I Was Reborn To Be With You

Autumn Leaves Part 4

The fallen leaves have filled the ground, the air is getting colder and colder. Troops run faster to get to their destination before the winter comes. In winter, the snow will fall to cover the road and make it difficult for horses to walk. Food supplies must also be stored in the barn so that they can last long until the winter is over.

The sun was getting lower and the sky was getting darker and the birds were flying back to their nests. River water could be heard in the distance, giving a faint strain that accompanied the troop's march to Sterre along with the pounding of horses' hoofs and the sound of carriage wheels.

The carriage window opened, the handsome face of the man who looked so charming with his blue ash hair looked around and looked for the figure of Isolde who had not been seen since a few days ago. Soon night will come and the troops will begin to prepare a temporary resting place for the night. This time Arzoo is no longer in the carriage with Nevaan but he is now alone in the carriage with tight guard on either side of the carriage.

Arzoo got off the carriage after his bodyguards informed him that the troops had stopped and would start preparing a place to spend the night. The soldiers were busy with their respective tasks, some quickly made fires and prepared dinner in improvised conditions, some made simple tents consisting of only a roof to protect from the rain and some positioned the horses to rest so that they could protect themselves from the rain.

Arzoo walked down the river which was not far from the camp which he could see from where he was standing now, the hustle and bustle of soldiers passing by with their busy lives seemed to pass by so quickly. Arzoo who looked up at the sky, looked at the flow of water, looked at the grass and trees around. Arzoo was silent and closed his eyes, observing his surroundings. His bodyguard stood not far from him and continued to look around.

Leone carefreely walked past the royal guards and went straight to Arzoo before the guards could act. Arzoo realizes Leone's arrival even though his eyes are closed, Arzoo knows that Leone will not hurt him and only comes to see him if there is a need especially related to Isolde. Arzoo who hasn't seen Isolde for several days feels uncomfortable and wants to ask about Isolde but he always holds it back. This time Leone came to him himself, Arzoo was sure that Leone came on Isolde's orders.

"Your Highness", called Leone who had been standing a few steps behind Arzoo.

Arzoo turned and looked at the guards who were about to move to ward off Leone but because Leone was stronger than them, since Leone arrived the royal guards didn't know it and suddenly like the wind Leone had passed them casually. Confused, the guards will fight Leone who has been near Arzoo but Arzoo who turned around instead looked at them and seemed to be signaling for them to back away from Arzoo and Leone. The bodyguards couldn't help but step back but still continued to stare angrily at Leone.

"Hm", Arzoo looked at Leone who was taller than him even taller than Isolde which made Arzoo have to lift his head more if he wanted to look into Leone's eyes but because the distance between the two of them was a bit far, Arzoo didn't have to lift his head too much.

"I came just to convey a message that His Grace Duke Isolde has returned and is waiting for you in your tent, Your Highness. Let me take you," said Leone, who gave a gesture to let Arzoo walk in front of him.

Arzoo nodded and walked back to the camp with Leone walking beside him a few steps behind him. Leone pointed to the blue colored tent which was completely covered unlike the other tents. There are only 3 tents that are completely covered but there is only one tent with a blue color, that is the tent that Arzoo uses to spend the night. The simple tent with an area of ​​4 x 3 meters was seen emitting light from inside the tent. Leone opened the tent door and let Arzoo in.

Before Arzoo entered he told the guards to rest first "You all go to dinner and rest".

"But Your Highness, who will take care of you? We will stay here and take turns to rest", said the leader of the guards.

Leone quickly said before Arzoo could reply, "I'll be the one to look after here. One me is much more useful than all of you".

Leone's answer like that must have made the royal guards' anger even more intense. Arzoo didn't know why the royal guards who had been okay with Leone now seemed to be cats and dogs, always fighting and bringing each other down. Not wanting to drag on, Arzoo said slowly but firmly, "Go rest for a while and Leone will guard here for a while until you guys come back, take your time".

Arzoo didn't wait for their answer and immediately turned to enter the tent, although on the outside he looked indifferent but actually he was very excited to know that Isolde was in the tent waiting for him. Arzoo pushed aside the curtain and saw Isolde sitting at the table with the food on it, the food still emitting smoke indicating that the food was just cooked. Isolde who was focused on making tea turned and saw Arzoo who had just entered, a smile appeared on Isolde's handsome face that made the heart stop beating for a few seconds.

Isolde stopped what he was doing and stood up to welcome Arzoo. Arzoo gave a smile and told Isolde to sit down but Isolde walked over to move the chair in front of him and motioned for Arzoo to sit down. After Arzoo sat down, Isolde returned to his seat and gave the tea he made to Arzoo. Now that the two were facing each other, Arzoo accepted Isolde's brewed tea and drank it without saying anything. The two of them were just silent and without having to say anything they both started to eat dinner. Isolde will quickly give Arzoo's Bangkok side dishes first and only then will he start eating. It was a quiet yet comfortable dinner and both of them had finished their dinner without realizing it.

They didn't do much last night and after dinner they were both just busy doing their own activities, didn't say anything but the atmosphere was not awkward and in fact very comfortable. Until time passed quickly and Isolde finally left after Leone called out to him.

_

The journey continued until finally the city of Sterre was clearly visible, the troops in Sterre had lined up neatly on the city walls which were now partially destroyed. General Raidel, who looked dashing but also looked so simple that he even looked like someone who didn't take good care of himself, had stood at the forefront of the meager army. The stark contrast between the arriving troops and the waiting troops, the two were very different. The troops who had just arrived looked clean, tidy and even looked very luxurious with their nice uniforms, in contrast to Sterre's troops who were waiting for them with shabby and makeshift uniforms, tired faces and wounds that were haphazardly covered with cloth and bandages. Behind the city walls, the residents looked very excited to see the reinforcements from the kingdom had arrived and their faces were full of hope and happiness.

General Raidel greeted Isolde who had dismounted from his horse, Isolde respectfully returned General Raidel's greeting and shook hands. It was rare for a noble like Isolde to accept the handshake of a general or an army from a non-aristocratic background, especially since General Raidel was an ordinary person born from the lower classes. But right now Isolde was clearly showing that he was disdain for general Isolde and even treated him with more respect than Isolde treated the nobles who took part in this expedition.

Isolde as usual didn't say much and left Leone and Walter de Ronan to take care of everything after he had previously arranged everything to be done in Sterre.

The carriage that Arzoo was traveling in had arrived along with the rest of the soldiers and supplies to be given to Sterre. Seeing the carriage coming, Isolde immediately walked towards the carriage and waited patiently for the carriage door to open. Arzoo, who opened the carriage door, didn't seem surprised at all to see Isolde who was waiting for him and seemed to know that Isolde would definitely be in front of the carriage door. Isolde reached out for Arzoo to hold him and help him down from the carriage. Actually such a thing was not necessary but Isolde wanted it and Arzoo was happy to receive such treatment from Isolde. Arzoo grabbed Isolde's hand and got off the carriage.

Seeing the Crown Prince who came, of course, everyone was immediately shocked and more polite in their actions, but General Raidel even seemed to show his displeasure even though he was still polite and respectful to Arzoo but his dislike could still be seen. Arzoo understands that not everyone likes and is satisfied with the royal family's government and Arzoo appreciates this as long as they are within reasonable limits.

The troops had already entered Sterre and started building tents, Arzoo and Isolde stood together with General Raidel to watch and watch the soldiers who were moving supplies for the residents as well as for the Sterre troops. Isolde saw Leone and Walter who took good care of the soldiers and took the initiative to see Sterre especially on the part that had been destroyed by the Fire Dragon.

Arzoo and Isolde walked right under the ruins of the ruined city wall. Arzoo touched the rubble of the wall and said quietly, "Very bad".

In his past life, Arzoo had never seen how much damage was done to Sterre due to the fire dragon and now seeing it in person he felt that the decision to come here first was the right one.

Isolde who was walking beside Arzoo just kept quiet and looked around which was full of buildings that had been destroyed and sighed.

"Your Highness Crown Prince, Your Grace Duke. After this there will only be a field so how about we go to the shelter?", said General Raidel who followed the two behind.

"Is this field useless?", asked Arzoo who stopped and turned to look at General Raidel.

General Raidel looked at Arzoo and Isolde who were now looking at him, then he lowered his head and said, "That field is the place where the fallen troops and the dead people are buried".

"Then we should come and have a look", said Arzoo who turned around and continued walking.

Isolde just followed him and asked, "Are you going to pay your respects?".

Arzoo looked at Isolde and smiled "Isn't that supposed to be done?".

Isolde smiled and nodded his head.

_

Help from various parties came and helped Sterre recover so that the remnants of Sterre's destruction were no longer visible because of the Fire Dragon. Although the physical damage is no longer visible in Sterre, there is still a lot that needs to be done, people who have lost their homes and businesses and the local government system which is still very messy. After the destruction of the city, the direct or indirect leadership of Sterre has changed and General Raidel was the one who led Sterre all this time while the real leader of the city was lost as well as the nobles who were supposed to lead Sterre. Seeing it all, Arzoo was very disappointed with Duke Abizer's incompetence and seemed very partial to a territory that was still under his leadership. The Sterre territory itself is indeed still in the Abizer Dukedom's territory but there are lesser nobles who lead it but now these nobles are clearly never seen as long as Arzoo is in Sterre.

After sending letters to the palace and to Duke Abizer, Arzoo received an unpleasant answer and annoyed him to the point that he felt that Duke Abizer only looked down on Sterre and ignored them simply because there was no longer any advantage to be taken from Sterre who had no income and had no money toa pay taxes.

"s**t", the curse that never came out of Arzoo's mouth was now heard softly.

"What's wrong?" asked Isolde who was sitting quietly in the chair facing the window.

Arzoo forgot that Isolde was also in the same room as him earlier. Arzoo saw Isolde in all white clothes sitting very elegantly and comfortably on a chair while reading documents, his long black hair that usually was tied up neatly but unusual he now was let his hair fell down and it's make his face look smaller.

Arzoo thought that the man in front of him was very handsome and charming. Arzoo said quietly, "No, it's nothing".

Isolde gave a small smile and said softly, "Tell me if there's something".

"Hmm", replied Arzoo who returned to continue his work.

After a few months together, Arzoo and Isolde were no longer awkward in fact they had spoken casually and began to shed the formalities of being a Crown Prince and a Duke when they were alone. Although Isolde still maintains boundaries that he definitely shouldn't cross, both Isolde and Arzoo know that there are special feelings between the two of them but still they both choose to pretend they don't know it and keep their distance.

Isolde looked out of the window and saw that summer seemed to be coming to an end, the leaves had turned yellow and were falling little by little signaling that autumn was coming again. For Isolde these years have been great days because he gets to be with and see Arzoo almost every day. The two of them are getting closer and Isolde knows that both of them have the same feelings even though Isolde knows maybe Arzoo's feelings for him are still the beginning stages and maybe itt even just a temporary feeling but he is very happy and accepts the fortune he gets with joy.

A knock on the door broke the silence in the room and then Leone's voice was heard, "Your Highness, Your Grace. I have something to report".

Isolde didn't take his eyes off the tree outside the window, "Come in".

The door opened, Leone and Walter looked worried and panicked. The two of them saluted Arzoo who was sitting in front of his desk while looking at the two, "Your Highness".

Arzoo just smiled, "Hm".

Isolde got up from his seat and stood beside Arzoo's desk, "What's wrong?".

Walter immediately stepped forward and handed Isolde a letter, "Message from the border".

Isolde received the letter and read it, his face agitated and he look at Arzoo. Arzoo also looked at Isolde until their gazes met, somehow both of them had understood what had happened, the Fire Dragon had reappeared. But unexpectedly, the Fire Dragon was suddenly at the border of Abizer and the Celesine Kingdom even though the troops had guarded the forest where the Fire Dragon was last seen but somehow the Fire Dragon was already at the border wall. When the border soldiers saw him they panicked and attacked him, angering the Fire Dragon and destroying the border wall and injuring many soldiers on the border. When the troops around the forest knew that the Fire Dragon was at the border and immediately gave chase, the Fire Dragon immediately flew away from the border and returned to Sterre.

Sterre now has to prepare their self to meet the Fire Dragon again, whether later it will only be a place to pass or will become a place of rampage again. In addition to the Fire Dragon problem, there is another problem that is equally serious, that is with the destruction of Abizer's border wall, defeat for Abizer is certain. The Ashley Kingdom and the Celesine Kingdom were always on a war alert position and the Abizer Dukedom was the border wall for the Ashley Kingdom. The Abizer Dukedom, which had been a defense by using a very strong barrier, was now panicking.

"Prepare the troops to meet the Fire Dragon and from now on the lead for this expedition will be taken over by His Highness Crown Prince", said Isolde firmly.

Arzoo was shocked and immediately got up from his seat, "What do you mean? Then you?".

Isolde turned to look at Arzoo "I'm going to the border, I'm going to lead the war against the Celesine Kingdom".

Arzoo was shocked and couldn't believe it, "Why are you leading the war? This is Duke Abizer's territory, it's supposed to be the Abizer nobles who come and lead the war".

Isolde points out that there are two letters and another letter is from King Akshant ordering Isolde to lead the war against the Celesine kingdom to completion and 20,000 soldiers to be sent to the border.

Arzoo got angry and threw the letter, "This is crazy!! Celesine's army is more than 40,000 people who are at the border just to guard and have a small war with Abizer but now it's a real war it will definitely be more than that number. How can only 20,000 soldiers extras sent to the border? I'm going to the border!".

Hearing Arzoo's words, Isolde sighed and said firmly but still showing his tenderness to Arzoo, "No, Your Highness must lead the expedition".

"But", Arzoo still didn't accept it.

"Your Highness, you must follow the Fire Dragon and prevent it from harming the civilians", said Isolde who then took his hair tie and tied his hair in a nonchalant manner.

"Then, I will prepare", said Isolde who also signaled for Leone and Walter to immediately prepare the troops.

"I will prepare our troops and your needs to the border", said Leone who was about to turn away but was stopped by Isolde's words.

"Leone, come with Your Highness and take some of the elite troops with you", said Isolde before saying goodbye to Arzoo and leaving the room which Leone followed.

Walter was still standing in the room waiting for orders from Arzoo. Arzoo sighed and sat down in his chair again. Then he said quietly, "Do as General Isolde says".

Hearing Arzoo's orders, Walter immediately said goodbye and left the room, leaving Arzoo alone.

_

Arzoo changed clothes and came out of his room after finishing cleaning up, the royal guard guarding in front of his room saluted and said, "Preparations are complete, Your Highness".

Arzoo agreed and asked, "The troops that are going to the border have already left?".

The bodyguard replied, "Not yet, Your Highness. They are still in the gate".

Hearing that Isolde had not left, Arzoo immediately go to him at the gate of the city wall. Isolde who was sitting on his horse was fully dressed in his military uniform but his hair was still loosely tied. Arzoo approached and Isolde who saw Arzoo immediately got off his horse.

"Your Highness", Isolde greeted him gently.

Arzoo sighed and said quietly, "Can we talk alone for a second?".

Isolde looked at Arzoo before agreeing. Arzoo led Isolde into the barracks near the exit gate of the city of Sterre. In the room, there were only the two of them and the silence was palpable. For a while the two of them did not exchange words until Arzoo felt very awkward.

Isolde saw it and said, "What do you want to say, Your Highness?".

Arzoo was silent for a while, then he saw a mirror and he quickly took a chair and placed it in front of the mirror.

Arzoo saw Isolde and told him to sit down, "Sit here for a minute".

Isolde stared at the big mirror for a while and then he sat down as Arzoo wanted. But Isolde was startled by Arzoo who suddenly stood behind him and untied his hair and combed Isolde's long hair.

"Your Highness!?", Isolde tried to stand up but Arzoo grabbed his shoulders and pushed him to sit down again.

"Sit down quietly so I can quickly comb your hair," said Arzoo who started to gently comb Isolde's long hair and stroked it.

"Your hair is very smooth, Duke", said Arzoo smiling.

Isolde saw Arzoo's reflection and smiled too. As long as Arzoo combed and neatly tied Isolde's hair, Isolde's gaze never left Arzoo. Isolde looked at Arzoo from the mirror reflection with his loving gaze. Arzoo also occasionally looked in the mirror and saw Isolde's gaze on him and Arzoo just smiled shyly.

"Done", said Arzoo who patted Isolde on the shoulder.

Isolde smiled and was about to stand up from his seat, "Thank you, Your Highness".

But Arzoo suddenly hugged Isolde from behind and said softly beside Isolde's ear, "Be careful and promise not to get hurt".

Isolde looked at Arzoo from the mirror reflection and then let go of Arzoo's hug. Arzoo looked embarrassed and also disappointed that Isolde didn't let him hug Isolde so he pouted and was about to turn away but Isolde immediately grabbed his hand and took Arzoo into his arms.

"I promise. You also promise not to get hurt, always be vigilant. Listen, your job now is only to follow the Fire Dragon's whereabouts and prevent it from entering the settlement. Don't fight the Fire Dragon directly, your safety is more important than anything", said Isolde who hugged Arzoo tightly, tightly and stroked his hair gently.

_

To Be Continued