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.

of their position. At worst, they’d end up

control, Sommertown,

since arriving the night before. Unlike Matthias’ reckless

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

up the process. In addition to having his medical team work on an antidote, he had also clamped down on all information flow. The goal was to prevent panic that could

one night, the number of infected had

surrounding towns and sealed off every major entry

office listening to status reports from his subordinates. The news filled him

the hell is wrong with you people? How hard can it be to catch a

his head and explained, “Your Highness, those people seem to know our every move. It’s like they’re playing cat and mouse with us. They’re so cunning that every time we arrive

telling me we have a mole in our ranks?” Nathaniel

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

eyes slightly. “Are you suggesting foreign operatives are behind

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

with theories. Get out there and find them!” Nathaniel

Your Highness.” The subordinate didn’t dare to linger and bolted from the

a feeling this outbreak was too convenient to be natural. So, someone was really behind it.” Nathaniel rested

Tristan and Matthias had received similar missions. Though they

It was about