An Understated Dominance (Dustin Rhys)

“Put the city on lockdown?” Neville was momentarily stunned, then quickly nodded. “I understand, Your Highness. I’ll handle it right away.”

As a soldier, following orders was his sacred duty. Whatever command Matthias issued, he would carry it out without hesitation.

“Hold on.”

Just as Neville prepared to leave, Matthias stopped him.

He said, “This outbreak is no ordinary crisis. All information must be completely contained, and we can’t have any more leaks.

“If any officials in Thornwick refuse to cooperate or act like they’re following orders while secretly disobeying them, they’ll be removed from their positions immediately and investigated. Anyone who stirs up trouble will be thrown straight into prison.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Neville responded, then hurried off.

With direct orders from Matthias, he could finally act without restraint. He’d long been fed up with Thornwick’s officials-backstabbing their superiors, misleading their underlings, and playing everyone with phony politeness

When there were benefits to grab, they were the first in line. But when trouble arose, they made excuses and did nothing.

If it weren’t for these people getting in the way, the outbreak in Thornwick wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

Previously, Neville had restrained himself out of concern for disrupting Matthias’ plans. But now things were different. Anyone who dared to obstruct military orders or play games behind the scenes would face immediate consequences.

they’d be stripped of their position. At worst, they’d end up in prison. There

Thornwick was spiraling out of control, Sommertown, where Nathaniel had been dispatched, wasn’t faring

been working tirelessly since arriving the night before. Unlike Matthias’ reckless approach, Nathaniel was much more

his mission involved containing the outbreak, he had assembled a medical team in advance. He immediately ordered them to collect samples of the pathogen for

medical team work on an antidote, he had also clamped down on all information flow. The goal was to prevent panic that could cause people to flee and spread

of infected had jumped from around 30 to over 100. Unfortunately, several infected individuals had escaped and were now spreading

ordered lockdowns of all surrounding towns and sealed off every major entry and exit

office listening to status reports from

catch a few plague carriers? It’s been a whole day and still nothing?” he shouted

people seem to know our every move. It’s like they’re playing cat and mouse with us. They’re so cunning that every

have a mole in

by now. But there’s something else. I believe this outbreak wasn’t

slightly. “Are you suggesting

know how to stay hidden. We haven’t been able to track them down yet.” The

Get out there and find them!”

The subordinate didn’t dare to linger and bolted from

outbreak was too convenient to be natural. So, someone was really behind it.” Nathaniel rested his crossed arms on the table, frowning in

the only one tasked with handling the crisis. Even Tristan and Matthias had received similar missions. Though they were in different cities, the circumstances

but a test. It was about proving who had the capabilities and who