CH 43

'Your Majesty, do you intend to accept Magnolia's response as it is?»

'Magnolia's point is as agreed. and I'm not breaking it. Besides, I thought we agreed that this visit was only not to decide on the marriage.»

In the Royal Palace of Renalute, a meeting was held every day due to the reply from Magnolia regarding the marriage with the princess of Renalute.

Of course, the meetings were held only with the upper class nobles who knew about the secret agreement with Magnolia.

"But if he is the son of a frontier count of Magnolia at this age , that means he is the same age as the princess, isn't it as clear cut as if it was already decided?　His Majesty Elias should know that."

"You're being a pain in the ass, Norris. What do you want me to do then?　You know about the secret agreement with Magnolia during the Barst Crisis, don't you? What do you want me to tell Magnolia under these circumstances?"

The man called Norris is a dark elf with black hair and blue eyes.

He was probably quite old, and although he was a dark elf, his face gave the impression of a slightly mature appearance.

On the other hand, the man called "His Majesty Elias" was a dark elf with black hair and yellow eyes that gave no particular sign of age.

The two men looked grim-faced at each other and exchanged their opinions.

Then Norris said to Elias.

The secret agreement with Magnolia did in fact say "royalty or equivalent nobility." If that is the case, it would make sense for the royal family and the princess to first make an offer of marriage. If the agreement was broken after that, and the bride was "a nobleman of equivalent rank," I would agree. However, if they are suddenly "equivalent nobility," as was the case this time, I can only think that the princess, who is the princess of Renalute and His Majesty, is being treated with contempt.

Elias's brow wrinkled between his grim face.

Norris's argument is not hard to understand.

Elias himself thought that the princess would marry a member of the "royal family," even though there was a secret agreement.

However, the man who came to Renalute as a candidate was the son of a count on the frontier, although it had not been decided yet.

This surprised Elias.

However, he also thought that it would not be a bad idea if it was the "Count Rainer Bardia".

"Norris. I understand your opinion. But the other party is the son of Count Rainer Bardia, who is known as the " Strongest Sword" in the Magnolia Empire.　Moreover, it is also our neighboring country. Don't you think this is a good deal?"

In Magnolia, a frontier count is treated on the same level as a duke.

The two counts, Rainer Bardia and Glade Kelvin, are known as the "sword and shield" in the military activities of the empire and are probably the two most powerful in the empire in terms of strength.

In this case, the Count of Bardia is the "sword".

Moreover, it is a neighboring country.

Even though the Barst case has been settled, considering the future, it would probably be better to marry the son of the Count of Bardia than the imperial family or the central nobility in the imperial capital.

Elias thought so.

But Norris is not the same.

For Norris the alliance it had formed with Magnolia was named a vassal state.

He was extremely regretful that they had made a secret agreement and could no longer conduct negotiations on an equal footing.

And he is plotting domestically to be on an equal footing with Magnolia if the opportunity comes along.

Elias was aware of Norris's moves, though not all of them.

But there are other dark elves who think like Norris in their secret dealings with Magnolia.

By letting Norris go free, they are trying to vent their anger at the dark elves.

However, the problem is that Norris has a difficult time backing down when it comes to this kind of talk.

Norris answered Elias's words with a grim look on his face.

Yes. Your Majesty has a good point. However, we have only recommended that the conversation with the Count should take place after the meeting with the royal family.

Elias's head began to hurt from the seemingly eternal parallels between the two sides of the argument.

Norris was not about to give up on the idea of a meeting between the royal prince and the princess.

If the princess and the prince of Magnolia were to meet, there was a non-zero chance that they could be married.

But if they could not meet, there was no chance.

If the princess of Renalute becomes the empress of Magnolia in the future, a ruler from Renalute can be born at the core of the empire.

The birth rate of dark elves is low, but if a child is born, there is the possibility of even greater authority.

Norris has never forgotten the humiliation of being presented with a vassal state by Magnolia.

That is why he thought that he could get back at Magnolia by making the princess of Renalute an empress.

However, Elias had a rough idea of what Norris was thinking.

Norris is very prideful as a dark elf to have been born in the country of Renalute.

That is why he felt very humiliated to have been made a vassal state.

Judging from his character, he is probably trying to send the princess to the empire and, if possible, to get into the central power of the empire.

That is why Elias could not accept Norris's views.

Pride as a nation and as a Dark Elf is important, but the king cannot sacrifice his country and people in favor of his pride.

Letting out a loud sigh, Elias said strongly.

'Hah,...... I understand Norris's point, but it has been decided that the Count Reiner and his son will pay a visit to Renalute. If we had approached them about the time of the marriage and they didn't like it and asked us to give them the prince, it would be a problem of diplomacy. Unless there is a problem with the son of a frontier count. ......"

Maybe he was tired of talking endlessly about parallels.

Elias quickly realized that he had said a gibberish.

But there was no way Norris could have missed the words.

"...... Indeed, we must find out if the son of the count on the frontier is capable of handing over the Princess of Renalute......."

Elias has a grim look on his face, while Norris has a nasty grin on his face.

Norris then looks around at the nobles who are following him.

Then, from all over the place, he heard voices saying, "Indeed," and " Exactly".

Elias clicked his tongue in his mind and asked Norris with a bitter look on his face, "

'What are you going to do?'

'No, , I cannot be rude to a guest from another country. But how about a quaint one like this: ......?"

Elias, regretting his own misstep, kept his mind on the meeting that had been set at the same pace as Norris and the others.

When the meeting ended and he returned to his room, Elias let out a loud sigh.

How can our countries be on equal footing when we send our princess to Magnolia?" ......

The reason why Magnolia did not make a marriage proposal between the prince and the princess is probably because there is no advantage for the empire to have the prince marry the princess of Renalute, which has become a vassal state.

Probably, the nobles in the center of the empire gave their opinions to the king.

Many of the upper class nobles in Magnolia are excellent human beings.

Of course, not all of them, but at least the dukes and counts on the frontier are all strong men with one or two strong traits.

Elias learned about the strength of Magnolia through the Barst Crisis.

Elias himself tried desperately to negotiate with Magnolia to hold it as an ally rather than a vassal state.

However, Magnolia would not give in.

Magnolia had to decide whether to be destroyed as a country or to survive as a vassal state.

As king, he had to make a very hard decision.

However, Magnolia was a country that kept its promises, including secret agreements.

They also exerted strong pressure on Barrst and saved their own people who had been kidnapped.

For this reason, the people of Renalute are very friendly toward Magnolia.

At that time, he felt relieved that he had made the right decision in concluding the secret agreement with Magnolia.

Of course, Elias himself has a desire to improve his country's position as a vassal state.

However, if the country stopped being a vassal state, another conflict with Barsto would probably break out.

In this light, he realized that the "umbrella of Magnolia," which also includes the power of deterrence, could be used as a card to play.

Perhaps Norris and the others are aware of this, but their pride in having been an independant country is getting in the way, and they are not ready to admit it.

"Hmmm......... that's a tough one.........."

Elias naturally looked up and muttered to himself.

Shortly after, there was a knock at the door, and when he answered, " Pardon me," a dark elf boy entered the room.

He was a dark elf with black hair and yellow eyes just like Elias.

'Father, thank you for the conference.

'Lacis, what's up?　What do you want?"

Lacis Renalute, he is the first prince of the Renalute Kingdom.

Lacis spoke up slowly.

"Father, do you still intend to send my sister, Fara, as a hostage to Magnolia in the name of marriage?"

Elias' face turned grim at Lacis' words.

"Who told you such a thing?"

he had a pretty good idea that it was Norris.

The mother of Lacis is a distant relative, but she is also related to Norris by blood.

The reason why Norris is coming on so strong these days is because of this.

, "It doesn't matter who ...... . The important thing is that my sister is going to be married off as a hostage abroad. Why do you have to do that?　Fara is only 6 years old. No country in the world or outside of it allows six year olds to marry."

Lacis does not yet know about the secret agreement between Magnolia and Renalute.

He is quite intelligent for an eight-year-old and has a talent for martial arts.

He should know about the secret pact eventually, but now is not the time yet. Elias thought .

'It's a link between countries. There are exceptions to everything, and even I would not marry off my daughter to another country for no reason. You will be king one day., so you must understand the intentions behind the words and be able to formulate hypotheses based on what you can get from the situation."

Hearing Elias' words, Lacis put on a grim expression and said without understanding of his words

"I'm still not convinced by that ".

He shook his head and said, "Go to your room and cool your head."

"I'm ...... sorry."

After bowing to Elias, Lacis walked out of the room.

'Phew,.......'

The sound of a deep, thoughtful sigh echoed through the king's room in Renalute

◇

After leaving Elias' room, Lacis was heading to his room to cool his head as he was told to do.

At that time, her sister Fara Renaloute and her attendant came from the front.

Lacis approached his sister with a smile and called out to her

"Fara, what's the matter?　It's unusual for you to walk over here."

'Brother ....... Actually, I was just on my way because my mother called me to her room. What brings you here, brother?"

"You were summoned by Lady Eltia ....... , I was talking to father. But he got mad at me and told me to cool my head."

"Is that so?　It's rare for father to be angry with you."

Fara is a dark elf with dark blue hair and vermillion red eyes.

What makes her appearance stand out is her beautiful movements, to the point that she looks out of place at her age.

She is lovely in Lacis' eyes, and he is proud of her.

That is why he wanted to protect her as a prince, brother, and family member.

Such thoughts naturally make the power of Lacis's eyes strong as he looks at his sister.

In contrast, Fara was a little puzzled by his gaze and returned it with a smile.

When Fara smiled, one of Fara's attendants, who had been watching the two of them, called out to her.

"Princess, it may seem impolite, but if you don't hurry, Miss Eltia will be angry with you."

'Oh, yes, of course. Please excuse me , brother."

"I am sorry to bother you. Please give my best wishes to Miss Eltia."

The two of them were looking back at each other and Lacis was muttering to himself, "I'll protect my sister, I promise."