Chapter 500: Trouble Brewing Back Home

"You’re coming with me, Marco," General Duran said in a tone that wouldn’t take no for an answer.

The Viscount of Frontera frowned. Duran didn’t come alone and had the three other generals trailing behind him.

"Am I being punished for failing to negotiate with the Barbarians and the Beastkins?" Marco asked.

He had just returned from his meeting with the invaders from the west. Just as he had expected, they had no intention of negotiating with the Kingdom of Britannia.

Marco knew his mission was doomed from the start, but he still tried his best. Turning down the task could’ve had worse consequences than just his rank dropping into that of a baron.

He knew the King of Britannia didn’t like him and was purposely making things difficult for him. As much as he didn’t want to be demoted, he could only accept it with an internal sigh.

"I came here to escort you to the capital city," General Duran replied. "It’s the King’s orders."

"Does he want to demote me to a baron that badly?" Marco smiled wryly. "I guess I have no choice but to go, huh?"

The Vermilion Bird General hesitated for a brief moment before asking Marco a serious question.

"Viscount Frontera, do you know the current Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe?" General Vogel asked.

"General, are you talking about the chieftain of the barbarians who hindered our march to the Borderlands?" Marco asked back, making sure that his face was as calm as the surface of a lake.

"Yes." General Vogel nodded.

Marco smiled faintly. "I believe he called himself Lellouche Vi Britannia."

"Well, I have news for you," General Duran interjected. "A report just came in. According to the eyewitness, the one who led the Aslan Tribe in the war against us... was none other than your son, Leone Frontera."

Marco’s eyes widened in shock.

He wasn’t shocked to learn that his son was the leader of the Aslan Tribe.

He was shocked to learn that the Kingdom of Britannia got this information. How? Didn’t they already retreat from the Borderlands?

Seeing the genuine shock on his face, the generals were convinced that he really didn’t know about his son’s current standing.

"Enough." General Duran moved quickly to bind Marco’s hands with magical shackles. "You’re coming with me to the capital. To be frank, I still have doubts about your son being that masked man we encountered in the Borderlands. However, if it is true, prepare yourself to receive the royal treatment."

Of course, this royal treatment didn’t mean that Marco would be treated like royalty. No. Instead, he would be treated as a state prisoner, and the chances of him being tortured were high.

Marco gritted his teeth, but he didn’t make any move to resist his capture. He understood that Duran was still being nice to him right now.

If he really tried to resist, he would immediately be beaten up and knocked unconscious.

What the generals didn’t know was that when Marco gritted his teeth, he also ground his molars together.

His wife had placed a special enchantment there, which he was supposed to activate during emergencies.

Truth be told, they had already considered that Leone’s identity might be exposed during the war.

As such, they already considered the possibility of their family being taken hostage by the royal family.

While they had made contingency plans to deal with any situation, it was impossible for Marco to defy the decree of heading to the battlefield.

With that in mind, Helen devised a few ways her husband could pass a message to her without arousing suspicion.

Somewhere in the Frontera Viscounty...

Helen, reading her daughter Elizabeth a bedtime story, suddenly felt heat radiate from the back of her hand.

At the sight of the rune on the back of her hand, her face immediately turned grim.

"Zero, come!" Helen ordered, not caring that her daughter was currently by her side.

A man wearing a black robe and a mask hiding their face appeared before Helen.

"My lady?" The one who went by the name Zero bowed his head respectfully.

"We’re executing Plan A," Helen ordered.

"As you command, My Lady," Zero replied before disappearing once more.

"Mama? Who’s that?" Elizabeth asked. "He’s scary."

Helen kissed her daughter’s forehead and carried her in her arms.

"Good night, Eliza," Helen said, covering her daughter’s eyes with her hand. "Time to sleep."

The little girl yawned before leaning her head on her mother’s shoulder. Helen used a spell that put people weaker than her to sleep, which she really didn’t want to use on her daughter.

However, the circumstances didn’t allow hesitation.

She had already prepared herself for an emergency evacuation, including the carriage that would be used, as well as the route her family would be taking.

Right now, the only family members at their home were her daughter, Elizabeth, and her son, Alphonse.

After leaving through the front door of the house, she found Alphonse already waiting outside of the carriage with a serious expression on his face.

"Please enter, Mother," Alphonse said as he opened the door of the carriage.

Helen nodded and entered without saying a word. Right now, time was of the essence. The sooner they left the residence, the safer they would be.

Under the cover of the night, a lone carriage left the viscount’s residence.

However, not far from it, several assassins were already on the move, monitoring the surroundings.

Helen then handed her daughter to Alphonse before taking out a communication crystal to talk to her grandfather, who was currently in the Helion Duchy.

She informed him that Marco had sent her a distress signal, telling him that her husband had been captured.

The carriage moved normally while it was still inside the city. But the moment they passed through the gate and moved farther away from the site of the watchmen, it picked up speed, heading southwest.

Their destination?

Stoneguard Fortress.

Since all the troops stationed there had already moved to block the path of the invading army of Barbarians and Beastkins, it was the safest place to go.

As for the fortress itself, Helen was confident that her people could handle the rest.

She didn’t know what happened to her husband or her son, Edward, who was with him. All she knew was that her husband had been captured and had asked her to escape with the rest of their family.

When the lights of the communication crystal finally dimmed, Helen looked outside the window of the carriage.

Her eyes glowed with a red color, mirroring the wrath rising inside her heart.

"Goddess Aine, please have mercy on my husband..." Helen prayed. "Please keep him safe."

Alphonse, who heard his mother’s prayer, held his sleeping sister a little tighter.

His eyes also glowed faintly red. He vowed that if anything happened to his father and brother, he would personally tear the King of Britannia apart... even if it was the last thing he did in this world.

As the Frontera Family fled toward Stoneguard Fortress, Edward, who had slipped away under the cover of darkness, was being pursued by scouts from the Britannian Army.

All they had ever wanted was to live a happy and peaceful life. And yet, the hateful king who had exiled Leone was now threatening to tear their family apart.

They had no idea that, at that very moment, Leone had just returned from his campaign in Eden.

He still wasn’t aware that trouble was brewing back home, and that the Frontera Family was about to face one of the greatest challenges of their lives.