"Rise for His Majesty, King Nefarion! Rise for Her Majesty, Queen Veloria!"
The air around Nefarion was far from calm and poised. Instead, the foreboding of a storm galvanized across his gaze as if the world was coming to a grim end.
At the same time as he and the Order confronted Zerath, the Emberlain Convoy, along with Vivia, too, were now in a separate chamber, occupied with their own private discussions.
"What is this I'm hearing, Zerath?" His tightened countenance clearly indicated his tumultuous emotions.
"How could you go ahead and declare something like marriage all on your own!? Did you not consider the repercussions even once? Marriage with Princess Clairette? How could you even think of something like that!"
Nefarion always prided himself on being a thoughtful and composed demon, but for the first time in his life, he was forced to raise his voice against the very son he held dear to his heart. He was confident that Zerath was capable enough to handle the Emberlain Convoy on his own and make the right decisions. However, proposing to marry Clairette was the last of his expectations.
The deadly blast of his ire resounded in the chamber that threatened to swallow Zerath, yet he remained firm.
"Father, it's only after careful consideration of all the circumstances that I came to this conclusion."
Balam stepped forward and bowed. "Please forgive my interference, Your Majesty, but my lord has not thought about this at all! A marriage union with a human? How could anyone agree to this? My lord would only unnecessarily raise tensions with the Human Realm!"
Orobas, the Minister of Trade, chimed in too. "Your Majesty, I've always supported my lord in all his decisions, but this…even I cannot agree to this."
"My lord has clearly let Casca's lordship go over his head," Balam gritted his teeth. "It hasn't even been one day, and he has already caused a storm to break out! Your Majesty, I question - After watching this mess and getting humiliated in front of the humans, does he still deserve to become the King?"
Nefarion's fingers clenched to a fist, his cold gaze turning further frostier. Questioning his son's capabilities as the future King was the last thing he wished to hear.
"Zerath Rudaheim, there's nothing in this world that would ever make a marriage union between a human and demon a possibility!"
"Not even Rudaheim's own interests?"
A sickly Veloria resting in her chair, stared at Zerath. "Rudaheim's interests or your own?"
"Your Majesty?"
"Don't make a fool out of us, Zerath. We adopted you into the royal family and made you the Crown Prince in hopes that you'd carry on your father's legacy. But having the audacity to fall for a human and to go this far to secure your relationship…aren't you becoming too arrogant?"
He blinked twice. "Relationship? Feelings? You're mistaking my intentions, Your Majesty."
"Am I now?" Her eyes squinted. "If I'm mistaken about the situation, then why did you spend the night in the Princess's chamber back then? No matter what foolish excuses you give on behalf of that child, I won't believe you. You're simply using him as your shield."
Zerath held his silence, seeing how Veloria had more to say.
"Do you have any idea what kind of humiliating rumors about you are spreading across the palace? Have we become so weak that we're falling for our arch-enemies now? Is this the kind of demon who's supposed to lead the realm? Do not forget history," a layer of frost snuck in the air, "A demon just like you had foolishly fallen for a human five hundred years ago. The next time he was seen was with his head severed right next to his human lover."
The chill deepened as everyone present in the chamber recalled the tales of the horrifying fate a demon had met in the distant past, who had defied hatred and escaped Rudaheim at the time to fulfill his love towards a human against all odds - only for his happiness to turn out short-lived. That story to this day brought goosebumps to Rudaheim's citizens.
"Looking at you today, I only feel that you are taking Nefarion's love for granted. I was right. It was a mistake to take you in!"
Zerath dropped to his knee before her and gently held her hand. With a smile he said, "Your Majesty, I've never once taken your and Father's love for granted. I cherish every moment that I spend here, and everything I'm doing is only for Rudaheim's glory and safety."
Veloria pushed his hand away and retreated, indignation burning in her gaze. Zerath stared at the empty air, an imperceptible somber flicker passing through his eyes as he quietly withdrew.
Nefarion shook his head. "You disappoint me Zerath. Forget about Crown Prince Elvin - I'd never allow for this union myself!"
Mockery and disdain filled Malphas's smile as he glanced at his nemesis.
"Such a pity. Even the capable Minister of Diplomacy couldn't contain this situation? I had assumed that you'd know the laws of our realm very well, Lady Asmodea. It wouldn't have come to this point had it been me in this position."
He dropped a bow before Nefarion. "Your Majesty. Lady Asmodea is indeed talented but still lacks the experience to sail through the tough seas of diplomacy. If you allow me, I'd like to lead the conversation with Crown Prince Elvin and try to save our sinking ship."
His taunts and jabs hardly affected Asmodea as she lightly sneered. "I'm very well aware of the laws, Sir Malphas. Neither you nor Sir Balam need to remind me of them. But…there's also another perspective to this entire situation."
Balam glared. "You're talking about perspectives in front of me? What kind of perspective exists that justifies this marriage!"
"Political interests that my lord is repeating to you over and over again. It's not my fault if your ears are failing you at this age."
Before Balam could lash out the tsunami of his rage, Asmodea had already ignored him as she stood before Nefarion.
"Your Majesty, I understand your and Her Majesty's anguish. With the clear hatred between us, it's an abhorrent sin for a human and demon to marry. But our current political landscape has left us with few options."
She fluttered her fan, her favorite companion in all times. "The Realm of Harmony is a very dangerous boundary between our realms. We were fortunate all this time that the humans never took the risk to venture into it - that is, until now. I don't believe Sir Xaviston's assurance. They're indeed looking into securing freshwater sources to cut off their dependency from us."
"Imagine what would happen next. Can we truly trust their word that if they become self-sufficient, they wouldn't use this opportunity to their advantage and bring us under their thumb? They can easily control our food source at any time, and we won't have any cards to play against them. We'll become their slaves. Surely, Sir Balam cannot be that naive."
Balam snorted. "So what if they venture into the Realm of Harmony? We can do the same. If they can look for fresh water sources, then we can search for fertile land too where we could yield crops for our realm. I believe there'll be an abundance of it."
"And when would we search for it? We're actually quite late to the news. Whatever Crown Prince Elvin is plotting, it seems that they'll soon reach closer to their goal, whereas we haven't even begun our search yet. They're way ahead of us, and that puts us in a very risky position. If he gets what he wants, then we'll be forced to consider a second war and this…would be even deadlier than the first one."
She flashed a sardonic at Malphas. "Marriage of conveniences is not some new concept. Just because the older Order was blind to hatred doesn't mean we've to follow in their footsteps too. So I know the laws, Sir Malphas, but with the dire circumstances before us, we too, have to change our tactics and become bold."
"Tactics that they'd also understand, Lady Asmodea."
Zerath said, "They can understand the tactics all they want. But if they don't want to lose their face, they'd agree. And if I marry Princess Clairette, it'll be all the more beneficial. Time is all I need to get closer to her and use her to make King Rosrell sign the neutrality treaty once and for all."