Chapter 122 - The Economic Cooperation Agreement
The Little Sassinian delegation stayed in Elm Town for two days before being granted an audience with the Viscount of Lanwan. Charlotte had been genuinely busy lately.
First, there was Cecilia's Awakening Ceremony.
Laina had thoughtfully sent three sets of the extraordinary materials needed for the Awakening Ceremony along with Coco. Of course, it was also possible Laina was just being casual, since she seemed to think Charlotte's request for Coco was driven purely by lust.
Nevertheless, it was a good thing. Charlotte had Cecilia attempt the Sweet Faction's Awakening Ceremony that very day.
Unfortunately, it failed again.
After failing time and again, Cecilia was starting to lose heart.
"My aptitude is too poor. Don't waste any more resources on me. I don't care whether I awaken or not," Cecilia said, a mix of helplessness and resistance in her voice.
"You may not care, but I do," Charlotte responded without a second thought.
Her answer left Cecilia stunned for a moment.
"Do you have any idea how long the commoners of Oran live?" Charlotte asked in return. "Their bodies start to decline in their twenties and thirties. With the current state of medicine, a minor illness could be fatal. Living by my side, you might not have to worry about food and warmth, but you face a heavier workload and greater mental stress. Perhaps you feel that extraordinary power isn't essential for you, but at the very least, it can grant you a stronger body and a longer life. You know that my aspirations and grand plans cannot be achieved overnight. Although I firmly believe I will succeed, I am prepared to dedicate my entire life to it. Cecilia, you are my right hand. I don't want to see you die young. I hope that when I stand at the pinnacle of this world, you will still be by my side."
Whenever Cecilia recalled those words from Charlotte, an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart. Although she said nothing, she no longer resisted Charlotte's arrangements for her next attempt at the Awakening Ceremony.
Besides Cecilia's ceremony, the second matter was the return of the former citizens of Ambratu to their homes.
Three months of hard labor had finally ended. As previously anticipated, most of the Ambratu citizens chose to return to Ambratu County. Releasing so many of her "opposition party" members at once was enough to make even Charlotte uneasy. She personally went to inspect the canal, partly to check on the construction progress and partly to ensure no trouble broke out during this period.
The chief engineer of the Lanwan Grand Canal project was a man named Alvaro, one of the veterans Charlotte had brought with her from the Green Plains Duchy.
Alvaro was originally a carpenter. After Charlotte saw his name, she believed he had the potential to become a world-class architect and assigned him to Cecilia to manage the first phase of Elm Town's construction. Before that was even finished, the Lanwan Grand Canal project began, and Cecilia, in turn, transferred Alvaro, who had accumulated some civil engineering experience, to oversee the excavation of the canal.
There was no other way; Charlotte was desperately short on talent. Although Alvaro was a carpenter, he knew arithmetic and could draw blueprints. In the Lanwan Viscountcy, that made him a top-tier engineer, and naturally, he had to be worked to the bone.
At the canal, Alvaro grumbled to Charlotte about how much the project's progress would be delayed by releasing so many laborers.
Charlotte could only sigh at how people engrossed in their work often lose their sharp perception of their surroundings—the former Ambratu citizens passing by shot murderous glares at Alvaro, so intense they were almost palpable, yet Alvaro remained completely oblivious.
After the inspection, Charlotte specifically arranged for Ed Adkins to lead a small team of knights to strengthen security at the canal construction site, lest her chief engineer end up as a corpse in the wilderness before the canal was even completed.
The third matter was the return of Herman Green, whom Charlotte had sent to Riverside Castle with a letter. The white knight brought back Monika's reply and some news, both good and bad.
First, her father, Jose Mellerfield, had agreed to dispatch another fifteen hundred knights and three griffins to replace the knights brought by Stanley whose term of service had expired.
This was definitely good news for Charlotte; she no longer had to worry about the impending sharp decline in her territory's military strength.
However, the next piece of news made Charlotte's face darken—on his wedding day, her dear older brother had slipped away for the sake of his future nephew or niece.
Andre's mistress and illegitimate child were impossible to hide. Related gossip was already circulating among the high society of the Green Plains Duchy, and Herman Green had easily gathered a wealth of information by casually chatting with his former comrades-in-arms.
In her private letter, besides telling Charlotte how to care for roses, Monika also mentioned that Andre was very gentle with her, expressing his love through poetry and music. Charlotte mostly believed this; Andre was chivalrous with all women, and he likely felt an extra layer of guilt towards his official wife, Monika, so he would surely be even more gentle.
But what was the point of that?
The moment Andre slipped out of the castle on his wedding day, he had already left an irreparable scar on their marriage.
Charlotte desperately wanted to go back and pry open her brother's skull to see if there was still a brain inside. This marriage alliance was a critical step for Andre to secure his inheritance, yet he had fumbled at the crucial moment.
Unfortunately, this was a critical period of rapid expansion for the Lanwan Viscountcy, and Charlotte dared not leave easily. She settled for writing two letters. One was for her cousin Monika; since Monika was unwilling to speak of her sorrows in her letter, Charlotte also avoided any mention of her brother and instead continued to chat about interesting trifles. The other was for Andre, and in this letter, Charlotte was not so polite. She filled several pages with curses, none of them repeated. Andre should be thankful he was her brother; at least that way, Charlotte wouldn't insult his family.
Speaking of which, besides Andre, Charlotte really wanted to write a letter to her father and ask what on earth he was thinking.
The fact that the girl named Marie could get the news of her pregnancy into Riverside Castle on the day of Andre's wedding should have been telling enough. Someone was deliberately using Marie and Andre to create conflict.
In response, Jose Mellerfield's solution was merely to exile Marie.
What problem did that solve?
Would it appease the emotions of Count Philip and his supporters? Would it be a sufficient deterrent to the masterminds behind the scenes?
This was just sending Marie off to give birth to Andre's illegitimate child somewhere else, wasn't it?
In Charlotte's view, there were only two solutions to this matter: either kill Marie immediately, or kill the mastermind behind the plot.
The matter was actually easy to investigate. Marie was Viscount Chester's niece, and Andre had met her at Viscount Chester's estate. The mastermind was most likely connected to Viscount Chester; following the trail would lead to the true culprit.
Unfortunately, Charlotte knew that it was precisely for this reason that her father was hesitating again...
Viscount Chester was the eldest son of Count Perode, and Count Perode's importance to the Green Plains Duchy was no less than that of Count Philip.
Her father always tried to take everyone's feelings into account, to choose the optimal solution. However, the more one tries to please everyone, the more likely the outcome is the worst one possible.
Considering she still needed her father's long-term support and that a single letter was unlikely to move the indecisiveness ingrained in Jose Mellerfield's bones, Charlotte gave up the idea of writing such a letter.
Finally, a piece of news Herman Green mentioned offhandedly caught Charlotte's attention—when Jose Mellerfield was hesitating about whether to send her more reinforcements, it was the Duchess Rosie who spoke up for her.
Charlotte couldn't recall ever being on such good terms with Rosie, which made her suspect that Rosie had ulterior motives.
After much thought, Charlotte still couldn't figure out Rosie's purpose. As she handed the two written letters to Herman Green, a flash of inspiration struck her. "Sir Herman," she said, "after you deliver the letters back to Riverside Castle, please also inquire who the Green Plains Duchy is preparing to go to war with."
Herman Green was somewhat puzzled but replied, "Yes, my lady!"
After dealing with these matters, Charlotte finally had time to grant an audience to the Little Sassinian delegation.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Excellency."
As the chief envoy, Garris bowed to Charlotte.
Matt and Apo followed Garris's lead, bowing behind him.
"I am also very pleased to meet you all."
Charlotte returned the gesture and invited the three of them to sit.
Apo had long heard that the Viscount of Lanwan was a woman, but seeing her in person, he still found it incredible. The girl before him was so young, so beautiful, and her conduct was poised and elegant, in no way inferior to any noble lady he had ever met.
After they were seated, Charlotte looked at Apo with a smile. "I have long heard of Mr. Apo's great name. My knights performed rather poorly before you previously. If there is one person in the Little Sassinian elder council whom I must respect, it is you."
In the conflict with the North Soqya front, Charlotte's most painful loss was undoubtedly that griffin squad. After the heartache, Charlotte began to pay attention to the opposing general—Apo. With the help of the Gray Cloak Order, a file on Apo's personal history was compiled and delivered to Charlotte. The more she learned about his life, the more she felt that he was indeed worthy of his fame as a renowned general on the Soqya Peninsula.
However, to Apo's ears, Charlotte's praise seemed to carry the dangerous glint of blades.
Apo tensed up warily and quickly waved his hands. "I am but a decrepit old man. How could I deserve such praise from Your Excellency? My ability to engage with your knights and achieve some minor results was entirely due to the valiant efforts of our citizen-soldiers and the strategic command of the elders in the council. The meager reputation I built in my youth might have boosted morale slightly, but in the grand scheme of the war, the role this old man could play was minuscule."
Charlotte chuckled. "Elder Apo, you are too modest. I had heard your name long before I had ever heard of Little Sassinian. To be honest, your accomplishments are difficult to match with the title of a mere city-state elder. I believe the city-states of the Ivy Alliance that once benefited from your aid would agree with me."
Beads of sweat were beginning to form on Apo's forehead. He was certain Charlotte was plotting against him. This was a sudden, unexpected attack, just like the Viscount's previous raid on the city-state of Dolrcocha.
Accomplishments are difficult to match with the title of an elder... Once such insidious words were relayed back to the city-state, Apo could imagine the detrimental impact they would have on him.
However, before Apo could formulate a rebuttal, Garris interrupted Charlotte's flattery. "Your Excellency, we are here today to discuss the economic alliance you previously proposed. Let us not speak of irrelevant matters."
"Mm," Charlotte nodded with a smile. "As my envoy said, I am willing to provide some assistance for the recovery of Little Sassinian's livelihood."
Apo opened his mouth, then closed it again in resignation. He knew he had been soundly defeated in this sudden exchange.
Matt looked at his friend's expression, unsure of how to console him.
"Then how does Your Excellency plan to provide this assistance?" Garris asked.
Charlotte had Cecilia, who was diligently taking notes beside her, present a document to Garris. "I am willing to provide Little Sassinian with no less than five hundred thousand Fuso in aid and loans over three years, and to cooperate with private individuals in Little Sassinian to establish mines, sheep farms, wool mills, and merchant fleets. The conditions are that Little Sassinian provides tax exemptions for my invested industries, that the Lanwan Viscountcy has priority purchasing rights for the goods produced by these industries, and that Little Sassinian allows Lanwan merchants free entry and exit..."
Garris took the document. As he read through the clauses, item by item, he grew more and more tempted, feeling that Little Sassinian was getting a great deal. Who in the city-state of Little Sassinian was qualified and capable of running wool mills and owning fleets? Of course, it was the wealthy elders in the council, like Garris himself. In other words, Charlotte's aid and loans would end up in the hands of these wealthy elders. They would also be the beneficiaries of the tax exemption clauses Charlotte was demanding... What reason did they have to refuse?
Suppressing his joy, Garris haggled with Charlotte, finally increasing the aid package to 1.2 million Fuso over three years and adding a clause that allowed Little Sassinian merchants to also enter and exit Ambratu County and the Lanwan Viscountcy without paying tariffs.
Although Matt felt the aid agreement was almost too good to be true for Little Sassinian and was somewhat suspicious, he didn't understand concepts like economic control, so he raised no objections.
In a cheerful atmosphere, the two sides signed the groundbreaking "Lanwan Viscountcy-Little Sassinian City-State Economic Cooperation Agreement."