Chapter 46 A Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter Throughout the conversation, she kept clutching her six...

Time flew by, and the battle situation became increasingly unpredictable.

Some of Andra's troops had merged with the rest of the army, and the people at the post station dared not get too close to the scouts, so the intelligence they received was somewhat inaccurate.

According to battle reports, Andra's soldiers are gathering in greater numbers, and she is no longer concealing her presence, beginning to actively show herself on the battlefield.

This must be a trap; she'd love for you to come and hit her.

Not only Eleanor thought so, but Myrcella's advisors and ministers from both the blue and green factions also thought so.

Logically speaking, they didn't let the king confront the enemy head-on, but instead sent a small contingent of noble private soldiers to probe Andra's flank.

There was no need for further testing; everyone vanished as if they had disappeared into the sea.

If there had been more survivors, it might not have been so frightening. The fact that no one survived was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Myrcella's enthusiasm for leading the expedition.

A few days later, the queen returned to the capital with her most elite troops.

"Sister, how could you come back at this critical moment!"

Eleanor didn't show any displeasure at the victory banquet. But when Myrcella arrived at the meeting room and the door closed, she couldn't help but curse out loud in front of her close advisors.

"Andra's forces are almost all assembled. She's eating our food and drinking our water, and she's even plundering the local grain! Ha—the city lords begged you for help, and you...you just came back like that?!"

In his previous life, Andra never lacked supplies during his wars.

Eleanor was very generous to the soldiers, providing them with generous salaries, meals, clothing, and lodging, as well as literacy classes, matchmaking events, and nurseries for their children.

The more victorious Andra becomes, the better the domestic situation becomes, and the more complete the infrastructure becomes, forming a positive triangular cycle.

Andra's life in this life is clearly not so easy; she leads a hungry and morally unrestrained army.

While lying in wait, they could also use caravans as cover to obtain supplies, especially food and fresh water.

But once the war began, they no longer wanted to act and could no longer continue. So, like all the troops of invaders, this army began to wreak havoc in another country.

Robbery is just the least serious of these crimes.

Eleanor cursed through gritted teeth in the meeting room, lifting the heavy parchment scroll high and slamming it heavily onto the table!

She was not only angry at Andra's unrestrained military behavior, but also at Mysera's retreat from the spot.

What kind of king would abandon his persecuted people and retreat with his army?!

"You might as well just rip that thing off your neck along with your crown and throw it away!"

After being scolded by her younger sister, Myrcella's face darkened.

She waved her arms and yelled, "It's not like I'm afraid to fight Andra! This is a tactical retreat—a roundabout tactic, you know? It's a tactic, a tactic! She's won too much right now, I'll give her a break before I go after her."

Eleanor's eyes froze completely: her sister would rather make up such a flimsy excuse than admit her cowardice. If she weren't afraid, would she have run straight back to the capital? Are all the neighboring city-states wiped out?

Seeing her sister's strange look, Misella instantly became furious. "What? Why don't you try? What are you capable of? You don't even know how to lead troops! You'll die a much worse death if you go!"

“I don’t understand…” Eleanor took a deep breath, feeling the blood rushing to her head.

“Your Majesty, I have a suggestion. Envoys have been sent from Hetuya.”

A weak voice rang out from the corner, and Eleanor recognized it without turning around—it was her sister Ophelia.

Misella's filial piety towards her sister is beyond words.

Ophelia pulled a letter from her bosom, coughed twice, and opened it in front of everyone.

This is an extremely luxurious letter.

It not only uses the best paper sold by the Marigold Merchants Association, but is also carefully wrapped in a gold- and silver-inlaid envelope. Once the letter is opened, even people a little distance away can smell the strange fragrance of ink.

Everyone gathered around her to examine the letter.

The contents and appearance of the letter were quite different, and the wording was concise. It was written in the official languages ​​of Hetuya and Norlana respectively.

Princess Eleanor, the jewel of your nation, is renowned for her virtue. Our King Andra wishes to offer her the largest ranch on our border as a dowry to marry her as his principal wife.

This simple yet formal letter was accompanied by a long roll of parchment.

It was written in flowery language, passionately describing how lonely she was and how her love for Prince Eleanor was genuine... It was a love letter.

Andra also sincerely stated on the back of the love letter:

I brought so many people with me to Norlana because I didn't want anyone to interfere with their relationship. After marrying Eleanor, she would quietly leave the country with her entourage.

She didn't say what would happen if she couldn't marry the princess, but everything was left unsaid.

Eleanor read the letter the fastest, and after finishing it, she burst into a thunderous scream: "Excuses! They're all excuses for invasion! Andra is the most unreasonable guy. Even if I marry into the country, there's no way the two countries will have a few more years of peace!"

“Then there’s nothing I can do.” Ophelia sighed softly. “If you don’t want to marry, we’ll just have to have the king send people to the front lines.”

Eleanor was speechless, choked by her words.

Yes, Andra is playing a calculated game this time. If they don't agree, then they'll settle things on the battlefield.

So, should I agree? If I agreed, she would finish eating, wipe her mouth, and immediately retreat. But she only said that this time she came to welcome the bride, not that she wouldn't come to fight next time.

She still remembers Andra's fourth queen from her previous life.

The princess's mother was the chief of a remote tribe.

The leader, who claimed to be the king, was immediately annihilated by Andra with a wave of his hand, and was so frightened that he offered up his daughter to beg for peace.

The ambitious leader felt that since his daughter had become pregnant soon after marrying Andra, Hetuya should treat her even better.

So the chieftain, who had just been appointed tribal chief by Andra, once again went back on his word and declared that he had established his own kingdom, becoming the ruler of the small country.

Andra smiled wryly upon hearing this.

Even though she had only married this leader a few months ago, and the newlywed queen was still heavily pregnant.

She also ruthlessly mobilized her troops to sweep across the "new country" again, and even excitedly cut off the head of the tribal chief, preparing to bring it back for her queen to "see her mother one last time".

Eleanor resolutely stopped Andra's extremely cruel behavior and saved the poor queen.

But now a similar cruelty may very well befall her—only this time, there will never be another "Eleanor" to stop Andra in this life.

Myrcella gave Eleanor's shoulder an impatient shake. "I said, you don't want to marry me, yet you're stopping me. What exactly do you want?"

Her daydreams were shattered by her sister.

Eleanor sighed and looked at Myrcella with unfamiliar eyes, asking, "Then what do you think I should do?"

Looking into her sister's tired eyes, Misella inexplicably swallowed the angry words she was about to say.

She sniffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and raised her voice, "Ha, forget it, just leave her to me. I'll go back to the battlefield and deal with her!"

Hey, did my sister muster up her courage again?

Eleanor looked up, a weak smile finally appearing on her face. "Okay."

...

The king returned to the battlefield to fight back, and the Nolana people regained some morale, but unfortunately, the good news they were hoping for never came.

After joining forces with their leader, the Hetuya were like a dragon with its eyes opened; they no longer fled and could defeat any attack head-on.

Eleanor put down the battle report and paced back and forth in the tent.

Delay! At this point, the only option is to delay.

Currently, there are still a few city lords in Norlana who openly betray their lords.

Andra faced a severe shortage of food supplies, and her methods of burning, killing, and looting the people were inefficient; she could not stay in Norlana for long.

She realized that it was inconvenient for Andra to raid the "cooperative" lords unless she could capture several major granaries in succession. Otherwise, her ferocious army would have to go home for dinner after only one or two months of fighting.

Um... The messenger who delivered the battle report looked troubled upon hearing this. She lowered her head and whispered, "But Your Highness... His Majesty has already made an agreement with King Andra to engage in a decisive battle on the Great Plains in three days..."

"What?!" Eleanor raised her voice. "She wants to die, doesn't she?!"

Where is the battlefield - the Great Plains?

Not far... thankfully not far!

Eleanor didn't bother arguing with anyone; she rushed to the stable, snatched the reins amidst the servants' cries of alarm, mounted her horse, and galloped away.

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness Eleanor—"

A string of horses suddenly rushed out of the stable, forming a broken line across the vast land.

Faster, faster... My sister has no idea what kind of monster Andra is!

Eleanor traveled day and night for a full day and night, finally arriving at Myrcella's camp just before the final battle began.

She couldn't wait for the repeated announcements and fell off her horse. Supported by her guards, she staggered towards the largest tent.

"Sister!" Eleanor rushed into the tent and saw a familiar figure: Myrcella had grown much taller than when she was a child, and if you ignored her childish eyes, you could say she had an imposing presence.

"Lily?" Mysella turned her head in surprise. She quickly led her sister inside and turned around so that she could admire the armor she was wearing.

"Hehe, I just realized~ it's the one you gave me last time. How does it look on me? Pretty cool, right?"

After she finished speaking, she drew the fine steel sword that Eleanor had given her with a clang and brandished it around the large tent.

“Yes, yes, it’s beautiful.” Eleanor nodded quickly.

She caught up with her sister, grabbed her wrist, and said, "Don't fall for Andra's tricks! She's too strong! The Hetuya's biggest weakness is fighting on enemy territory. You need to protect the granaries in various places and continue to drag things out with them. If necessary, you can..."

"...Enough!"

Mysella opened her mouth in disbelief to listen to a few words, but then she shook off her sister's hand.

Her face flushed red as she gasped for breath: "Huff—did you come all this way just to say this? Who sent me to deal with Andra?!"

"She and I—I've already agreed to a fair and square duel with her. If I go back on my word, what will others think of me? What will the historians record?"

It won't be recorded in history books much; this trivial matter will likely be completely forgotten in future ancient histories.

Eleanor thought to herself: If you beat Andra, the book will add a couple of lines of praise, saying that Andra underestimated his opponent in his early years.

These words could not be spoken aloud. She hurriedly reached out to grasp Mysera's hand, but her sister forcefully shook her off.

"Okay, okay, I understand."

Mysella sneered, "Is it because Andra proposed to you? Hmph, now you're thinking about her. All day long you've been bragging to me about how strong she is, first you made me fight her, and now you won't let me fight her, and you even say you can't trust Ophelia... Tch, who knows what you're trying to get out of this."

Me? Fishing?

"I...I...I was just afraid you'd get beaten to death by her..." Eleanor let go of his hand, her legs trembling so badly she could barely support her body.

Her blunt truth provoked Myrcella to the point of turning her eyes bloodshot.

Mysella raised her hand, but hesitated for a long time before striking her sister's vulnerable face. In the end, she simply made a fist, extended a finger, and pointed it in the air.

"You—we'll see!"

She pushed Eleanor aside and strode out of the tent, shouting as she went, "The final battle will begin as scheduled. Just watch how I defeat that horrible Andra!"

"We only live once."

The young girl looked into the distance and looked at her, but there was nothing in the girl's clear eyes—no wisdom, no resilience, no hope.

That wasn't a dream of gold, but just an empty and weak ambition.

My sister... she wanted to be king, but that was all.

Eleanor released her grip, her whole body turning cold.

despair.

A chilling despair, as cold as the sea, filled Eleanor's heart, but there was nothing she could do.

Here, it is Myrcella who gives the orders, and it can only be Myrcella. She is the true queen, while Eleanor is merely a princess betrothed to by the king of an enemy kingdom.

Eleanor lay in the tent, silently praying for Myrcella.

Aside from evacuating civilians who were running around on the edge of the battlefield and arranging for doctors to treat soldiers wounded in previous battles, she did nothing else.

What else can I do? Even if I do something, what good will it do?

Once she understood, she comforted herself: Mysella had done a good job; at least she had made the grand finale in a dignified manner.

Even I—facing such a strong enemy, dragging things out might not guarantee victory, and it might even be more wasteful of resources and manpower.

But I will drag it out, I will persevere, I will.

......

The miracle did not happen.

When a haughty Hetuan messenger arrived at the great tent with news of a victorious return, Eleanor even felt a sense of relief, as if the dust had finally settled.

The messenger from Hetuya opened the letter in front of everyone and loudly proclaimed Andra's victory.

Besides informing her of the outcome, she also came here to claim the stakes agreed upon by the two kings before the final battle: in addition to a large amount of food, daily necessities, and money, it also included the two cities of Norlana.

The messenger finished reading.

Some people were shouting and cursing, some were crying, but Eleanor was the calmest one in the middle.

The two cities that Andra demanded included Mihir City, and the other was an enclave closer to the capital.

It seems she can't eat this much at once, so she'll prepare a springboard for next time.

Based on her understanding of Andra, the city-states between the two cities must have also betrayed Norlana.

Once those two cities are brought under the control of Hetuya, these city-states should also change color, giving the Norlana people a small shock from Hetuya.

Eleanor sighed and called out, "What about the prisoners? Are they all safe?"

The envoy paused for a moment, then gave her a kind and gentle smile.

"Don't worry, they're safe. Those who survived are all safe. We won't let them stay for a meal, and most of the soldiers will be released on the spot once Norlana fulfills the bet. It's just those nobles..."

She took out another letter written on a piece of paper from her bosom, with a gold pendant shaped like a six-petaled flower hanging from the edge of the envelope.

Upon seeing the letter, everyone wore an ambiguous expression of "I knew it!"

“The noble bloodline is so precious that it should have been redeemed with countless gold and jewels.”

The messenger recited with deep emotion: "But our king's love for you surpasses any jewel; your beauty and wisdom are the best dowry..."

“I understand,” Eleanor interrupted ruthlessly. “Anyway, Andra wants me to exchange for these prisoners before she’ll send my sister back, right?”

The messenger stared blankly at the letter, his eyes filled with reproach, as if to say: How could you speak of my king like that?

But she quickly bowed respectfully and explained gently.

“That’s not what the Queen meant. She’s willing to use the entire wager—including two city-states—as a dowry to bring you back to Hetuya.”

Those cities and jewels will all be yours; she only wishes for your safe and healthy journey to Hetuya. If you travel safely, these warriors who were unfortunately defeated will also be able to return home safely.

"I see."

Eleanor smiled coldly, clutching her six-petaled flower pendant throughout the conversation.

After her argument and despair with Myrcella, the first petal became soft and transparent at her fingertips, as if she could be plucked with a gentle touch.

But she hesitated to take action.

Because Myrcella's face kept appearing in my mind.

"Why don't you do my homework for me?"

"Okay, okay, I won't bully that bastard named Andra anymore."

"Let's go out and have some fun~ Uh, you have things to do tomorrow?"

......

"I want to become a great king!"

Past and present lives are intertwined, and even the image of my sister lying alone on the battlefield, which I have never seen before, slowly emerges.

"A person only lives once."

My sister believes that as long as the memories are different, people are different, so for her, a person's life only happens once.

I was the one who placed her on the throne and left her in a place that was completely unsuitable for her.

It wasn't Myrcella who was being willful, it was me. I... shouldn't have abandoned her a second time.

Eleanor nodded to the messenger.

I accept.

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Author's note: This chapter could actually be split into two chapters based on word count, but as I was writing, I felt it flowed smoothly and I couldn't break it in the middle just because of word count.

Eleanor once thought that she had achieved ultimate growth by wasting her life and being reborn, but now she must face her shortcomings and those "mistakes".

She believed she wanted an easy and happy life, but this perception was flawed from the start. Eleanor's dreams were far grander than she imagined. Those who make grand ambitions are often first burdened by them.