The entire Crownguard family was like a tightly wound clock, with everyone operating ceaselessly according to their own rhythm, seizing every second and never stopping.
The patriarch, Peter Crownguard, went to Dawn Fortress almost every day, from morning until evening, to discuss matters concerning Noxus with Jarvan III.
From the current situation, a direct War between the two nations seemed unlikely; although Darkwill's stance was firm, he showed no intention of massing troops on the border.
Moreover, the Green Tooth Peak-Sorrow Pass defense line had just been renovated, so if the Noxians chose to attack now, they would only be hitting a brick wall.
Thus, after some deliberation, Demacia confirmed its strategy of 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey'.
Simply put, it meant putting pressure on the small nations caught between Demacia and Noxus, which served as buffers, and demonstrating strength by sweeping away those unfortunate ones who sided with Noxus.
The Dauntless Vanguard had already begun mobilization, with elite units ready to surge out of Green Tooth Peak Fortress, cross Sorrow Pass, and deliver some "necessary warnings" to the smaller nations in the vicinity that were too close to Noxus.
As one of the commanders of the Dauntless Vanguard, Tiana had now returned to the barracks—even though she had been married for less than a year, still considered newlywed, but at the King's command, she temporarily bid farewell to her husband, who served in the Demon Searcher unit, and stepped onto the battlefield.
The day after she gave the magic-penetrating staff to Lux, Tiana, who had only briefly seen her brother at his funeral, led the elite of the Dauntless Vanguard and left Demacia Capital.
As for Ogessa… as the mistress of the family, she had to be fully alert to face the power vacuum after the family lost an important member. To outsiders, Ogessa was a very proper and dutiful noblewoman; she was shrewd and well-liked, but never interfered in family affairs.
But in reality, Ogessa was the true decision-maker within the family; almost all matters concerning family diplomacy and business were hers to decide. In contrast, Peter Crownguard, who seemed burly and opinionated, was only an expert in marching and War, but at home, he was often submissive to his wife.
Among the next generation, Garen trained daily with Jarvan IV under The Grand General of Demacia—although this taciturn man, whose hometown was Ionia, was more skilled with a spear, and Garen himself preferred a greatsword, as a former Noxian ace gladiator, Xin Zhao had no trouble being Garen's sword-fighting mentor.
Anyway, teaching one sheep or two sheep was the same; this was both instruction and finding a companion for Jarvan IV.
As for Lux, the youngest princess of the entire family, to outsiders, she seemed to be the most carefree and relaxed member of the family.
But in reality, she was probably the busiest person in the entire Crownguard family.
From the moment she woke up, she had to undergo endurance running and stair climbing training under Klein's supervision. Only after a quick shower could she eat breakfast, and then, after a walk in the garden, she would go to the reading room to study.
Of course, reading was just for show; in the reading room, her main task was to listen to lessons, to remember everything Klein taught her—from the principles of magic to mana control; from casting models to enchantment specialization. Klein's knowledge was like a vast ocean, and Lux navigated it in a small boat, immersed in the sea of knowledge.
Four lessons in the morning, and after a short lunch break, another two lessons in the afternoon. After completing six lessons, Lux would gradually undergo sword training under Klein's guidance.
Starting with the most basic sword swings, step by step, she laid a solid foundation.
This regular lifestyle naturally caught Ogessa's attention. She was happy to see Lux diligently studying and gracefully applying noble etiquette, but she was full of worry about Lux's "random sword-wielding" behavior.
Although this ornamental sword was mainly to conceal the magic-penetrating staff and was not even sharpened, letting a nine-year-old girl wield a sword was still somewhat dangerous.
So, Ogessa simply suggested hiring a physical education tutor for Lux.
In Ogessa's view, the family no longer needed another general—now both Peter and Tiana were trusted by the King, practically commanding the entire Dauntless Vanguard, and Garen and Jarvan IV were best friends, with bright futures. Therefore, in military matters, the Crownguard family had no need to advance further.
Investing more power in the military at this point would only invite trouble.
Instead, the family was short-handed in management and civil affairs.
It should be known that the Crownguard family was not a small family; besides the main branch living in Demacia Capital, the family also had many branches in Silvermere.
But despite the numerous people, in Ogessa's opinion, the members of those branches were merely diligent and practical, with very few truly sharp minds.
In her view, Lux's best option should be to practice her social and business skills more, helping her manage family affairs.
And Peter, who always doted on his youngest daughter, and Garen, who protected his sister, also did not want Lux to become a female warrior. Therefore, within the Crownguard family, it was almost everyone's consensus for Lux to manage the family, and even though Lux was only nine, Peter was already thinking about which family would be worthy of his beloved daughter.
This was not "lack of freedom in marriage," but the most basic duty of a Demacian noble—all Peter could do was choose the best possible match for Lux from among the eligible families.
Therefore, regarding Lux's sword practice, Ogessa always believed, "It's good for exercise, no need to be too diligent."
It was precisely for this reason that after Lux stated, "I'm just practicing and exercising in my free time, I don't need a teacher, and I won't do anything dangerous," Ogessa felt relieved.
After instructing the butler to pay more attention, Ogessa let it be.
Exercising, well, that was a good thing—anyway, without a tutor, as long as Lux didn't hurt herself, she could do as she pleased.
The shrewd and capable Ogessa obviously did not know that Lux's sword training was completely different from what she imagined.
In her eyes, Lux merely practiced swordplay alone in the garden from afternoon to evening; no matter how she wielded her flimsy ornamental sword, it was impossible to train a sword master.
But unfortunately, Lux had a tutor, and an education-specialized one at that. Although it seemed Lux only chose one stance each day and continuously swung her sword, in reality, these various stances—stabbing, lifting, chopping, wiping, twirling, and sweeping—were all meticulously designed basic sword-fighting lessons by Klein.
Moreover, by changing her own weight distribution, Klein integrated strength training and skill training. Through these seemingly casual sword swings, Lux laid a solid foundation for her martial arts.
...
Finally, after the Dauntless Vanguard completed its assembly, the sweep operation codenamed [Clearance Action] officially commenced on the Valoran Plain east of Green Tooth Peak.
Demacia, having lost a Ranger General, used the pretext of searching for Noxian spies to forcibly sweep through numerous city-states leaning towards Noxus, and "conveniently dealt with many bandits entrenched on trade routes," thereby "greatly safeguarding Valoran's trade freedom."
Facing Demacia's might, the various small nations naturally dared not speak their anger—compared to Noxus, which would bite off a piece of your land at any excuse, the Demacians were already considered reasonable. Since they lost a Ranger General, let them make a fuss.
Anyway… they had no interest in lands outside the Petricite domain, so taking a small loss was acceptable.
At worst, they would raise taxes and make their subjects suffer a bit, and once the Demacians cooled down, it would all pass.
They were merely pawns to begin with.
Thus, [Clearance Action] was a great success. The Dauntless Vanguard personally dealt with many smugglers and mercenaries working for the Noxians, uncovered numerous spies, and even swayed many small nations towards Demacia—more importantly, during this time, the Noxians tried to intervene several times but were stopped by the coordinating Ranger teams. In this regional confrontation, Demacia could be said to have achieved a complete victory!
What Grand General Darkwill? He was indeed just a paper tiger, fierce in appearance but weak in reality!
Then, before the Demacians could compose an ode to this victory, astonishing news reached Demacia Capital.
While Demacia was accumulating strength and executing [Clearance Action], Noxus dispatched its Guardian's Sea fleet, along with over twenty legions, to advance eastward into Ionia.
Noxus was not a paper tiger; they had already set their sights on Ionia!
All the previous strong posturing was merely strategic deception by the Noxians, and the so-called "several failed interventions" were actually just bluster. The troops assembled at Dragon Gate had turned around, boarded ships, and headed straight for Ionia.
Thus, while the Demacians were showing off in Valoran, Noxus, while deploying troops, also took the opportunity to reinforce the Terrilville and Dalamor lines in the Western Theater, awaiting a potential Demacian attack.
Demacia was killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
The Noxians, on the other hand, were pulling a fast one.
Upon hearing this news, Jarvan III felt as if he had been struck hard on the head with a hammer.
Demacia's previous show of force now seemed like a complete joke.
The cunning Noxians had taken advantage of his complacency to launch an even greater War!
Fortunately, Jarvan III was ultimately a man of great composure.
Realizing he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by the Noxians, His Majesty the King managed to suppress his anger.
Even at this moment, he truly wanted to teach the Noxians a harsh lesson, but previous Wars had already proven that directly confronting heavily fortified strongholds and mutually supporting defense lines was unwise.
Moreover, fighting the Noxians abroad did not align with Demacia's national interests—Demacia's land was fertile and rich in resources, so it had little desire for more territory. Starting a War with Noxus now would gain Demacia nothing.
Even though Demacia always championed justice, they ultimately could not fight Noxus for the Ionian people.
Of course, this did not mean Jarvan III would sit by and watch War engulf Ionia. If possible, he was certainly willing to cause trouble for the Noxians.
Therefore, in the next Noble Council meeting, Xin Zhao uncharacteristically stood at the forefront, and the main content of his speech was about Ionia.
Xin Zhao was not optimistic about the War in Ionia.
In Xin Zhao's view, Ionia had many strong individuals, but they were all like scattered sand—after coming to Demacia, he had realized the power of unity. But the entirety of Ionia was less like a nation and more like a large martial arts world, with each region under the self-governance of a common culture.
If Demacia was a typical feudal kingdom with distinct noble and commoner classes, then Ionia could almost be described as a primitive society. Here, politics and religion were intertwined, there was a lack of written laws, and no standing army. Even if various sects had many powerful individuals, they would likely struggle to resist the vast armies of the Noxians…
It was precisely because Xin Zhao had lived in Ionia, Noxus, and Demacia that he understood very well that Ionia would find it difficult to contend with the Noxians on the battlefield.
Therefore, from his perspective, his suggestion was to send a small team by sea to transport as many Ionians as possible before the Noxian navy completely blockaded Ionia.
He said this not because Xin Zhao had betrayed Ionia, but because when he was in Ionia, he was merely a fisherman who had studied for a while with a sect in his village; he himself did not know how vast Ionia was.
Moreover, at that time, Xin Zhao had no contact with the hidden entities of Ionia, so in his view, Ionia probably had no chance of winning this War; without the protection of the ocean, Ionia would struggle to fight.
Xin Zhao's proposal was affirmed by the Noble Council.
The Demacian nobles would not risk their lives for the Ionians, so they could not directly attack Noxus's western defense lines—especially when the Noxians were clearly well-prepared.
However, they were very willing to see trouble caused for the Noxians by accepting refugees.
Thus, the Demacians dispatched a small fleet, passed through Valoran Strait, and before Noxian Admiral Du'Khour could fully blockade Ionia, they picked up several groups of Ionian refugees from Qaelin Island, Galin Island, and Zhyun Island.
And Lux, who had been in seclusion for training… knew nothing of this.
Ogessa's original intention was to keep it from Garen, to prevent him from doing anything impulsive due to his overwhelming sense of justice; keeping it from Lux was just a side effect.
It wasn't until the refugee ships from Ionia returned that Ogessa handed Lux an invitation and a dress.
"Darling, come with me to a banquet tomorrow night," Ogessa said, her face full of smiles as she looked at her poised daughter. "The Buvelle Family has adopted a little girl, and tomorrow will be her induction ceremony into the family."
"Buvelle Family?" At Klein's reminder, Lux quickly showed a look of understanding. "So, Miss Kaxinna will have an older or younger sister? That's truly wonderful… But why would Mr. Buvelle and Mrs. Buvelle adopt a little girl?"
"She is an Ionian… The wicked Noxians invaded their homeland, and our benevolent King Jarvan dispatched a fleet to take in some orphans who had nowhere to go—and to help them better integrate into Demacia, the Buvelle Family will set an example by adopting one of these little girls."
"I see…" Lux nodded. "Someone from Ionia, I remember Grand General Xin Zhao is also from there, isn't he?"
"That's right," Ogessa also nodded. "But he is unmarried, so it's not appropriate for him to adopt a child… Anyway, my darling must behave well tomorrow. This is your first time appearing at a Demacian banquet as a noble lady, not just a child—don't be nervous!"
"Don't worry!" Lux straightened her chest with a smile. "Leave everything to me!"