As the saying went, the moment you thought of defecting to the Reds, the whole world suddenly opened up.
The moment Major General Marlow embraced the idea of surrendering... no, pledging his allegiance to Prince Chris, he discovered that everything troubling him had ceased to be a problem.
Once they were no longer enemies, the elite Foot Knights outside the city would no longer try to cut him down. As for the food shortage inside the city, judging by how lavishly the prince recruited men, Prince Chris clearly had a way to obtain enough food, and stinginess plainly had little to do with him.
Once he joined the prince, feeding an entire city of starving people would no longer be Marlow's responsibility.
And when he really examined the matter, there was nothing preventing Marlow Benson from joining Prince Chris.
Most importantly, the Benson Family had not participated in overthrowing the Royal Family.
That gave Marlow's plan a viable foundation.
The councilors of Ankandela had fled earlier mainly because they had no other choice and did not dare join the prince. When the Royal Family had been forced to flee, even if they had not been the main instigators, they had certainly helped kick them while they were down.
For instance, as far as Marlow knew, properties in Ankandela that had originally belonged to the Royal Family were now registered in their names.
The thought excited Marlow. He quickly fetched a pen and paper and began scribbling.
Marlow's pen scratched rapidly across the paper, while the candlelight cast his shadow onto the mottled stone wall.
He suddenly stopped writing, and ink spread into a dark blot beneath the heading "List of royal assets."
"Clerk!"
He called toward the door. An old man in a robe, his back perpetually hunched, pushed it