Chapter 3: Nightfall on the Barracks

I ordered a surprise night raid on the West End Barracks.

Five thousand against twenty thousand, and it only took one night.

We moved like shadows, slipping past sentries and taking out guards before they could sound the alarm. Carter led the charge, his men moving with the precision of a well-oiled machine. By sunrise, the barracks were ours.

At dawn, Carter came to wake me from my sleep in the command tent.

"Miss, the West End Barracks has fallen."

The West End was effectively defanged overnight.

I sat in the main tent, rubbed my face, and sipped a cup of hot coffee.

The mug was chipped, the coffee burnt, but I savored it anyway. The air was cold, my breath visible in the morning light. Outside, the city was eerily quiet.

Looking at the barracks’ commander, now tied up and kneeling before me, I smiled.

"It’s freezing, General Jennings. Don’t you think so?"

He glared at me, then at Carter, clearly wary.

"Miss Whitlock, this is treason!"

How is it treason? They wouldn’t let me bring my boyfriends into the city, and I couldn’t bear to leave them behind—so I improvised.

I sipped my coffee, letting the absurdity of the situation settle over the tent. Carter smirked behind his hand.

He stared at Carter in disbelief. "These are boyfriends?!"

Carter turned away. "Yeah, like we’d ever be that lucky…"

I ignored him and asked General Jennings, "Any news of my eldest sister?"

General Jennings said, "I’ve been stationed outside the city, I don’t know."

I narrowed my eyes. "Seems you have a short memory, General. Forgotten who cleared your family’s name, saved your life, and gave you your future?"

A look of embarrassment flashed across his face.

"Miss Whitlock, I’m just a nobody!"

People are always like this. Those without morals never feel bound by them. They can always come up with a thousand excuses for themselves in an instant.

I glanced at Carter.

Miss, this man is ungrateful. He doesn’t deserve mercy.

That shut him up.

General Jennings spun a wild tale for me. He said that over the years, the Grand Matriarch’s power had waned. But it wasn’t really that—she’d just relaxed as the battered city gradually recovered.

See, that’s the naivety of someone from another world.

Recently, she’d taken a liking to Chris Chandler, the eldest son of the Chandler family from Silver Hollow. But the Dowager’s niece, Savannah, already had feelings for him. The two quarreled at the family mansion, and Savannah pushed Evelyn into the river…

"With the weather so cold, the Grand Matriarch fell ill. She’s been recuperating, seeing no visitors…"

Hearing this ridiculous story, I was stunned for a moment.

So Evelyn fought over a man—and lost?

I came back to myself and stared at General Jennings. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

General Jennings shook his head frantically.

A harsh laugh tore out of me. "You think just because she has no one backing her, you can spin any story you want and treat her however you like?!"

"I wouldn’t dare! That’s really what I heard…" General Jennings blurted.

I slammed the table in fury. "Where is the Grand Matriarch? What have you done to her?!"

Carter flinched hard. "Miss, don’t act rashly!"

I said, "Pass the order: mas—"

I hadn’t finished the word when a subordinate came running in.

"Reporting to the Grand Heiress: Lucas has arrived."

I narrowed my eyes.

Lucas was my half-brother, newly granted his title. He entered the tent, glanced at Carter, but quickly looked away.

I looked at him too. After eight years, he was no longer the boy who used to hide behind me and Evelyn, crying his eyes out.

"Where’s Evelyn?"

He sighed. "Lila, Evelyn really is sick."

I frowned.

"So, Lucas, have you forgotten how, back when you were left behind in the mansion, Evelyn insisted on going back to save you?"

He sat beside me. "How could I forget?"

He said that when the city fell, his leg was crushed and he couldn’t walk. With his birth mother of low status, the staff purposely left him behind. "Evelyn came back for me. When she found me, I was lying next to my mother’s body, waiting to die."

He seemed genuinely moved recalling the past, his eyes shining with something almost like gratitude.

I raised an eyebrow. "If that’s true, can I get one honest word from you?"

"She really is sick."

He repeated the story about Evelyn fighting over a man. "Chris is handsome and charming—countless socialites in the city are smitten. Evelyn is a woman, too. Why don’t you believe it?"

Rage surged through me.

Evelyn? She always preferred to let others have their way, and she’d said herself she hated women competing over men the most.

I remembered her joking that the easiest way to ruin a woman was to trash her reputation.

Carter coughed to remind me to calm down.

Lucas added, "Evelyn is sick now, Lila. Just come back with me. Let’s drop this and spare her any more trouble."

I looked at my brother. The city really is a wonderful place. Even my once-timid brother had learned to lie.

I turned to him. "Have you seen Evelyn?"

He kept a straight face. "Of course. I visit her every other day."

I stared at him and smiled. "So Evelyn really is at the residence."

He said, "Naturally."

I accepted Lucas’s terms: I’d only bring ‘some of my favorite boyfriends’ into the city.

Carter objected. "He’s lying to you. Now that the West End Barracks have fallen, the city is in grave danger. If they trick you into entering, it’ll be a bloodless victory for them."

I said I knew.

He asked, "Then why not just take the city? Speed is everything in war—the longer we drag this out, the worse it is for us!"

I said, "I can’t risk it. What if they’re holding my sister hostage?"

Does your sister really have to come out of this completely unharmed?!

I stared at him. "Yes."

Carter finally gave up. He stomped off to squat in a corner, muttering, "You lied to me. Said we’d have freedom to roam and raise horses forever…"

I knew I owed him. I crouched in front of him.

Back when he was a refugee, I convinced him my estate was wide open and free, that he could come raise horses with me. I never thought he’d actually come—and spend all these years working so hard.

Now, what didn’t he get? These men, I’d trained them in secret for my sister’s sake—because I knew how naive she could be. All for today.

I could only admit, "I really did lie to you."

Carter: "…"

"Help me this one last time. I just want to save my sister."

Carter’s face filled with frustration and helplessness. "A Maddox never deserts his post in battle… But when this is over, you owe me."

I agreed.