Although the Rulson Kingdom's army had sent the Candel Empire's forces fleeing in utter defeat on the battlefield, once General McHale had led his surviving troops three hundred kilometers back into Candel Empire territory, the Rulson Kingdom immediately chose to withdraw, with no intention of pursuing them any farther.
After withdrawing from the Candel Empire, the Rulson Kingdom merely reinforced its border defenses and took no further action.
The Candel Empire likewise fell silent after its two crushing defeats.
Peace returned to the border between the two countries, as though the earlier battles had never happened.
But everyone knew perfectly well that this peace was only an illusion.
As one of the continent's two great empires, the Candel Empire had now suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a small country like the Rulson Kingdom. If it failed to restore its dignity, its standing throughout the Sains Continent would be seriously affected.
The Candel Empire would therefore certainly return, and this time, it would not underestimate the Rulson Kingdom as it had on the previous two occasions.
Everyone believed that, given the Candel Empire's vastly greater national strength, it might suffer one or two setbacks against the Rulson Kingdom, but ultimately crushing the kingdom would pose no problem.
Of course, preparing for that would take some time.
By the time the second clash between the two countries ended, it was already winter of year 3789 of the continent calendar.
The weather elsewhere on the Sains Continent had already begun to turn noticeably cooler. Although the Malo Empire in the north of the continent covered an enormous territory, most of the country had already begun to feel winter's chill.
Marquis Southgate's private fief lay in the southwestern part of the Malo Empire, relatively close to the center of the continent.