Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2258

'What those blockheads fail to understand is that I'm not leaving Verhen last out of mercy but as a precaution. He's my contingency plan and the only way I have to fulfill Jormun's dying wish.' Just thinking that name brought tears to her eyes.

"Do you feel well enough to talk?" Thrud asked and Phloria nodded. "Then tell me everything I should know in order to win the War of the Griffons. Start from the most important secrets you know."

"As you command, my Queen." Phloria fell onto her right knee, appreciating the soft fabric of her new uniform that fit her like a glove. "Back when Magus Verhen was four years old, he found a stone in the Trawn woods-"

"That's what you consider a secret worthy of winning a war?" Thrud cut her short in disbelief, finding the anecdote as boring as it was stupid. "Hystar, is the array working properly?"

"Yes, my Liege. Everything is in order." The Headmaster scratched his head in embarrassment while Phloria inwardly screamed and struggled with all of her strength.

"If you let me continue, you'll soon understand I'm right, Your Highness." Yet her body ignored her, the slave spell overriding her body and feelings.

Her lips curled up in a smile, happy at the idea of being useful to the person she loved the most and for whom she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice her life. No matter what Phloria wanted, her body and mind considered Thrud their everything.

Every feeling of love, loyalty, friendship, and admiration she had ever had was now focused solely on the Mad Queen. To Phloria, Thrud was her parents, her lover, her best friend, and her mentor.

There was nothing she wouldn't do to make Thrud happy.

"Then continue."

Phloria nodded and resumed her story, skipping to the part where the stone turned out to be Solus and then to the part where Solus turned out to be both Menadion's tower and her daughter.

At that point. Thrud stopped Phloria, remaining in a daze for a few minutes until she digested the full implications of such news. The Mad Queen ordered Phloria to start over from the beginning without leaving out anything, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.

Hours and several glasses of water later, Phloria's throat was parched and raspy from all that talking. Thrud now knew as much as Phloria about Lith and her happiness was Phloria's happiness.

"That explains who that girl was and why I've never heard about the fourth Horseman." Hystar was flabbergasted by the revelations about Solus.

"Screw Moonlight. That crap is good for my Generals, but for my son, I want something on par with Menadion's tower." Thrud said. "The Eyes, the Mouth, and the Hands will make him invincible once he reaches the white core, let alone if we get our hands on the Ears as well."

"Don't forget about the Mines and the Crucible." The Headmaster said. "With them, you'll never again lack resources and your army would always be properly equipped."

"Indeed, but let's not count our chickens before they hatch." Thrud nodded. "I don't want anyone to learn about any of this outside the three of us. Valeron's safety comes first.

"On top of that, greed makes people unpredictable. I don't want to risk one of my Generals taking a shot at the tower the moment I release them from the Unwavering Loyalty. Our bond of trust come f-"

Only then did Thrud notice that even though Phloria's face and mouth were smiling, her eyes were crying. People under the effects of a slave spell could still shed a tear or twitch an involuntary muscle if they had a will strong enough.

Such a reaction was unheard of.