Recaps

Victor and Viscount Ferry finalized a large weapons and armor order for Count Lloyd’s forces in Cornwall County and arranged safe routes for delivery. After inspecting Victor’s weapons in Golden Sunflower Territory, Ferry agreed to buy additional equipment, including bed crossbows, and the chapter ended with the two nobles setting payment and shipping terms.

• Viscount Ferry assured Victor that Count Lloyd and Count Black could secure caravan passage through noble territories, while Count Black warned Victor not to attack nearby territories before the punitive army withdrew in three days.
• Victor offered weapons for five thousand troops and two thousand sets of armor, and Ferry agreed that Count Lloyd’s forces could take the entire supply at market prices.
• Victor and Ferry traveled to Golden Sunflower Territory, agreed to send a protected surveying team to map the Southern Region, and discussed trading territory goods for weapons and armor.
• Victor showed Ferry the weapons and equipment in his warehouses, and Ferry praised the steel arrowheads and asked to buy bed crossbows like those Victor’s troops used.
• Victor and Ferry finalized a preliminary order for seven thousand weapon sets, two thousand sets of armor, and fifty bed crossbows, with half the payment due as a deposit and shipments planned by land and water.

Victor finalized a military equipment order with Viscount Ferry, then discussed the duchy's coming conflict with Viscounts Isold and Leo over dinner. He asked them to delay choosing a side for five days, leaving them free to decide after seeing how events unfolded.

• Victor and Viscount Ferry finalized a military equipment order, with Ironvine paying in gold, grain, and territorial specialties.
• Victor escorted Viscount Ferry to the border, where Ferry set off to arrange a transport caravan at Count Black's.
• At dinner, Victor told Viscounts Isold and Leo that he planned to lead an army south after spring and asked them to delay joining the assembly for five days.
• Viscount Isold nearly pressed Victor for more information, but Viscount Leo stopped him before Victor revealed anything further.
• After Victor left, Isold thanked Leo for preventing him from being drawn into an early choice, and Leo said they could wait five days before deciding.

Victor received news that the salt-leaf tree could supply the alkalis needed for papermaking and ordered his territory to negotiate for it. Count Black then announced that the punitive expedition would temporarily disband, leaving his troops and Viscount Piras's forces behind to watch Golden Sunflower Territory and protect Perilla Territory.

• Victor read Veronica's letter reporting the success of the second internal combustion engine prototype and a breakthrough in papermaking that required salt-leaf trees.
• Number One concluded that salt-leaf tree ash could produce sodium carbonate and urged Victor to explore the world more after the war.
• Victor wrote to his territory, instructing them to negotiate with the Southern Four Counties for salt-leaf trees, then sent the reply by carrier pigeon.
• Count Black told the nobles that Olive Territory and White Asparagus Territory had reached ransom agreements for Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo.
• Count Black announced that the punitive expedition would temporarily disband and that withdrawing nobles had to supply his and Viscount Piras's remaining armies.
• Baron Charles begged Count Black to protect Perilla Territory, and Count Black promised to station troops there against Golden Sunflower Territory.

Count Black arranged for troops to remain in Perilla Territory and ordered Yellen to prepare a secret takeover for next spring. He left the details of his larger plan undisclosed as the army prepared to redeploy.

• Count Black persuaded Viscount Piras to leave one battalion in Perilla Territory and warned him not to exploit the weakened neighboring territories while their captured troops might soon be released.
• Count Black told Viscount Piras that he had found a guardian to help Brando inherit the Great Oak Family title and promised compensation for Piras's past losses.
• Yellen reported that most noble families were withdrawing, while Baron Charles planned to travel with Count Black's forces.
• Count Black ordered Yellen to take two battalions, secure command over Piras's battalion, and occupy Perilla Territory's strategic locations next spring without letting anyone leave or spread word.

Count Black helped Viscount Ferry finance and transport military supplies for Ironvine Territory, then left Knight Yellen in command at Perilla Territory. Victor completed the sale to Ferry, received ransoms from Olive Territory and White Asparagus Territory, and saw Viscounts Isold and Leo return home with gifts of warhorses.

• Most of the independent nobles withdrew their troops from the punitive army's camp after Count Black agreed to take responsibility for the retreat.
• Viscount Ferry asked Count Black for merchant caravans and an advance on his payment, and Count Black provided the money and arranged transport.
• Count Black left two of his battalions and Viscount Piras's battalion at Perilla Territory under Knight Yellen's command before returning to Dos City.
• Victor handed over the military supplies to Viscount Ferry after learning Count Black had advanced the payment, and a caravan from Dos City arrived soon after.
• Victor escorted Viscounts Isold and Leo to the border after receiving their territories' ransoms, then gave them fine warhorses before Oberon and Tira reunited with their fathers.

Victor prepared to return north after settling the ransom arrangements and trade deals in Golden Sunflower Territory. The chapter left him arranging his departure while Veronica continued her work in Two Rivers Territory.

• Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo accepted Victor’s proposal and departed Golden Sunflower Territory early with the horses he had given them.
• Steward Boon reported that more than 2,800 households of serfs had arrived, and Victor ordered him to distribute some and gather others by family for the return north.
• Viscount Ferry bought iron from Victor, agreed to purchase Salt-leaf Trees and help cultivate them, and prepared to sail for Sunset City with Victor’s letter to Count Black.
• At dinner in Wood Fort Town, Lady Ellie worried about Veronica’s workload and Victor’s neglect, while Veronica said she enjoyed her research and wanted to support him.

After receiving Victor’s news that he had won and would soon return with serfs, the Wembley family celebrated, and Veronica privately read his romantic letter. At Stone Castle, Victor arranged Golden Sunflower Territory’s defenses and winter preparations before leaving for Two Rivers Territory.

• Old Baron Wembley read Victor’s letter announcing his victory, the punitive army’s withdrawal, and his planned return with serfs.
• Old Baron Wembley gave Veronica a personal letter from Victor, and she hurried to her room after reading it.
• Victor held a deployment meeting with Boon, Ron, Foss, and Orlando to prepare the territory for his departure.
• Orlando reported that forces remained in Perilla Territory and that the Fifth Legion was moving toward Sextus County.
• Victor ordered Foss to reinforce Fortress No. 2 and told Boon to support Holmes’s northern defenses in Red Ginseng Territory.
• Victor and his officers agreed on winter recruitment, militia formation, and settling prisoner-of-war ransoms before Victor departed.

At Linshui Town's docks, Victor reviewed the fleet's departure and discussed staffing the newly expanded territory with Steward Boon. Boon agreed to promote promising administrators, while Victor left the territory's defense in Ron's hands.

• Levant organized the fleet's departure through the heavy fog, and Victor praised his work at the docks.
• Victor told Steward Boon that annexing Green Oak Territory and Red Ginseng Territory had increased the territory's land and population, and urged him to redistribute responsibilities and promote capable people.
• Boon identified Levant as a promotion candidate and explained that Kallio had served as deputy steward of a large farm.
• Victor instructed Boon to restore Red Ginseng Territory's farms and support Kallio, and Boon assigned Kallio temporary charge of its farming work.
• Victor urged Boon to assess more temporary administrators as the territory expanded, then told Ron to prioritize defense and avoid reckless fighting.

Victor sailed away from the Golden Sunflower domain while Ron and Steward Boon negotiated the militia force’s training, equipment, and size. Ron secured agreement to form five battalions, with only one kept at the original standard.

• Victor boarded his flagship and sailed into the fog as Ron and Steward Boon waved him farewell from the dock.
• Ron and Steward Boon returned to Stone Castle to discuss the militia battalions and argued over the proposed training demands and costs.
• Ron offered to lower standards for some battalions, explaining that the changes would reduce equipment and supply costs.
• After haggling over how many battalions could retain the original standard, Ron and Boon agreed to form five battalions, with one at the original standard.
• Ron rode to the barracks in high spirits and told his guards that he and Foss had secretly inflated the proposed standards to gain room for negotiation.

Steward Boon defended his approach to managing relations between the territory’s civil and military administrations. Near Sunset City, Victor questioned Captain Brox about his past and asked how to land secretly along the coast without the Great Oak Territory fleet discovering them.

• Boon told his attendant that keeping some friction with the military would help him maintain his administrative role and impress Victor.
• Victor’s fleet arrived near Sunset City, where Victor watched the busy docks but declined to go ashore.
• Captain Brox offered to share his knowledge of Sunset City, and Victor asked how long he had lived there.
• Brox described his family’s move to Sunset City, his failed voyages, his debts, and how Boss Jack helped him join Two Rivers Territory.
• Victor asked Brox for a way to land secretly on the coast without being spotted by the Great Oak Territory fleet, leaving Brox puzzled.

Blox showed Victor several covert landing sites near Great Oak Territory and earned a role in planning next year's campaign. Their fleet then met Great Oak Territory's coastal defense fleet, whose envoy approached Victor to confirm his identity.

• Blox used a map to explain Rotten Tree Beach and other possible covert landing sites to Victor.
• Victor praised Blox and promised to make him captain of the fleet's flagship and involve him in the landing plan.
• A lookout spotted Great Oak Territory's coastal defense fleet approaching, and Blox identified its flagship as the Wave.
• Victor reassured Blox that the fleet was likely looking for him and ordered him to bring their ship alongside the Wavebreaker.
• A uniformed man swung aboard from the Wavebreaker and asked whether Victor was Viscount Victor.

Victor met Viscount Sonanda, commander of the Great Oak Territory Coastal Defense Fleet, who tested Victor’s strength with a handshake and then apologized for his disrespect. Sonanda revealed that Count Black had sent him about the plan he had discussed with Victor, and the fleets began maneuvering as they went to talk.

• Victor stopped Captain Brox and the guards from restraining Sonanda, then introduced himself.
• Sonanda challenged Victor with a crushing handshake, but Victor overpowered him and released him.
• Sonanda apologized and explained that Lord Black had told him to treat Victor with respect.
• Victor accepted the apology and invited Sonanda and Captain Brox into the cabin to discuss Count Black’s plan.
• Sonanda signaled his fleet, which changed formation and sailed alongside Victor’s fleet.

Victor and Viscount Sonanda chose Rotten Tree Beach as the landing point for next year’s campaign against the Coalition of Nobles in the Eastern Region. Sonanda planned to report the arrangement to Count Black, setting the allies’ invasion and encirclement strategy in motion.

• Viscount Sonanda showed Victor several concealed ports and coastal sites maintained or monitored by Count Black, many of which matched locations Brox had identified.
• Victor praised Sonanda’s knowledge of the coast, then asked Brox to present a different landing site.
• Brox explained the weaknesses of Rotten Tree Beach, and Sonanda recognized it as an ideal invasion point that the Coastal Defense Fleet rarely patrolled.
• Victor and Sonanda agreed that Victor’s forces would land at Rotten Tree Beach next year and advance through neighboring territories to strike the Coalition of Nobles from within while Count Black’s forces attacked from outside.
• Sonanda prepared to return to Sunset City and report the finalized plan to Count Black.

Victor spoke with Viscount Sonanda, who revealed that Count Black had sent him to give Victor fifteen Coastal Defense Fleet ships and their crews. Sonanda’s son Sodoma would command the fleet as it joined Victor’s forces.

• Victor thanked Viscount Sonanda and asked him to send his regards to Count Black, whose declining health saddened Sonanda.
• Sonanda summoned his eldest son, Sodoma, and introduced him as an experienced sailor and naval fighter.
• Sonanda explained that Count Black had ordered him to give Victor fifteen well-maintained ships and their sailors.
• Sonanda assigned Sodoma to command the gifted fleet, and Victor accepted the ships and thanked him.
• Sodoma saluted Victor, corrected his disrespectful form of address after Sonanda rebuked him, and returned to his ship.

Victor received the Coastal Defense Fleet’s ships and elite sailors from Viscount Sonanda, who explained that Count Black had arranged for their families to join them later. After Sonanda departed, Victor invited Sodoma aboard and defeated him in an arm-wrestling match, confirming that he had also beaten Sonanda.

• The Wavebreaker and fourteen ships joined Victor’s fleet, while Viscount Sonanda explained that Count Black had selected the sailors and would arrange for their families to move to Victor’s territory.
• Sonanda said Sunset City was building a larger replacement Wavebreaker, then departed after telling Victor he hoped to fight beside him next year.
• Victor watched the Coastal Defense Fleet sail away and said he would protect Brando to repay Count Black’s favor.
• Victor invited Sodoma aboard the Wavebreaker, and Sodoma asked whether Victor had beaten Sonanda at arm wrestling.
• Victor arm-wrestled Sodoma and slammed his hand onto the table, leaving Sodoma impressed and admitting that Sonanda could not match him.

Sodoma told Victor how his illegitimate birth, his father’s loyalty to Count Black, and the Civil War had kept him from becoming a noble. After meeting Victor, Sodoma understood Count Black’s plan and said he admired Victor’s rise.

• Sodoma explained that his mother had died when he was young and that his grandfather refused to recognize him as a member of the Hawthorn family.
• Sodoma recounted how his father became Count Black’s trusted deputy and later inherited the family title while trying to earn Sodoma an independent noble title.
• Sodoma said he and his father joined the Civil War out of gratitude to Count Black, but their accumulated merits were spent covering the Hawthorn family’s punishment after their defeat.
• Sodoma described how the war strained his relationship with his father and how they struggled to support Count Black while Brando was still young.
• Sodoma said he realized Victor was part of Count Black’s solution for Great Oak Territory and praised Victor’s rise, while Victor voiced confidence in Count Colt and victory in the Civil War.

Sodoma explained why he wanted to leave the Coastal Defense Fleet and become Victor’s retainer, and Victor formally accepted him. Sodoma also revealed that Count Black had transferred old ships and surplus sailors to Victor while Great Oak Territory built a stronger fleet.

• Sodoma said he wanted his younger brother to inherit Hawthorn Territory and hoped to earn his own noble title through his efforts.
• Sodoma praised Victor’s shipyards and ships, then knelt and asked to join his command as a retainer.
• Victor accepted Sodoma and charged him with becoming a great naval commander and conquering the seas for the Golden Sunflower banner.
• Sodoma explained that Great Oak Territory was building new ships despite the duchy’s restrictions, and Count Black had given Victor old vessels and surplus sailors.
• Sodoma returned to the Wavebreaker to command the fleet, while Victor thanked him and wished him safety.

Victor’s fleet prepared for the strong winds expected along the Suffolk County coast, while Sodoma and Captain Brox reorganized the ships to support one another. In Silver Maple City, Grand Duke Mora decided to send the Fifth Legion south to deal with the rebels while Eastern Region nobles defended Sextus County.

• Victor learned from Sodoma and Captain Brox that calm seas would likely be followed by strong winds, but both sailors assured him the fleet could find safe anchorage along the coast.
• Sodoma and Captain Brox mixed the fleet’s twenty-nine ships into a formation where the crews could support one another.
• Count Lagos reported to Grand Duke Mora that Count Black’s punitive army had been dissolved after its defeat.
• Viscount Borey proposed sending the Fifth Legion south to support the fight against the Golden Sunflower Territory rebels, since it would struggle to retake White Earth City.
• Count Lagos suggested that Eastern Region nobles defend Sextus County, and Mora approved the plan.

Mora approved a plan to leave Count Lloyd to the nobles of Cornwall County while the Fourth Legion recovered. Borey and Kimberley then secured orders for the Fifth Legion to march against Golden Sunflower Territory next spring, though Kimberley warned that his depleted forces needed rebuilding first.

• Mora accepted Borey's advice to alert the nobles of Cornwall County about Count Lloyd's return instead of deploying the Fourth Legion.
• Borey told Lagos that he and Kimberley wanted the Fifth Legion to attack Golden Sunflower Territory because its location, army, and regional allies made it a serious threat.
• Lagos promised to arrange funds for winter clothing for the Fifth Legion in Sextus County.
• Kimberley read the message from Silver Maple City and told Rasul that the Fifth Legion would head south next spring rather than reclaim the fallen lands of Sextus County.
• Kimberley explained that Count Black's punitive force had disbanded after two viscount families were wiped out, then ordered Rasul to rebuild the damaged Second Regiment.

Count Colt learned of the Fifth Legion’s movement and strengthened his support for Victor, while Viscount Ferry returned to Cornwall County with arms and called Xibro back to the Ironvine Legion. Victor’s ship crossed the storm zone and was expected to reach home within three days.

• Alex told Count Colt that the remaining Fifth Legion forces were moving to Sextus County, and Colt ordered him to uncover their real objective.
• Count Colt instructed Alex to give the Honeysuckle family another thousand gold coins and military supplies, and to transfer Green Oak Territory and a development territory to Victor.
• Count Colt ordered Alex to strengthen the Fifth Legion’s officer corps and elite troops so the Iron Birch Family could maintain control of its Barbarian soldiers.
• Viscount Ferry returned to Cornwall County, persuaded Xibro to rejoin the army, and showed him wagons of high-quality iron armor for the Ironvine Legion.
• Blox reported to Victor that his ship had crossed the storm zone and remained on course, leaving at most three days of sailing before home.

After the fleet emerged from the storm, Victor ordered repairs and aid for the damaged ships and injured serfs. Golden Transport No. 5 was saved, but dozens of crewmen and serfs remained missing as the fleet paused to search and inspect its vessels.

• Victor ordered Captain Brox and Sodoma to assess damage, check on the serfs, and distribute hot chamomile tea.
• Sodoma joined Victor and Captain Brox, and a sailor reported that Golden Transport No. 5 was badly damaged and its serfs had suffered casualties.
• Captain Brox and Sodoma led shipwrights in repairing Golden Transport No. 5 while its serfs were transferred to other vessels and Victor treated the injured.
• The fleet's crew used hand-operated piston pumps and plugged the breach, saving Golden Transport No. 5 by dusk.
• Sodoma reported that sixteen crewmen and thirty-eight serfs were missing, and Victor ordered further inspections and small-boat searches before the fleet resumed its voyage.

Victor’s fleet rescued eight survivors from a storm, reached Sea Song Town, and arranged for the serfs and ships to be unloaded. Victor then headed upriver toward Wood Fort Town and met James at Riverside Village.

• Victor’s fleet rescued eight survivors from Golden Transport No. 5, and Victor rewarded the sailor who had saved them with ten gold coins and training under Blox.
• Three days later, Victor’s fleet arrived at Sea Song Town, where Captain Jack welcomed him and reported on the new ships and the Great Fish River’s ice.
• Victor assigned Blox to oversee unloading, had Vincent arrange the serfs’ settlement, and directed Sodoma’s fleet to dock at Sea Song Town.
• Victor and Captain Jack sailed west upstream toward Wood Fort Town, with trackers helping tow the ship through low-water stretches.
• Victor reached Riverside Village the next morning and reunited with James, who had been sent by Uncle Wembley to welcome him.

Victor returned to Wood Fort Town by ship, discussed plans for the fleet and new recruits, and reunited with his family and Veronica at the docks. He left the docks embracing Veronica as Lady Ellie urged them all to go home.

• James met Victor and told him that Baron Brown and Viscount Marcus were well, that a barbarian tribe with over three hundred light cavalry had joined them, and that he wanted Victor to meet Sura, Baron Purple Clover's third son.
• Victor chose to continue by ship, and James used packhorses to help tow it toward Wood Fort Town before riding ahead to notify the town.
• Captain Jack told Victor he was willing to hand naval warfare duties to Sodoma, and Victor said they would discuss transferring the warships after they met.
• As the ship approached the docks in falling snow, Victor saw his parents, younger brother, younger sisters, and Veronica waiting for him.
• Veronica ran to the end of the pier, and Victor leaped from the ship to reach her, wrapped his cloak around her, and embraced her.
• Lady Ellie interrupted their reunion and told them to go home because it was cold and crowded at the docks.

Victor reunited with his family at the dock after returning to Wood Fort Town, while his father worried over the dangerous mission Victor had undertaken. During the carriage ride home, Victor and Veronica set aside talk of work and kissed.

• Victor sent Veronica back to the carriage and arranged for the guards and ship’s cargo to return to the manor.
• Victor found Wembley waiting in the snow, and Wembley checked that his son was unharmed before warning him not to tell Ally about the interception mission.
• Victor and Wembley discussed the strain of managing the territory’s departments, and Victor recognized that the current system needed to change.
• Wembley caught Enlek hiding beneath a carriage bench and took him and Irene to the other carriage.
• Veronica clung to Victor’s arm when he tried to discuss research, then moved into his embrace, and they kissed.

Victor returned to the estate with Veronica and joined his family for a warm banquet before speaking privately with Wembley about his dangerous expedition. Wembley approved of Victor’s actions but urged him to consider his responsibilities and revealed that he had arranged for Veronica’s family to come so they could hold the wedding.

• Victor and Veronica arrived at the estate, where Irene hurried Veronica inside to join the waiting family.
• Victor took the seat of honor at dinner while Veronica, Lady Ellie, and Irene chatted and teased him about his childhood.
• After the banquet, Wembley took Victor to the study and scolded him for risking his life and losing eleven of his forty-seven guards.
• Victor apologized and recounted the expedition, including the interception operation and the defeat of the vanguard army.
• Wembley praised Victor’s achievements, asked him to be more careful, and said he had invited Benjamin’s family to arrange Victor and Veronica’s wedding.