What happened after was relatively Mary-sue-like…
I had Andre send guards there to patrol the place. While that area belongs to the fatso, I criticised him in the conference chamber before everyone, saying that he managed the area poorly, disgracing the empire. As such, he had no choice but to let the guards patrol the area.
I used reserved and aggressive means to get the Ali sisters into the palace as maids. The empress is very fussy of who enters the palace. I had to bath with her and sell my body to the empress for a night, plus say "mom, I beg you~" countless times to give them permission to enter. I also had to convince her not to send them to Alice to become Valkyries.
It wasn"t so cliché that they"d become my wives, but at least now they don"t have to worry about food and shelter.
Nier looked better than the last few days. It"s as if she needs to kill people on a set schedule… That"s not a good habit. I don"t kill every thug I run into. I wouldn"t have ordered Nier to kill either had that man not killed Ali"s mother.
I have my principles.
Luna placed my clothing to one side, then politely bowed and said: "Your majesty, your clothes have been prepared. You have to rise early tomorrow, so it is better that you do not stay up late."
"Alright."
I nodded and finished the gla.s.s of fresh milk Luna gave me. Luna walked up to the candle, blew it out and said: "Goodnight, your majesty."
"Oh right, Luna."
"Do you have orders?"
"Umm, does Nier say anything to you when you"re together?"
Luna smiled meekly and said: "Miss Gilliante does not speak to me. We live together, but she has not once spoken to me. It seems that Miss Gilliante hates elves."
Luna"s ears twitched. I laughed and said: "True. I think that part of the reason why she doesn"t like me is because I"m the elf prince."
"You jest, your majesty. The elf prince must be a pure-bred."
Luna still doesn"t want to believe me…. She bowed deeply, and then returned to her room.
Nier came in from outside, looked at me and said: "Goodnight, your majesty."
I closed my eyes and replied: "Goodnight."
Nier walked pa.s.s my bed and into the room as well. There were two people in the room, but it was dead silent as if there was no one in there. Do they really not feel awkward around each other?
I opened my eyes and looked at the moon outside. It"s been half a month since I came here. What have I done in that time? I investigated the currency case, got captured, made guns with the red-haired lady, bought an elf, saw the two factions, accepted the reality that her majesty was my mom, teased Nier… Sigh, did I just throw something strange into the list…?
It"s only been half a month, and yet I"ve done more here than the entire month I was with the elves. No wonder why I"m so exhausted here.
I have to go and see the king of Castor with her majesty tomorrow as well where we"ll prepare to sign the agreement. What surprised me was the fact that the king of Castor was a child who probably wasn"t even ten yet, and so his mother was coming along. It looks like it was his mother who caused Castor to collapse due to her lack of political experience. The empress and her both women, and yet the difference between them is ma.s.sive.
The empress aside, even my elf mom was able to handle national affairs all the same. I wonder what mom and Lucia are doing right now.
Current time at the elf imperial capital.
"My son still hasn"t returned… He still hasn"t returned… I can"t smell his scent on his clothes anymore… This won"t do… This won"t do… I"m going to die if I don"t see my son… I can"t handle this… Sniff… Sniff… His scent is fading… Should I just go s.n.a.t.c.h him back…? I shouldn"t have signed that garbage agreement back then… Sniff…"
Lucia silently watched the queen sprawled out on the prince"s bed. The queen had pulled all of the prince"s clothes out and sniffed it while drooling. Lucia sighed.
She wanted to have a sniff too…
"Your majesty. Your Majesty. Good morning."
The happiest part of my days is when Luna wakes me up with her gentle voice in the morning. She"s a maid, she"s got a nice body, she"s pretty, and she gently wakes me up. That"s got to be the happiest moment in a day for everybody, right? I lazily opened my eyes. The eye-irritating sunrays shone in. The windows were already open. The cool and clear air came in along with the birds" chirping. Luna stood by the side of the bed with a smile, bowed and said: "Good morning, your majesty. Please rise and change. And please go and see the king of Castor after breakfast."
"Alright."
I sat up. I don"t need to move my hands to wipe myself. Luna doesn"t have to either. The two ladies-in-waiting were responsible for it. After getting dressed, I got up and went to the dining wall for breakfast. Nier waited at the door for me throughout the entire process, and followed me to the foreign affairs hall.
"His majesty has arrived."
"Her majesty has arrived."
I was surprised to find that mom and I arrived at pretty much the same time. Mom wore a happy look on her face… Yeah, no, not serious. I couldn"t even see her face… Mom always wears her veil no matter where she goes. She walked up to me, hugged me and said with a smile: "You look very handsome in that robe, son. I might have fallen for you if I were younger… You truly are my son. Let"s go, son… Castell!"
"Present."
"Go welcome the king of Castor."
"As you command."
Castell smiled at me and then turned around to leave. The empress hugged me as we entered the foreign affairs hall. The foreign affairs hall as the name suggests is a place for signing doc.u.ments with foreign countries. The large hall is extremely wide. In the middle is a marble table inlaid with diamonds and pearls. At the top of it was a huge candlestick carved from crystal.
The empress"s seat was of course her throne, while the seat beside it was just as extravagant. The hall was like a greenhouse in appearance. Both sides were windows made from coloured gla.s.s where the sunrays could s.h.i.+ne through, illuminating the interior.
My footsteps echoed in the hall. The empress walked up to her throne, let go of me and checked to see that n.o.body was on either side. She then lifted her face veil up, gently kissed me on my forehead and said with a smile: "The glory is yours today, son. I won"t say anything today. I"ll let you and Castell handle all of it."
"Mom! That"s a bit…"
"You personally brought Castor under control. How hard can it be to give a signature?"
The empress smiled, rubbed my head and then sat down on her throne. The sound of footsteps from the door could be heard, and the king of Castor and Castell appeared at the door. Behind the king of Castor was a worried looking woman dressed in extravagant clothing. She must be the mother of the blonde kid with freckles. Try as she may to appear domineering and majestic, before the empress"s natural dominance and majestic presence, she was as laughable as a clown.
"King of Castor, Fionn Galarett III, and Regent Ms Gallari."
"Empress of the Rosvenor Empire, Empress Elizabeth Rosvenor. Prince Troy Rosvenor."
The two of them greet us, and I bowed to pay my respects. The empress however, remained seated on her throne with one leg over the other. She pointed at the desk in front of her and said: "Sit. Castell. Map."
The two rulers of Castor awkwardly sat down. The small king struggled to keep his head above the table and curiously scanned the empress. You know what they say, kids who"re wet behind the ears aren"t scared of tigers. If it were me, I wouldn"t have the guts to scan the empress in his situation. Castell opened the map and said: "As per the conditions we sent you, Castor will officially become our va.s.sal state. Do you accept our conditions?"
The woman looked at Castell and said: "I believe that your country"s conditions are too harsh. We cannot accept you asking us to disband our navy and army. Our country"s greatest debt is not owed to your country. We can pay our debt by collecting gold and selling land."
"No, you are mistaken. Your biggest debtors are the five countries of the desert. They already signed an agreement to become our va.s.sal state the day before, and have given the empire the rights to collect all debts. In other words, the empire is your country"s current primary debtor. Should you refuse to sign, you will need to pay the empire that outstanding amount on top of the five chests of silver Castor coins you owe the empire."
The woman looked at Castell"s contemptuous smile, then at the invoice with the enormous amount he sent her, bit down on her lip hard and said: "The empire"s quick work has surprised me… Whatever. I agree to all your conditions, including disbanding our navy and army, as well as redirecting our debts to the empire. However, Castor"s religions should be respected!"
"That will not be an issue. The empire guarantees that we shall not hinder Castor"s right to practice its religions freely. Further, You also agree to pay the empire"s second and third army platoons to cover their expenses in protecting your country, train the empire"s navy, pay the empire half of your annual income, exempt tariffs for the empire"s exported goods, and to prioritise the needs of the empire. Do you accept all these conditions?"
"I do…"
"That is great. Please sign here… And stamp it with your national seal. Correct."
I watched the king of Castor get picked up by his mom, and give his wobbly signature. The servants beside them handed him the seal. The kid took the seal, and placed the fate of his country onto the sheet of paper.
"Thank you for contribution to the people of our nation. Your nation has earned itself the greatest peace… Your majesty…"
Castell took up the seal and pen, and handed it to the empress. The empress waved it off and then said: "Son, you sign it."
"As you command."
I nodded. I was very excited. I finally got to sign an agreement where the opposing country had to deal with unfair conditions! I"ve left my name in history and will remain even after I pa.s.s on!
Troy Rosvenor, stamped!
"Great. Today, we witness history."
The empress stood up and smiled with great satisfaction. She walked up to me and said: "I will hold a ball tonight. King of Castor… No, City Master, I"m extending my invitation to you to my ball. A toast to the peace of both our countries."
"As you command…"
It"s alright… I understand how you feel… But now understand how awesome it felt for warlords back in the day now!