When the first breath of spring crossed the southern mountains and brushed against Prye City, the ice and snow began to melt. Water dripped endlessly from the eaves day and night; snow on the streets turned to mud, then was packed hard beneath the feet of passersby and the wheels of carts. The people of the Royal Capital shed their heavy winter clothes and stepped outside, feeling the growing warmth in the air. The willows by the moat had already put forth tender green buds, swaying gently in the breeze as though announcing the arrival of a brand-new season.
Yet in stark contrast to this springtime scene of all things stirring back to life was the increasingly tense atmosphere of war.
The Principality of Walternia's war mobilization did not slow with the passing of winter. Instead, it accelerated. Intelligence Bureau reports showed that the Duke of Walternia had assembled an army of more than thirty thousand men and had received secret support from an eastern grand duchy. Their vanguard had already begun advancing toward the border front, and a full-scale invasion was expected by mid-April, or May at the latest. Every Beacon Tower along the border had been lit, and sentries watched every movement in the south day and night.
The war preparations Lord Karl had laid out the previous winter were being carried out in an orderly fashion. The fortifications of the Southern Military District had been reinforced, and its stockpiled provisions and ammunition were enough to sustain more than half a year of consumption. Elite troops transferred from the north and central regions had been organized into two mobile corps, commanded respectively by Roland and Lyon. They had completed their assembly and training and could deploy to the frontline at any moment. Craftsmen in the armories worked around