63.A Friendly Face
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I flip to the next page of my book. Suddenly there is a knock at my door. I close my book and put it down. It is uncommon for anybody to seek me during my entire stay here as the Allonian diplomat. The Arrians haven’t been too fond of me.  

“You may enter.” I tell the person outside of the door. 

“Duke Hammond, a pleasure to meet you.” I look up to see a friendly face. Too long have I been surrounded by Arrians that I began to forget what Allonians looked like. Robert Mohun, the count of Devon. A rather unnoteworthy place. 

What is noteworthy is the letter in his hand. 

“What do we have here, Count Mohan?” I ask him. He just smiles and hands it to me in response. A letter from Prince James Asherton. I look at the Asherton seal to make sure that it is intact. Upon confirming the intact seal I open the letter. 

“Your request for a transfer has been approved. From today onward I will be your replacement. If you have any advice for me I do hope you speak now.” Robert informs me while I read the letter. The content isn’t any different but is written in a much more formal manner. 

“I have one piece of advice.” 

“What would that be?” He asks me. 

“Enjoy yourself.” I say looking up from the letter and at him. He slightly furrows his brows in confusion. I may not have noticed this small change in his expression had I not spent well over an entire year inside Arria. Their faces are closer to that of stone than flesh. The big clue is his brown eyes. They seem to reflect his confusion while he tries desperately to discipline his face to mask it. “What I am saying is that you should give up on a white peace. You will simply anger them more than they are right now.” 

“I am sorry, am I not a diplomat?” 

“Do you not know what the Arrians consider us as?” 

“No, what do they consider me?” 

“A temporary diplomat. Once the war ends they will send you back and communications will die out.” A tell him in Arrian. The language flows off my tongue well but not as naturally as speaking Allonian. They could have sent somebody more familiar with Arrian culture. It isn’t like we know nothing of them. 

“A temporary diplomat... that is a strange concept.” He tries to reply in Arrian but it sounds choppier than it should be. More like an Allonian trying to speak Arrian than somebody who speaks Arrian naturally. 

He is most likely going to fail. 

Not that I can complain. I am fairly certain that diplomacy has failed at this point and there is no reason to keep up this façade. Arria will fight until one side emerges the victor. Besides, without the emperor here I doubt anybody would have the authority to sign a treaty. 

At most the council might be able to vote on it but that might not hold legitimacy in the eyes of Arria. They would see it as the council overstepping their bounds as advisors to the emperor and trying to reinstate the parliamentary system. 

Maybe that would cause another civil war. The Arrian Emperor would most likely not accept this laying down. That would most certainly help Allonia. But that is most likely a dream. To even get the council to agree on a treaty would be a challenge. 

“Have I gotten myself into something I will regret?” Robert asks me tentatively. 

“You will be just fine. The Arrian emperor dislikes killing the messenger.” I reassure him. He doesn’t say anything but stands there quietly. I do not know why but despite every Arrian I meet hating me he seems to treat me politely. I can sense no sign of hatred. 

“What if he dies?” 

“Then... as the Arrians say, you better pray for God to have mercy on your soul.” I tell him. If the emperor dies then I doubt any person in this castle would have any qualms about killing the diplomat. 

Robert grimaces at my words. It seems that he does not think too highly of my advice. Or perhaps he thinks lowly of the connotation my advice has. Who wants to work on a thankless task with no hope of success? 

I most certainly do not. 

“What route do you plan to take for your return to Allonia?” Robert asks. 

“I was thinking of going north through Monza.” That would be the safest route though it may take some time. I would probably be found dead on the side of the road if I went east through Alle. 

“I hope you have a good trip then.” Robert responds. I think that he requires well wishes more than me but I will not reject any well wishes that come my way. I have been looked down upon for too long. 

“Thank you.” 

I shake his hand before gesturing for him to sit down. I have a lot of things to go over with him to prepare him. He is not ready to go before even an Arrian noble, much less a member of the royal family. 

“Let us begin, we do not have much time before I leave.” I tell him. He doesn’t say anything but the confusion is still in his eyes. Being here will be far more dangerous than being in Felworth. At least they tend to be less violent. 


A/N: I am back! Did you guys miss me? I'll be honest, I was only going to take three days off initially for finals but in the end I got caught up playing a Byzantium run in EU4 and ended up not getting any work done. This has caused me to rethink my update schedule. There is a new plan. From now on I will upload three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This will probably start next week so look foward to it. The once a day schedule has been really demanding and as we reach the final streach I want to be able to look into my other ideas as well to prepare for the next story.

As always, thank you for reading!

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