Father and Son

As both armies began to withdraw, the tension gradually eased. The weight on everyone's chest finally lifted—the war had not broken out after all!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as though a crushing burden they had carried for ages had suddenly been taken off their shoulders.

But inside the command tent, where Viscount Borey was personally overseeing his troops' safe withdrawal, he suddenly swayed and nearly collapsed!

Fortunately, Rasul had been watching his father closely. He lunged forward and caught Viscount Borey before he could fall.

"Father, are you really all right?" Rasul asked in a low voice, his brow furrowed with worry.

Viscount Borey forced himself to smile. "Don't worry. I'm just a little tired. These past two days have been so busy I haven't even had time to rest.

"But we've made it through without disaster. I'm sure I'll finally get a good night's sleep tonight!" He patted Rasul's hand to reassure him.

Lately, he had devoted himself to helping Grand Duke Mora consolidate control of the army, working day and night and taxing his mind to the limit.

Even with his sturdy constitution, he was struggling to keep going. He was exhausted in both body and mind.

Today, to reinforce the Fifth Legion in time, he had even risked deploying the Imperial Guard Legion and the Third Legion, both of which had only just finished absorbing and reorganizing the nobles' private troops.

These new troops had barely completed their reorganization. Although new officers had been assigned to command every unit, they had almost no experience coordinating with the Duchy's Direct Legion's original forces.

That was bound to expose numerous problems and gaps in a real battle, adding enormous uncertainty to the outcome.

In truth, he knew perfectly well that the army he led was impressive only