Chapter 232: Regaleon...?

The silver-haired knightly woman received the parchment from the kneeling knight...

The moment he handed it to her, he immediately withdrew several paces before standing with his head bowed. His posture was almost deferential, as though he were deliberately trying to make himself inconspicuous in the presence of the thirteen Etheryeans.

Meanwhile, the woman unfolded the parchment and began reading its contents.

Her golden eyes moved steadily across the lines, her expression gradually becoming more serious with each passing moment.

As she read, the silver-haired man who had spoken earlier turned toward her and asked. "Cecileon, what does it say?"

Cecileon? Regaleon furrowed his brows at the mention of that name.

Actually, it was not the name itself that bothered him. Rather, it was the character it contained.

Was it just him, or did these names somehow bear a strange relation to his own?

The first bulky knight to speak had been named Valeon, now this woman was named Cecileon. And coincidentally—or perhaps not—his own name was Regaleon.

Any other person hearing those names together would hardly be so naïve as to assume that there was no connection between them, much less Regaleon himself.

The similarities in their names were already peculiar enough. But when combined with their appearances, the resemblance became far more difficult to dismiss.

Perhaps someone within his ancestry had been related to one of these people gathered inside the pavilion... Or perhaps he was a descendant of one of them.

The possibility sent an unfamiliar sensation through Regaleon. However, that was where the conundrum lay.

According to everything he knew, there was no one within the entirety of House Valehart who looked like him.

Regaleon’s silver hair and golden eyes were unlike the features traditionally associated with the House.

The scions of House Valehart were renowned for their distinctive golden hair and golden eyes, characteristics that separated them from the bloodlines of the other Great Houses.

Yet Regaleon possessed silver hair. And though his eyes were golden, there was something subtly different about their hue. Also, he had never heard of any precedent within his household involving someone born with the same combination of features.

It was precisely because of this reason that he had been called a bastard, an heretic and an aberration of the Valehart bloodline. Moreover, it was also one of the major reasons he had so often been sidelined by other members of the House.

Regaleon had spent years accepting those judgments, even if he had never truly understood why his appearance was considered such an offense.

Now, standing within this ancient memory and looking at thirteen people who possessed features nearly identical to his own, he could not help but question everything he thought he knew about his ancestry.

He thought deeply about how he might somehow be related to these people, but he could not find any notable link that could bridge the centuries separating them.

There was only one plausible person he could think of and that was his mother. But that was also an explanation he could not accept.

According to everything Regaleon knew, his mother had been nothing more than a maid within House Valehart. As a matter of fact, it was because of her beauty and delicate appearance that she had become the object of Lord Valdric’s affection and had it not been because of this prerequisites, there was no doubt that she would have remained a maid all her life.

Besides that, he knew very little about her life before entering House Valehart, much less about her family. Honestly, he couldn’t even remember his mother talking about anyone from her family and that was perhaps what made her more mysterious if he thinks about it.

The only thing he could remember with certainty was that his mother had possessed the same unmistakable characteristics as him; silver hair and an almost uncanny luminosity within her eyes that gave them their golden colour.

But if she truly had some connection to these people, then none of it made sense.

Why would someone descended from such a lineage have become a mere maid?

Why would such a person possess no remarkable status?

And why would she have lived an ordinary life within House Valehart without anyone ever mentioning her ancestry?

Seriously, all these circumstances perplexed him and somewhat unsettled his understanding of his own ancestry.

Regaleon had always thought himself to be a bona fide heir of House Valehart, even if the House itself had never treated him as one.

Yet the things he had witnessed over these past few days had made that assumption almost untenable, making the apparent correlation between himself and the people before him increasingly difficult to ignore.

There were simply too many similarities and coincidences gathered in one place for him to disprove even if he wanted to.

Still, Regaleon did not dwell further on his lineage. Whatever the truth was, he did not have enough information to uncover it.

For now, he could only observe. So he turned his attention back toward the people around the table and continued listening.

In the meantime, having finished reading the parchment, Cecileon turned toward the silver-haired male Knight and handed it to him.

Narrowing her brows, she spoke. "It seems that the First Battalion isn’t having an easy time against the Devils in the east."

The man’s expression hardened as he received the parchment.

"According to the information provided by Sir Talen, they seem to have encountered some sort of resistance and are requesting reinforcements."

The moment Cecileon finished speaking, the man reading the parchment lifted his head.

"She’s right." His tone had become solemn. "It seems we may have underestimated the strength of the Devils. According to this letter, the battle in the east has reached such intensity that Sir Talen has no choice but to ask for reinforcements."

The manner in which the man emphasized the situation was enough for Regaleon to understand its magnitude and severity.

There was something else Regaleon noticed.

Judging by the way they spoke about this Sir Talen, the commander seemed to be someone capable of holding his own without assistance.

He appeared to be capable, independent, and highly reliable, such that the mere notion of him requesting reinforcements caused the others to regard the matter with grave concern.

"So what are we going to do now?" Another silver-haired Knight spoke.

This time, the speaker was a woman whose tall, muscular frame and broad shoulders gave her the imposing presence of an Amazonian warrior.

Her brows were furrowed as she continued.

"It isn’t as though we can simply send soldiers to his location. After all, the First Battalion isn’t the only group having difficulty with the Devils."

The moment those words were spoken, a solemn silence descended upon the pavilion.

No one immediately disagreed because they knew she was right.

They were not fighting a minor skirmish; instead, they were engaged in a protracted war against another group of people known as the Devils.

Because of this war, several Battalions had already been dispatched across different sections of the battlefield.

Their forces were spread thin and every soldier sent to reinforce one location was a soldier that could no longer reinforce another.

And this was something that made every decision carry consequences far beyond the battlefield immediately before them.

The situation was precarious. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

So precarious, in fact, that any decision they made could trigger a chain of events that might ultimately become either catastrophic or advantageous, depending entirely upon how circumstances unfolded.

The group ruminated in silence. Then another Knight suddenly spoke. "Left to me, I would suggest reinforcing Sir Talen without considering the other fronts."

His voice carried conviction as he continued.

"I mean, for him to request backup as soon as possible suggests that both he and his soldiers are in a dire strait. Therefore, we have no choice but to prioritize them at the moment."

A series of nods rippled across the table as several of the others silently agreed.

However, Cecileon spoke once more. "While your suggestion is certainly reasonable, Kaeleon, don’t let us forget that Sir Talen isn’t the only commander out there."

She glanced around the table.

"What of the others who have sent calls for help and are yet to receive any?"

Her expression became more solemn.

"Left to me, I would suggest that we do not act rashly. Instead, we should consider the condition of every front before committing forces to a single battlefield."

Another series of nods spread across the table. Some agreed with Cecileon but others remained uncertain.

Within moments, the pavilion had effectively divided into two sides, each discussing whether the First Battalion should receive immediate reinforcement or whether their limited forces should be distributed according to the condition of every battlefield.

Voices overlapped, arguments were exchanged and the once-orderly pavilion gradually descended into a whirlpool of deliberation.

Then Valeon spoke again.

"I don’t understand why any of us are arguing about the obvious."

His gruff voice immediately cut through the discussion.

The conversations gradually died down.

Valeon leaned forward slightly, his sharp eyes sweeping across the table before settling upon the person seated at its very head.

Despite the commotion surrounding him, that person had remained silent.

He had continued examining the parchments spread before him, seemingly detached from the discussion occurring around him.

He had not even reacted when the messenger entered the pavilion neither had he reacted when the letter from the eastern Frontline was delivered nor had he spoken when the others began arguing over whether Sir Talen should receive reinforcements.

Yet there was something about him that distinguished him from everyone else.

Perhaps it was the seat he occupied, perhaps it was the quiet authority surrounding him... Or perhaps it was the almost instinctive deference with which even Valeon addressed him.

Whatever the reason, Regaleon understood one thing; that man was the leader of the knights gathered around the table.

Valeon looked directly at him. For the first time, the bulky knight’s expression lost some of its previous impatience and then he spoke.

"What do you think should be done concerning the matter at hand..."

Valeon’s gruff voice echoed through the pavilion. "...Regaleon?"