After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

As soon as Luna pushed open the magnificent golden door, she saw a huge portrait of Queen Barbara.

After a moment of silence, Luna shook her head and sighed. "Have some shame, really. Hanging someone else's wife's portrait in your living room, people who don't know any better will think you've married a queen."

Lisa retorted mercilessly, "Exactly! What kind of skill is it to covet someone else's wife? If you're so capable, why don't you send troops to the palace to snatch her away?"

Duke Dale, exasperated, immediately retaliated. "What's it to you? It's none of your business whose portrait I hang!"

Hearing this, Luna chuckled. "Actually, in the end, you'll slowly realize that what you like isn't the real Barbara, but the Barbara of your imagination."

"Young Miss's words are truly philosophical."

Federico, acting as her bodyguard, quickly stepped forward to flatter her. Who knew Queen Barbara anyway? Whatever the young lady said was right, so he just praised her and that was it.

For once, Dale didn't refute him. Over the years, things had changed, and he had gradually matured. Looking back, his confrontation with Luna in the palace, where they drew their swords, was nothing more than an embarrassing farce.

What good is proving her love if that day is still her wedding to someone else... Luna's words proved prophetic, and the two sides ultimately prevailed on the battlefield.

The Eastern army did not suffer a major defeat, but the land and people occupied by the Northern army could not be recovered in a short period of time.

With neither side willing to continue fighting, peace talks became the only option.

The Northern Territory's demands were few, nothing more than for the Eastern Territory to transfer its household registration and to acknowledge that the occupied lands would be transferred to the Northern Territory in the future.

It would be a lie to say it didn't hurt. Some nobles in the Eastern Territory were too incompetent, allowing the Northern Army to seize one-sixth of the entire Eastern Territory and even gain access to the sea by connecting east and west.

"Don't be sad. Blame Medivh. He's the one who started this feud between our two families." Luna patted Dale on the shoulder and gave a carefree smile.

The battlefield situation had reached a stalemate. After all, it was a war on home soil, and with the full support of the nobles, the Eastern Army, with its numerical advantage, completely contained the fierce offensive wave from the Northern Territory.

To Luna's surprise, her brother was so in sync with her that he sent out the Knights and the Third Order before Luna could even write for help.

These two formidable new forces quickly became the final straw that broke Duke Dale's back.

"If I'm not as good as others, who can I blame but myself?"

Dale shook his head with a wry smile and led Luna and her group upstairs.

"Hurry up and leave after you sign the documents. I still have a lot of mess to deal with here and can't spare the time to receive you."

With her hands on her hips, Luna feigned anger, "What? I came all this way, and you're not even going to treat me to a meal?"

"Don't act like we're on very good terms. Besides, it's clearly written in the letter that I asked you to send a representative! Do you know that the Northern Army's knights crossed the border the night before you were supposed to leave?"

Ignoring Dale's rage, Luna casually pocketed the jewels from the display stand. "So stingy... Give me a bag of gold coins and I'll forgive you."

Unable to tolerate her shamelessness, Dale finally had no choice but to give in. "Find someone else to steal, but don't take my grandmother's dowry."

The peace agreement was quickly signed, and neither side had much to argue about this already predetermined outcome.

After the two wrote down their names, this noble battle, which had a strange beginning, finally came to an end.

Dale's reputation, built up during the War of the Nobles, was lost in an instant, while Luna, once looked down upon and considered an abandoned child of the Charles family, is gradually showing her talent on the kingdom's stage.

Whether it was suppressing the rebellion in the Southern Territory or waging a noble war in the Eastern Territory, Luna truly achieved feats that were difficult for ordinary generals to match.

Luna carefully put away the documents, unable to hide her joy. "We'll be neighbors from now on, so please take good care of me!"

Dell, who was both relieved and depressed, chuckled softly upon hearing this.

"Don't worry, we can't be neighbors. Duke Oswald will definitely bring you back."

"Then look forward to the day I return like lightning!"

After saying this, Luna led Lisa and Federico to say goodbye to Dale, but Dale, who had turned away, had no interest in paying them any attention.

Having completed her mission of truce, Luna didn't linger. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed a figure that shouldn't be there, loitering in the lobby on the first floor.

Luna gasped as she looked at the newcomer and then at the huge portrait on the wall.

It's adultery! The audacious Queen Barbara has come to the Eastern Territory to meet with Dale in secret!

Great, she's finally gotten her share of this gossip. Next time she sees Frank, she'll give him an insider's smile, then sigh every few steps, and maybe even give him a lush green potted plant as a gift.

"Dell! Dell! Where are you?"

Barbara, who had clearly traveled a long way, clutched her chest, tears welling in her eyes, and kept calling his name, for some unknown reason.

The three quickly rolled over and hid behind the second-floor railing, determined to watch the entire adulterous affair unfold.

"Barbara!"

Just moments ago, Dale was barely breathing; now he was walking without even panting. He burst through the door and ran out. Hearing his beloved's voice was enough to make him forget everything else.

When he finally stood still beside the three suspicious figures, all he could see was her.

"Is that you, Barbara?"

"It's me, Dell!"

Their eyes met, and through tears of disbelief and overwhelming emotion, they drew closer and closer...

Suddenly, a black figure darted out and ran in a few steps to Duke Dale, blocking the two from gazing at each other affectionately.

Sako, not even having time to wipe his sweat or notice Dale's increasingly cold expression, hurriedly reported, "Something's happened, Duke! A curse has broken out in the royal city! Princess Diana has massacred the palace! The kingdom is in complete chaos!"

Dale shoved Sakho aside and strode toward Barbara. After such a terrible incident, she had traveled all the way to the Eastern Territory... It must have been incredibly difficult for her!

She was already a widow, and he couldn't let her live a life of widowhood any longer.

"Come here, tell me what happened."

Luna invited Saco to join her spying squad without hesitation. The Royal City Curse erupted, and Queen Barbara's radiant appearance there could only mean something about Frank…

As Luna's guess proved true, they watched the two passionately kissing downstairs while listening to Sako report the details.

King Frank disappeared without a trace after the curse broke out, most likely meeting an unfortunate end.

Luna rubbed her forehead, her heart heavy with mixed emotions. Regardless of their positions, Frank had always been kind to her and patiently listened to her ramblings.

"Duke, a secret order from the capital! The curse on the capital has been quelled, His Majesty has identified the culprit, and requests your assistance in leading troops to attack the Northern Territory!"

A messenger, whose mission was urgent and took 800 meters per second, burst through the gate, knelt down with a thud, and breathed a sigh of relief after delivering such important intelligence.

When he looked up, he saw the Duke and... Queen Barbara, frozen in place, tightly embracing each other, with shimmering threads still between their lips!

A silence descended, and what made the messenger wish he could slap himself unconscious was the appearance of Luna, the young lady of the Northern Territory, slowly appearing on the second floor.

Wow, this is a really secret order...

Silence is another form of clamor. Stop being in a state of panic alone; everyone's heart is pounding!

Forcing themselves to remain calm and pretending not to hear about the campaign against the Northern Territory, Luna and Lisa hid behind Federico's tall figure and slowly made their way to the door.

"I'm off, Dell. I'll come visit you again next time."

The three of them took off running as soon as they stepped out the door, as if afraid that someone would catch up with them. Lisa, who was not as strong as the other two, jumped onto Federico's back and clung to him tightly even though she was being tossed around like a flag.

Fortunately, Dale hadn't recovered from the shock yet. In fact, his troubles were no less than Luna's. After safely escaping the mansion, Luna, who had developed a strange tacit understanding with her personal guards, attracted them to mount their horses and prepare for battle as soon as she appeared.

Luna, who hadn't slowed down at all, was grabbed by the female soldier. Luna used the momentum to jump onto the horse's back. After Federico and Lisa caught up, Luna shouted breathlessly.

"Retreat! Retreat now! No one is allowed to stay!"