Back on the Licorne, Livia clutched her chest. Sweat ran down her brow as she gasped for air, each breath a struggle.
“Their voices,” she rasped.
She was referring to the voices of the people on the battlefield, which rang in her head. Cleare was helping her, filtering out as much of the information pouring in as possible, but she couldn’t completely quiet the voices of soldiers dying on the front lines.
“They’re disappearing,” Livia said. “Crying out that they don’t want to die.” Her face crumpled with pain, tears in her eyes.
Angie gently stroked her back, shooting Cleare a hard look. “Can’t you do anything about this? Livia’s heart won’t hold out.”
“I’m actually cutting out the worst of it already,” Cleare said. As far as she was concerned, the trickle reaching Livia was nothing compared to the virtual typhoon she was suppressing.
Angie shook her head. She didn’t think Livia could go on like this. “At least rest a little bit,” she told Livia.
“Suddenly losing our communications network will throw all our allies into disarray,” Cleare warned.
“Oh. Uh…” Angie’s gaze drifted aimlessly; she was lost for words. As much as she wanted Livia to rest, she knew they couldn’t risk that sort of disorder on the battlefield. The royal army was already fighting at a serious disadvantage. She didn’t intend to make that worse.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
Livia smiled at her. “Thank you, Angie, but I have to give this everything I have, or I won’t be any help to Mr. Leon. I’m going to hold out.” The tears brimmed over and trickled down her cheeks. Her body trembled, as if she might collapse at any second.
Marie glanced out the window at Arcadia. “Big Bro and the others will pull this off, right?” She and everyone else on board were praying desperately for their safety.
Suddenly, a hologram appeared on the bridge, displaying Gilbert from the waist up. His face was all hard lines and angles, his brow scrunched above his eyes. “I’m going to lead the ships in the rear to the front lines,” he announced.
Angie gaped at him. “Wh-what?”
“What’s with the vacant expression?” Gilbert snapped. “Father’s ship already went down, and someone needs to move to the front and lead our forces. Surely you don’t want us to rely on Fanoss for everything?”
“N-no.”
It hit her that, if Gilbert went to the front like her father, he might never come home to her again. That gave her pause.
“You haven’t come all this way to start hesitating now! This is the path you chose,” Gilbert admonished her.
Angie shook her head, as if shaking off her reservations. “You’re right. I wish you luck.”
“Good. That’s more like it.” He smiled at her.
Peering out the window, Carla called back to them, “Our men are moving to the front!”
Gilbert and the ships under his command zoomed past. Together, those ships would give the vanguard much-needed assistance while combating the enemy. Those at the front of the formation began firing on the imperials immediately.
“If I die, you’ll have to find an heir for our family,” Gilbert told Angie. “If need be, one of your children can succeed me.”
She inhaled sharply, alarmed.
Gilbert’s expression softened, and his eyes filled with sadness. “You have a duty to protect our nation, even at the cost of your family’s lives. Don’t forget that.”
Angie lowered her gaze and steeled herself. When she lifted her chin, there was no emotion on her face. “Rest assured I will take care of our family. I promise to protect our lineage.”
“There. Now, that’s more like my sister.”
The royal army had lost close to three hundred ships, but the imperials had also suffered massive losses. Neither side could afford to back down, nor could they be conservative with their forces. If this were an ordinary war, Holfort would’ve admitted defeat and retreated by this point, but it wasn’t. Retreating now would mean death, so they couldn’t withdraw; neither could the empire.
Hands still clutching her chest, Livia stood straight, her gaze focused directly ahead. “Let’s move to the front line too,” she said.
“Liv?!” Cleare squeaked in dismay. “Nelly’s at her limit already!”
After her earlier stunt with Lelia, using the Sacred Tree’s power to shield them, Noelle was completely wrung out. But at the sound of her name, Noelle—who’d been lying down—tried to pull herself back to her feet. “Is it my turn again? It’s tough being so popular.” Her body couldn’t support her, and she flopped back into Yumeria’s arms.
“Lady Noelle, you can’t,” Yumeria said, her cheeks wet with tears.
Noelle let out a strangled laugh. “Why’s it always times like this when my body won’t work like I want it to?” Tears of frustration filled her eyes.
“Thank you for wanting to help,” Livia said to her. “But please rest for now.”
Noelle looked at her in confusion. “Olivia?”
Livia’s eyes were still fixed ahead. “Please have the Licorne move to the front line. I’ll protect everyone.”
“No!” Cleare said. “You’re already under enough strain. If you increase that load any more, you’ll break down!”
“I have no other choice!” Livia’s voice cracked, forcing her to pause for a moment. Once she recovered, she added, “I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise. Right here, right now, I need to do everything in my power to help. So please…!”
While everyone else was intent on stopping Livia from going down this path of self-destruction, Angie instead cut in, “You’re just like Leon, you know. You both take on more than you can reasonably handle.”
“Angie?” Livia said questioningly.
“I’m saying that, if you’re set on this, I’ll stay with you to the very end.” Angie scanned the faces of the others in the room. Hands on her hips, she added, “You heard me. We’re taking the Licorne to the front. If any of you want to disembark, do it now.”
Carla and Kyle looked at one another, but since Marie didn’t speak up, they kept silent.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Noelle said with a pained smile. “I haven’t come this far to quit now.”
Yumeria nodded. “I’ll stay too. Lady Noelle needs the support. More importantly, I know Kyle won’t leave either.” Her eyes darted to him, and she smiled.
Kyle made a face. He probably wanted his mother to leave the ship for her own safety, but he also knew how necessary she was to support Noelle and help her control the Sacred Tree, so he couldn’t bring himself to ask her.
Marie rested her staff on her shoulder and puffed her chest out. “If you hadn’t volunteered us to go to the front, I was ready to kick some butts in gear and make us charge the enemy myself.”
Angie stared back at her, dumbfounded. After a moment, she cracked a smile. “I said we’d go to the front, but I never mentioned charging the enemy,” she corrected in a gently teasing tone.
“Oh, same difference!” Marie grumbled, her voice cracking with embarrassment.
Everyone snickered at her.