Territorial Negotiations

It was the day of the preliminary meeting for the territorial negotiations regarding the Borne Kingdom. It was also where she would make her official appearance as the Imperial Princess. With servants in tow, She made her way to the chamber in the emperor’s place where the meeting would be held.

She was met with an unusual sight at the chamber entrance. A stocky, young man with a fair complexion was arguing with some soldiers.

She got closer and asked. “What is the problem here?”

“Ah, your Highness this person doesn’t have permission to enter the meeting but he was making a ruckus…. We-We’ll hurry and correct the situation now!”

She stopped the soldier as he tried to keep the young man from the princess presence.

“What is the problem?”

This time, she directed her question to the young man. He stared at her with an expression that said he didn’t know who she was. It was the soldiers who were put into an awkward position instead.

“Pardon us, Your Highness.”

Hearing the soldiers’ words, the young man’s face morphed into an expression of horror. He looked up at her in disbelief and began backpedalling as though he dreaded the idea of being in the same place as her for even one second.

“Pardon…… me. I will not…… do this again. Then I will be on my-.”

“Wait.”

He had piqued her interest. More specifically, she was interested in the object he had hidden behind his back once he had learned she was the princess.

“Give it here.”

She extended her hand toward the young man. His face practically screamed ‘I’m screwed’ as he reluctantly came closer. He slowly took something out from behind his back.

The object that the young man had been hiding was a tattered book ripped here and there like it had been handled by careless hands.

Honestly, it looked more like a couple pieces of paper bound together than it did a book. she turned over the first page and discovered Richard’s name written there.

“……..”

Soon after, she returned the mass of papers to him.

“Bring that and follow me.”

“Forgive me, Your Highness! Just this once! Please don’t say to burn it! ….. Pardon?”

“I said follow me.” She laughed out loud.

He looked at her with eyes full of bewilderment as she stepped into the chamber. He hesitantly trailed after her.

“You are here, my sunny dragon.”

The self-assured and the name made her stop in her tracks. 'Why are you here?!'

The emperor had come as well. This was a bit unexpected.

“I am only participating so do not worry about me.”

The emperor was sitting comfortably in the corner.

She greeted the emperor with her eyes then took her seat at the front.

“We are much obliged, Your Highness. We are honoured that you are here with us.”

The nobles, who had arrived early, stood up one by one to greet her before sitting back down in their seats.

Besides one young woman who was sitting next to her, they were all advanced in years. The age of those seated got younger the further away they were from her.

She noticed Richard among their ranks. When she greeted him she reach out a hand and wanted to speak yet the awkwardness from yesterday's 'forwardness' made her think twice, thankful he bowed his head in return.

The secretary stood at attention next to her.

“The subject of this meeting is the territorial negotiations regarding the Borne Kingdom, therefore with regard to the Rothschild Empire, an allied nation,….”

“Wait. Before we start, there’s something we need to clarify first.”

She said while raising her hand, and the secretary went silent. The secretary began sweating.

"From what I heard, Sir Cobalt hasn’t yet been rewarded for his distinguished services.”

There was a reason that she hadn’t seen Richard at the start of the victory celebration.

“What is the reason?”

One old man smiled with a face that said ‘as expected of a young princess.’ and offered a response. She thought they remembered them saying he was the prime minister or a duke of the empire.

“Well, he is Your Highness’s concubine. From the beginning, concubines were granted neither title nor land. It is an old practice, and such practices exist for a reason.”

“And what is that reason?”

“That is……”

The old man looked around the hall while smiling. Once everyone had smiled back in agreement, the old man looked back up at her.

“If concubines held power, how could there be effective governance of the nation? Due to a former emperor granting a favoured concubine land near the capital-.”

“I'm not my father.” She spoke intimidatingly, her displeasure obvious. The old man shut his mouth for a moment.

“Do you believe me incapable of looking after a single concubine? Or is that your pitiful excuse for a proper reason is based on a mere possibility. You must be joking. Are you sure the real reason is not that you are fearful of there being less land for all of you?”

Fiefs granted to the spouses of royalty were usually inherited by their children, resulting in more and more land coming into the possession of individual members of the royal family. Although there were cases of land and money leaving by way of a spouse’s relatives, they only made up a small part.

Anyways, that wasn’t the important thing here. She wasn’t happy about it, but she had to make these people believe she was dead-set on pushing this through.

“Your Highness! Please compose yourself.”

The old man spoke to her as he would a child throwing a fit. His efforts to calm her immediate anger were impressive indeed.

“Your Highness, am I right in thinking that you desire to reward your concubine in some way? Concubines are allowed luxury goods so-.”

“I desire to discuss how one who has made a great contribution to the nation should be compensated. Do you think I am here to play lovers?”

“However…..”

“However? I have been entrusted with full authority over matters related to the war by His Majesty. Will you still argue with me!”

“Nevertheless, the matter of bestowing a title or fief requires His Majesty’s approval to….”

At that moment, the emperor, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up.

“I will not say anything about this matter. Talk it over with the princess.”

The emperor being here in person was unexpectedly turning out to be a good thing. Because of that, the nobles had one less reason to continue being stubborn.

“So he says. Now, what will you do? Will you say that you neither heard of nor saw Sir Coblat’s achievements during the war?”

“…….”

With a limited number of soldiers, he had accurately deciphered the hidden motives of the neighbouring empire, which he took advantage of to form an alliance. He was thus able to solve the problem of the troops’ defence and supplies, and he had continued on to win every battle he fought near the end of the war.

They said that on the days that Richard personally stepped onto the battlefield, the enemy’s morale would drop dramatically. He had that much presence during the war.

“Then, let us ask what is his own will.”

The old man had been more than happy to treat Richard like he was invisible this whole time, but now he pulled the knight into the centre of the dispute. Since the duke knew Richard better even than she did, it meant he was confident that Richard wouldn’t ask for any compensation with regards to his victory.

Richard reacted with a long sharp breath he wasn't one for court drama and politics, he gave his opinion by eyeing daggers at the young woman a look that scream 'Don't drag me into this!'

“Come forward, Richard Cobalt.”

At my call, Richard rose from his seat and came to the front. He gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head. He probably meant he was fine.

'But what to do? I’m not fine.'

She responded inwardly.

The old man stood from his seat.

“Do you wish to ignore time-honored custom and receive a title and fief suiting your military accomplishments?” She had thought that he would assert that they needed to follow custom but Richard didn't say a word.

First, She responded to the old man.

“What an unpleasant way of speaking. You certainly look ready to question his loyalty to the crown should he say he does.”

“We shall see where his heart lies once we hear his answer.”

'This old snake.' He fit the description of someone who had managed to keep his power and a firm hold over the duchy despite looking at the age to complain about joint pain.

“Answer. Do you wish it? Or do you not?”

Richard broke his silence.

“Your Excellency, whom I respect, why do you seek to hear my lowly opinion with two dignified members of the royal family and the other nobles here in front of you?”

It was then. The stocky young man who had been tensely standing behind me ran out and bowed.

“Your Highness. May I say something?”

That’s right, she was wondering why he wasn’t coming out. He’d been patient, considering his personality.

When her expression remained composed despite the sudden turn of events, the duke’s eyes narrowed.

“Tarshish!”

A middle-aged man called to the youth in a shrill voice, before clapping his hands over his mouth in shock at his own outburst. It was obvious to her that the man, who was seated far away from her, was the youth’s father. They looked identical. The man’s face was white as a sheet as his gaze narrowed in on his son.

“Your Highness, that man….. does not seem to have the right to participate.”

She ignored the old man’s words.

“Speak,”

She said, and Tarshish immediately lifted his head while still bowed on the floor. Their eyes met. He pressed his lips together and sat up, looking like he had resolved himself for what he was about to do.

Seeing as how the usually expressionless Richard looked surprised, it confirmed that they knew each other. Tarshish spread open the mass of paper in his white-knuckled hands. And then he addressed the room.

“That day, we would have scattered.”

They were song lyrics.

That day, we would have scattered.

That day, we would have broken into pieces.

That day, we would not have seen anyone’s back.

Today, we will all die.

Today, today, we will follow you.

And so, that day, we will meet you again.

That day, that day.

“I was a scribe who went on this past campaign.”

Tarshish said, and glared at the group seated at the far end. They were the people who had received titles because of the war, and now sat side by side in their uniforms.

Each avoided his gaze with a flustered expression. Among them was the man she’d assumed was Tarshish’s father.

“The song I just read to you was the song that the soldiers would sing every morning while burying their dead comrades. I was there. I witnessed all of the horrors and recorded them. I did it to communicate the horrendousness of war to posterity.”

The old man scowled like he was displeased and turned his head away. He knew that there would be no advantage in interrupting Tarshish at this junction.

“But I was too naïve. Those who died there, and those who came back, fought while carrying the nation on their backs. But if this nation that they thought had experienced the war alongside them is actually so ignorant to their pain and so stingy regarding their exploits then who would show loyalty to the crow-.”

“Tarshish.”

She cut him off.

“State your purpose clearly.”

Tarshish instantly realized his mistake and changing his mind, implored,

“Please, recognize Sir Cobalt’s distinguished military service!”

She stared at the top of Tarshish’s head and thought.

'If I was the original princess, you would have died the second you made that mistake, little boy. But I’m not that woman. So, it looks like I saved you.'

“Seeing this child, I have even greater conviction. I am pleased that he was able to overcome his fear. And I am seeing once again how enormous Sir Cobalt’s influence was on this war. What do you all think?”

The nobles from this war glanced at each other. Then one of them snapped up with an expression of firm resolve.

“Please, recognize Sir Cobalt’s distinguished military service!”

After that, several people stood and bowed their heads, shouting,

“Please, recognize Sir Cobalt’s distinguished military service!”

Tarshish’s face was glowing as he shouted again,

“Please, recognize Sir Cobalt’s distinguished military service!”

“Duke, do you still believe your view is reasonable?”

“……..”

Whether or not Richard received recognition for his services wasn’t important to the old man. It was ‘who’ got to have their way in the end. In short, this was a sort of battle of wills.

“I understand what you are trying to say. Nonetheless…. What do you all think? Go ahead.”

The old man looked around, his voice tinged with regret.

“That is…. Granting him the same reward as the others….”

“Maybe a tricky matter…..”

While everyone was saving their breath and glancing at her, the young woman, who had seemed bored since before, grinned and suddenly addressed the duke.

“You took your tenth concubine recently, correct?”

“Why are you bringing that upright-.”

“There have been rumours going around that you gave her a house, land, and that now, it seems like you are about to move the ocean to your front yard for her as well,”

The woman said and cackled to herself. But when no one laughed along, the woman rubbed her neck, embarrassed.

The old man appeared fighting the want to shout at this woman. "Who do you think you, Lady?"

“This is our first meeting. I am Sir Cobalt's representative Kira Cobalt. Duchess Cobalt.”