The Doors flung open as Victor and Veronica began to stride down the aisle, making their way to their seats on a raised stage.
Both Victor and his sister wore dark blue outfits embroidered in gold. Both outfits sported a golden eagle brooch that rested on their chests. Veronica had her arm wrapped around her brother's as he escorted her to the stage.
Standing tall above his guests, Victor offered a warm smile before he began to address the crowd of guests gathered for his celebration. With a warm and thankful tone, Victor began to speak, "Thank you all for coming this evening to celebrate an important milestone in my reign as Duke. When my father died, he left some massive shoes to fill, but with the help of my dear sister, my trusty advisors and my Cassell family, I have been able to accomplish much. So I raise my glass to those who have helped me get to where I am currently. Cheers!"
The guests all raised their glasses to toast Victor. With that out of the way, the party began. Music played, and people began to mingle. Many guests took the opportunity to spend time and converse with Victor and Veronica.
Members of ruling families, merchant guilds, and the Luxenberg military all had the chance to talk and mingle with Victor. Many young ladies began to fawn and dote over Victor as he politely accommodated them, although Veronica was not fond of the swarm of young ladies around him.
Wanting to hog her brother's attention, Veronica asked Victor to dance. Willingly, Victor accepted his sister's request. The pair made their way to the middle of the dance floor. Captivating would be the word to describe the pair's dancing. Victor had managed to improve since his last dance with Veronica. Flawlessly, the duo waltzed around, mesmerising the crowd of guests.
Both smiling and enjoying themselves, the siblings bowed and curtsied to each other when the song ended. Abandoned by Veronica, Victor was now dancing with multiple young ladies who had been patiently waiting for him to be available. Entertaining the infatuated ladies, Victor danced a few more times with different partners.
Finally being able to break away from the dance floor, Victor rejoined his sister, who was talking to the entire Cassell family. "It is good to see you, my dear family." Victor warmly greeted, interacting with the entire Cassell family.
"Congratulations, dear grandson, may you be blessed for many more years to come," Duchess Loraine Cassell said in a loving tone. Happy to hear his grandmother's kind words, Victor embraced her and kissed her on the cheek.
"To think you have come this far since those days back at your military outpost. I was saddened to hear of Sergeant Junot's passing. He was a loyal officer and a good man," Larys Cassell said in a lower tone, offering a small smile.
"Thank you, Uncle, I am sure Sergeant Junot would be proud to see how far we have come. I often think about him and wish he were here to see how far we will go." Victor lamented. Taking a moment to gather, he announced something to his family.
"I would like for you all to join me for a private audience tomorrow. We have a delicate matter to discuss," Victor said in a serious tone. Understanding the importance of such a meeting, the entire family nodded. No questions were raised, and no one dared to ignore such an invitation.
Looking through the crowd, Victor noticed that a certain Duke did not attend his celebration, even though he had received an invitation. The absence of Harold Cruyff was to be expected. Victor could only imagine the rage Harold was feeling at such a brazen gesture.
The night was a success. All the guests seemed to have a splendid time, and the Luxenberg name grew in prestige. There was nothing that could be done to make the night better. With all the guests streaming out of the city the next morning, the Cassells lingered at the Luxenberg palace.
In a meeting room, all the Cassells, Victor, Veronica and General Rapp were present. Looking at the people gathered, Victor began to speak, "I have gathered you all here to discuss the future of our red-haired enemy, Harold Cruyff. I am determined to declare war in a few days and begin the conquest of the Cruyff Dukedom."
Nothing was said in the following minute. For Duke Lucious Cassell and Larys Cassell, this is not a surprise; Victor's hatred for Harold Cruyff was apparent. The first to speak was Victor's cousin Harys Cassell, "If you do go to war, cousin, I would like to fight by your side. Veronica has been like a sister to me since she began living with us. Let me take revenge alongside you."
Appreciating his cousin's enthusiasm, Victor smiled and glanced at his uncle. Larys could only shake his head. He was not keen on his son, who was the same age as Veronica (16), going to war. Seeing his uncle's expression and body language, Victor replied appreciatively, "As much as I would love to have you by my side, cousin, you have barely reached adulthood. I am sure there will be more wars to come in the future. Hone your skills, and we can fight as generals together."
Slightly upset at Victor's response, Harys's dissatisfaction was clear to see, but regardless of his feelings, it was not his call to make. The next to speak was Duke Cassell, "What is your current military strength? Will you need our support?"
Victor stayed silent and signalled for General Rapp to report the current situation of the military. "Currently, we have 21,000 infantrymen, 4,500 cavalry and 110 guns. We potentially could have more troops being ferried to Hannover by Grand Admiral Nelson, but that is not confirmed."
Lucious and Larys were impressed; the Luxenberg military was slightly over the average size of a duchy's army. Before they could even think of a response, Victor chimed in to outline what they expected from the Cassell Dukedom.
"Truthfully, I would not need any military assistance. I am confident in the ability of my soldiers. All I would need is some financial assistance and maybe some supplies. I plan to draw Harold Cruyff out into the field and deal with him. I have the perfect bait for it."
Shocked to hear that Victor wouldn't require military aide, Larys and Lucious exchange sceptical looks. It was bold to reject more soldiers, but if it was Victor, they were sure that he had a plan.
The rest of the meeting was spent finalising the details of what support the Cassells would provide. With a detailed amount of food and money specified, the Cassells made their way back to the territory. War was looming on the horizon, and time could not be allowed to be wasted.
It had been 2 weeks since the private meeting with the Cassells. Victor was now preparing the letter for which his declaration of war would be on. Many ideas of what to write flowed through Victor's mind. Feeling that the letter was lacking, Victor thought of a cruel present to give alongside the letter.
Once more, Victor journeyed to the dungeons. Josephine and Katrina were still in a weak and pitiful state. They had been broken mentally. For a year, they had been locked away, devoid of sunlight. The luxuries they once enjoyed were a distant memory.
"Katrina, dear sister. You will be coming with me," Victor said with an evil grin. Victor's soldiers dragged her out of her cell and took her to the courtyard. On her knees, Victor began to draw his sabre.
"I plan to kill you the same way I killed Klaus. Do you have any final words, dear sister?" Victor asked with a disdainful tone. Katrina said nothing; there was no sign of fight left in her eyes. It was the same with Klaus. Katrina's death would not offer any satisfaction for Victor.
Unimpressed with Katrina Victor began to swing his sabre.
In an instant, Katrina's head separated from her body. Crimson liquid began to stain the cobblestone. Just like when he killed Klaus, Victor felt no satisfaction or any overwhelming emotion. Nevertheless, Victor grabbed the decapitated head of his half-sister and put it in a box.
Turning to a messenger who had accompanied them, he handed an envelope alongside the box. "See that Harold Cruyff gets this immediately and make sure that only he opens this box. Am I understood?" Victor said in a chilling tone.
The messenger, who was slightly frightened by the bone-chilling aura exuding from Victor, could only nod. Wasting no time, the messenger hastily departed Hannover and made his way to the Cruyff Palace in Sardia.
Aware of the fact that it would take just under 3 weeks before the declaration of war reached Harold Cruyff, Victor began to organise and amass his army. While walking into the palace, trying to find General Rapp, a blue system screen appeared.
Optional Quest 3 Completed: Execute Katrina Luxenberg!
'Rewards: 5x 100-Man Infantry Unit Summon, 1x Medium-Level Commander Summon'
These rewards were significant, as the Dukedom was on the cusp of war. Needing these summons immediately, Victor retired to his office to use the new summons. Firstly, using his 5 100-Man Infantry Unit Summons, Victor decided on another 3 units of Russian Jaeger and another 2 units of German Fusiliers.
The addition of these 500 men made Victor's army more formidable. Now Victor used the Medium-Level Commander Summon. If he were able to get a competent general, even at a 3-star level, he could try and create multiple corps after taking over the Cruyff Dukedom. Holding his breath, Victor used the summon.
The animation was enshrouded in a yellow mist as a silhouette figure slowly approached the screen. To Victor's dismay, it meant that he was only getting a 3-star commander. As the figure became visible, Victor smiled half heartedly. He knew who he had gotten.
The animation had ended, and the system said, 'General Henri-Gatien Bertrand!' with 3 stars next to his name. His short brown hair and mutton chops were a giveaway. General Bertrand was a decent summon, and Victor appreciated that, but there are plenty of great commanders out there like Marshal Blücher or Marshal Davout.
Nevertheless, General Bertrand was a competent general with a good engineering mind. The bridges he built over the Danube River at Wagram were of excellent quality, and Napoleon himself praised them. General Bertrand would serve as General Rapp's second in command.
The next day, the new soldiers were integrated into the army, and Victor finally met General Bertrand. "Greetings, my Duke, I, General Henri-Gatien Bertrand, swear my eternal loyalty to you," He said in a confident voice. Pleased with such enthusiasm, Victor replied, "I am glad to hear that, General. Serve me well and you shall forever have my gratitude."
Getting straight to work, Victor, alongside his 2 generals, began to amass his army and set their meeting point for the crossroads, in the northern part of the territory. It was over a week's journey away, so it wouldn't be an arduous journey.
The good thing about the crossroads was that it was a 2-week march away from Sardia and a 1-week march away from Leblanc. It was a strategic point that would prove crucial to Victor's war.
In just under 3 weeks, Victor and his army amassed at the crossroads. With the newly summoned reinforcements and 500 mercenary infantrymen ferried from the Asharan continent, Victor's army totalled 22,000 infantrymen, 4,500 cavalrymen and 110 guns.
The army had enough supplies to last 8 months. Ideally, Victor wanted to avoid a siege, but unless Harold Cruyff bought the bait, it would be a mall than likely scenario. Victor still had his 2 spies in Sardia, they would help alert him of what was happening inside Harold Cruyff's city.
In Sardia, the messenger dispatched by the Duke of Luxenberg had finally arrived at the Cruyff Palace. Seeing that he followed Victor's directive, he placed the box and letter in Harold's hand before sneaking out of the palace.
Curious about the letter and box, Harold cut open the letter and read.
'Dear Duke Cruyff. I have grown sick of your arrogance. You have sent assassins to kill both me and my sister. The Dukedom of Luxenberg will not stand for such provocations. As a gesture of good faith, I have released your niece Katrina. However, you will have to face me in the field to retrieve your precious sister. I will conquer your Dukedom and personally execute you. Face me or be the coward the world knows you to be.'
Enraged by such an audacious letter, Harold hastily opened the box. To his disgust and horror, he saw the decapitated and rotting head of his dear niece, who resembled her mother. In a blinding rage, the Duke slammed his hands on the table and knocked off his drink and plates.
"That mongrel pup from Luxenberg dares to go to war against me! I shall wipe his territory off the face of this earth! Guards! Let it be known that we are heading to war!" Harold yelled at the top of his lungs.
The faces of his guards and servants fell grim. None of them could soothe his rage. To the people's dismay, the Cruyff Dukedom began its preparations for war. Conscription was now in full effect. Boys who had seen too few winters and men who had seen too many were now being outfitted for Harold Cruyff's army.
An army of 24,000 infantrymen, 3,000 cavalry and 80 guns began to assemble over the following 2 weeks near the border of the Luxenberg and Cruyff territory. Both armies were now only 3 days away from each other.
Scouts had been deployed to report on the Cruyff's army position and composition. In the officer's tent, Victor, his generals and a few of the lower officers began to devise a battle plan. 2 days away from the Cruyff army camp was a flat valley with small hills near the western side of it. The goal was to set up on those and face the oncoming Cruyff army in the east. The battle would be just inside the Luxenberg territory.
There would be no trees or high grass to conceal units, and not enough time to dig trenches to defend from. In truth, this battle was a bluff to try and assassinate Harold Cruyff while using his sister as bait. Victor did not want to kill many of the soldiers in the Cruyff army. They would become his subjects, and he'd rather rule them fairly than murder their standing army.
With a plan organised, the Luxenberg army began preparing for a pitched battle.