Raising his hand, the prince made a bowing gesture of apology, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, I just happened to hear it when I came over."
Alleria shrugged, indicating that she had sensed his presence early on.
"It's okay, I don't mind."
The prince then asked anxiously, "Is this the 'hunt' you were talking about?"
"Yes! If my calculations are correct, my presence alone is enough to make the Horde's Warchief Orgrim abandon the attack on Silvermoon City and seek to leave with the trolls. But Orgrim clearly underestimated the trolls' hatred, madness, and persistence towards the elves... so the Horde's split is almost inevitable. At the earliest, the Horde's main force will leave tonight, leaving only the trolls to continue the attack on Silvermoon City."
Duke's words made the prince, Alleria, and the three Windrunners who were eavesdropping immediately light up.
"Really!?" The five voices, one male and four female, almost spoke in unison.
Damn, Alleria is his rumored girlfriend, and even his future aunts-in-law are eavesdropping, what the hell?
Duke... was embarrassed!
Duke could only pretend that he wasn't just flirting with Alleria, and put on a business-like expression, raising the wine glass he had placed on the balcony railing earlier, "Yes! A hunt, consider it a small gift from me to you, Kael'thas, as a testament to our friendship."
Awesome!
Too awesome!
Kael'thas's eyebrows were almost happily stretched to the door frame.
Of course, this is an exaggeration, don't believe it.
But the prince's joy was not simple.
Kael'thas had lived for over a thousand years, and had also been a prince for over a thousand years, always living between responsibility and glory.
He was afraid that he wouldn't do well, that he wouldn't be a role model for the elves.
So Kael'thas always demanded perfection from himself, even more so than a Virgo.
Since his army was defeated, he had been under a lot of pressure. Even if he didn't want to hear it, didn't want to ask. He could still occasionally hear criticism from his subjects, feel the resentful eyes of the families of the dead.
That's the lives of twenty thousand high elves!
The expectations of his people were ruined by him.
Perhaps he could explain this defeat with various objective conditions.
But for him, Kael'thas, this was the worst first battle.
Defeat is defeat!
No matter what explanation, this is a stain that he, Kael'thas, cannot erase. A stain that will accompany him for life.
These days, he has been forcing himself to be energetic, comforting and encouraging himself. However, his mental fatigue is getting worse, he really doesn't know when the mountain-like mental pressure will crush him.
Just when he felt he couldn't take it anymore, when he was about to collapse, Duke said he wanted to give him a great merit?
Even though he knew that the greatest merit definitely belonged to Duke. But his heart just couldn't help it, it just jumped for joy.
Yes!
Even if it's winning by lying down! It's ten thousand times better than not being able to win!
On this side, Alleria also tactfully resolved the prince's embarrassment, "Prince Kael'thas is an excellent prince, but unfortunately, due to the situation, too much burden was put on his shoulders too early. If it was step by step, the prince would definitely do better."
"Yes! The previous battle was a pity. Letting Kael'thas, who has absolutely no military experience..."
"Kael'thas?" Kael'thas was puzzled by this nickname.
Duke... Duke, the bastard, was seriously making up 'truths' that even he didn't believe.
"Uh, in my hometown, for male friends who are close enough, we usually add a 'thas' to the first character of their name to form a nickname. So Kael'thas is habitually called 'Kael'thas' by me. I'm sorry, if you don't like it, I can..."
"No, no, no, I like the nickname 'Kael'thas'." Kael'thas willingly entered into 'Kael'thas' mode: "Please go back to the previous topic."
Well, even the gods can't save him now.
"Uh, the reason why humans have knight candidates and reserve soldiers is the same. Suddenly letting you, Kael'thas, who has never commanded any army, command twenty thousand people, honestly, it's not your fault, but the council that forced you into the commander's position."
Kael'thas frowned slightly, "But Duke, you don't seem to have much battlefield experience either, do you?"
"No, no, no! I do. When I first became a earth mage, I commanded a dozen mercenaries against gnolls, then it was murlocs and naga, then I led more than two hundred elite soldiers with the most experienced Sir Lothar to raid Karazhan, then I organized the defense of a district in Stormwind." Duke continued to seriously tell his 'truths'.
Duke did indeed come up step by step, but his miraculous performance in restraining the Horde was all because he, as a transmigrator, was familiar with 'history'!
It doesn't matter anymore, anyway, it's enough to fool the inexperienced Kael'thas. Alleria didn't seem to find anything wrong either.
"So, what you need now, Kael'thas, is a mentor who can give you practical experience and guide you to deal with the current tense situation and achieve victory. Yes! That person is your brother Duke!"
It sounded mysterious and full of deception. Unfortunately, Duke's record was too scary, and the momentum of retreating thousands of troops with one flag was too awesome.
Kael'thas had to believe. If there was anything that overcame his last hesitation, it was undoubtedly the good news brought by the messenger.
"Your Highness! Good news! The Horde just had an internal conflict! The main force of the Horde, led by the orcs, is retreating from the camp, leaving only the trolls!"
Kael'thas and the others were all taken aback, and the look in Kael'thas's eyes when he looked at Duke was filled with almost fanatical admiration!
Duke showed a mysterious smile, "What did I just say?"
Kael'thas didn't care at all, he directly bowed his head and said in the most humble tone, "Duke! No! Master Marcus! Please teach me how to win!"
Duke quickly helped Kael'thas up, "Let's skip the formalities. I'm your friend, of course, I don't mind giving you some advice. As long as you listen to me, I guarantee you'll shake off your defeatism."
"Really?"
"Yes! The first thing you need to do is wait for the Horde's main force to really leave, and then, before my reinforcements arrive, with only the elves' troops, severely damage the troll's main force!"
"What?" Kael'thas immediately exclaimed.
"Please, have some confidence in yourself, okay? What you're facing now is a troll army that, apart from a few leaders, doesn't know magic and can't fight against magic. Haven't you high elves been bullying the trolls with magic for thousands of years? Just do what you did before. I'll teach you how to deal with the strong ones on the other side..." Duke was persuasively coaxing, oh, no, he was persuasively instigating Kael'thas.