexpectedly effective on scheming femme fatales. Sincerity is the key. It’s easier to win her heart with a straight ball. I’m not saying that you have done wrong, but, my host, you didn’t get the timing right!】
The truth couldn’t be clearer to Detective 12345!
My host must have thought that this is a good time to go on the offensive, but the problem is that Vernier was caught off guard and hasn’t readied herself for this. Thus, she escaped out of fear!
My host chased her all the way here, but Vernier chose to avoid him because her mind was in too much of a mess to confront her daring pursuer.
【See how much you scared her with your confession! She is reluctant to meet you, despite you chasing her all the way here… Aiish, what a headache!】
System 12345 thought over the matter, but it was unable to think of a solution.
【My host, it might seem like you’re in a disadvantageous position, but if we look at it from another perspective, it also means that you have moved Vernier. Otherwise, someone of her personality wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to avoid you. Rather, she would have schemed you into bankruptcy!】
【Regardless, we have a huge advantage now. As long as you don’t mess it up, you should have a decent chance at capturing her heart.】