The palace had been in a chaotic situation for quite a while. First thing foremost was the arrival of the Alpha King in which alas, he would finally make an appearance to the public in less than four days on the day of the advancement ceremony. Not only that, the mourning ceremony would be happening tomorrow.
The families of deceased soldiers had to attend and witness the burial of their beloved person with the presence of Grand Alpha King. Since the newly-crowned Alpha King couldn’t make an appearance yet, the Grand Alpha King would do this on his behalf.
I was patrolling the south side of the Waevalon Kingdom where Antsers Graveyard was located in the town of Standford while watching the caretakers burying holes where we would lie all of our brave soldiers tomorrow.
Sighing, I sat down near the tree that was rested on top of a small hill. I lost one-fourth of my fleet and those soldiers would be lying here forever. They would rest in peace. I would want to shed a tear but I couldn’t shed right now. But I felt remorse. It hurts me that I couldn’t even do anything in my power to save them.
And that, this is part of their job as a werewolf soldier.
“Everything is well,” I murmured. I just hope everything would be fine now and we would manage to capture the ruler of those rogues.
I decided to stand up and didn’t want to stay there for long. I pivoted around as my heart jumped seeing General Cairo with a downcasted smile looking at me.
“General Cairo,” I said then saluted him.
“Rachelle.” He stepped forward that alerted me. But I stood still until he was towering over me and I had to look up to look at him.
“What? I am just here to patrol and-”
He cut me off by hugging me which made me gasp. My eyes even widened from his action. “It’s fine to be not fine, General Rachelle.” I was stunned by his words. “I know that you are feeling not okay these past few days… I just want to say that I am always here for you. You know that…”
On cue, my eyes watered then they fell submissively. I leaned my forehead on his shoulder to hide my face that was swelling with tears.
I had been feeling down lately. Other military officials think that it was fine losing some fleets because it was their job to serve the kingdom. So they said that no need to feel down. I am a softhearted person that was why I felt down when I lose one-fourth of my fleets. They didn’t understand me. So, I tried to put up a facade smile that they thought that I am being fine with it when in fact, I wasn’t.
“I hate that I can’t do anything to save them…” I said, sobbing. “I know that they served our kingdom well but I felt unfortunate for their families. As their Commander under them, it is my responsibility to bear this. I feel like I failed them as their Commander. I don’t deserve to be the next General in line.”
“Rachelle.” I irked when his hug tightened. “Don’t say that… The higher-ups think you deserve to be the General. The Grand Alpha King and the Alpha King approved your advancement so don’t be like that.” He sighed.
“I’m sorry…” I murmured, sniffing. “I shouldn’t have said that.” I distanced myself as I wiped my tears. I wet my lips before I looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you for being with me, General Cairo. I appreciate your presence.”
He smiled and patted my head. “Don’t mention it. If you are having deep thoughts and feeling down, you can just approach me. Don’t bottle up your feelings. It is not good.” He gave me a reassuring caress on my cheek. “I’m always here, Rachelle.”
I looked away, feeling shy with the way he was looking at me. I knew that General Cairo only saw me as his sister but what he didn’t understand that his action was flattering me sometimes. He was kind and he always helped when I need help. He is one of the people I am looking up to. He amazed me even by the small things he would do.
General Cairo and I irked as we turned our head in the direction of the forest when we heard a loud thud. My eyes widened when a tree fell down as my jaw dropped. We looked at each other as we both nodded after we dazed out from what happened.
We sprinted to the forest and saw a man with a hood and cloak running far away to the deepest part of the forest. General Cairo growled and was about to follow him when I stopped him on his arm. I shook my head.
“Let it, General. It’s fine that no one is harmed from the fallen tree.” I spared a look to the fallen and was quite surprise from the sudden blow it got.
He inspected it as well as he silently hissed. “Looks like that man vented his anger on this poor tree,” he concluded.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked. The tree looked like it had been punched in the middle that caused it falling down on the ground.
“Just a hunch.” He grinned.
I just chuckled from his answer. “I’ll report this anyway. This shouldn’t be happening tomorrow for the mourning ceremony. But that man is suspicious.” I couldn’t help but to conclude. He instantly ran away as soon as the tree was falling down. He took it as a chance to run away as fast as he could.
“I’ll take some platoons to guard the perimeter of this cemetery,” he said after he inspected the fallen tree once more. “We should head back.
I agreed and nodded. I returned my gaze back to the direction where he ran off before I looked away and sprinted towards General Cairo to catch up with him.
“On behalf of the Alpha King Claudian Alexander IV, I am proud to say that they are our brave soldiers who served well for our kingdom. Their deaths won’t be in vain but we will cherish their sacrifices and salute their bravery and perseverance to the Waevalon Kingdom!” the Grand Alpha King said with his utmost respect and honor for our werewolf soldiers.
I paid respect for the family of my deceased soldiers after the burial ceremony. I wanted to tell them that it would be alright but it was inappropriate for me to utter such things. If I said those things, I would be so inconsiderate for their feelings, I think.
I closed my eyes for a moment before I decided to leave. There was no reason for me to stay. As much as I want to stay, I would want them to mourn for the loss of their loved ones. It is proper if I give them some privacy.
I raised my glance and saw General Cairo waiting for me at the outside as well as General Benedict. I smiled faintly at them.
“Are you waiting for someone here?” I asked and approached them.
Benedict frowned. “Who else would we be waiting, Simon?”
I just rolled my eyes at him and didn’t utter any words. I looked at General Cairo when he surprisingly placed his hand on my head.
“Get a grip of yourself. You’ll soon overcome this.” I just nodded and shyly smiled at him.
“What is this? Are you two be romantically linked with each other?” Benedict stated, teasing on his sing-song voice.
I shot him a glare and stopped myself from getting embarrassed to his question. “Shut up, Benedict.” I rolled my eyes.
He just laughed. I shook my head from his foolishness. Sighing, I couldn’t help thinking about Claude. I knew that I shouldn’t suppose to think about him anymore because we were not meant for each other. Additionally, I cut off the strings that we both deserved.
For the whole year, I tried so hard to forget what I witnessed when he kissed Duchess Amelia. My heart couldn’t handle that pain so I impulsively did that I sometimes felt remorse about it.
I even shed bucket of tears every night. No one knew that I had once have a mate. I never told anyone even my brother.
I looked up in the sky. Now, I am just waiting for the advancement ceremony. My rank would be a General. Aside from that, I would get to enter in the antechamber and see the members of royal family. I couldn’t wait to meet the Alpha King.