When I first thought about the possibility of an armistice with the king I was not delusioned. Ever since he decided to attack, I was no longer bound. I am already a criminal for many, and I never was considered a citizen of the kingdom, so currently I am a ruler of an entity that both is part of the kingdom, and is not. The pandora's box is opened.

Though it was doubtful there will be any results from the talks, I had to accept this, just for the sake of having a justification to start an all-out assault due to me being the victim of the king's greed.

In a week the delegations really did gather, and really did arrive to my future palace. Aside from the expected me and the king, the church joined too, as a mediator between the king and me. Mostly because I couldn't refuse it, since they are the second most powerful authority, right after the sovereigns themselves.

Initially I expected the king to not have the guts to show up, but he did.

“Greetings, Fuji.” (K)

“To think your cowardness would show up? Funny, I thought that the risk of being turned into dust would bash some sense in you."

Our delegations were somewhat small, and this allowed the two of us to meet often enough to make me sick.

The king’s delegation was led by the king himself, also he had a few dukes and his prime minister. My delegation was of me and Elina. The church sent a few priests to assist our negotiation but there were no major powers backing them.

We were sitting on the opposite sides of a table. The clergy was sat away from us and had no way to immediately interfere in case we begin beating each other to death.

“How about we stop this unnecessary war and return to our peaceful lives?” The king began the talk and tried taking the initiative.

“How hypocrite of you, ‘your majesty’. You started this madness to just make us succumb to your rule. You killed your own countrymen just for the sake of self-satisfaction!  Why should we even listen to you? Why shouldn’t I ask her [Fuji] to kill you right here, right now?!” Elina started calmly but soon started shouting.

‘Shut up, please. I want this to end soon. Stop with adding unnecessary s*.’ I decided to shut her up before this turns into a very bloody mess.

“Did it not all start with you, 'duchess'? Were you not the one who openly disregarded the royal decree and refused paying the taxes? Do you remember you are still our servant and hold the title of OUR kingdom? I sent numerous requests to comply with the royal laws, I sent envoys with offers, and yet you chose to disobey your liege!” The king started counterattack.

“And why would you think she stopped obeying you? She was not your vassal in the first place.” It was my time to try smoothing Elina’s fail.

“I suggested her to swear her loyalty. She refused and said that she listens only to you. The land belonged to my kingdom in the first place, and I only agreed that it will be managed by you. Then your proxy disregarded everything, and dealing with it was impossible with you missing. I did what I could from my side, until we had no choice but to go to the war. And it all started with one foxkin disappearing, so how should we solve the mess you created?” (K)

“Dear delegates, please! Why don’t we spend some time to pray for the peace and take our time to cool our heads and clear our minds?” The priests started their mediation.

We both glared at them and thus reminded them not to interfere with the big-guys’ quarrel.

“Did you think that I, the master of this land, would just disappear and never return? Why did you start the war a week after my ‘disappearance’?”

“So you do not deny that she disobeyed her rightful liege?” (K)

“Why would a king matter to her more than her goddess, me. I am a god, and a god is above the kings.” I already can feel my assured victory.

“YOU ARE NOT A GODDESS!” The clergy started shouting and showing their disapproval of my claims.

“That is the first time I hear about it. But then, it does not change the fact that I too am crowned by the God of Light.” He ignored them, so did I.

“Do you think that the priests are loyal to you? They also don’t care about you.” Our arguing will go on and on so I decided to try cornering him as much as I can.

“She holds the land that is part of my country, even if she is a priest to your esteemed person, she governs the lands that are within my realm. If you are a goddess now, that doesn’t mean that you were one before. Prior to this self-proclaimed god business of yours, I let her choose if she wants to let go of the land but keep her loyalty to you only, or acknowledge me as sovereign of the duchy she holds, while also keeping her loyalty to you. Did I make a mistake here?” The king continued his offensive and now he might even corner me.

“You might’ve waited for my return yet you called me dead. You might’ve tried talking this through and negotiating yet you started a war. You might’ve accepted your mistake and beg me for forgiveness yet you chose to do that only after I blazed my guns. You might’ve stopped the war after you made the Elina’s forces withdraw to the fortress which is MY land. You were the one who attacked me and now you tell me that you are not the bad guy here?” I made the comeback.

The argument continued, but today’s talks ended with no result.