Planning
"This is my answer."
"Are you not going to pay the ransom?"
A few people sat together. Though they were discussing in name, the reality was that it was a group of people tuning in to the young man describe his viewpoint. The young man looked to the person next to him and continued with his explanation: "Humanity isn't invincible; we've lost, failed and lost Kings on the battlefield. Nevertheless, we have never paid a ransom or given away land. This is our glorious tradition. We will never submit. We will not bow our heads to elves. We have a candidate for the throne. We will not give away humanity's money for one Queen! The money is supposed to be for protecting our people. Not to save a Queen!"
A man dressed attired in a long robe and a red cape blasted the young man, "But Queen Sisi brought us glorious victories. Queen Sisi provided us with what we have. We can't abandon her over one failure. Furthermore, it's your fault Queen Sisi is in her current pinch!! You betrayed her! Had you also gone with Queen Sisi, that wouldn't have happened!"
The young man firmly contended, "We only respect and protect this nation. If you ask me, this nation needs a new Queen. We advised Queen Sisi to not fight the war, but she refused to listen. That also proves she's unfit to be a Queen. She can't even discern which suggestions are right or wrong; how is she supposed to lead the nation? We need a new ruler, one everyone trusts, and one who can successfully lead the nation back on to the right bath!"
"And who would that be? Who do you want to crown? In any case, I vehemently demand Queen Sisi be brought back. Queen Sisi also loaned fifteen thousand gold coins from us. Will the loan be acknowledged by the next ruler? How will you repay the fifteen thousand if Queen Sisi doesn't come back?"
The bank didn't want to let Queen Sisi leave for only she would acknowledge the loan and repay it. The dead can't repay a debt. In addition, there was no guarantee the new monarch repay the loan as it was Queen Sisi who took out the loan, not the nation or the national treasury.
"All right, then, you cough up thirty thousand gold coins to redeem Queen Sisi. If you can cough it up, I'll acknowledge her," asserted the young man.
The ransom the elves asked for was an exorbitant sum. Thirty thousand gold coins was a sum large enough to fund two wars. A bank couldn't possibly afford the loss. They would, at least, need the national treasury and bank to shoulder the sum together. Moreover, Queen Sisi wouldn't repay the thirty thousand since she didn't loan the sum or pen an IOU.
Only a fool would spend an extra thirty thousand gold coins for fifteen thousand gold coins. Losing fifteen thousand coins would hurt. Even so, it was bearable. Losing thirty thousand gold coins, on the other hand, was unacceptable. If, however, they talked it out with the military, they should be able to have the new Queen repay the loan with the national treasury's money.
"Well, since you have nothing else to say, we shall go and find our new Queen. You just stay here and be honest with the elves. Tell them we won't pay a single penny for reparations. If they want to kill Queen Sisi, then so be it."
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Current time in the elven lands.
My fiery kiss on Lucia rendered her brother senseless. Lucia's bashful smile that she wore after the kiss shattered him. I always thought the fellow was a bit of a sis-con, and it turned out I was right. Nevertheless, the kiss garnered cheers from the elves. Everyone wanted to see a love story between a hero and a Princess. Although I was the Princess in the story, it was still enough to make everyone react as if they were in a play. Judging from their reactions, the experience wasn't exclusive. As long as the elves considered you a friend, then that was enough.
"Sister… Sister… you haven't grown up yet… why do you want to get married… You still haven't told your brother… why… you'd do this… You said… you liked me, your brother, before…"
"That was fifty years ago, Brother!! I matured long ago! I won't say that sort of stuff anymore!" Lucia blurted something shocking as she grouchily stared at her brother.
Her bit the dust. The crown on his head would've look perfect if it was green. In saying that, it would be strange for people to see an elder brother treat his younger sister as if she was his lover. Lucia hugged my arm and smile: "By the sounds of it, Brother has agreed to it. Now then, what… what do we do next?"
"Miss Lucilia's engagement ceremony?!"
Several young girls cheerfully crowded around us right away. They touched my body with then suddenly hugged Lucilia and stroked her face. Wearing a smile, one of them promised, "I truly can't believe our youngest sister is actually the first to get engaged amongst us!! It's fine. We, your sisters, will definitely design and plan your engagement ceremony properly. We'll make sure your engagement ceremony is the most extravagant and romantic engagement ceremony elves have seen!!"
"You have this many sisters?!" I exclaimed in surprise.
The female elves wore thin and transparent clothing made from totally different fabrics to humanity's version. They strongly resembled the silk I was once familiar with. Their sleeves were akin to wings. Judging from their physiques, it seemed all female elves were doomed to have flat chests… Even the Elven Queen back home would be considered flat-chested. There didn't seem to be any elves with big breasts. If we removed that as a criterion, Lucia should be one of the cutest elves.
"Cousin." Lucia's cousins carried her off.
Lucia turned around and apologetically smiled. I suddenly realised… it had… become… just me and Lucia's brother… I slowly turned around; unsurprisingly, I saw her brother trying to pierce me with a dangerous gaze. I shuddered in response. Although he wasn't as strong as Lucia, he should've been more competent in combat than I was, presumably… Surely, he still felt an urge to kill me…
He vigorously pressed his hands onto my shoulders and hostilely warned, "Don't get carried away after using your filthy human lies to trick my sister for now. My sister has never loved or liked anyone; that's how you managed to trick her. However, I can see you're a liar. All of you humans are liars. I won't ever hand you my sister. Never. If I could, I'd seriously stick a knife in you right now. I know what you're after; you're after your so-called Queen, aren't you? You want to take back Your Queen Sisi, don't you?"
"No." I shook my head. I innocently looked at Lucia's brother and elaborated, "I merely love Lucia. I genuinely don't have any other motives. Of course, you might not believe me. Hence, I won't say any more on that. I do have to state my feelings for Lucia, though. I sincerely love her."
Lucia's brother glared at me with a terrifying gaze, but I had to maintain an unshaken appearance. I didn't know if the sis-con brother deliberately said that to test me or if he had actually seen through me. Either way, I couldn't deny he read my agenda, which meant that I had to be mindful and ignore Queen Sisi. At the very least, I needed to act indifferent in front of Queen Sisi.
Lucia and I didn't need her brother's approval. As per Queen Sisi's favourite approach, I only needed to turn my relationship with Lucia into a reality; I just needed to be affectionate and intimate with Lucia. Once we were engaged, everyone would consider us a legitimate married couple. By then, even if Lucia's brother refused to acknowledge it, others would persuade him to accept us. At that stage, nobody would believe his conspiracy theory. Thus, Lucia needed to announce news of our engagement, meaning that her sisters needed to start spreading it. I assumed her sisters to be the best broadcasting media.
Lucia's brother coldly snorted then left.
Well, no elves were going to be waiting on me there…
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Current time at the town in the North.
"There are seriously too many wounded. There isn't enough space for them all, and we don't have enough hands, either. We must send them to the city. Those with severe wounds can stay here, while those with minor wounds need to be sent to the city for the doctors there to take care of. Also, thoughtlessly throwing out the corpses will lead to plagues. You need to dig a chasm deep enough to throw them in. After you throw them in, cremate them. You must remember to ensure the hole is deep enough, and make sure that they're all burnt. Avoid water." Angelina instructed those around.
Anxiety and frustration gradually suffocated Angelina. The town was busy helping the severely injured personnel. One town couldn't treat an entire nation of wounded soldiers despite their desire. The injured personnel could die any day. There was too little they could do at the end. The end of the war happened long ago by that stage, but no word came from humanity. Judging from the silence, they likely wanted to abandon the soldiers in the North.
"God damn it, what in the world are the people in the imperial palace up to?!! Why have they still not sent help?!" cursed Angelina.
Angelina threw aside a notebook then saw the financial records book placed to the side. She was quite sad; the money she spent was the money Lin Dongqing earned. The number in the book was rapidly dropping. If their funds continued to diminish… he might lose every penny…
"Actually. They've arrived." Veirya placed down a basin of water and told Angelina: "I just saw. Military personnel. Outside the town."
"Really? Really? Fantastic."
"But. Only one person."
"What is he here for, then?!!"