In The Fortress of George.
The entire place was in chaos. The Fortress walls had been breached and due to the fight with the Master ranks, the walls had suffered greatly and many cracks had appeared on them.
The Mages along with the soldiers who knew a bit of masonry tried to fill up the cracks while the injured and the wounded were being carried on stretchers.
Everyone seemed to rush here and there carrying things because they knew that the cooldown period may not last long and Amidon may resort to foul play and attack at Night so they were trying to finish the preparation as quickly as possible.
.....
While on the outside, it was full of chaos and turmoil, inside the Commander's office room two figures sat before each other while observing each other quietly.
The atmosphere was quite tense and cold. Tension could be seen rising in the air and one can see sparks flying around as Alex and Christina's gazes met.
Both of them looked at each trying to discern one another.
Alex was thinking about how to start the conversation with Christina who seemed to sit like a statue.
No matter how much Alex observed, he couldn't see even a minuscule change in Christina's expression which made him think whether she even had emotions or not.
Alex thought that his appearance might have stunned her, shocked her and surprised her to a great extent which may even make her feel that she was dreaming but no.....
Except for the change in expression when he appeared and healed her, Alex didn't find any or he might have missed some while busing himself on dealing with the enemies.
"Ummmm...So, Christina, how are you? Are you doing well?"
Christian tilted her head and pondered for a moment and answered"You already know my situation so why are you asking me?"
Alex almost choked on hearing her words and thought that she might not like the roundabout way of talking.
Contrary to Alex's opinion of Christina who he thought to be as emotionless, the Goddess of War was freaking out from inside.
Unlike others, when she was freaking out or shocked, the bare expression she had, also freezes, making her look like a cold emotionless doll.
Moreover, she didn't even know what was going on.
Not only did this guy who was in coma and on the deathbed recover and appear here, but he also seemed to have grown stronger at a rate which was incomparable to any genius she had seen.
Looking at the genuine care for her reflected in his eyes, she didn't know how to react or reciprocate his feelings
And she was so shocked that she didn't know how to express herself.
From her childhood, it was all about training and fighting and she doesn't have many connections with the opposite gender.
She didn't even remember the last time she smiled or felt the happiness of staying with her loved ones.
Her family had a noble status and her father had a very high status in the army but due to an unfortunate incident, he died and the other officials of the army who were jealous of him, slandered him after his death and tried to take down her house.
Her mother tried her best to avoid the crisis. But no matter how hard she tried, their house's noble status fell and they became one of the fallen nobles who were seen with contemptuous eyes by noble society.
Her mother's only chance to redeem their reputation and get back the status was to marry another noble house but she knew that if she married for a second time, Christina would surely suffer so she rejected all the proposals and took it upon herself to revive the house.
Christina remembered how her mother who was as beautiful as a blooming flower slowly started to wither and tear apart from all sides.
She still remembered how her mother would wear the mask of happiness hiding her inner sorrow and a broken heart.
So, Christina made a choice. Instead of going to the academy, she decided to join the army at the age of 11 years of age.
She was already hailed as a genius from the age of 10 because of her superior sword skills and was invited by many academics but she rejected them and joined the army so that she could rise in position faster and can revive her house quickly taking away some of the burdens.
In just four years of joining she rose from the rank of Private to Lieutenant and by the age of 20 she had already become a general which was a high position in the Army of Kinley and reached it at the age of 20 added further prestige to it
But when she became general, she heard something that shocked her entirely.
Her father's death was no accident nor did he die on the battlefield as they were told, rather he was backstabbed by one of his friends who was a Major general of the same rank as his father.
She vowed to avenge her father by killing the man who was responsible for all their misfortune.
But later she came to know that the man was under Second Prince's wing and waging a war against the man meant going against the Second Prince but she didn't bat an eye at this matter.
But the man didn't leave her alone and tried to frame her for colliding with other empires.
The only way for her to redeem herself was to either get under the Second Prince's wing or expose the man's dirty secrets.
After gathering all the evidence, she along with her legion which was specifically trained by her went against the man's army.
Her legion consisted of 32,000 soldiers went on to war and massacred almost 80,000 soldiers of the Major general which also caused a huge loss to the Second Prince faction who decided to take her down fearing that she might pose a threat to him in ascending the throne by weakening his position.
The rift between them leads to an onslaught of chaos.
Finally, unable to take it down The Emperor finally intervened by branding her a rebel.
She tried to prove her father's innocence and even showed all the evidence along with the evidence that the man under Second Prince was the one who started the war first.
But all her pleas fell on deaf ears.
No matter what justification she showed, raising a sword against the Prince of Empire was a crime that cannot be dismissed.
Her mother broke down hearing about her daughter's condition and passed away in grief.
The Emperor on account of all her achievements gave her two choices.
First, die for rebelling.
Second, repent for her mistake and she would be stripped of her title and will be crippled and had to restart her warrior journey again.
Her legion which was specially trained by her would be passed on to other generals.
Moreover, she had to marry the idiotic Prince and became the general of the small Nevan Kingdom.
Hearing about her mother's death, who was unable to take the things, broke the last straw of rationality Christina had.
Her mother was the only one whose existence saved her from despair but her mother's death was too much for her to bear.
Why??? Just why?
She had to go through all this. While most of the girls enjoy themselves wearing make-up and spending their money on shopping, she with a sword in her hand had to sweep across the enemy forces.
In a moment of despair and her life surrounded by darkness, she just wanted to die to let go of all her sorrows but at the last moment, she got the message from Catherine who advised her to choose the second choice after all living is better than death.
And think about the revenge against her enemies, as long as she is alive she can take revenge.
All she needed to do was start from scratch.No matter how many years it may take she will surely have her revenge.
Revenge was the only thing that kept her alive till now and except for the hollow feeling of a broken heart, immense hatred and anger were the only emotions she can feel now.
Thinking about all the past events, she clenched her fists tightly to the point, her long nails dived into her skin making the blood trickle down from her hands.
"Are you thinking about the past?"
Christina was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Alex's voice and a frown appeared on her face.
She blinked her eye with a surprised expression which looked quite cute in Alex's eyes.
Alex laughed seeing a subtle change in Christina's expression.
"A woman who doesn't show any expression and looks cold can only show emotion when thinking about the gruesome and painful past," Alex spoke as he heard about Christina's past from Riya which was quite sad.
Alex thought for a moment about how to proceed forward, he knew that flower words of flattery wouldn't work on Christina and may even disgust her.
He remembered the moment when he once asked the Goddess of lust to teach him tricks of melting a girl's heart but as result, he whipped her.
According to her, only a playboy goes around playing with girls whereas a real man wins a girl's heart with action and he needs to figure out by himself about how to make his wives put trust in him first.
Trust is the bridge that lessens the gap between counterparts in a relationship and once broken everything falls apart.
Moreover, his wives even sacrificed their life span to save him while suffering heart-wrenching pain.
So, at the least, he should show his sincerity towards them and since Christina was too dense to talk in a roundabout way, Alex decided to go straight to the point.
Alex stood up from his seat and walked toward Christina, bowing on one of his knees while extending his hand, he said"Christina, I will not pretend to understand what you have gone through in the past nor I will tell you to forget about it."
"Your past would be the foundation of your future and I, Alex, your so-called husband, vowed to you, that I will help you achieve your goals, and attain your revenge."
"There will be nothing that can stop you from slicing the head of the enemies. Even if you have to fight against God, you will always find me beside you. Not at the back nor the front. We will fight side by side for the ages to come."
"May the heaven bear the witness and may the hell punish me, if I break the oath."
Christina's eyes widened and as her golden eyes met with Alex's resolute gaze which was full of sincerity, she didn't know why she felt as if her heart was telling her to trust the man unconditionally.
What Alex did know was swearing an oath in Knight's way where Knight took their pledge when they were accepted by a master swearing their eternal allegiance.
Seeing the unshakable integrity in Alex's eyes, Christina subconsciously extended her hand which Alex held firmly and with a gentle smile he muttered.
"This knight of yours shall pledge his loyalty, Lady Christina."
