THE PRICE OF WAR [Taka x Reader]

XXI. Bad Omen

"Burn it down"

"My lord...?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

Dryon gripped Rudryn's letter so tightly that he was unconsciously crumpling it.

"Yes, my lord..." said the messenger, who had just returned from Hayltel "But I don't understand why that decision is due"

"I need faithful allies who share my same ideals, not calves that agree with me on everything. And this boor has no idea what even the word 'ideal' means" he mused as he looked at Rudryn's handwriting in disgust.

"You're right, my lord" replied the messenger in an excessively flattering voice "That man read your letter and I had to urge him to write back. It's clear that he doesn't understand or care in the least about your mission, my lord"

"His own people will pay the consequences for his disrespect" he decided as he threw the letter into the fireplace "Warn the soldiers. Go back to the hamlet and burn it overnight. Let no one be left alive. It's the wielder of the Great Power's home, so when she finds out that her beloved village has been razed she will have no choice but to join us"

"Understood, sir"

"And keep looking for her. I want her here as soon as possible"

The messenger left after a bow and Dryon stood alone in the room, contemplating the flames of the bonfire and imagining the disaster that he himself had just caused with a simple order.

Meanwhile, in Hayltel, Major Guldyn was living with Erymid in a wooden little house they built close to the walls. He was following your steps as he concentrated on your hair strands while Erymid was sat down looking at the top of the mountains spreading in the horizon.

"They are bordering lake Kagami... And it seems that both of them are fine. But... How strange, I don't see Duymir anywhere, Erymid..."

He looked at her but realized that she hadn't been listening to him in a while. She was holding the necklace Yusuke-senzo had given her.

"Guldyn... Have you ever been in love?"

Major Guldyn flushed instantly.

"Well... Yes, I guess so"

"Don't get me wrong... Of course I care about girls and every night I pray to Amur and Resza to watch over them. But I also pray for someone else... Someone my heart can't stop thinking about. How stupid of me for not noticing before!"

Major Guldyn raised an eyebrow, confused by her words.

"I should have told him I loved him..." she regretted.

"Oh, that's what this is all about..." he realized "Both mother and daughter in love with a soldier"

Erymid laughed.

"Yes, her mother was also a hopeless romantic..."

He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Everything will be fine in the end, you'll see. They will come back home one day"