In The Kingdom Of Luminous

The Chancellor stood at rigid attention, looking at the revered King Noie.

King Noie was now running his eyes over a reply.

The long-awaited reply from the Kingdom of Tania.

King Noie, sovereign of the Kingdom of Luminous and representative of the Karaban Union Kingdom, silently scanned the silk-backed scroll.

(He has grown terribly worn down…)

Standing silently across the heavy oak desk, the Chancellor lowered his eyes.

That was only natural.

Ever since Crown Prince Arios had unilaterally broken off his engagement to Shitoen Balimore, they had been constantly occupied with cleaning up the aftermath.

The Karaban Union Kingdom consisted of five kingdoms. To strengthen the bond between each kingdom, it was common for royals within the Union Kingdom to marry one another.

This time, the one who had been set to become engaged to Crown Prince Arios of the Kingdom of Luminous was Lady Shitoen, one of the royals of the Kingdom of Tania.

And yet at that engagement ceremony, Arios had brazenly declared the engagement broken off and tried to take his lover Mail as his new fiancée.

Naturally, the King of Tania had flown into a rage. He halted exports of mineral resources, including coal, to the Kingdom of Luminous.

The Kingdom of Luminous had somehow tried to settle the matter peacefully, but the King of Tania’s anger showed no sign of cooling.

Its reputation among the other Union Kingdoms, who watched with cold eyes, was disastrous as well. “What outrageous disrespect toward that venerable old kingdom.” “What do they think the framework of the Union is for?”

Such words were directed at the royal house of Luminous without restraint.

Even if they tried to win Shitoen back, the Queen of the Kingdom of Tidros had stepped forward on the spot when the engagement was broken off and immediately taken her in, saying, “She shall become the principal wife of my third son.”

As though mocking the Kingdom of Luminous, all that had been heard since then about Shitoen was one brilliant report after another.

It was said that she had completely cured the long-standing illness of Lord Vandel Sheen, the dear friend of her husband Prince Saryu, and had promptly healed the sickness that broke out in his territory.

She was doted on by Saryu, and it was said that the knights of his order revered her like a goddess.

She had also apparently won the favor of the Queen, whom neighboring kingdoms called “difficult to deal with,” and was treated like a true sister by the Crown Princess.

It seemed that the King of Tidros, her father-in-law, had once again expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Tania, saying, “We are truly grateful to have been able to form a marriage bond with such a wonderful princess,” and had even proposed trade that would benefit Tania as well.

(When in truth, that honor and national benefit should have belonged to our kingdom…)

The Chancellor ground his back teeth and cast a sharp glance at Arios’s back, where he stood diagonally ahead.

A handsome face inherited from his mother, and a firm physique resembling his father’s. Brilliant and beloved by all, the Crown Prince of their kingdom.

If only this man had not broken off the engagement.

(But there is no use regretting what has already happened. Measures were taken.)

At this rate, the relationship between the Kingdom of Tania and the Kingdom of Tidros would grow stronger through Shitoen.

For that reason, the Chancellor had ordered the “Cleaners,” the assassination group of the Kingdom of Luminous, to kill Shitoen.

But every attempt had been thwarted by Saryu, Shitoen’s husband. As expected of the man famed as the “Winter Bear of Tidros.” As expected of the knights guarding the winter frontier. There was no opening.

“Father. What did the King of Tania say…?”

Whether he had grown impatient, or whether he judged that Noie had finished reading, Arios quietly spoke.

“He says that if a formal apology is offered to Princess Shitoen, exports will be resumed.”

Noie set the scroll on the desk and rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingers. He let out a heavy sigh.

“Until now, we had not even received a reply. This is a stroke of great fortune.”

The tension left Arios’s face. The Chancellor was seized by the urge to slap the cheek of the very man who had caused all this and say, You have no right to say that.

“Before the King of Tania changes his mind, we must arrange a place for the apology…”

“It is not before the King of Tania changes his mind. It is before winter comes to our kingdom.”

Cutting off the end of Arios’s sentence, the Chancellor spoke. Even so, he did not let the blazing fury show in either his expression or his bearing.

“Yes, exactly right.”

Noie gave a deep nod.

Coal was the problem.

If it had only been mineral resources, they might somehow have endured, but the fact that coal had been included made both Noie and the Chancellor tremble.

At this rate, they would not survive the winter.

Of course, they had reserves. If necessary, they could even release the royal family’s coal for the people. But even that would not be enough.

They could use the framework of the Union and ask the other kingdoms besides Tania to share supplies, but the other three kingdoms had chosen to stand by and watch. They were likely afraid that the King of Tania’s anger would spread to them.

If nothing changed, the people might burn more firewood than necessary to survive the winter, cut down trees, and burn the grasslands. And what that might lead to in the future was beyond imagining.

They absolutely had to calm the King of Tania’s anger and resume trade before winter.

“This all began because of me. I will go and apologize to Shitoen.”

Arios spoke in an urgent voice.

“…Yes, that would be best.”

Noie let out another heavy sigh.

“Tania and Tidros both honor righteousness. If you apologize sincerely, we may yet avoid the worst outcome.”

Noie cast a glance toward the Chancellor.

The Chancellor silently nodded, drawing in his chin.

It was geography.

The Kingdom of Luminous existed as though wedged between the Kingdom of Tania and the Kingdom of Tidros.

Of course, both the Kingdom of Luminous and the Kingdom of Tania belonged within the grouping known as the “Karaban Union Kingdom.” No matter how great a power it was, the Kingdom of Tidros would likely not openly challenge them to war. If it did, the other four kingdoms would not remain silent.

But it was entirely possible that the Kingdom of Tania, backed by the national strength and military force of the Kingdom of Tidros, would exert pressure on the Kingdom of Luminous from now on.

That was likely what Noie meant by the worst outcome.

That was precisely why the royal house of Luminous had, when the opportunity arose, formed marriage ties with the royal house of Tidros. In fact, the current Queen of Tidros was a distant relative of Noie.

But now, ties built by tracing the family tree were weaker than the relationship between the Kingdom of Tania and the Kingdom of Tidros, bound together by the gifted Shitoen Balimore as their wedge.

(If a child were to be born between Shitoen and Prince Saryu…)

The bond between the two kingdoms would become even stronger.

“Chancellor, prepare an urgent personal letter to the King of Tania. I wish to state that we will arrange a formal occasion to apologize to Princess Shitoen, and that the Crown Prince will be sent there.”

“At once, Your Majesty.”

The Chancellor bowed his head. Noie then turned his eyes to his son.

“Arios, apologize with all your heart.”

“I will take it to heart. I am truly sorry that my thoughtless actions this time placed the kingdom in danger.”

Seeing Arios bow his head deeply, the Chancellor let out a breath.

(That wedding must have affected him more deeply than anything.)

Arios had attended the wedding of Saryu and Shitoen.

That had been Noie’s proposal, and one the Chancellor had agreed with as well.

At last, he must have realized that the mind of his son had been a flower garden, and that he had been pathologically ignorant of the world.

Learn through your own body what it is you have done—that was why Noie had sent Arios and Mail to the wedding held in the Kingdom of Tidros.

After returning to his homeland, Arios had changed.

Rather than trying to remain true only to his own feelings, he had begun trying to show sincerity toward the kingdom. He no longer attended social gatherings for enjoyment, but to assess the relationships and balance of power among the nobles.

Above all, he had come to understand that a consort needed to meet “minimum qualifications,” and that if those could not be met, then effort and diligence were required.

This Crown Prince could still be molded.

The court and the king’s relatives breathed sighs of relief, and if the Crown Prince desired it, they extended their help without reservation.

Though Arios had brought about a national crisis, he seemed at least to have produced the result of strengthening the unity of the royal bloodline.

(But Shitoen’s existence is troublesome.)

The Chancellor stepped forward softly, though with restraint, toward the desk.

“If I may be so bold, would Your Majesty permit me to handle the negotiations with the Kingdom of Tania?”

“Of course, Chancellor. I was just about to ask you to do precisely that.”

Noie rose to his feet. The Chancellor bent even deeper at the waist.

“Then I shall do all in my power to fulfill Your Majesty’s wishes.”

All elements of uncertainty had to be swept away. For the sake of this Kingdom of Luminous.

And for that, then…

“Chancellor.”

Arios called out to him, and the Chancellor straightened his back to look at him.

“What is it?”

“This is something I caused. I will deal with it myself.”

Arios wore a tense expression. The Chancellor responded with a bright smile.

“How reassuring. This Chancellor is so deeply, deeply moved that words fail me.”

While bowing his head again, he calmly let Arios’s words pass by and thought of something else.

Ah, yes, the Chancellor thought.

Those sisters in the Cleaners would do nicely. He would use them.

Both of them had wanted to leave the organization. If he made Shitoen’s murder the condition for their departure, they would surely carry it out desperately.

If they were women, perhaps they could even ensnare that hateful Winter Bear of Tidros. And Shitoen, too, would likely let down her guard around someone of the same sex.

(If it were to let her younger sister escape the organization, that elder sister would likely risk her life to do anything.)

Yes, that would do nicely, the Chancellor thought with a dark smile.