Second Arc (His Art of War) - 93. The Kings' Agreement I

The Scarlet Stone Castle's dining Hall was quiet. Not even a word came out from Angel, King Eudon or King Esteve's mouths as they had their breakfast. But even though the silence was contrary to what Angel had said at the front door, King Eudon and King Esteve knew that what Angel was talking about was not something that could be discussed in front of everyone. And even this was an important and secret discussion, he chose the dining hall so their meeting looks less formal and important than if they did it in a meeting room or study room.

Angel put the glass in his hand on the table and the servants quickly tidied up the utensils since they thought he was done, but he suddenly said.

"Give me Storm Apples & Walnut Pie."

All the servants' hands stopped and they retreated a few steps. The head servant approached him with a scared expression and bowed.

"Forgive us, Your Majesty. But Storm Apple season is still six months away and we don't have that fruit in stock." Apple Strom was a fruit that couldn't be found anywhere except in season, besides that it could only be eaten five days after being picked from the tree before turning rotten and poisonous. Various methods of preservation had been used to keep the fruit edible throughout the year, as well as various methods for keeping the tree to bear fruit outside of its normal season, but none of them had been successful. So asking for Strom Apple & Walnut Pie was impossible.

He turned to the head servant.

"Do I need to repeat my orders?"

"But, Your Majesty--"

Before the head servant could finish his sentence, he interrupted him.

"Find that fruit," He swept his gaze across the servants around him.

"That order also applies to you."

They were silent with confused faces and their eyes trembling in bewilderment as they looked for ways to get the fruit.

Seeing that they had not moved from their position he spoke again.

"Now!"

They startled in fear.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Immediately, they bowed and walked out of the dining hall, leaving Angel, King Eudon, King Esteve and Frost inside that large hall.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked King Esteve straight to the point. He knew Angel ordered that impossible request to get the servants out of the room without giving them direct orders so that he could speak to them freely.

"I want to propose an agreement to King Eudon," he said.

King Eudon exhaled in annoyance.

"What agreement? Didn't you get everything you wanted from me?"

"It's an agreement regarding the rumours about Princess Rose and me."

King Eudon frowned in confusion, as did King Esteve. Why would he make rumours about himself with a princess from a kingdom he conquered.

"For what?" asked King Eudon.

"To lure the rebels in your kingdom." He waved his hand, Frost took out several reports from his blazer and gave them to King Eudon.

King Eudon turned to the reports as his eyes moved side to side to read it.

"It's the report regarding yesterday's rebellion. I have found too many oddities regarding this, besides that your enemies are too many and this castle is too dangerous. If you want to get rid of the rats you have to get them to the root before they involve too many innocent people," he continued. The rebel leader recruited innocent people, but since they had joined and were trained he couldn't let them go, because they had a big potential to become real rebels. Whereas if they were punished then it would only create more hatred especially from their family and if they were accepted to become the real royal troop's members. With their loyalty being questioned, there was a possibility it would trigger dissatisfaction in Zephyrus' military division. Since that meant a rebel could become a royal troop. So even though this problem looked simple, the consequences were very fatal.

King Eudon put down the report in his hand.

"So what kind of agreement do you want to talk about?" King Eudon knew about this problem a long time ago and tried to find a way to solve it but he didn't find it, the only way he usually did was negotiate, if that didn't work then he would use repressive measures. And this also his reason why he suggested Rose to marry a prince from another kingdom.

Angel leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, his hands crossed over his chin.

"As you heard earlier. I want to make rumours about my relationship with Princess Rose. I'm sure this rumour will make the rebels come out from their hiding places."

"So that's why you made Princess Rose come to your room in the middle of the night and lend her your blazer?" asked King Esteve. Looks like he was starting to understand why Angel asked him to join their breakfast. He wanted King Esteve to keep Artheur from doing something reckless or destroying his plans.

He turned to King Esteve.

"That's right. I hope you can help me keep Prince Artheur from this." Although Artheur looked calm from the outside, he was a little hot-blooded and he knew that no one could control Artheur but King Esteve.

Meanwhile, King Eudon deep in thought. It was a tempting offer, but he wasn't sure it would work. King Eudon shook his head.

"I think if it's just a rumour, you won't be able to lure them out. Because when the rumours about Rose and Prince Ilex's relationship spread, the rebels didn't do anything about it."

"That rumours are not strong enough, after all, Prince Ilex doesn't show that he loves Princess Rose." Actually, he knew, the rebels were not lured by the rumours because the rebel leader herself had an affair with Ilex.

King Eudon deep in thought again, since Angel offered to cooperate with him, he knew this was his chance to solve this problem and bring peace to his kingdom.

"Has Princess Rose already known about this?" asked King Esteve.

"Not yet. As you know Princess Rose is a very stubborn person. I think only King Eudon could tell her about this," he said.

"Rather than a rumour, how about a marriage contract?" said King Eudon suddenly.

Angel and King Esteve's eyes widened in shock as soon as they heard his words.