Chapter 44

Under the cover of the night, Carissa successfully broke into the Ministry of Defense's records room. It didn't take much effort to find what she needed—all the reports from the battle at Victory Pass were neatly arranged on the top left shelf.

Using a special lamp called Night Pearl, covered with a light veil to dim its glow, Carissa hid in a corner to read the reports individually. After reading them all, she felt a chill run through her entire body as tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.

Barrett and Aurora had gone to Victory Pass as reinforcements and had participated in the battles despite their inexperience. During their first battle there, Carissa's third uncle lost an arm while trying to save Barrett.

Meanwhile, her seventh uncle had died before the reinforcements even arrived. Carissa remembered him as a spirited young man; it was hard to imagine that he had fallen in battle.

Dominic had also been wounded by an arrow before the reinforcements arrived, leaving Bar