Game of the Monarch

‘Ah! Come to think of it, I did say I’d give her a chance to contribute during the war.’

Milton had given orders to Jerome, someone he was familiar with, but he could just as easily have given the same order to Princess Violet. Chasing a retreating enemy was one of the most safest missions that could be given to a cavalry, and would help rack up military achievements as well. Thinking it would be a good opportunity to check the ability of his ally, Milton nodded his head.

“Very well. Jerome, Princess Violet and her Knights will be going with you. Make sure you watch over them.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Milton made sure to ask this of Jerome. At this time, there was something Milton hadn’t realized; Princess Violet wasn’t someone who needed to be watched over. 

“Charge!! Charge!! Charge!!!”

A clear and high-pitched voice rang across the battlefield. 

Princess Violet rode out to the front of the other cavalry. 

“Princess Violet, you’ve gone out too far. Please return back to the ranks.”

Jerome loudly shouted after her. But…

“Charge! The entire cavalry will follow me!!”

Princess Violet rode forward without concern. As soon as the command dropped from her mouth, the Knights of Florence Principality all stepped out of their ranks and followed after her.

“Don’t fall behind!”

“Do not fall behind the princess!”

“Grit your teeth and run after her. Do not fall behind!”

The Knights of Florence Principality all said the same thing to each other at Princess Violet’s daredevil charge — We can’t fall behind…

Rather than worrying about the enemy, they were all afraid they wouldn’t be able to follow after the Princess as she recklessly charged forward. They knew that if they didn’t follow her, then Princess Violet would rush into the enemy camp alone.

‘They’re only 50 cavalrymen… wouldn’t it be too dangerous?’

Jerome hesitated for a moment.

Even if it was a safe mission where they were only pursuing a retreating enemy, it was still a dangerously small number of troops charging forward. Although he could tell they were all Elite Knights at a glance, it was still risky. As long as the princess of a country was taking lead in an attack, it was necessary to be cautious and pay attention to safety. 

‘Not to mention, My Lord also said something…’

Jerome made up his mind and also rode forward. 

“Squad 2 and Squad 3 will follow me. We’ll be covering them.”

“Yes, sir!!”

“Yes, sir!!”

But before Jerome could reach her and her knights, Princess Violet’s knights caught up to the enemy forces and began to attack.

“Die!”

“Go die, you Republican dogs!”

Crack! Slice! Crunch!

The bloody sound of breaking bones and cutting through flesh resonated throughout the battleground. The Knights of Florence Principality ran headfirst into the enemy and unilaterally annihilated them. 

“Gaughhh!”

“R… retreat… kuh…”

Under Florence Principality’s Knights’ attacks, the Republican army fell without being able to fight back. Jerome couldn’t help but admire the Knights of Florence Principality as he watched them overwhelm the Republican army; it was like watching a wave crash over a sand castle. 

‘They really are the elite.’

“Die, you Republican bastards!!”

It seemed like there was no need to worry about their allies now.

Jerome jumped into the fray a beat later. 

“We can’t fall behind either!”

“Ahhhhh!!”

Crack! Clang! Pow!

With a clamorous noise, the Republican army’s rear was completely destroyed.

***

“The damages to our allies are too great.”

“Ugh… Second Company will follow me. We will stabilize our rear.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was true that they were retreating, but the damage to the Republican Army was too great. 

And so, someone from the Republican side decided to respond. That someone was a mid-level commander who decided to try and confront the enemy attacking the rear of the Republican Army with a full Company. 

This was a very difficult task. They would have to go to the rear of their army and block the enemy’s attack while trying to stop their momentum. 

If he was to succeed, then the number of soldiers that would survive would greatly increase. However, the survival rate of himself and the men he commanded would drastically decrease. In other words, the person who took this role had one of two reasons. He was either a person who was confident in his skills, or he was someone who was prepared to die. This particular man was the former. 

“Follow Lieutenant Torion!”

“We will save our allies! Assist the Second Company and the Lieutenant!”

Lieutenant Torion was an outstanding and very skilled field commander who had reached the intermediate Expert level. He was also highly trusted by his men and it showed. Because they trusted him, a significant number of soldiers, excluding the ordered Second Company, also decided to join him. 

‘It’s worth it. Let’s change the flow here.’

Encouraged by his men’s active cooperation, Lieutenant Torion turned to look at the enemy with a cold gaze. In order to stop the enemy’s pursuit here, then…

‘That Lady Knight is the commander.’

Lieutenant Torion focused on Princess Violet who was madly rushing towards them. He turned his horse before speaking. 

“The Lady Knight over there! Reveal your name!”

In the midst of defeating the enemy soldiers, Princess Violet turned to meet Lieutenant Torion’s charge. She fiercely shouted at him.

“I am Princess Violet ron Florence of Florence Principality.”

Lieutenant Torion flinched at her response. She was more important than he had thought.

‘This is even better.’

He sneered at her before speaking.

“Hahaha… Who knew I’d fight against a princess of a kingdom one day. I should make sure I capture you alive. You can console and comfort the soldiers of our Republican army.”

It was a vulgar and savage provocation, but Lieutenant Torion had been purposefully callous with it. The opponent was a princess. It seemed like she had mastered the sword quite a bit, but still, as a princess, she would have grown up being pampered and protected in a royal castle. So, he was deliberately sleazy and crude. It was most likely that the princess had never heard such provocation in her life. He purposefully said those words thinking that if those words got under her skin and humiliated her as a female, then it might distract her from her cold focus and lure her in. But…

“What?! You XX bastard, is your mouth full of XXX XX? You XX X XXX XX XXX XXXXX X…

Pouring out of Princess Violet’s mouth were curses that not even mercenaries would use. 

‘What? Didn’t she say she was a princess?’

‘What’s this? I thought she was a princess?’

At this moment, most of the people there, both enemies and allies, were all thinking the same thing. The only exceptions were the Princess’s Knights and Milton.

‘She’s starting again.’

‘Damn it, she’s furious.’

‘How do we calm her down?’

The Knights of Florence Principality who knew Princess Violet thought this, while one person thought something else…

“What amazing rhyme.”

That person was Milton who was watching from afar. 

***

“You stop right there, you XX asshole!”

Princess Violet immediately rushed her horse forward towards the enemy who had provoked her. 

Lieutenant Torion, who had been embarrassed by the unexpected barrage of profanity, responded immediately. Although the process was different from expectations, the enemy was incited by his taunt and was rushing towards him; it was exactly what he had wanted. 

“Come at me!”

The two ran towards each other as auras visibly surged out from their swords. And then…

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

“Die!!”

Clang!!

Their first clash sparked magnificently.

“Kugh…”

“Ugh…”

The horses they were riding on could not withstand the intense collision and were pushed back. But…

“Ahhhhh!!”

The first one to recover from that exchange was Princess Violet.  She regained her balance and charged forward again. Princess Violet swung her sword as if she was possessed by a god. 

Lieutenant Torion quickly tried to block her attack.

‘Guh… what is this? Who is this crazy bitch?’

Lieutenant Torion thought he was going to go insane trying to fight against her. Although he hadn’t underestimated his opponent’s skills, he thought it would still be doable. He believed that no matter how highly talented she was, it would not necessarily mean that she would be able to apply that on an actual battlefield. 

In fact, there were many cases where Knights who had trained hard ended up dying quickly and ridiculously once they were on an actual battlefield.  In some cases, the knights had been too nervous to demonstrate and utilize their skills and in other cases, they couldn’t adapt to the unusual circumstances of war and were blindly killed by a sword. Inevitably, a certain amount of experience was needed not to die foolishly like this. 

Lieutenant Torion never thought a princess like Princess Violet would have such experiences. Who would have ever thought that? It was natural to think that as a princess of a country, she would have zero practical experience. But reality was different. Princess Violet was ridiculously skilled and experienced in an actual battle. No, it was more than being experienced, she was insane.

When an enemy horseman tried to intervene from the side, Princess Violet threw her shield at him and cracked his head open. Then, when another soldier tried to stab her with a spear, she grabbed the spear and pulled the soldier toward her while simultaneously kicking him in the face. Then, she took that stolen spear and threw it at Lieutenant Torion. Taking the chance while he was distracted, she rushed toward him again. And…

“Go die!”

That one strike full of bloodlust and madness exerted a terrifying momentum.  

“Damn, what kind of princess is this?!”

Lieutenant Torion thought he had fallen into a trap. If this was a princess, then he was an emperor. 

Each attack was lethal and he couldn’t help but be pushed back. There was no chance for him to reverse the flow of the battle. Not only that, but the knights who had followed their princess were also quite strong and elite adversaries; they were a problem on their own. 

“Deal with the people surrounding the Princess!”

“Ignore that bastard, the Princess will deal with him!”

“The newbie over there! Don’t get close to the Princess! You’ll be swallowed up by her!”

How should it be said? It seemed like the knights were very used to this situation. They knew exactly what to do in a situation where the Princess was running around wildly. The knights were steadily cleaning up their surroundings and the damages to his subordinates were too great.

‘It can’t be helped. This is my limit. I can’t do more than this.’

Lieutenant Torion had moved to the rear of the Republican army in order to try to reduce the damages to the army, but this was his limit. 

The more time he spent here, the more damages his own men would incur. 

“We’re retreating! Don’t look back and retreat!”

Still, since he had bought the main army some time, he had achieved something at least. And…

‘The main goal on a battlefield isn’t to win, but to survive.’

As long as you were alive, then someday, you could win. 

Unlike the knights who regarded retreating as something shameful, the Republican soldiers didn’t feel ashamed of retreating. Instead, they felt confident in retreating. Lieutenant Torion, who had experienced something much worse than this before, even thought this was a situation where he could survive. However...

“Where do you think you’re going, you bastard?!”

Princess Violet ran her horse and followed after him recklessly. Despite knowing her Knights were busy fighting and could not follow her, she went chasing after Lieutenant Torion without worry. 

“Princess Violet! It’s too much for you to pursue him more.”

From the back, Jerome tried to stop Princess Violet from pursuing Lieutenant Torion. 

Even if she was confident in her skills, she was still going too deeply into the enemy’s ranks. But…

“Stop right there, you bastard! Stop! I’m telling you to stop! Stooop!!!”

Princess Violet was deaf to everyone else’s words. Princess Violet’s reckless behavior eventually led to a dangerous situation. 

“Now’s the chance!”

“Surround her! Block her in!”

When she went in too deep, the Republican infantry rushed to surround her. For a moment, her horse couldn’t move any further because of the assault. A soldier took that chance to quickly move forward and stabbed Princess Violet’s horse on the side. 

Stab!

“Neighhhh!!”

The horse collapsed with a high-pitched sound.

Seeing the horse fall, the soldiers’ eyes glowed fiendishly.  

“Kill her! No, capture her!”

“We’ll be greatly rewarded if we catch this hellcat… gah!”

Usually, knights who fell from their horses were the focused target of foot soldiers. If they were lucky, the knights might even be crushed by the horse when it fell. However, almost as if she was used to it, Princess Violet perfectly timed her jump off the horse as it fell. She swung her sword at the infantry that were rushing towards her. 

“Move, you bastards!!”

Her sword moved dizzyingly through the air and each time, blood flew through the air. 

“Gak!”

“Kuh…”

All the Republican soldiers who had run towards her in high-spirits quickly fell in hordes.