Sagamil Valley lay at the center of the seven duchies, and their secret meeting was held there. Although all Seven Grand Duchies intended to join forces against Brettel City, their mutual suspicions meant that not a single duke dared visit another duchy.
Thus, the seven dukes eventually converged on Sagamil Valley with their armies. Their main forces were stationed temporarily on the plains outside the valley, while the seven grand dukes gathered inside with their elite experts.
Sagamil Valley was filled with flowers, grass, and ancient trees. Under the warm sunlight, a simple tent had been erected on a flat stretch beside a stream in the center of the valley. Inside the spacious tent, the dukes of the Seven Grand Duchies were secretly discussing something with their experts.
Dense ranks of knights guarded the tent, which was covered in layer upon layer of magic barriers. With all seven grand dukes gathered inside, any mishap would deal a fatal blow to the Seven Grand Duchies.
Inside the tent, the seven grand dukes argued endlessly, primarily over command of the allied army, their battle plans, and the division of the spoils. They had been fighting bitterly among themselves before this. Even though they had gathered here because of Brettel City, their battlefield anger had yet to subside. Naturally, dukes who had been enemies had no pleasant expressions for one another.
Helen Tina of the Xilun Duchy had been extremely irritable lately. She had lost her former dazzling radiance and looked noticeably more haggard.
The news that Han Shuo had raped her had inadvertently spread throughout the Seven Grand Duchies, turning Helen Tina into an object of ridicule overnight. Everyone looked at her with a trace of something strange in their eyes, and those looks made her deeply uncomfortable.
Grand Duke Benedict Sackville