Farm Village Near Florence City Sate.

In a certain village close to the Florence city state, a village which can be said to exist only to send wheat to the said port city, there are almost 10,000 soldiers from both sides crowding around the perimeter.

"Her Majesty Selena has arrived!"

The feudal lord who governs the village was also thrown outside and a dozen people or so were in his mansion…… Selena, Xanthippus, and the upper echelon of Florence had gathered there.

This village close to the current frontlines has become the stage where the negotiations for peace will occur.

"It is a pleasure to meet every one of you from Florence."

Selena curtsied politely in front of Florence’s leaders.

Her attitude showed no trace of intimidation from holding an advantageous state in battle, nor did it seem pointed enough to affect any particularly keen individuals.

It was clear to everyone that she was not used to being here based on her tight expression and how she occasionally tried to relieve her stress by taking deep breaths.

"This way please."

"Ye-yes!"

One of the ministers pointed her to a seat when Selena had trouble deciding where to sit.

She cleared her throat in an attempt to smooth over her flustered response and then took her seat.

Sitting silently beside her was a large man dressed in formal uniform and on the other side was an effeminate man sitting with a composed look.

"I am the representative of Florence―― currently your nation and ours are in an unfortunate situation. While the blame is solely on your side, we are not here to denounce you but to have a meaningful discussion."

"Ri-right!"

Selena quickly took the hand offered by Florence’s representative.

Seeing that happen, one would never imagine Selena to be the aggressor.

"Hey, is that really the ruler of Orlais? She’s not a fake?"

"It’s been confirmed. She is without a doubt queen Selena……"

Those present from Florence whispered among themselves.

"Then let us agree to peace right away!"

"Your Majesty, you must first present the conditions."

The effeminate man politely advised Selena and then the negotiation with Florence began.

"To display so openly how badly peace was wanted, that puts us at an advantage……"

"What a complete amateur."

Diplomatic negotiations were about hiding one’s true intentions while getting the opponent to compromise as much as possible.

Selena’s one sentence made it clear her side was looking for peace no matter what. That meant Florence could be more demanding in their offers.

"Errr…… I understand. What should I do then……"

"Be firm and decisive as a queen."

The large man――Xanthippus gave advice to Selena.

"I prepared quite a few guards to be cautious knowing that the representative will be coming……"

"From what it looks like, they might not have thought things through too much."

Normally, the supreme leaders of two nations at war with each other would not meet in person to conduct peace talks.

Even if the discussion was to be held, they would limit themselves to showing up for the final greeting.

For something like that to be desired from the beginning, they were obviously worried about assassination attempts, but the Florence side relaxed slightly after seeing Selena’s attitude.

After that, Selena would panic as the negotiation heats up, and she would be openly overjoyed when one condition was agreed upon…… repeatedly displaying actions overflowing with human weakness.

"Dear me, the reactions of Her Majesty the Queen were so refreshing."

"I-is that so? I’ve only just become queen. Ehe……"

She smiled despite the sarcastic comment.

“Puppet” was the word which popped up in the minds of the Florence side.

They did not think she was capable of usurping the throne in Fanoss or overthrowing the regime in Orlais or pushing themselves to this point.

In the case she did do those things, the discussion would move to who was controlling her behind the scenes.

The candidates for that are the two individuals sitting beside her.

Xanthippus who was staying silent and occasionally offered some advice, only appeared to be Selena’s aid.

In that case, the easy guess would be the other man who proactively pushed the negotiation forward.

All those who were seated held such a belief.

"I see, so you absolutely won’t yield on this condition…… . I see."

"Yes, on the other hand this condition is not important to us. We can compromise."

Both the Florence side and the effeminate man have profound expressions on their faces, and it was likely Florence who truly felt like bursting out in laughter.

"This man is incompetent."

"This is tough. I guess we can allow that."

"We can’t back down so easily. If that condition is not swallowed, we can’t come to an agreement no matter what."

He acted like a big deal but had a narrow field of vision and lacks creativity.

He tried to advance strict negotiations but actually focused on trivial conditions and completely conceded on all the important points.

The negotiator on Florence’s side instantly realized that as well, taking advantage by leading the effeminate man around by the nose.

"Amazing. I’m really glad to have you here."

"Hahaha, anything for Your Majesty."

Selena’s cheering also served to put their side at a disadvantage.

It revealed which points they valued the most.

Furthermore, Selena turned red and looked feverish whenever her eyes met with the negotiating effeminate man.

Everybody could tell she didn’t view him as simply her subordinate.

"I see…… she appointed this idiot based on her romantic feelings."

"That large man must be a bodyguard and caretaker who doesn’t understand complicated things."

"This is ugly."

That thought could not be voiced out loud but everyone on Florence’s side were thinking the same.

Having anticipated an intense back-and-forth negotiation with an arrogant invader, those on Florence’s side were a bit let down.

However, it was a happy miscalculation.

Negotiations went unusually smooth between two warring countries.

All of a sudden, Selena stood up and walked to the window.

Everyone’s eyes were drawn to her.

"I’m sorry. I saw a parent and a child albino fox and couldn’t help it……"

It was at that moment…… the moment she shyly stuck her tongue out.

A loud explosion and the accompanying impact assaulted the participants of the meeting.

Thick clouds of rising smoke obstructed their sight.

"Guwaaaaah!!"

"W-what was that!? What happened!?"

"The representative! Protect the representative!!"

The once peaceful atmosphere instantly became hectic and people started shouting.

With the window opened, vision gradually returned to normal.

At the same time, soldiers hurried through.

Countless bodies were―― not littering the space.

"Is the representative safe!?"

"Y-yeah. He only has a cut on his forehead. It’s nothing serious."

"There’s no fire?"

Something undoubtedly blew up, but it wasn’t incredibly powerful and only a few people suffered minor scratches.

"N…… no way……"

There was one man who wasn’t so lucky.

Selena walked unsteadily towards that man.

"Noo…… nooooo!!"

He must have been close to the explosion. The effeminate man who was negotiating up until this point fell over covered in blood.

"A…… ah……"

His legs were on the verge of being torn apart, his stomach looked like it burst from the inside and his guts were spilling out.

Selena clinged to the man who could no longer speak.

Her dress got wet from the blood.

"Your Majesty Selena, are you hurt……"

"Justin! Don’t die Justin Bieber! I don’t want thiiiiiis!!"

Not responding to Florence, Selena wailed loudly as she clutched to the bloody man.

"……it doesn’t look like he was behind the schemes."

"Yes."

The rest of the upper echelon also agreed with what the representative said.

It was clear to them that Selena could not have possibly devised such plans based on her appearance, nor can she have carried it out to begin with.

"Your Majesty, it’s dangerous here. Let us retreat quickly."

She vigorously shook her head when Xanthippus tried to pull her hand.

Not saying anything else, Xanthippus looked over at the individuals from Florence.

"Get a doctor here. Even if it’s just for form’s sake."

"Sure……"

All those who saw what happened to him knew he could no longer be saved.

Naturally, peace negotiations would be suspended, but in order to confirm the explosion was caused by the intervention of an unrelated third party and to discover the truth, it was decided that both sides will be under a ceasefire agreement until the next negotiation.

Selena signed the temporary agreement document with tears still streaming down her face.

"This meeting ended in a truly detestable way…… but at the very least we have reached an agreement to ceasefire. I hope we can find our real enemy by the next time we talk."

Florence’s representative comments tentatively.

"… yes……" Selena sniffed.

The sobbing Selena shook the hand of the representative with a trembling hand.

Florence was the one who was invaded, yet it was their soldiers who seemed at a loss for what to say.

Selena should have been the primary suspect, except her behavior made people rule her out.

In fact, they felt sad enough to start thinking it was their own fault, having been the one responsible for arranging the meeting location and stationing the guards.

Nobody even thought of Justin as merely a loyal subordinate of hers.

"…… then if you would please do so."

Selena boarded the carriage returning to her own camp while being supported by Xanthippus.

"Who would have thought we would be comforting an invading king."

The representative smiled wryly.

"You said it. But this is practically the same as peace and she probably won’t be attacking us anytime soon judging by how she is now."

They couldn’t care less about whether Selena truly felt sad or not.

They would welcome anything as long as it led to prosperity for the motherland.

"We can’t ignore the subversive activity though. Do we know any details?"

"Yes, there were gunpowder placed under the chair of that man named Justin…… it was probably put in porcelain."

"The size and impact of the explosion was small so the wooden floor was left almost unscathed…… I can’t think of it being powerful enough to damage anything besides the man it was closest to."

The representative tilted his head.

"I don’t get it…… there’s no meaning in what they did. It actually makes us suspicious."

"Is that their aim?"

The representative shook his head.

"That would be pointless. We’re in the middle of war here. I could understand if they set it up so they can declare war on us, but they wouldn’t expose the king to more danger when they’ve already invaded their opponent."

Nobody said anything for a short moment.

"So as expected, the natural thing to think about is a third party interfering because they don’t want us to make peace. Did you pat down the people who entered or exited during our negotiation?"

"Yessir, I have done it to all of them. There is a strict check before anyone enters the room. I don’t believe anybody had gunpowder……"

Security had to be stringent with two of the supreme leaders in the room.

"No, they might have sacrificed power so they could sneak it in easier. It’s not like a check was done on every hole of their bodies, and it’s not impossible for them to roll it under the chair after occupying our eyes."

"Understood. Then I will do an investigation on all of their relatives and circle of friends."

The subordinate took his leave.

"In any case, it’s quite fortunate that our next negotiating partner will be that queen."

The corners of the representative’s lips curled up as he grinned, then he took a seat and drank some water.

***

Inside the carriage that was moving away from the frontier village.

"It was good that his stomach burst open nicely, or it would have been troublesome if he survived. I think we should really have used one that’s a size bigger."

Not a single tear dripped from Selena’s eyes at this point.
She had her legs crossed as she complained to Xanthippus.

As soon as she finished complaining, Selena opened the window of the carriage and began to cry once again without the use of eye drops.
The escort soldiers who saw that tear-stained face swore their loyalty in sadness while the woman waved back with a smile and tears streaming down her cheeks.