Continental Conference (4)
"Arrrgh!!!!"
Zahir of the Carmen Kingdom let out a roar of fury the moment he returned to his room.
An expensive porcelain vase shattered against the wall.
When Beltria first declared war, he'd honestly been flustered. He hadn't done a thing, yet the other side had plunged into rage and declared war all on their own.
He'd thought it madness.
But the envoy from the Lunaria Empire had explained everything.
It was a scheme orchestrated directly by Emperor Cassius himself, with massive concessions promised at the Continental Conference in exchange for lending his name.
Shares in Crimson Gorge, plus military backing from Lunaria.
"But... but!"
Zahir slammed his fist down on the table. Blood dripped from his hand, but he felt no pain.
The situation's gone completely sideways.
He never imagined Haven's Captain would take an interest in Beltria's heir.
The moment that man truly sided with Beltria, Cassius would flip in an instant. It was a hundred percent certain—he'd throw Carmen to the wolves as a scapegoat.
That cunning emperor bastard... He always keeps his own hands clean, using others as pawns.
A man who lured with sweet promises when needed, then discarded without mercy once useless. How many small kingdoms had danced to his tune and fallen into ruin?
I never should have accepted...
No—even if he'd refused, the outcome would have been the same.
He was already a piece on the chessboard.
Lunaria would have dragged Carmen into the war some other way regardless.
There was never any choice to begin with.
Only now did he realize it.
The king of a minor nation was nothing more than a pawn in the game of the great powers.
He couldn't even protest now. Doing so would only invite Lunaria's true wrath.
In other words, Carmen's fate right now... hangs on the mood of that Haven Captain bastard!
The kingdom he'd built over a lifetime, dangling by the whim of one man—it was unbearable.
"Father, what's wrong?"
The door opened, and Crown Prince Edwin entered.
"Ah, Father! Your hand is bleeding..."
"Hoo..."
Zahir let out a deep sigh as he looked at his son.
"Edwin, come in."
Edwin eyed his father's bloodied hand and the shattered porcelain fragments with an anxious expression.
"Edwin, how do you see our kingdom's situation right now?"
"Haha!"
Edwin laughed brightly.
"With Lunaria's help, all that's left is to grow! Beltria's nothing—we'll crush them soon enough..."
"Didn't you see Haven's Captain showing interest in Beltria's heir?"
"I saw that, yeah..."
Edwin shrugged.
"He just asked the kid's name. Didn't do anything special... Do we really need to worry about that?"
Zahir felt a wave of dizziness.
To think this idiot is my heir...
Had he spoiled his firstborn too much?
The boy had zero political instinct.
He hadn't sensed a thing amid the banquet hall's taut tension—and even now, seeing his father bleeding and raging, he was grinning like a fool.
Maybe I should have named the second son heir instead...
"You utter fool!!!"
Zahir's roar shook the room.
The smile finally vanished from Edwin's face.
"F-Father?"
"How dense do you have to be to say something like that! Do you even grasp the weight of the name 'Haven's Captain'?"
"But..."
"But?"
Zahir sneered.
"You don't even know what kind of nation Haven is."
Zahir gripped a chair with trembling hands.
Helplessness and rage crashed over him together.
"Haven's Captain is a being who could destroy a kingdom single-handedly. And you think him 'simply' asking someone's name means nothing? The heir of a warring kingdom, no less—the very reason this Continental Conference is happening?"
"..."
"Don't you get how that one simple act could upend the entire board?!"
Zahir's voice rose higher.
"What if Haven feels even slightly inconvenienced by this abrupt Continental Conference? They could wipe the likes of us from the map with a flick of the finger! Their minor annoyance spells the end of our kingdom!"
"H-ha, but Lunaria promised to support us. Even Haven couldn't touch us carelessly."
"Promised?"
Zahir laughed hollowly.
The promises of great powers held only as long as they profited from them.
His son didn't even grasp that basic truth.
"A promise? You think we can trust that in this situation?"
Thud!
Zahir slammed the table again.
Splinters flew from the already cracked wood.
"You fool! To them, promises are just tools for their gain. What profit do they get if Haven intervenes? A promise without gain is nothing but scrap paper!"
"Then we just reveal the truth right now?"
Edwin said desperately.
"That this was all Lunaria's scheme! Our innocence..."
"Who would believe that?!"
Zahir staggered toward his son.
"Even if they did, they wouldn't help us. One word from Cassius—'Carmen is lying'—and the entire continent would take his side."
Zahir's voice trembled.
"Because... Lunaria is strong, and we're weak. Truth means nothing before power."
Edwin's face went pale. Only now did he seem to grasp how precarious—no, how doomed—their position truly was.
"Then... what do we do?"
"It's already too late."
Thud.
Zahir collapsed to the floor as if crumbling.
"All we can do now... is pray."
His voice rang empty.
"Pray Haven stays out of it. Pray Astra doesn't side with Beltria. Pray... they just forget about us."
* * *
On the way to our lodgings for the duration of the Continental Conference after the banquet ended, Balderic spoke first.
"Astra, it was satisfying, but you didn't need to bring it up."
I halted and turned to her.
I'd thought her lack of reaction meant it was fine, but she'd been bothered after all.
"Everyone knows it—we know it—but dragging it out into the open is a whole different level."
Balderic's eyes fixed straight on me.
"They're not stupid enough not to know that?"
It wasn't outright scolding, but she was clearly blaming me.
Honestly, Cassius's brazen gaze had irked me, and the words had slipped out unbidden.
I dipped my head slightly.
"My apologies. That brazen stare of Cassius's was too infuriating. I wanted to wipe that hypocritical smile off his face."
"Well, I get that. That old fox always tests others, acting like he's some lofty superior being."
She paused, then pierced me with a sharp gaze.
"But that Beltria heir seemed to catch your eye. You're not changing the plans for that 'interesting thing' you mentioned, are you?"
"..."
I fell silent for a moment.
Honestly, I need to revise the plan.
Under the original plan, the Lunaria Empire would suffer a massive image blow. But Beltria Kingdom's fate hadn't factored into it at all.
Now that Jin was revealed to be there...
Beltria couldn't fall. That was Jin's home base.
Better to leak it subtly after the talks than detonate it right in the chamber.
I'd originally planned to drop Earl Oz like a bomb in the meeting hall.
Actually, this works out better. Oz is too valuable a card to use once and discard.
Earl Oz was a subordinate Cassius trusted deeply. That made him all the more useful.
I met Balderic's eyes and slowly opened my mouth.
"Something interesting will definitely happen. Though the direction has shifted a bit from what I mentioned before."
"Has it?"
Balderic shrugged indifferently.
"Whatever. As long as it's interesting."
Anticipation gleamed in her eyes.
The Continental Conferences had dragged on tediously for decades, stale political games. She craved the ripples I would send through them.
You won't be disappointed, Balderic.
If I played indifferent and silent at the start, Lunaria would naturally side with Carmen.
The other kingdoms would line up behind the strong, as always.
Darkteria hadn't even arrived yet.
Even if they did, they'd have no interest in such political games.
And then...
I side with Beltria.
It would likely be the first time in Continental Conference history that two superpowers clashed head-on.
Haven versus Lunaria.
That alone would rock the entire continent.
"It'll be plenty entertaining, Balderic."
* * *
A day passed, and the talks finally dawned.
The grand doors of the conference hall swung open, revealing kings from various nations already seated.
No great disaster could befall by arriving after the rulers of Lunaria, Haven, and Darkteria.
Behind each king stood one attendant—some with trusted guards, others with heirs.
The hall's layout alone revealed the Continental Conference's true nature.
Minor kingdoms lined the long rectangular table's sides, but only three chairs sat at the head.
No—four this time, specially.
The fourth chair.
For Haven's Captain.
That alone showed how extraordinary Haven's Captain was.
"The Sun of the Lunaria Empire enters."
At the low, resonant announcement, every monarch in the hall rose in unison.
The massive doors parted, and Emperor Cassius appeared. First Imperial Prince Sebastian shadowed him like a shade.
"Hm, not here yet?"
Cassius's languid voice swept the hall.
The air froze solid with that single phrase. Time dragged heavily; silence crushed the room.
At last...
"Haven's Lord and Jin Gang Regiment Captain enter."
The doors opened again, and a man and woman strode in.
Haven's Lord and Jin Gang Captain Astra.
Their footsteps echoed off the marble floor.
With each step, the hall's tension ratcheted higher.
They took their seats naturally beside Cassius.
"Zeke still not here?"
Haven's Lord Balderic eyed the empty chair and asked.
"Said he's running a bit late."
Cassius shrugged.
"Told him to start without him."
"Right, then let's begin."
Darkteria's empty seat gaped like a hole, but no one dared mention it.
Cassius lightly raised his hand.
"The Continental Conference begins."