The Valkyrie Returns and Slays (Raven)

Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Rhea struggled violently, looking truly desperate.

Drake's breath hitched

A surge of fury coursed through him, but facing the supreme commander of the Vyrdenian military, he couldn't lash out.

He took a deep breath, glanced at Raven, and asked Lorne, "General, may I ask who this is?"

Raven's rapid deployment abroad shortly after joining the military, and her recent return, coupled with the need to protect her from domestic and foreign threats, meant her file was almost as classified as Lorne's.

Even a lieutenant general like Drake was unaware of her legendary status.

Lorne immediately sensed that Drake believed Rhea's distorted version of events. Disappointment flickered in his eyes.

"As a high-ranking officer, you've grown complacent, believing your own flesh and blood so readily, Drake."

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Drake was taken aback. Suspicion crept into his gaze as he looked at Rhea. Lorne wouldn't lie about something like this. Could his daughter actually be lying?

Rhea quickly chimed in, "Dad, the instructors in charge of Regalhold's basic training are all retired lower-ranking officers. Caleb is already a colonel, he wouldn't volunteer for this. She's after him, she forced me to kneel and kowtow to her, and only then did I say I wouldn't let her get away with it."

"Dad, I was just talking. I wouldn't dare do anything! Please, talk to the General, ask him to let me go, please?"

She knew she was practically slapping Lorne in the face, but she was desperate to avoid prison. Her only hope was to pit her father against Raven and have him fiercely protect her in front of Lorne. Her father's protection was her only escape.

Drake saw Lorne's darkening expression, hesitated, then spoke, "General, Rhea is still young and naive. This officer has already punished her. Perhaps we can leave it at that, for today?"

Lorne chuckled, "Young? Young enough to use her status as your daughter to humiliate an officer of equal rank and even threaten me?"

He'd had enough. He ordered the two soldiers holding Rhea, "Take her away."

Drake instinctively blocked their path. He stared at Lorne, stunned. "General, you said she's an officer of my rank?"

Lorne nodded, "Is there a problem?"

Drake's deference faded. He stared directly at Lorne and asked, "General, how did she become a lieutenant general?"

Drake had spent twenty years in bloody combat, nearly dying five times, enduring countless injuries. His severe wounds had even left him unable to have more children shortly after Rhea was born.

the age of forty-two. And now, Lorne was telling

military rotting

general is none of

contribution to Vyrdenia is something a hundred of you combined could

Drake was dumbfounded.

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Chapter 81

was equally

compare? General, wasn't that a bit of

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nonsense, felt a deeper disappointment. He took a deep breath, trying to calm

turbulent emotions.

asked, "General, let's put aside whether her contribution can compare to a hundred of me. If she's truly so remarkable, she could

laugh escaped Raven's lips the moment Drake finished

blind enough to think I'd go for a loser like him, fine. But you, a lieutenant general, lacking even basic judgment? You're

grew colder as she glanced at Drake, his face flushed with anger. "Listen up. First, he's not my type. Second, his grandfather is my grandfather. No matter how desperate I am,

pricked balloon. He quickly turned to Caleb. "Caleb,

reeling from being called a loser, snapped back to reality. "Yes, she's my aunt's daughter. Rhea was too worked

I didn't

uncontrollably, muttering,

Raven hadn't called Caleb over to steal him from her, then

torment she

cold glance and ordered the

didn't budge,

Raven, then at Lorne, his face a mask of frustration and resentment. “General, I, Drake Jennings, have served the Vyrdenian military for nearly thirty years. I've completed one S-Rank mission,

hasn't

so what? She's a woman who somehow schemed her way into a lieutenant general position. She doesn't deserve

Drake finished, Caleb

same time, all ten of them looked at Drake with profound

of the military, they knew how terrifyingly difficult

mission was a hero worthy of being recorded in the

Jennings, standing before them, was one such

fortunate were they to

out of their shock and turned their attention

completed an S-Rank mission for the Vyrdenian