CHAPTER 765: CHAPTER 765: SWIFT BUT ABRUPT RESPONSE

"It is indeed deplorable and vile. And this was why Princess Seraphina, who is also against it, had offered a proposal that will be beneficial for us," Arabella continued.

Just as she did with Ferdinand, she explained the proposal she had received in exchange for the location of Prudencians in Crux.

"They are willing to be integrated as part of Valeria? This almost seems too good to be true. What if it’s a trap?" one of the ministers asked.

"Yes, they are willing. I have also thought this might be a trap so I had asked one of His Majesty’s magicians if the first two locations they provided are indeed true. And it is. Moreover, even if it is indeed the bait to a trap, I believe we can outsmart them. I believe we have the ability to reclaim our people before they get hurt," Arabella responded.

"Yes, of course. We can take the bait but we will not allow them to succeed," Ferdinand agreed.

"But why would they go this far? They are betraying their own blood," one of the ministers added.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Princess Seraphina and Prince Benjamin could no longer keep watching their people suffer so they resolved to betray their own blood for the good of their nation. Majority of their people are suffering due to the current system in Crux. But with our aid, they could immediately turn the tides which they had repeatedly failed to change in the past. The anti-slavery faction will become more powerful as Prince Sebastian becomes the ruler and follow Valeria’s laws," Arabella elaborated.

"And what of the current King of Crux?" another asked.

"They would have to take responsibility for letting the war happen," Arabella had also asked this question to Seraphina.

Princess Seraphina and her twin had already resolved to go against their father when they decided to join the anti-slavery faction.

The current King Of Crux still had love for the twins. However, he was not willing to stand up for them or for the majority of their people. Thus, they were fine with their father being punished.

Arabella continued to answer their questions and she relayed what she had discussed with Princess Seraphina.

When all their questions were answered, Ferdinand finally revealed his decision, "I have decided to agree to this proposal. The location of the Prudencians is what matters most to us. We can deal with other complications later once we have the Prudencians. We can immediately take them to safety as long as we have their location. The war would just be our way of punishing Crux for their offenses and keeping our end of the deal with the anti-slavery faction. We will also fine the nobles who had remained insistent on keeping Prudencians to the end. We will also receive taxes from Crux in the succeeding years."

They then discussed their future actions in more detail before they finally concluded that it was time to meet with Princess Seraphina.

Since Ferdinand had already approved, Arabella had already sent word to Princess Seraphina that they should prepare to meet for the agreement.

Ferdinand had required witnesses from both sides.

The ministers and the Grand Knight Commander would be the witnesses on Valeria’s side.

Meanwhile, for Crux’s side, it would be the head of the Alba Household and another household who were the leaders of the anti-slavery faction among nobles and Jacob and Emily who were the leaders of the commoners.

Princess Seraphina and Prince Benjamin would be the signatories on Crux’s side while Arabella and Ferdinand for Valeria’s side.

Raymond swiftly and efficiently drafted the agreement on a magical scroll based on their discussions now and what Princess Seraphina and said were their terms when she met with Arabella.

"Alwin, is the meeting hall ready?" Ferdinand inquired.

They would meet with Crux’s side in the same meeting hall Arabella met with Princess’ Seraphina this afternoon.

To ensure that Seraphina was not being used by her brother or by the Alba Household for their selfish benefits, before allowing them to leave, Arabella had prohibited Princess Seraphina from delivering news or contacting her brother or the faction until a decision was made.

Alwin had assigned a magician to guard the Princess and ensure that none of her people left to deliver information or send word through letters.

Thus, they were to meet now, abruptly, to ensure that none of them were able to come up with reasons and excuses in case this was a ruse. After all, they should be delighted by this swift response.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Alwin replied.

"Good, let us head there then," Ferdinand gave the go signal.

They were also pressed for time since Ferdinand still had to return to Sibruh so they wanted this agreement to be concluded immediately.

In normal times, it would be rude to meet immediately without prior arrangement. However, this was one of their ways of ascertaining that this was not a trap laid for them.

Any refusal to meet immediately from Crux’ side would be a sign of possible suspicious activity. After all, they were the ones who acted desperate and wanted this to be settled before the war began.

It was already nighttime but Princess Seraphina told Arabella that everyone was anxiously waiting for an update from her so they should be ready anytime a response came. If they were not, then it only meant they may not be as desperate as they had said.

Alwin then teleported Arabella and everyone else to the meeting hall which was now added with more seats and tables.

The comfy and informal set up from this morning was gone and was changed accordingly for a diplomatic meeting.

Alwin had simply made all the tables and chairs with magic to speed things up.

Alfredo, the Head Maid and Head Butler were already there to serve tea and refreshments.

Ferdinand checked the venue and when he was satisfied with the security, he instructed, "Riley, pick up our guests."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Riley responded and teleported to Princess Seraphina’s location for information about the location of her twin brother Sebastian and their noble faction leaders.