Fjord and Jonas were quite shocked after looking at the casualties from Aelius and Bryndyll,
One of the ministers spoke, "It seems, Darius is dead . And that too at the hands of Henryâs son . How do we proceed? Currently, we are walking on eggshells . "
One of the Ministers spoke, "Itâs good that this scum died, he was anyway staining our honor day by day . Even after so many accessories and support from our soldiers, moreover, he died to a team of children while he was escaping . He anyway has enough cases of corruption against him . "
Another minister slowly murmured . "The only pity is that we lost a valuable knight and made a frightening enemy . "
One of the ministers whispered, "Hey, did you read those letters which explained the conspiracy of Prince Hector . "
The other guy looked around and spoke in a very low tone, "Yes, but it is not appropriate to speak about it right now . You should know why did we start that war in the first place . It is all about interests . However, From my sources, this topic would certainly be raised by Big ministers since we have already sent an official letter and an inquiry . "
"Really!"
"Tone down your voice, Yes, currently, after looking at the battle results, many of the ministers donât think that it would be good to have a hostile relationship with that Upstart . From now on, that upstart will be ruling the sea waters and most of the trade happens through the sea so you understand why they have such a position? Also, from our sources, it seems Bryndyll is moving towards Sky so it will be very bad for us from now on . "
When everyone was quiet, Jonas moved up and spoke,
Jonas then spoke, "Currently, I would like to propose an inquiry over Lord Evanâs death, as most of you know, Prince Hector conspired to kill Lord Evan so that Lord John and the Laguna domain fight against each other, This was also the reason why this war started in the first place . I am sure all of you know how Prince Hector manipulated Baron Mendezâs son, Antonio to do his bidding . I am sure all of you know of his fate . He has most likely been executed by Lord John or his father . It would be good if we are vary of the Royal family and their intentions, we should keep them at armâs length and keep the pressure on them . "
One of the Ministers who had good relations at Imperial city asked, "How are you sure that Prince Hector conspired against us . We need proof of that . Who knows we are being played by that count this time around . "
Jonas looked at the minister and then calmly spoke, "Following the reports from our spies, we first investigated this matter and spied on Prince Hectorâs Mother and her family . From our investigation, we confirmed that Lord Evanâs assassination was indeed carried out by Prince Hectorâs men . This can also be proven by the fact that a Lot of assassins from Queenâs family had left for North Frontier town when Lord Evan died . Meanwhile, Lord John only had one of his assassins missing, i . e . Jake when Lord Evan died . "
Jonas continued . "Following Lord Evanâs Death, it was prince Hector who gained the most since he already had a feud with Count John and wanted to teach him a lesson without using his men . In this conspiracy, We were only pawns or you can say we were the knife that was used against Count John this time around . "
When Lord Evan died, everyone around knew that they deliberately became the knife for Prince Hector after watching the riches of trade between North-frontier City and Duke Roseâs domain . However, no one uttered a single word since they understood that the previous war too was based on interests and this retreat too was based on interests .
Defense minister too agreed and spoke, "Yes, donât we already know what happened to the Lorr family previously? We have to be vigilant, This time again we were used by the Royal family in the hopes that we submit our Ship manufacturing to them . I would like to suggest, we send our diplomats to Count John so that we can raise a ceasefire and reach an agreement to maintain peace in the seas . "
After a lot of day of thinking, Fjord finally came to his senses and agreed to his ministers regarding the current situation .
Fjord spoke with a grave tone, "Yes, we were clearly manipulated by Prince Hector this time around and we canât let this go easily . Currently, they are already under pressure from traders and Baron Mendez who has accused Prince Hector who has instigated this war . "
Grim too nodded and spoke, "Yes, We need to strike when the ironâs hot . We have already lost our advantage in waters because of those ships from Sky . We donât have that leverage anymore so we need to keep the Royal family at our armâs length . This time to diffuse the situation, I suggest that we send appropriate gifts during Lord Johnâs throning ceremony . We can use the magical Diamonds which we have stored for a long time . "
Jonas agreed with them as he nodded his head, "We have already suffered enough losses, we shouldnât suffer more losses by keeping a hostile relationship with them . We should at least hide our hostile intentions until we are strong enough . "
Fjord nodded and spoke, "Okay, it is decided, we will follow the plan as decided in this meeting . We can at least recognize Sky kingdom unofficially which can soothe the anger of Lord John . "
Fjord meanwhile thought, âWhere is that kid Ralph this time around? It seems he was right when he said that we shouldnât fight Lord John . He would have useful in diffusing this situation . â
At the Imperial capital, currently,
Plato, Eanred and Lionheart were currently in a big dilemma,
The source of this dilemma was Fjordâs official inquiry over Evanâs death,
Lionheart cursed as he looked at the inquiry, "That Bastard, after supporting him so much because of his feud with that Upstart Count, he dares question the Royal Family . "
Lionheart looked gravely at Plato and asked, "Plato, how did Hectorâs role get leaked?"
Plato sighed and spoke, "From my sources, It seems they spied on Queenâs end and their family and this was how they got to know about this conspiracy of Prince Hector . This news has also spread to most of the ministers since it was written to many important personages, Luke has just confirmed he too got this letter from them . From the looks, Fjord is now trying to blame Prince Hector for the start of this war so as not to get inflicted from Bryndyll, Duke Rose and Lord John . "
Plato continued as he thought about the timing of this letter, "I think you already know that the power balance in the seas has already changed after the previous battle where Aelius, Fjordâs and Bryndyll lost miserably . And from this move of theirs, I can conclude that Fjord or his ministers want to have a healthy relationship with them in the seas or they wouldnât be able to trade via eastern seas, At least not without losing a lot of ships or without getting robbed . I think this is a very calculated move by Fjord or his ministers . They want to rid their hands of this war and put all the blame on Prince Hector . "
Lionheart grumbled as he heard Plato, "Those gossipers at Hectorâs family . Damn, why do they even have access to Hectorâs affairs? Now this will be a problem, we already had a problem with Baron Mendez since he is accusing Hector of manipulating Antonio and usurping him . What do you suggest?"
After thinking for a while, Plato spoke, "Well, they donât have any conclusive proof in regards to Evanâs assassination . As long as people from Queenâs side keep their mouth shut, no one can do anything legally . And as far as the assassins are concerned no one will open their mouth since they wonât want anything untoward happening to their family members . I am sure Prince Hector has a good leash on those assassins . "
Plato meanwhile sighed and thought, âIf it wasnât for that brat Hector, we wouldnât be losing such a talented individual . Our dream of ruling this continent would have been within our sights . â
Lionheart nodded and spoke, "Hmm . . . Yes, this seems good enough, however, Hector needs to learn to cover his tracks . I hope this doesnât become a big scandal . Those Fjords are already distrusting towards . They even dared to spy on the queen and her family . "
Lionheart, however, sighed and thought, "I guess this was expected since he had lost his son . "
Lionheart continued and murmured, "It is those elders who are grumbling more after they heard of Mana-restoring pills . "