Chapter 178: Chapter 178 A Side You Dont See
Phoebe’s POV
Elder Augustus seemed stunned by my question. I watched him struggle to find the right words, so I showed him another note.
*If my presence won’t help, should I order you to go instead? You seem more likable than me.*
"It’s... my role is here, in the palace, so I..." Elder Augustus fumbled for words, but everything sounded like excuses rather than real answers. "If you want to send someone, you should..."
Elder Tricia must have seen this coming from a mile away because he cut him off quickly.
"You don’t get a say in this, Augustus," Tricia snarled at him. "Your job is to advise the king and queen, not dictate what she’ll do."
Elder Augustus raised his eyebrows and smirked at him. "But looks like that’s exactly what you just did, Tricia."
His gaze then locked onto me. "Your presence won’t help—it’ll only weaken the kingdom. I don’t mean to offend you, my queen, but that’s the truth."
Elder Augustus seemed to find fresh confidence. He didn’t speak loudly, but everyone understood what he was implying. A mute queen on the battlefield...
I scribbled something down and shoved it in his face.
*Watch what you’re saying, Augustus. I’m the queen. I can order your head taken for that insult.*
Perry’s darker traits must be rubbing off on me. But right now, I didn’t care. These elders needed to know their place. I had to control them before they controlled me. I’d had enough people trying to control me.
Meanwhile, Elder Tricia looked at me with pride. I was finally standing up for myself instead of hiding behind my shyness.
I still had a long way to go, but this was progress.
Elder Augustus finally bowed his head and admitted he’d crossed the line. His apology sounded forced, but I didn’t expect anything genuine from him.
With that settled, I left the palace with my two personal warriors and several others led by two senior warriors to help at the fortress.
Before departing, I slipped a paper into Elder Tricia’s hand: *Please help me from the palace. We both know the other elders will try different tricks to make me fail.*
Elder Tricia smirked when he read my note. Those teachers were right about me—I really was a fast learner.
"What are you grinning about?" Elder Augustus saw the note but couldn’t read what I’d written. He tried to peek, but Elder Tricia wouldn’t let him. "What did she say?"
"Don’t worry about what she said. Worry about yourself. You’re lucky she’s not as cruel as the king, but don’t push her too hard. You might see a side of her you don’t want to see."
"Is that some kind of threat?" Elder Augustus narrowed his eyes, but the other elder just laughed and waved dismissively.
"Just advice from a fellow elder." Elder Tricia needed to find a successor for his position as royal beta, since this arrangement should be temporary. He no longer had the energy to deal with the other elders.
After all, he was the oldest among them, which earned him some respect.
——
**Perry’s POV**
We managed to kill at least two hundred Valerium warriors and fugitives, but more were out there. Now that they knew the royal warriors had caught up, they scattered in different directions.
Timothy was trying to catch his breath when he finally reached me. We were no longer tracking the enemies directly, but the other warriors followed the trail of blood I’d left in my wake.
"Perry, you need to slow down. We need to discuss this."
"They scattered. Took different paths, but they must have a meeting point. Where?" I seemed to be talking to myself, looking around and closing my eyes as the wind blew. It carried our enemies’ scent.
However, they’d gone in every direction, and I couldn’t tell which path would lead me to Reginald.
That man was more like a fox than a wolf.
In the background, Timothy was saying something—suggestions about what we should do next and what happened in the central city.
But I tuned him out, lost in thought.
"Central city," I said suddenly.
"Yes, I’ve been telling you we need to leave right away because we can’t catch up to them. We’ll send a few warriors to track them down."
"No need for that. They’ll all head to the central city. They’ll be backup for the Valerium warriors there." I turned around and found a warrior who was a member of Sunstone Creek pack.
"What’s the fastest route to Central City?"
"There." He pointed left. "The terrain’s rough, but crossing the mountain will save you four hours, even by car," he said confidently.
"Wait, how do you know they’re heading to the central city?" Timothy stopped me before I could shift into my beast form.
"I know," I said impatiently. "Lead the warriors back to Sunstone Creek pack, then head to the central city."
"Are you going alone?" Timothy’s eyes widened.
"Yes." I would take the shortcut because I had to reach the palace as soon as possible to lead the warriors there.
