CHAPTER 1 - II -
The Holy Congress called forth by Maddie was supposed to be the one for this hot season, that’s why the rulers of the Chersean kingdoms were already on their way to the Holy Palatial Gardens even before the saint requested their presence. She decided to prioritize this over the seasonal mass since time was of the essence in saving the ‘Saint’s Peace’.
Compared to the last ‘Holy Congress’ I attended; this one was more somber. The flashy welcomes and pomp vanished. One could feel the tension hanging in the air, and all seemed to be in a hurry.
“Kuro!”
Once again representing the kingdom of Nerfes, Sir Simon and King ‘Rambo’ made their appearances. Sir Simon was the one who approached me first, followed by the king.
“I heard what happened to Amaranth!” he began, “Is Maddie okay?”
“She is.” I reassured the 2nd Prince, “But we have to reach a decision on how to deal with the events in that kingdom.”
“I agree.” It was Rambo who said that “Those Imperial dogs couldn’t be trusted. Everyone in these parts knew they were only looking for an opportunity to invade. They still treat us as provinces they lost long ago…”
“Indeed, brother!” Sir Simon concurred, before turning back to me, “Don’t worry, Kuro! We’ll support Maddie as usual. The armies of Nerfes will be at her disposal.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!” I gave them my respects, “And Your Majesty as well!”
“Hey! I didn’t do this for you!” Rambo reiterated, “It’s for Maddie!”
“Yes, yes…I know, Your Majesty.” As tsundere as ever, eh, Rambo?
“Hmm…by the way, the Emperor just sent another ambassador for his congress appearance.” Sir Simon pointed at the Imperial delegation. True enough, it was a different person.
“Well, of course it’s expected, though unprecedented. He skipped two Holy Congresses already.” Rambo noted, “That old bastard wouldn’t dare attend a meeting with everyone’s swords pointed at his throat. The emperor’s a sly fox, not a brave griffin, see?”
I could understand Rambo’s rationale. Even I, if I knew I did something wrong, would never dare to show my face to a hostile crowd. In fact, I would never bother to send someone else to speak for me, since I’m about to break my promises.
But then again, sending someone here in his stead can mean one thing for the Emperor…anyway, I’d observe more before I jump to conclusions.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness…” a maid finally approached us and called the attention of the Nerfes royals, “Pardon for the interruption, but Her Holiness the Saint would like to begin the Congress as soon as possible. Please follow me.”
Without further delay, Rambo and Sir Simon walked after the maidservant. As I intended to come to watch the Congress as well—I’m currently the captain of the Paladin Corps and one of my duties is to keep order inside the meeting hall, I also came along with them.
The Congress for this season was straightforward, and it had a different ‘format’ compared to its earlier versions. While the first ones were usually tripartite talks between the two opposing parties and the Saint acting as the mediator, now Maddie had all the monarchs gathered in one place. Once they showed up at the venue, she immediately hopped to the topic.
There were no welcoming remarks, no mincing of words either.
By the way, much to my surprise, the one who represented the kingdom of Amaranth was no other than the princess, Jessica von Albert, who shed her servant clothes for the occasion.
The moment all of them had settled in, she opened with, “Your Majesties, I’m glad that you took the time to come here for such an important moment. As many of you already knew, there was a sizeable army of the Imperial legions that landed at the kingdom of Amaranth.”
Some murmurs and whispers went around the room, as some rulers had been told about it just now. With the noise getting out of hand, I tried to enforce the peace, though I was feeling awkward by the sudden duties passed on to me. Fortunately, the vice-captain Dame Atkins and the other paladins who were with us acted swiftly and firmly as well.
Thanks to them, I saved my face from embarrassment.
“Goodness…for how long I would do this?” I muttered to myself. I may be a teacher before and could therefore deal with students. However, I knew I couldn’t enforce peace and order to grown-up adults; compared to children, they’re a bunch of headaches.
Anyway, with the Congress hall hushed up, the Imperial delegation spoke.
“On behalf of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Jean of Chersea, I, the Prince Hughes Vendette, would like to explain our actions in Amaranth.” the Imperial envoy began, “As some of you may have known, there were voices of dissent within the kingdom of Amaranth against the abuses committed by the government of its king and the crown prince. The nobility there knew that alone, they would be defeated by the might of royalty and their supporters, and so their just pleas would only fall onto deaf ears. Because of this, they came to us for support and seeing the excesses of such rulers, we came to help them in their moment of need.”
“LIES!” it was Jessica who shouted, “The negotiation between the noble and royal factions had been going well for some time before someone intervened to assassinate Her Holiness and derail the mediation!”
“Are you accusing us, Princess von Albert, of the dreadful act of conspiring to kill Her Holiness?”
“Huh?” someone ignored the argument between the Princess von Albert and the Prince Vendette. He raised the point about Her Holiness’ botched assassination, instead, “Her Holiness is nearly killed?”
“This is preposterous!”
“Who did such a despicable thing?”
The Congress was once again in uproar. The human kings were calling for blood against the conspirators who tried to kill their beloved saint. The vice-captain and the other paladins moved in to calm the kings and other rulers. Prodded by my instinct, I moved in to protect Maddie.
“Please be silent, everyone!”
Ruro also came with me to help to pacify the angry royals by using her ability to manipulate her voice through the air. At once, the crowds immediately stopped the commotion and went back to their seats.
Now Maddie explained herself, “While I understand your indignation at what happened to me, I’d like to ask Your Majesties to focus on the issue at hand, which was the presence of the legionnaires in Amaranth.”
“We apologize for our uncouth behavior, Your Holinesses!” the king of Calabria told her, “However, we certainly would like to hear the explanation of the Empire about this matter, and their intervention in Amaranth.”
“The Empire maintains its position that we’re only supporting our allies in Amaranth until a peaceful solution has been found.” the Prince Vendette reiterated, “As for Her Holiness’ foiled assassination attempt, we denounce the perpetrators of this unholy crime!”
“Your Highness, I’d like to point out that one provision of the Oath of the Saint’s Peace that your Emperor signed, was to not allow his forces go beyond the allowed numbers.” Jessica countered, “I believe that your empire went beyond the 200-man limit.”
“Of course, Princess von Albert!” the Imperial envoy replied, “The security of our forces would also be put into consideration while supporting our allies. We couldn’t aid them effectively if we’re only sending 200 people!”
“Then, by all means, Your Imperial Highness!” it was now Maddie who spoke, “Do you admit that your empire went past beyond the limits I set when your emperor signed the oath?”
“Yes, Your Holiness. It is as you have heard, and so I stand by my explanation.”
“Well, Amaranth is a sovereign kingdom.” Maddie reiterated to him, “If there’s anything that could fix their own mess, it would be the Amaranthines themselves. We could only do so much. Also, the kingdom didn’t even ask this Congress’ help in resolving their disputes; what makes you think that intervening in their affairs could make a difference?”
“My apologies, Your Holiness!” the Imperial envoy bowed, “For that question, only the Emperor himself could answer!”
“And that’s why I’m repeatedly asking for his presence here!” I could feel that Maddie was getting frustrated by the Imperial envoy’s mincing of words. She was already pounding at the armrest of her throne, “This is the second time that he ignored my summons! Does he think that he’s superior to me?”
“I could only offer my sincere apologies, Your Holiness!”
“I don’t need your apologies, Prince Vendette!” Maddie finally snapped and slammed the table before her, “What I need is a proper explanation from your emperor why he hasn’t been showing himself! If he wanted to be excommunicated, then just say so, and I would be glad to grant it!”
“I-I’m sure there are still other options…”
“Listen here, Prince Vendette! Tell your emperor to come here as soon as possible. The longer he delayed, the more people in Amaranth would die in this senseless conflict that he started. If he failed to do so, I would be forced to slap sanctions on his empire.”
“S-Sanctions, Y-Your Holiness?”
“Yes! We discussed this before, in the last Congress! I decided to cut-off trade from the rest of Chersea to your empire if your emperor would keep on being stubborn!”
“B-But Your Holiness—”
“Silence! I would hear no more of your explanations!”
The Imperial envoy was visibly shaken by the exchange with Maddie. However, realizing that the Saint would never back down, he then fixed himself and declared…
“Your Holiness, this is the most impudent discourse I ever had! As the representative of His Imperial Majesty and his proud subjects, I won’t tolerate this utter disrespect to my sovereign. If so the rest of Chersea wishes to enact these ‘sanctions’ against our people, then we’d consider this as an act of war.”
At once, the other rulers of Chersea rose from their seats with their hands going for their swords. Only the quick actions from the Dame Atkins and the other paladins saved the integrity of the Holy Congress from the bloodbath.
Maddie then told the Imperial envoy, “I don’t wish for you to lose your life here, Your Highness. If you so decided on behalf of your empire, then so be it. Remember that I do not wish for war, but if your emperor would never show up within five long sleeps, then we’re going to end this talk.”
Incensed, the Prince Vendette took his bow and stormed out of the Holy Congress along with his delegation.
