The Emperor's Secret Luna

Chapter 9: Hybrid Werewolves

Grand Duke Chantrea arrived in the Southern Borders in a couple of weeks. The soldiers standing guard saw the duke and quickly cleared the fence blocking the road from entry to the mountains.

The knight in charge of the defense facility came out and gave a military salute.

“Welcome, Your Grace. Everyone is waiting for your arrival.”

“No need to call anyone. We are in a dire situation, so let’s skip the introduction.”

“Yes, Your Grace” the knight replied briefly and raised the salute again. Soldiers closed the fence from behind after they have successfully entered.

Some soldiers whispered, but not enough to bother. After all, it was their first time seeing the great duke who had been once a great general leading the largest military troops in the entire empire, the Chantrea Army.

The knights obviously felt relieved and happy as they finally felt a sense of hope because of Grand Duke Chantrea’s arrival. If it weren’t for their duty and the situation they were in, they would have rushed and surrounded the grand duke.

Grand Duke Chantrea looked around the military hub and the first thing that caught his eye was the stone tower. Likewise, there were soldier’s quarters and arsenals built of solid bricks.

“Where’s the commander?”

“Come this way, Your Grace.” the knight in charge led Grand Duke Chantrea to the tower.

“The commander is currently at the watchtower.”

Grand Duke Chantrea nodded and followed him to the spiral staircase.

Commander Caleb Credge saw who had arrived and was startled but then immediately gave a military salute. Grand Duke Chantrea answered him and said, “How was the situation?”

“Your Grace, the werewolves had started attacking Ansvale City but we managed to defend it for a while. However, because of the recent ambush, the city’s border walls won’t be able to stand another attack.”

“Hand me the telescope.”

“Here, Your Grace”, Commander Credge handed the telescope he had to Grand Duke Chantrea.

The wind blew like crazy. The wind broke through Grand Duke Chantrea’s coat but it did not affect him in the slightest. The tower was higher than what he had expected. The surrounding area was low and it was the only tower on top of the mountain.

Holding a telescope, Grand Duke Chantrea looked around. It had been years since he had visited this place, since his wife’s death. As he had expected, a lot of changes were made in the Southern Borders.

Then he saw human citizens beyond the Ansvale Gate.

“Commander Credge, those people…”

Commander Credge nodded as Duke Chantrea mumbled in the exact direction.

“That's right, Your Grace. We recently found out about those people.”

“What are they doing in there? Haven’t you already evacuated the citizens living in the city?”

“Your Grace, those people outside the borders aren’t registered citizens of the city. I have already confirmed it with the government. But, that’s not the main problem we have. Those people aren’t normal. They are what they call hybrid werewolves.”

Grand Duke Chantrea’s eyes widened as he stared back at Commander Credge, “Hybrid werewolves? What do you mean?”

“We still lack information as to where those hybrid werewolves came from. But as Your Grace can see, they looked exactly like normal human beings but they held half the power of those werewolves. They were much more dangerous than the ordinary werewolves as they would be able to disguise themselves as humans and interact with others. I think that was also the reason why those 5 cities had collapsed,” Commander Credge replied.

This revelation shocked Grand Duke Chantrea. If those hybrid werewolves managed to conceal themselves in the crowd of people, they would be able to spy without worries. It is highly possible that the fall of the 5 cities was caused by them, as they leaked information about the cities to the werewolves.

As soon as Grand Duke Chantrea returned to the military tent designated for him, he went straight to the study. He then looked at the entire map of the Southern Borders hanging in the study. On the map, not only were cities there, but even beyond the Southern Borders in detail.

“How did you find out about those hybrids?”

“We managed to catch a suspicious person lurking around Ansvale City. The head governor of the city did not find any records of that man being a citizen, so we arrested him. As we tortured him for information, it was strange, as any normal human being would not be able to stand it. That’s where we concluded that he wasn’t a normal person. Then, we tried to search for some people like him and that’s where we found out that those people were called hybrids.”

“Did some locals have some interactions with any werewolves?” Grand Duke Chantrea asked.

“We are trying to communicate with the other cities to find out about it. We are waiting for their response after they search for their respective citizens.”

“Call all the heads of each city and gather a list of registered citizens. Separate those who were registered and those who were not on the list, take them all here. We cannot let those hybrids infiltrate our lands further,” Grand Duke Chantrea ordered.

Commander Credge saluted and hurriedly walked out of the study.

“Your Grace, what if there are already hybrids who are living not just in the Southern Borders?” Butler Murray asked after a moment of silence.

“Go prepare ink and paper. I will send a letter to Alvira.”

“To young lady? Aren’t you going to send a letter to the imperial palace?”

Grand Duke Chantrea looked at Butler Murray solemnly as he answered, “The imperial city must not know about this. Innocent people will be sacrificed and I can’t let allow that happen. As much as possible, I must resolve this on my own without alerting His Majesty.”

He paused for a while and gave out a deep sigh, “But my only worry is my daughter. She is in a foreign city and I am still not yet certain if there will be hybrids there. I’m afraid she will encounter one and be in danger, so I must warn her about it.”

“Understood, Your Grace. I will prepare the tools now.”

***

Anestin City, Berxley Village...

The construction was already ongoing and Alvira also found some workers to cultivate the land in the village for farming purposes. The river was already put into use and she managed to make some mechanisms to direct the water from the river to the farmland for easy use.

It was no wonder that Alvira made some huge changes to the once-abandoned village. Now, it is almost as if it had come back alive. In just a matter of days, news that Berxley Village is managed by a young lady was made known throughout the entire Anestin City. Naturally, some people felt skeptical about this sudden movement.

“Lady Alvira, Spring Festival is finally tomorrow!” Esther happily cheered.

Every year, Spring Festival is eagerly celebrated by the locals of Anestin City. It is a holiday with divine roots and it is mostly associated with colorful lanterns, fireworks, festive dances, and shops selling antique flowers and gems.

It is officially celebrated for three days and it is the biggest celebration that the city is celebrating.

Spring Festival is only unique to Anestin City, which made Esther and the rest feel excited about it as it would be their first time attending such a festivity. However, it is not the same for Alvira.

Once the Spring Festival begins, it will also be the moment of truth for her. Whether her dream was pure nonsense or a foreshadowing of the future will be known during the festival.

“Lady Alvira?”

Alvira’s train of thought halted with Esther’s voice, “Yes, what is it?”

“Is there something bothering you, Lady Alvira?” Esther could not help but ask.

“Nothing” Alvira shook her head slightly, “Is the warehouse already finished?”

“Yes, Lady Alvira. The revisions were also done according to your orders.”

“Good. Now that everything’s already prepared, all we have to do is wait.”

Alvira made some changes to the structure of the warehouse being built in Cromere Village. The warehouse now had some secret rooms that only she could open and there were also some secret traps located at every corner of the warehouse. In this way, no one can easily spy on or enter the premises.

She made sure that everything was according to her instructions. From the materials to be used for the construction of it, she closely followed it.

It is finally the Spring Festival and everywhere was surrounded by a lively atmosphere. Everyone was busy preparing for tonight’s lively celebration as it was finally the beginning of the 3-day celebration.

In Berxley Village, Alvira sat on a chair placed under the shade of a tree as she surveyed the land beside her.

Esther and Doctor Leopold went early in the morning to prepare for the celebration as there were a lot of things they needed. From clothing, decorations, and food. There was so much to do, so Doctor Leopold volunteered to help Esther with it.

“Lady Alvira, there were not any suspicious people that were lurking in the city these past few days. Shall I send more troops to further increase our search?” Sir Hillard asked Alvira.

“Stop the search for now. But let some of our troops guard the forest near the warehouse in secret. Everyone that enters the forest must be reported back to me immediately,” Alvira answered.

“Yes, Lady Alvira,” Sir Hillard answered as he called out one of his men to relay the order. “Lady Alvira, today is the Spring Festival and I had heard that there would be a scene where people light lanterns by the Alaberg Lake tonight. Will Young Lady be going to attend?”

Spring Festival is a festival to celebrate the season of a lot of abundant harvests in Anestin City. On every night of the celebration, people would come out of their homes into the great streets of Cromere Village to look at the lanterns and solve some riddles that were written on the lanterns, making it really lively.

“It will be our first time celebrating Spring Festival. It would be a waste not to attend.” Alvira gently smiled, “I also wanted to go and take a look at the excitement.”

“Since young lady wants to go, I will prepare some of our troops to escort you. It is for your safety as it will be a very crowded place.”

Alvira nodded and stood up to return to her courtyard. As she walked towards her desk, her eyes fell onto the rose field outside. The fully bloomed rose was b****y red in color, which reminded her of that young man covered with blood.

On the other side of the city, there were two people discussing in an inconspicuous alley. They were wearing bamboo hats and had their faces so tightly covered that one was unable to see their appearances.

One person said, “The guards surrounding His Highness are not that strong. We just need to separate that personal guard of his from him and it will be easier to take action. His Highness is only a weakling who doesn’t know how to defend himself.”

“Indeed,” The other person pressed his voice down to discuss, “There will be many people tonight so we can take advantage of it to separate the two of them. Those other guards surrounding His Highness aren’t a problem for us.”

“Master had sent down instructions that we must capture His Highness dead or alive.” That person said to the companion, “No matter what method we use, we must bring back his body. If we are able to achieve such an outcome, we will be rewarded greatly. So, we can’t afford to miss this chance.”

“Naturally, this is our only chance.” The person wearing the bamboo hat smiled, “During the lighting of the lanterns, a wave of people can be used to draw that personal guard of His Highness and another wave of people can capture His Highness.”

“Do it cleanly and neatly,” That person’s words were filled with thick, vicious intentions, “Master doesn’t want the people in power in the city to know what has happened. We can’t alert any of them about our mission.”

“Of course. This will be done secretly and silently.”

***

The night of the Spring Festival had finally arrived. After Alvira had taken her dinner, Esther hurriedly ran over and spoke, “Lady Alvira, there are people in the city who have lit fireworks. I have heard that there would be continuous fireworks that would be lit at night and it would look extremely beautiful.” The anticipation in her words was unable to be concealed.

Alvira gently smiled and just stared at the mirror in front of her. At the same time, Esther finished combing her hair and was picking and choosing from the box and found some red rose hairpins and inserted them into Alvira’s hair, which was tied up in a bun.

Alvira took a glance at the hairpin on her hair and could not help but ask, “Why did you choose this hairpin?”

“It goes very well with your dress, young lady,” Esther smiled excitedly. “I know young lady disliked wearing anything red, but since it’s Spring Festival and it is our first time celebrating it, we might as well make use of this piece of jewelry.”

Alvira could not help but reach for the hairpin in her hair. That was one of the gifts she had received during her banquet. However, there was no information as to whom it was from. Her father wanted to throw it away but she thought differently. After all, it was a gift and if it was found by the sender that they had thrown it away, rumors might spread about it.

And so, after careful inspection of that, there was nothing wrong with it, Grand Duke Chantrea finally gave permission to keep it. Since it is only an ordinary hair ornament.

“Does young lady feel that the hairpin is not good?” Esther looked hesitantly at Alvira before saying, “We could change it to a different one. His Grace had prepared a piece of jewelry that we could use.”

“No need,” Alvira interrupted her, “The celebration is about to start and we can’t be delayed. Leave it as it is.” It was nothing more than a hairpin anyway.

Esther tidied her dress for her again and draped a scarf over her before smiling, “Now, it is finally complete.”

“Let’s go. Sir Hillard and Doctor Leopold were already waiting for us at the entrance of the village.”