Chapter 93

The next day, I came down with a bad cold. After being soaked by that rain, it was a miracle I wasn’t worse.

“There’s a meeting today…”

Elysia, who was nursing me, shook her head firmly.

“Absolutely not. Do you know how high your fever was yesterday?”

Still, I worried she might be missing something strange in the treaty and come anyway.

“Everything’s already been checked in the letters; today we just need to discuss the detailed clauses and sign. You already checked the agreement yourself.”

“That’s true. Cough!”

Knock knock.

At the sound of my answer the door opened and Aidan and Lukan came in. Both were full of worry when they saw my condition.

“We were trying to persuade you not to go to the talks.”

“What meeting are you talking about when you’re like this? Just rest properly.”

“Coco, don’t worry! If they don’t sign the agreement properly, I’ll tear it all up!”

Aidan’s sincere concern made me think I absolutely had to attend the talks.

The three of them only left the room after watching me take my medicine.

Knock knock.

Who was it this time? I answered in a barely audible voice, and the Duke came in. Even though my fever was raging, thinking about yesterday made his face flush.

“Excuse me.”

He leaned over and placed his hand on my forehead. The coolness calmed my head, and he sighed as he looked down at me. His expression said he had expected this.

“Never. Never. Do not come to the meeting hall.”

“…”

How did he know what I was thinking and insist so strongly? He seemed determined not to leave until I answered. The meeting time was coming up…!

In the end, I had no choice but to give up.

“Alright, alright! I won’t go.”

“Good. Rest well.”

His tone was rude, but the way he wiped the sweat from my face was careful. I didn’t know what to do with this unreturned feeling, and I felt like letting go of whatever I had been holding onto.

The talks were facing unexpected difficulties. Simon cursed the confident version of himself who had said there would be no problem in front of the foreign minister. The smile of the foreign minister sitting next to him was like a bed of thorns, slightly off.

“This decree from the Empire is quite radical. For the state to inventory the nobles’ assets… If it were Yuno, a rebellion would have already broken out.”

Suddenly the Yuno side seemed to be backing away.

‘No, they accepted the delegation’s gifts, attended the banquet and dinner with no problem—why are they doing this all of a sudden!’

I sat maintaining appearances, but inside I was furious. Yet veteran diplomat Simon hid his feelings as if used to it and replied composedly.

“In the Empire, no matter how noble, there can be no exceptions to the law. That’s how our subjects can trust and follow us. It is also the will of His Majesty the Emperor. However, we do not intend to saddle the Kingdom of Yuno with that responsibility under this agreement. We will cooperate only in cases where a crime is confirmed.”

The foreign minister opposite did not easily bow his head.

“To be honest, Yuno is currently facing intense backlash from the nobles over tax reform. If we sign this agreement, it might give the impression that we agree to investigate nobles’ assets. It would be like pouring fuel on the fire.”

Unlike the letters, they were making excuses about their domestic situation. Simon glanced around to see if there was any ally he could call on.

The foreign minister? He’d be in a bad mood because of him now, so Simon wanted to keep him as a last resort. A Chancellery member? She’s still a rookie and no use here. Reyra, the finance officer? Her expression looks irritated too; she’s clearly holding back curses.

Then the Supreme Justice?

‘He can do everything well, but his speaking skills are really not great.’

He was once called the ‘Fearsome Mouth’ for a reason. Unless they wanted to turn the talks into a battlefield, he was to be excluded this time. No—Simon had to resolve it before he intervened.

‘Why of all days is Secretary Cornelia bedridden today!’

She was young but reliable, and he hadn’t expected her to miss today’s talks. From then on, this situation might have been inevitable. If they were drawn in like this, the Empire would have to give something to get the agreement signed.

‘Anyway, she needs to get better quickly…’

She was like a daughter in age, so though a colleague, he worried for her like his own child. Simon actually had a daughter about her age.

As Simon collected his thoughts to figure out how to answer that pesky Yuno side, suddenly the door opened and a woman appeared. It was the young but dependable Cornelia he’d been looking for. Yet the signs of sickness were gone and she looked perfectly fine.

“Sorry I’m late. I overheard some of the discussion outside—may I say something?”

When the woman they thought was ill appeared, the Empire’s delegation all stared in surprise. Even the Duke, whose expression rarely changed, looked as if his eyes would pop out.

“Oh, aren’t you Olgard the deputy minister’s younger sister? Please, speak.”

The reunion of the sibling pair, like a symbol of reconciliation, made Cornelia a clearly favorable figure to Yuno. The atmosphere in the meeting room eased considerably. But Cornelia, as if unconcerned with that, boldly held up the agreement.

“So it’s specified in Article 5 of the agreement. Each country can decide whether to cooperate according to its internal regulations after a domestic judicial determination. This way, autonomy is guaranteed, but we don’t turn a blind eye to crimes. This agreement is made for the benefit of both countries, not to make either suffer.”

Upon reading the document she pointed to, the Yuno foreign minister’s expression changed. He cleared his throat and tried to regain the initiative.

“It’s not only the nobles’ backlash we’re worried about. The Seraphina Empire side will know—when a similar agreement was made with the Kingdom of Mokoko… you know? In trying to trace hidden assets it eventually escalated into a political asylum incident and one of our nobles was executed. We’re afraid that might happen again.”

It was a trauma tactic. Simon berated himself for having prepared the talks too casually. As he opened his mouth to make amends, suddenly the Supreme Justice interjected.

“That’s why we’ve included an ‘exclusion of political matters’ clause this time. The Empire does not want an agreement aimed at executing someone.”

He didn’t seem enthusiastic, which was odd. After a few rounds of back-and-forth, the Yuno foreign minister conceded.

“Your preparations are thorough. We’ll sign. However, it will take some time to get royal approval…”

Secretary Cornelia smiled gently and said.

“We’ll give you time. But please, don’t let it go past tomorrow morning.”

She shut down any delay tactics in an instant. Simon was delighted, as if his daughter had once again taken the lead. The foreign minister, who had been reluctantly engaged in the exchanges, flashed a worried look for a moment but didn’t seem too concerned.

‘Don’t be fooled by that harmless appearance.’

She wouldn’t give in easily to demands.

Thanks to Cornelia, Simon breathed a sigh of relief at the successful end of the talks. He resolved to comply with any Chancellery work requests for the time being.

“How did this happen?”

People kept asking as they looked at me, restored to health. I scratched my cheek with my index finger and gave an embarrassed smile.

“Well, you see…”

In fact, after the Duke left, Olgard came by. When he saw me groaning, he took my hand and whispered something as if breathing blessing into it. Moments later, I returned to looking as if the rain yesterday had never happened.

“Is this divine power…?”

It was a moment I could feel the power of the gods on my skin. Olgard looked at me with a thoughtful smile, said he’d like to talk again later, and left. He must have been seen walking into the rain… it seemed he had come to heal me.

What was a divine oracle? A low-ranking noble like me even received treatment from a priest. Grateful as I was, I couldn’t help wishing Rio would be treated like this too.

“…And that’s how it happened.”

When I roughly explained that a reunited family member had healed me, not only did our side but the Yuno delegation warm up too. Anyway, I was glad it had ended well.

Feeling the Duke’s sharp gaze, I avoided it this time without running away, when someone from the Yuno side approached me.

“Hello. I’m Marcel, Second-Rank Finance Officer at the Yuno Ministry of Finance.”

He was a young finance officer about my age. Bright-eyed, he reminded me of an adorable young reindeer.

“I wanted to express my thanks before it was too late.”

“Thanks?”

Other than passing out from motion sickness and collapsing with a cold, I couldn’t think of anything worthy of thanks. He spoke, a little embarrassed.

“There were errors in the calculations on my report… I later found out the secretary corrected them. If not for you, I would’ve reported without knowing. Someone must have tampered with them… haha, anyway, you practically saved someone’s life. If it had gone wrong, I would’ve been fired.”

For some reason the calculations had way too many holes. And it was a Ministry of Finance document, no less.

“Who would brazenly tamper with a report? And how did you find out it was me…?”

Marcel’s gaze turned to Lukan.

‘Wow. A charisma that knows no borders… truly remarkable affinity.’

Lukan, grinning sheepishly, put his arm around my shoulder and said.

“I’ve had Coco save me in a desperate situation like Marcel did. How do you learn this sort of sense? Ah! I just thought of a great idea. There’s time from now until the day we leave after the talks succeeded, so here…”