The meeting had quickly adjourned and Arthur and Esme were quickly escorted out, followed by the rest of the women who had been present. Their presence was purely for the sake of allowing Esme to be present.
Now the noble lords, sat amongst themselves, silence having settled over the room.
"My King, was it truly necessary to have the Explorer be put in charge of the slums?"
Duke Lionmane was the first to speak, keeping up his already established skepticism of Arthur.
"Are you implying that his majesty's decision was incorrect?"
Duke Leonheart readily defended, forcing his fellow Duke to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.
"Pardon me if I misspoke your Majesty, however the verdict regarding the Explorer's true purpose for being here is still inconclusive, as I've said before, he may very well be a spy for the Empire"
"Your concerns are warranted Duke Lionmane, however I've had my spies investigate his activity before arriving here thoroughly and while he's met with the current emperor, their meeting ended on a sour note."
The ears of everyone in the room perked up both in surprise and in curiosity. That was new and troubling information.
"What do you mean, My King? Wasn't the Emperor recruiting Explorers, why would their meeting end disfavourably?"
Marquis Bearheart rested his elbows on the table as he leaned closer, his curiosity having been piqued. If the current emperor was recruiting Explorers, it stood to reason to think he would make it his mission to placate them as best he could and avoid any conflicts with them.
Not only that but the man was a former Explorer himself as such he should have some rapport with other Explorers, if he wants them to be part of his army, why antagonize even one of them?
"The exact specifics, elude me, however from what I've found, Sir Arthur refused the invitation to join the Empire, the Emperor didn't seem to like that and they fought. Judging by the fact Sir Arthur is here, I can only assume he fled after being injured"
There was a sense of foreboding that settled into the room, the King's words settling into their minds uncomfortably and plunging everyone into a deafening silence. That was not good news, not at all.
Nobody in the room knew what it meant for two Explorers to go to war, none of them had ever seen two Explorers fight each other however considering the fact that one took over an entire nation by himself, it was easy to tell that a fight between Explorers would be more than just two men punching each other.
The first person to break the blanket of silence was Marquis Stillhead.
"So we can assume that Sir Arthur and Emperor Dracken, are enemies, or at the very least not on good terms?"
King Harold gave a slow nod, prompting Duke Lionmane to pipe up and speak the obvious.
"I must apologize Your Majesty but doesn't that place us in a precarious situation?"
If Arthur and the Emperor are hostile enemies, then it stood to reason that, one of them would make attempts to kill the other, and considering only one of them was the Emperor of an entire nation, it was only a matter of time before the Lionheart kingdom was fully dragged into the war.
"Certainly not, right? Wessonia and Essonia should be able to hold for a bit longer, and so far all they've requested of us, is food aid, they've made no formal request for reinforcement."
"That is true Lord Stillhead, however you're forgetting that the Empire took over Centonia, securing a direct line to the south. Even with Wessonia and Essonia flanking the empire on both sides, they can still send a handful of troops."
Duke Lionmane corrected his fellow noble, Centonia was a kingdom that stood directly in the middle of Wessonia and Essonia, however, it was still a small nation that committed itself to neutrality the moment the Empire began making its moves.
Unfortunately neutral or not, when a powerful nation knocks on the door it doesn't care if you open, it kicks it down and makes itself at home.
Duke Lionmane believed that instead of neutrality, Centonia should have allied with its neighbors, it would have been the weakest link however Wessonia and Essonia would have spared no expense to keep the Empire from breaking through.
"Not to mention, that the Empire hasn't even made attempts to use the few Explorers it has to advance further. So far it's only been a handful of Mercenaries, it's only a matter of time until both Wessonia and Essonia fall."
Marquis Bearheart let himself relax on his chair, his words being understood by his colleagues as seen by the looks of realisation on their faces, it was obvious now that they needed Arthur but at the same time, having him within the kingdom's borders would invite the Emperor's wrath.
"In any case, Sir Arthur being in charge of managing the slums is not the problem, having him be familiar with the people of my Kingdom will inevitably benefit us. Plus I'm sure he's keenly aware that should the Empire attack, it would be because of him, and thus will feel responsible, plus Baron Wolfram was involved in arresting the criminal so he will be able to assist Sir Arthur"
'Not to mention as long as Esme stays close to him, the royal family's goals will be achieved'
King Harold left those words unsaid, already planning to discuss them with Duke Leonheart at length later.
In truth the only thing that worried King Harold was the fact that he was uncertain when the Northern nations would break and allow the full might of the Empire through, he hoped for another year, that should be enough time for Esme to be useful.
Still at the back of his mind, he wondered why the Empire hadn't used its Explorers on the Frontline, not only that why hadn't they sent troops through Centonia further south?
If the Empire wanted to defeat Wessonia and Essonia first before moving south, using Explorers would accomplish that rather quickly. It made no sense why the empire was stalling its own inevitable victory.
"So it's settled then your Majesty, it's obvious Arthur is no spy and his existence here may be useful in the future and thus placing him in charge of the slums was the right call, however I must question, is that all we're going to do with him?"
Marquis Bearheart raised the question, having an explorer at your back and call was a great boon, however simply having him as your sword was not enough, such a valuable ally needed to be more than just a sword to point.
"No, however saddling him with responsibility so soon would be ill advised, he is not a vassal of the kingdom and is no noble. Placing him in charge of the slums was merely to tie him
down to our kingdom even if only for a brief moment"
Truthfully it was unnecessary to do all that, however, King Harold could not be sure if Arthur would stay in the kingdom if he let him just be Esme's husband. If he did not give him a duty to the kingdom, then it was likely he would up and leave along with Esme and that would be the worst outcome.
'Although considering he has bought a house illegally, I could use that to my advantage should he decide to leave my Kingdom'
King Harold couldn't truly be sure that using that as a reason for Arthur to remain in the kingdom would be enough, The king didn't necessarily feel like it would be a strong advantage against Arthur but it would have to do even if it would work more as a favor to pardon him in return for his services.
"Very well Majesty, we understand"
Duke Lionmane spoke for everyone, he was quick to grasp what the need for Arthur to stay in the kingdom was about and it was likely his colleagues did as well.
Although he chose not to comment on the fact that the lower nobles, most likely will not appreciate a foreigner being appointed the duty of being in charge of the slums, the King himself seemed not to even consider that as a possibility.
'Or perhaps he has and simply doesn't care, after all they are lower nobles…'
He let himself return to focus, but he was curious how they would handle the disgruntled whispers of those below them.
"Excellent, we'll close this matter for now, however before we adjourn, I wish to speak more on the war."
The King's gaze hardened just a bit, slowly shifting on his chair and assuming a more comfortable position.
"As you've said, at this moment we're mostly likely at the mercy of the empire, they haven't used the Explorers they have on hand, this is likely a tactic to make us drop our guard. Have we received word from the [Bedrock Palace]?"
"None your Majesty, aside from simple food aid by ship, the Essonian Queen has made no demands or proposed any ideas, I don't believe she's aware of their Empire's strategy"
Stillhead let out an almost disappointed sigh, Essonia seemed to be falling into the Empire's trap and was relaxing their guard.
"Or perhaps she has some idea but isn't planning on telling us"
Lionmane suggested, He didn't believe someone of Dwarven descent would be so naive. She has been a ruler longer than King Harold has been a king.
"For what reason would she have to keep such things to herself?"
The bald Marquis pressed, they were in alliance with Wessonia and Essonia, and a lack of information sharing would doom such an alliance. It was simply stupid to keep information to yourself.
"Trust? maybe she thinks we don't need to know or maybe it's not us she doesn't trust but the Wessonian King, remember there's a faction in his court that still believes Essonia is part of Wessonia"
There were collective groans that resounded throughout the room as the nobles were reminded of the centuries-old argument between the two northern nations.
"And this war could be an opportunity for Wessonia to…"
Stillhead didn't continue his words, The implications of them were rather damning for Wessonia, they brought in the possibility of Wessonia working with the Empire.
"Majesty, perhaps a short break, as things stand this meeting will continue for quite some time"
The King saw no issues with that, although he dreaded the fact that this meeting would likely go on longer than he initially realised. Luckily this short break should give him time to discuss with Duke Lionmane the matter regarding Esme and Arthur.
"Very well, we'll reconvene in the throne room after 15 minutes, dismissed"
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A/N: Thank you for reading.