Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

Chapter 1218

Carissa returned home to find Jacob waiting for her with a letter from Rafael, a broad smile on his face.

"Prince Rafael's letter arrived after you've only just stepped out," he said, handing it to her.

Carissa's eyes lit up as she took the letter. She didn't open it immediately but instead asked, "Why aren't you spending the New Year with your family, Jacob?"

"I'm about to head back to celebrate with them," Jacob replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "but I wanted to make sure the letter was handed to you personally. I was also eager to see the look on your face when you read it. Plus, I'm curious what else His Highness might have said, beyond just personal matters."

Carissa couldn't hide her delight. "This is his first letter to me. I'll read it right away."

She knew there must be details about the investigation in the letter, so it would need to be reviewed by Jacob. As she opened the envelope, she found three sheets of paper: two addressed to her, and one detailing the investigation's findings.

She skimmed through the pages quickly, then handed the investigative report to Jacob while keeping the two letters for herself.

Jacob chuckled. "He wrote two full pages to you, and only one for the investigation. Looks like His Highness really had a rough time on this trip."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Carissa urged, "Hurry up and read it. I just skimmed through and don't know the details yet."

spent some time investigating and found a village entirely made up of young, able-bodied men. There were no elderly or children. The villagers farm as

killing many of the older residents and children. Gradually, outsiders started moving in. Over time, the village grew to what it is today. It's

a large village would typically have only a few hundred, or maybe

found any yet. The village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one road leading in from the

of worry in her stomach. Rafael's group only had a few people, and they would be against a few thousand people. If these men were indeed the private army they had been looking for, Rafael and his group would be

they were hiding weapons in the hills, it would

the rebels had

the only progress made was

had gone so far to investigate without revealing their identity, and they couldn't rely on local authorities to help. Instead, they had to check if those same

there were deeper,

connections involved.

in her room. Even when someone came with a message from Violet, she ignored it. She sat by the

letter,

his side. Maybe it was because the New Year was approaching, but seeing families out on the streets shopping for

forget to ask if she'd been eating and

doing, and how Ryan

about the

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