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.

years in the military, at the age of forty-two. And now, Lorne was telling him that someone who looked younger than his daughter held

Vyrdenian military rotting from

a lieutenant general is none of

that her contribution to Vyrdenia is something a hundred of you combined could never

Drake was dumbfounded.

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16:51 Mon, 14 Apr.

Chapter 81

else was

hundred Drakes couldn't compare? General, wasn't that a bit of an

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Lorne, perhaps due to his age, was starting to talk nonsense, felt a deeper disappointment. He took a deep breath, trying

turbulent emotions.

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

escaped Raven's lips

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

First, he's not my type. Second, his grandfather is my grandfather.

deflated like a pricked balloon. He

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

didn't tell

uncontrollably, muttering, "How...

Caleb over to steal him from her, then what was the point

torment she

ordered the

budge, blocking the

frustration and resentment. “General, I, Drake Jennings, have served the Vyrdenian military for nearly thirty years. I've completed one S-Rank mission, three A-Rank

little girl, who hasn't even

what? She's a woman who somehow schemed her way into a lieutenant

finished, Caleb and the nine soldiers

the same time, all ten of

they knew how terrifyingly difficult

to say that anyone who completed an S-Rank mission was a hero worthy of being recorded in the history

Jennings, standing before them,

to meet such a legendary

of their shock and

an S-Rank mission for