The Princess' Harem
Chapter 86: The Race Against Time

Chapter 86: The Race Against Time

The words hung in the air, cold and definitive. King Clive’s face, already etched with weariness, now turned to a mask of grim comprehension.

Viana had not only been right, she had been terrifyingly, impossibly right. The blight was real.

The unseen war had truly begun. The implications of this hidden attack, coupled with Arin’s looming threat, settled upon him with a crushing weight.

His gaze swept from the cowering prisoners to Joel, then finally to Viana, his eyes now filled with a profound, terrifying understanding.

"Reyes!" the King bellowed, his voice resonating through the throne room, "Mobilize the royal guard. Secure these prisoners. They will be interrogated under the highest security. I want every resource devoted to finding their employers, their contacts, anyone connected to this insidious plot. I want every alchemist in the kingdom working to find a way to neutralize this poison, to mitigate its effects. We must act swiftly, decisively, if we are to have any hope of saving our lands."

The throne room, moments before a place of tense disbelief, erupted into a flurry of activity. Guards rushed to secure the prisoners, their defiant silence now a matter of grave importance.

Reyes, his controlled expression now sharpened with a determined urgency, barked orders to his officers, his voice echoing through the chamber. Pages scurried to deliver the King’s commands to every corner of the palace.

The weight of the impending disaster had galvanized the court into a frantic, desperate motion.

Viana stood beside the King, her face pale but resolute. The confirmation of her fears had not brought relief, but a renewed sense of urgency.

***

The messenger’s words had torn through the throne room like a blade, stripping away the fragile calm that had settled over Elysia. King Clive’s roar of outrage shattered the court’s practiced restraint, and in an instant, the Grand Palace, once a place of measured diplomacy, became a war engine preparing for battle.

The halls, normally filled with quiet discussions and the soft rustle of royal robes, now buzzed with urgency—an unstoppable momentum driving every action.

Reyes moved with a hardened precision, his commands cutting through the chaos with sharp efficiency. Officers saluted and scattered, their hurried footsteps echoing through the corridors as messengers sprinted toward every garrison, every depot, every stronghold across the kingdom.

The message was simple, stripped of formalities: Elysia was under attack.

In the palace’s military wing, discipline gave way to relentless preparation. Armorers worked tirelessly, their hammers ringing against metal as swords were sharpened, shields reinforced.

The scent of burning oil and hot steel mixed with the sweat as supplies were tallied and loaded onto wagons bound for the front lines. Soldiers pushed through grueling drills, their movements honed to brutal efficiency under the relentless barks of drillmasters.

There was no time for hesitation—only immediate action.

Reyes directed operations from his private chamber, now transformed into a command center layered with maps and intelligence reports. Scouts poured in updates, detailing enemy movement, possible infiltration routes, and early signs of resistance beyond the capital.

He studied every detail, calculating strategies, adjusting formations. His war council, worn but resolute, presented logistical challenges and tactical demands, each decision carrying the profound weight of the kingdom’s survival.

He issued orders with absolute focus, balancing necessary speed with strict secrecy. The kingdom had to be prepared, but it couldn’t afford to appear desperate, risking panic among its people or premature engagement from its enemies.

Meanwhile, within the alchemist’ laboratory, a different battle raged. Master Marion, her usual calm replaced by sharp determination, drove her assistants through endless tests and experiments.

Glassware clinked, flames hissed beneath bubbling concoctions, and the pungent scent of exotic compounds filled the chamber. The blight’s corrosive agent defied conventional understanding; its peculiar crystalline structure stubbornly resisted known purifications.

Time was their relentless enemy, and the search for a solution became increasingly desperate.

"Adjust the heat carefully—no sudden changes!" Marion snapped, barely glancing up from the latest reaction.

Her eyes, red-rimmed from sleepless nights, scoured ancient texts, unraveling fragmented theories on purification, on reversing unnatural decay. Riders had been dispatched to distant monasteries, to remote scholars, to forgotten alchemists—anyone who might provide a glimmer of insight.

The contamination wasn’t simply poisoning the land; it was unmaking it, fundamentally altering its very essence.

***

Viana moved constantly between war meetings and the laboratory, her unique knowledge shaping strategies and reinforcing the profound urgency. She stood at King Clive’s side during councils, offering chillingly accurate insights into the enemy’s methods and reinforcing the gravity of the situation.

In Reyes’s war room, she analyzed every incoming report, adjusting tactical responses, ensuring resources moved efficiently where they were most needed.

In the alchemy chamber, she pressed Master Marion for any breakthroughs, any sign of progress that might halt the impending ecological disaster. Sleep became a distant luxury, and meals were often forgotten in the relentless march toward preparation.

King Clive, his authority sharpened by the crisis, responded with decisive action. He ordered drastic river diversions to contain the spreading blight, a measure that risked disrupting water supply but offered the only hope of saving uncontaminated farmlands.

Emergency grain stockpiles were swiftly secured from loyal dukes in distant, untouched provinces, stretching the kingdom’s logistical capabilities but ensuring a reserve against future famine. His war council worked tirelessly, balancing immediate threats with the daunting requirements of long-term stability.

Beyond the palace walls, a palpable undercurrent of fear began to spread, but disciplined leadership outright chaos. Nobles abandoned their usual distractions, organizing local aid to affected regions or reinforcing defensive lines of their own lands.

Among them, Count Lazarus moved with a practiced ease, offering his own well-resourced assistance to the King’s efforts. Behind the façade of concern, a quiet satisfaction flickered in his eyes.

The blight was indeed spreading, as planned. Yet, a subtle furrow creased his brow; the swift and organized royal response, the early detection, unsettled him.

The effectiveness of the King’s reaction, especially Viana’s central role, was an unexpected variable. He feigned ignorance of the blight’s true nature, his inquiries to court officials carefully phrased, betraying no hint of his deeper knowledge or his concealed disappointment at the plan’s premature exposure.

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