“Young Master Litte, are you rushing back so eagerly to see Young Master Orson?” In the retreating army, Litte rode her horse, her mood cheerful, and Virgil beside her also chuckled teasingly.
Litte heard Virgil say this, her face slightly flushed, but then she still said as a matter of course:
“That’s natural. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Orson.” She clutched her chest, feigning pain.
“Ugh, I feel like without Orson’s energy, my heart is going to break!”
Looking at Litte’s exaggerated act, Virgil also burst into laughter.
Martin on the side, however, was a little confused.
“Young Master Litte, I know your relationship with Young Master Orson is very good... but isn’t this a bit too exaggerated?”
If Litte’s exaggeration didn’t seem like acting, Martin would have thought Litte was gay.
“Cough, cough, just a joke, just a joke. But I really do miss Orson,” At this moment, Litte suddenly realized Martin was also beside her. She then quickly resumed a serious demeanor.
However, Virgil knew that Litte was likely not joking.
“Young Master Litte, do you know the meaning behind Young Master Orson’s order for us to retreat?” Martin asked seriously.
He also couldn’t quite understand Orson’s actions. The front line clearly held the advantage, yet he demanded a retreat, and in a rather strict tone.
It should be known that the allied forces had suffered significant losses to breach the walls of Romulus City. Abandoning those positions would only result in greater losses if they were to attack again.
Even if the enemy’s mysterious unit was very strong in combat, the allied forces, relying on the city walls and fortifications, couldn’t possibly be defeated.
“I don’t understand either, but it will be fine to ask Orson about this directly when we meet him,”
Litte said this, smiled, then ordered the soldiers in the rear to quicken their pace. She was already impatient to see Orson.
...
“I knew it.”
Looking at the battle report in his hand, Orson let out a helpless sigh.
Arthas, who was beside him, had a dark expression on his face.
“How could that guy Scaloni, who has fought his entire life, be so careless at this particular moment?” Arthas complained in frustration.
Just moments ago, the rearguard unit made contact with the enemy’s mysterious unit. Initially, Scaloni was prepared to wait at his leisure and catch the enemy off guard. However, upon contact, he found that the other party showed no signs of fatigue from pursuing. Instead, they were all exceptionally brave.
Although Scaloni saw that the battlefield situation was unfavorable and quickly reacted, he still held onto a glimmer of hope. However, the result was that the enemy committed more and more troops, and eventually, Scaloni could only abandon ten thousand bodies and flee north in a panic.
If he had strictly followed Orson’s orders from the beginning, that unit of the enemy in full plate armor would absolutely not have been able to catch up to the retreating allied forces.
Furthermore, when Scaloni ordered his unit to set up defenses on the spot, the other units of the allied forces were at least scores of miles away from him, making it difficult for them to arrive as reinforcements.
In this situation, Scaloni’s responsibility for the defeat in the war was certainly unavoidable. At best, he could only use the credit he had earned from the siege before to offset it. He could no longer expect to obtain the ducal title of Napoli later.
Arthas was just planning how to help Scaloni secure the most military merit. Then, Scaloni himself, through his own incompetence, wasted a huge opportunity. Arthas felt a wave of dizziness.
He hadn’t even made a move, and his teammate had already surrendered.
“Perhaps, General Scaloni had some considerations outside of the battlefield, which interfered with his judgment,” Orson said this.
Both Orson and Arthas were clearly aware of what was meant by considerations outside of the battlefield.
Orson and Arthas exchanged glances. The latter sighed.
“Never mind. Speaking of which, I should also congratulate you here, Young Master Orson.”
“The front line suffered a defeat. Why are you congratulating me instead, Your Highness the Prince?” Orson looked at Arthas, feigning confusion.
“Your Highness the Prince, you have stayed in the Imperial Palace for too long. Have you forgotten what you are best at?”
Orson’s question startled Arthas.
Yes, the thing that the original Arthas was best at and enjoyed the most was only one thing: being in the army, on the battlefield.
At that time, he believed that as long as he did his job well, coupled with his status as the First Prince, the throne would definitely be passed down to him eventually.
However, after this period of open and covert struggle, his actions had more or less taken on political implications, and his entire way of thinking had become like that of a politician.
When he applied his politically-tinged thoughts to others, he naturally considered a major defeat to be good news for Orson.
Hearing Orson’s hint, he also understood the error in his words just now.
“Apologies, Orson. What I said earlier was somewhat problematic,” Arthas said this, quickly apologizing.
“It’s alright. It’s good that Your Highness the Prince has adjusted your mindset,” Orson said this, waving his hand.
At this moment, the messenger from outside came in again.
“Reporting, Commander Orson, Your Highness Arthas. Our vanguard has met with the allied forces’ vanguard. The commanding officer is Young Master Litte.”
“I understand,” Orson nodded. Just at this moment, footsteps sounded from outside again. Litte walked in with Virgil and Martin.
Litte lifted the tent flap, looked inside, and immediately saw Orson standing in the center.
At this moment, she was still wearing oversized clothes, looking travel-worn. For ease of management, she had tied her hair into a ponytail.
The moment she saw Orson, her eyes lit up. She then spread her arms and ran directly towards Orson.
“Orson, long time no see. I missed you so much!”
Saying this, she directly threw herself into Orson’s embrace.
Orson was also used to this kind of scene. He caught Litte, who was charging at him like a cannonball, then gently rubbed her little head.
“Indeed, it’s been a long time, Litte. You’ve worked hard during this time.”
The two embraced for a while, then slowly separated.
As for this scene, everyone except Virgil simply regarded it as deep brotherly affection and said nothing. Instead, they lowered their presence, leaving time for these “brothers” who hadn’t seen each other in months.
“Orson, are you free tonight? I want to tell you about what I’ve encountered these past few days. There’s so much in the letter that I couldn’t finish or explain clearly.”
“I am free, but there is something more difficult to handle at the moment.”
“Ah... Orson, are you talking about that matter with General Scaloni?”
News of the defeat was reported layer by layer via fast horses. Therefore, any unit on the scouts’ route had heard the news of General Scaloni’s unit’s defeat.
Litte was naturally no exception, but the scouts had not gone into detail at the time, and she was also in a hurry to return and see Orson. Therefore, this matter did not immediately capture her attention.
“Mm,” Orson nodded seriously. Litte then knew that this matter was likely not simple.