Under these circumstances, however, the Noble Faction's armies refused to heed Marquis Stanley because of his allegiance to the royal family.
After all, they had a perfectly valid justification: Marquis Stanley was merely Duke Barick's teacher, and the king had never granted him authority to command the other legions.
Even invoking the prince's authority did Marquis Stanley no good. The Noble Faction argued that the prince could not represent the king, either, and therefore could not enforce the will of the entire nation.
Unable to command the Noble Faction's armies, the front had effectively lost almost half its available fighting forces. Earl Stanley could only struggle to hold the line with the troops that remained.
Duke Barick wanted to send his father back to the Royal Capital for treatment, but just then, problems suddenly arose within the kingdom: all sorts of strange disturbances began breaking out across many noble territories.
Many of the great nobles simply took their factions' legions straight back to the Raine Kingdom, publicly declaring that they were returning to their own territories to quell the unrest.
This left Duke Barick afraid to send his father, the king, home. After all, large numbers of troops directly under the kingdom's command were stationed on the front against the Central City-State Coalition.
Meanwhile, the Noble Faction's armies now made up a much greater proportion of the forces within the kingdom. If they stirred up trouble, his father, who was in a deep coma, might be in danger.
With no other choice, Prince Balek could only keep the king at the front and send for physicians from the Royal Capital to care for him there. Even with renowned physicians treating him, however, the king remained unconscious.
The Central City-State Coalition's armies intensified their assaults on the territories occupied by the