Filed To Story: Queen of the Battlefield Her Return to Glory Novel Online Free
Because of the severity of his curses, she had decided to punish him. As for his curses about being childless, she made sure to render him impotent. Her men had even urinated on him and forced him to eat excrement so he would stop uttering any more vile words.
Yet, the young general had an iron will. Despite their efforts, he continued to spew curses, infuriating her further. So, she ordered her men to stab him a few times. The soldiers had been a bit rough, but it was the young general’s own fault.
With such venomous curses coming from his mouth, how could anyone resist torturing him further?
What she hadn’t anticipated was that Liam would lead thousands of soldiers straight to Fawnrun City to surround her. Seeing the tortured young general, Liam demanded a ceasefire, proposing negotiations and setting a boundary line. Westhaveh soldiers were to step no further into Starhaven territory, and all he asked of her was to release the captive.
To her, this was like a golden opportunity falling from the heavens. The negotiations and boundary setting between the two nations were usually determined by the top generals or presented to the kings. Yet, they were voluntarily conceding to Starhaven’s boundary and not pursuing the matter of the massacred civilians. Moreover, they promised never to mention it to Salvador or Dominic.
With the signed treaty in hand, Freya could return to claim her reward. The Westhaven forces only asked for the release of the humiliated young genera
She felt like she was being handed a tremendous military achievement. She hadn’t expected the Westhaven forces to be so easily manipulated!
At that time, she thought this was a golden opportunity. However, once the Westhaven troops arrived at the Southern Frontier battlefield, she began to sense that the young general’s identity was more – complicated than she had anticipated.
Liam was a man of his word. Following the treaty, Westhaven soldiers didn’t set foot on Starhaven territory again. Yet, they chose the Southern Frontier battlefield to seek revenge because as long as
Sandoria had not completely withdrawn from the Southern Frontier, its sovereignty did not belong to
Starhaven.
With the cold blade pressing against her neck, Freya couldn’t stop her body from trembling. She couldn’t hear the sounds of the approaching army. The fighting sounded so far away, almost inaudible. She knew Blake wouldn’t reach her in time. He might also fall into the hands of Westhaven, as Liam wouldn’t have mobilized such a large force just to capture her alone. Freya dared not even breathe, but then she suddenly thought of something.
“You… You’ve caught me, but it won’t help! It wasn’t me who defeated you on the Southern Frontier battlefield! It was Rafael and Sophie! Do you know Sophie? She’s Hector Devin’s daughter! Hector had also defended Victory Pass before going to the Southern Frontier. Her arrival was what caused your defeat there. She has killed many of your soldiers. If you’re looking for someone to blame, it should be her!” Hearing that, Edmund’s eyes turned ice-cold. He waved the soldiers holding the blades at Freya’s neck away.
Just as Freya thought they had taken her words to heart and allowed herself a moment of relief, Edmund slapped her face with a resounding blow. His face was filled with fury.
“You shouldn’t have brought that up. Now that you did, even slicing you into a thousand pieces wouldn’t quell the hatred in my heart!”
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The Westhaven spies in Starhaven had been active for a long time, eventually falling under the direct control of Westhaven’s crown prince, Arthur Tudor. After Arthur’s downfall, these spies massacred an entire household. Their actions tamished Arthur’s reputation, and led to the destruction of the whole Intelligence network.
Hector was a commendable general. He and his sons all perished on the Southern Frontier battlefield. The widows left in his family, including orphans and even household servants, were mercilessly slain by Westhaven forces.
Indeed, Westhaven had committed such barbaric acts.
Because of this, they dared not publicize Freya’s massacre of the civilians and kept it hidden.
Freya was the instigator, but she wasn’t solely responsible. The Westhaven spies had committed even more heinous atrocities. The only victims were the Devin family. Edmund had heard Sophie was the only one left from Hector’s family, which was who Freya had mentioned.
Freya had even replaced Sophie to become Blake’s wife. At first, these matters weren’t directly related to Westhaven. But with Hector’s entire family wiped out and Sophie abandoned, Westhaven was undeniably implicated in these tragedies.
Edmund’s anger was rooted in this.
Westhaven was not a beastly, barbaric kingdom.
Battles between two kingdoms were the soldiers’ business, but the massacre of Hector’s entire family, including infants, was a permanent stain on the Westhaven royal family’s honor.
Now, Freya dared to suggest they capture Sophie?!
The reminder that they had massacred all the innocent elderly, women, and children in Hector’s family was akin to a blade twisting deep in their hearts.
Freya was stunned by the slap. She was then roughly seized by the hair, and kicked in the stomach. She was propelled a few meters away, only to be yanked by her hair and brutally slapped until she nearly lost consciousness.
“Take her away!” Edmund commanded.
The vanguard’s deputy took the lead, directing the prisoners out of Simonton City.
Beyond Simonton City lay the desert to the south and an endless chain of mountains ahead. A rugged mountain range split the terrain, forming a path leading into a grassy expanse that connected with more mountains. Nomads inhabited this area, and beyond it was the border of Sandoria.
The Westhaven troops didn’t care about the details of their withdrawal beyond that. After crossing the -grassland, they ascended a mountain. A wooden hut had already been constructed earlier, specifically to hold Freya.
Freya was now destined to experience for herself what had happened to Arthur.
Including her, there were a total of nineteen captives. The captives were all soldiers under her command, and they had participated in the village massacre she had orchestrated. Among them was her cousin Zeke.
These men had once been fiercely loyal and deeply admiring of Freya. However, seeing her use her own comrade-in-arms as a human shield left them profoundly shocked. The general they had once revered now suddenly became very unfamiliar and frightening.
Especially disturbing was the fact that, even as she was captured, she had practically told the Westhaven troops to capture Rafael and Sophie.
To them, Freya’s actions were utterly unacceptable.
The previous misunderstandings the reinforcement troops had about Sophie had been cleared up. After the challenges against her, it was confirmed Sophie was indeed capable. And today, she had led the assault on the city. She was a great contributor to reclaiming the Southern Frontier.
Despite that, Freya had ordered the capture of Sophie. If Freya’s initial actions were motivated by suspicions that Sophie had claimed military credit unfairly, then her actions were now a matter of personal grudge-cowardice, even.
If it was about personal grudges, then Sophie should be the one harboring resentment towards. Freya, especially since she and Blake had sought the marriage edict through their military achievements, effectively taking Blake away from Sophie.
Freya’s actions today were incomprehensible and devastating to them. Their faith in her had been shattered.
The Westhaven forces had imprisoned them in a wooden hut. They were bound tightly, and escape was impossible. Even if they managed to free themselves, the heavily guarded exterior offered no way out.
Unable to contain his fury, Tristian glared at Freya.
“You used John to block the blade coming for you! Did you know he just became a father?!” he roared.Freya was beyond flustered. Facing her cousin’s questioning, she felt guilty. Despite that, she still tried to defend herself, “I thought the person standing next to me was a Westhaven soldier. I didn’t realize it was John.”
“Hypocrite! How could an enemy soldier be standing next to you? If you’re going to make excuses, at least make them logical!” Zeke retorted angrily.
Freya, embarrassed and angry, snapped, “Enough! Now, we’re all prisoners of the enemy! We’ve slaughtered civilians in Fawnrun. They won’t let us off easily. Instead of blaming me, think about how to escape!”
“The massacre of those civilians was your order! You said the young general was hiding among the civilians, and that some soldiers were disguised as commoners. You’re the one who ordered us to kill them without any mercy!” Zeke snarled.
Knowing people outside could hear, Freya said loudly, “I only told you to kill a few people to force him out! I never told you to kill them all!”
Upon hearing this, the other captured soldiers erupted in anger.
“You ordered us to slaughter everyone and cut off their ears! You killed civilians, but claimed they were enemies to gain more contribution!”
“General Ernst, we wouldn’t have dared massacre civilians or destroy villages without your order!”
“Exactly! And you even said the Westhaven army had killed our civilians! But when we got back, we found out they hadn’t killed any of our people.