#75
Chapter 9
“He barged into the quarters assigned to Monta Kingdom and beat Lord Zeros, who didn’t even resist, to near death. Even after he had already lost consciousness, his wrists were broken, leaving Lord Zeros unable to use both hands until now. Moreover, he seized the ring that our King had gifted to the Prince of Shamier and forced Lord Zeros to swallow it. No matter how powerful a nation’s prince may be, to so severely humiliate another country’s envoy is unacceptable. This atrocious act committed by your country’s prince is a horrific misdeed unparalleled in any historical record.”
The Monta envoy’s voice resonated throughout the grand audience hall of the Ruben Empire. Though he didn’t shout or turn red-faced, every word was filled with anger and rebuke.
The expressions of the ministers standing on either side of the Emperor of Ruben, seated on his throne, subtly twitched. To behave so boldly before the Emperor of Ruben, a military powerhouse, was an unprecedented humiliation.
However, the problem was that Prince Anture had clearly committed a diplomatic blunder. Even during war, it’s customary not to lay hands on another country’s envoy. Yet he had not only beaten an envoy one-sidedly but also broken both his wrists and seized the Monta King’s gift, forcing it down his throat… As the Monta envoy had just said, it was indeed an atrocious act.
In any case, the Ruben side had to defend Prince Anture. Otherwise, they would have to compensate for this enormous diplomatic faux pas. Some compensation was inevitable since a person had been injured, but the goal was to minimize it.
“Prince Anture has only just come of age. He’s at an age of passionate vigor. In such circumstances, how many people could calmly endure someone presenting a ring and mentioning engagement to their partner at their own wedding? If we examine it closely, wasn’t it the Monta side that crossed the line first?”
A Ruben minister stepped forward to argue.
“That’s right. It’s unfortunate what happened to Lord Zeros, but honestly, didn’t he bring it upon himself?”
“Moreover, our Ruben knight lost an arm. For a knight, an arm is as vital as life itself. What about our knight’s arm then?”
The Ruben ministers nodded in agreement. The Monta side couldn’t hide their bewildered expressions.
Both sides split and began to bicker again. The Emperor of Ruben sat quietly on his throne, observing the commotion. And Anture, the central figure of this problem, also stood beside the Emperor, watching the chaos he had caused.
“Stop going on about Lord Zeros’s suffering and get to the point! What exactly do you want?!”
“It’s the Ruben side that caused this mess who should provide a solution!”
The voices from both sides grew louder. It seemed they might start pointing fingers at each other in front of the Emperor.
In fact, this wasn’t just a one-day affair.
After Anture had beaten the Monta envoy in Shamier’s royal palace, Monta had immediately sent a letter of protest to the Ruben Emperor. They also dispatched an envoy group to Ruben. Ruben and Monta had been arguing heatedly almost daily in the conference room, and every few days in the Emperor’s audience hall. This reached its peak from the day Anture arrived in Ruben.
“It was Lord Zeros who first insulted Prince Anture to his face. Although the Prince’s reaction was somewhat excessive given his youthful age, it was clearly the Monta side that provoked first!”
“Insulted to his face? We cannot bear such false accusations. It’s an undeniable fact, written in the marriage agreement, that Prince Enrique is our King’s future fiancé. How is sending a gift to a fiancé an insult or provocation?!”
The childish argument continued endlessly. After all, that’s what diplomacy was like. There was never an instance of admitting fault first.
After listening with a bored expression for a while, the Emperor slightly raised his hand. As if on cue, those engaged in heated argument with flushed faces closed their mouths and turned their attention to the Emperor.
After quieting everyone, the Emperor turned his head to the side and addressed Anture.
“How do you intend to resolve this matter, Prince? I believe you must have had some thoughts in mind to have acted as you did.”
At the Emperor’s question, Anture spoke as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Since both sides’ opinions are so sharply divided, there seems to be only one solution. When words fail to resolve an issue, the only recourse is to settle it with force.”
Anture said with a slight smirk. At these words, the faces of the Monta envoys hardened like stone.
“Settle it with force? Are you threatening our Monta Kingdom now?”
“If I really wanted to threaten you, I would have mobilized troops immediately. But am I not standing here quietly, listening to your opinions?”
“Are you playing word games now?”
As one person snapped, Anture slowly swept his cold black eyes over the Monta envoys.
An intimidating pheromone emanated from Anture. The pheromones of Anture, who had come of age just a few months ago, were rough and uninhibited. After surveying the momentarily silent Monta envoys, Anture spoke slowly.
“At my sacred wedding, presenting a gift to my precious partner while mentioning engagement – if that’s not disregarding and insulting me, then what is it? Yes, I beat your country’s envoy. So what of it? Why don’t you allow me to repay that in kind?”
The Monta envoys tried to hide their bewilderment at Anture’s words, suggesting he would accept the same treatment in return for beating their envoy.
“Repay in kind? Are you pressuring us to inflict harm on the body of Ruben’s prince?”
“It’s not pressure, it’s a proposal. Either repay me the same way I did to Lord Zeros, or if you don’t have the courage for that, keep your mouths shut and quietly return to Monta. Choose one of the two.”
As Anture spoke bluntly, the Ruben ministers exchanged secretive glances and snickered. No matter how much diplomatic insult and humiliation they had suffered, they wouldn’t have the courage to harm the body of Ruben’s prince.
“Isn’t this just saying we should keep our mouths shut and let it go, since we wouldn’t dare harm the noble body of the prince? Is it acceptable to disregard and insult another country like this?”
It seemed another tedious argument was about to break out. Anture raised his hand, slowly stroked his chin, and then said casually:
“Or we could just go to war.”
The eyes of everyone in the audience hall suddenly focused on Anture. Amidst this sea of gazes, Anture spoke with fierce eyes glinting like a hungry carnivore.
“I simply cannot tolerate Monta’s barbaric act of causing a disturbance at my and Prince Enrique’s sacred wedding. And you cannot tolerate the humiliation of Lord Zeros being injured. So let’s go to war. As history always shows, the victor will be proven right.”
“To threaten with talk of war, such cowardly behavior…!”
Someone shouted, but tension was evident on the faces of the Monta envoys. Since the Ruben Emperor had solidified the empire’s territory by conquering numerous small countries, Ruben had never engaged in a full-scale war with another country. But nevertheless, the fact remained that Ruben was a military powerhouse. This was evident from their overwhelming victories in every local battle they had fought.
“If you don’t want war, then tell your king this. Tell him to tear up the marriage agreement with Prince Enrique. Then we’ll quietly overlook your country’s disturbance at my wedding and the incident of blowing off our knight’s arm.”
“What, what are you saying…! This is unreasonable!”
“If you don’t like it, choose war.”
Anture continued to push boldly.
“Your Majesty! The Prince’s words are utterly absurd. Surely the Prince’s words don’t reflect Your Majesty’s intentions?!”
One of the Monta envoys urgently asked the Emperor. The tug-of-war over receiving an apology and substantial compensation from Ruben for Lord Zeros’s incident had suddenly turned into a crisis of war. This was the price for acting recklessly, trusting in the Ruben Empire’s long-maintained peaceful stance.
“This is a matter between your country and the Prince, so resolve it with the Prince.”
The Emperor said with a somewhat bored expression.
A look of dismay appeared on the faces of the Monta envoys.
“It seems the Prince is trying to break the engagement between Shamier and Monta, but you must remember that Monta is not the only country engaged to Prince Enrique. If you pressure to break off the engagement with Prince Enrique like this, Baron won’t stand idly by either.”
“That’s great. I needed to resolve things with Baron eventually, so if we can resolve it all at once, it’ll save time.”
Anture spoke without hesitation. The fiercely glinting eyes, the sneer on his lips, and the violently fluctuating pheromones… The Monta envoys finally realized that Anture had been wanting war all along.
The Monta envoys retreated like an ebbing tide, saying they needed to discuss among themselves. After all the Monta envoys had withdrawn, only the Emperor, Anture, and a few key ministers remained in the audience hall.
