Wrong Marriage and Sweet Love

Joyce continued to rest with her eyes closed as time slowly passed. Clint took out the satellite communicator, but there was still no signal. He discarded it since it was now useless. Dawn seemed a long way off.

Meanwhile, Luther and Darrin had already joined the main forces of the Imperial Household Agency. Although they couldn’t communicate, they had prearranged a rendezvous point before the mission. The Yoshikawa family’s guards were temporarily suppressed, with many captured alive, but they couldn’t locate the snipers or determine their numbers. They had to proceed cautiously and avoid large-scale movements.

When Darrin saw Grizela return with her team, he was surprised. “You’re back. Where’s the young marshal?”

“I’m looking for her too. We got separated in the thick smoke. I thought she was near me because I kept hearing her gunshots, but later I realized she wasn’t behind me,” Grizela said, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, we didn’t complete the mission or find the young marshal.”

Luther feared this would happen and felt a splitting headache. “She has a poor sense of direction. Which way did she likely go?”

Grizela thought for a moment. “If she didn’t go with us, she might have headed east.”

“The east leads to the cliff top,” Reuben said as he emerged from his guards. “It’s a dead end, a cliff. We should send people to support her immediately.”

Seeing Reuben and hearing his familiar voice, Grizela was startled and knelt down excitedly. “Your Highness, you’re safe! I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Stand up and speak; the ground is full of stones,” Reuben said as he quickly helped Grizela up. “I’m fine.”

Grizela nodded.

Darrin added, “She almost committed seppuku thinking you were in grave danger, but I stopped her in time.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Reuben was taken aback and scolded, “How could you think of doing something so foolish? Even if something happened to me, I want you all to be safe. My plan included sending you away; you shouldn’t stay here.”

“Your Highness, I will follow you for life. If you stay, I stay; if you leave, I leave,” Grizela said with teary eyes.

Reuben thanked Darrin, “Thank you for stopping her. It was my mistake not to inform her of the situation.”

Darrin explained, “We captured a Yoshikawa family guard who misled us into thinking Your Highness went southwest. So we sent the young marshal and Grizela to support that direction. We didn’t expect to find Your Highness instead. If the young marshal went to the eastern cliff top, it’ll be hard to support them since it’s easier to defend from above.”

“But if Joyce holds the high ground, she can buy us some time while we deal with the main forces of the Yoshikawa family,” Luther reasoned.

Darrin nodded.

Soon after, Darrin received news and came to discuss it with Luther. “A group has arrived; they’re from the Crown Prince’s side. It seems he sent out a message before communications were cut off. They’ve approached us for a joint operation.”

“Yes, joining forces will help us quickly eliminate the Yoshikawa family’s men,” Luther agreed.

“But what if after we subdue them, the Crown Prince’s men turn on us?” Grizela warned cautiously. “I don’t trust them; the Crown Prince is known for his schemes.”

Reuben intervened, “We can’t think like that now. Joyce is likely with Clint; we must do everything to rescue her. Clint must also be safe; otherwise, Joyce will be blamed along with Pascaylia’s Heath family warlords-a consequence no one can bear.”

“Understood, Your Highness,” Grizela replied but remained frowning.

“Clint wouldn’t do such a thing; our common enemy requires immediate action,” Luther signaled Darrin.

Darrin understood and acted promptly.

Luther anxiously awaited news as gunfire echoed from near to far and gradually subsided.

Reuben was safe now, but Joyce’s whereabouts were unknown, leaving him restless.

About two hours later.

Darrin returned with an update.

“Mr. Warner, we’ve controlled all Yoshikawa family guards. Clint’s team captured a sniper who revealed that two people are at the eastern cliff top behind large rocks-one of them has excellent marksmanship, making it impossible for others to approach under their firepower suppression. I suspect it’s the young marshal and Clint. The problem is Hirota dispatched several snipers whose exact number and locations are unknown-they don’t recognize each other or have any contact and won’t retreat until their mission is complete. They carry no communicators; even if we restore communication, we can’t call off their mission. We don’t know their hiding spots either; using drones to search the entire mountain would take too long and be inefficient.”

Luther’s eyes darkened as he realized Joyce had found Clint and they were now hiding on the mountaintop surrounded by unknown snipers aiming for their lives.

“What should we do?” Darrin asked helplessly. “Finding sniper positions usually requires them to shoot first; otherwise, it’s nearly impossible to locate them while searching through mountains is dangerous since we’re exposed.”

Luther understood this well and felt even more anxious.

“The young marshal doesn’t have night vision equipment,” Darrin expressed his concern. “She can identify close-range sounds but not long-range threats. All other threats have been eliminated except for these snipers.”

Reuben suggested sending a helicopter to broadcast orders from above demanding they cease action.

“I’m afraid these snipers only take orders from Hirota,” Luther shook his head. “Hirota won’t miss this last chance for revenge.”

Darrin frowned, “Then we must wait until dawn and use aerial firepower suppression on the mountaintop before rescuing them.”

Luther checked his watch-it was 2 AM.

He looked eastward into an even darker night than before-the brief moonlight had vanished again-reducing visibility further.

It would take at least three more hours until dawn.

Even then, could they locate all snipers? Aerial suppression risked collateral damage which worried him greatly.

“Mr. Warner, what do you need me to do?” Reuben asked.

Luther replied decisively: “Your Highness Reuben and Grizela should return to the Imperial Household Agency immediately-discuss with Hajime about joining forces with the Crown Prince’s men against Hirota without delay-eliminate external threats first then address internal issues.”

“Understood.” Reuben nodded solemnly.