Chapter 142: The Prince Who Won't Give Up

(This is from a third-party perspective.)

After visiting the Fairchild Margrave mansion in the Royal Capital, Prince Ernst returned to the Imperial Embassy. Sitting heavily in a chair, he spoke to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Eugen von Karlsruhe.

“Eugen, it seems there are some grave circumstances, and Lord William desired the undeveloped lands as his territory of his own volition.” “It appears so. Even to my eyes, it looked like he intended to become the lord of the undeveloped lands by his own will, not because it was forced upon him by the Royal Family.”

“In that case, is it difficult to get Lord William to come to the Empire?” The Prince sighed deeply. “Even though I prepared the card of making him royalty.”

Prince Ernst was beginning to think he had no choice but to give up on inviting Will to the Empire. However, new information arrived. “Your Highness, we have understood the background behind the improvement of the Kingdom’s equipment!”

An Imperial Knight guarding the mission came rushing in to report with great momentum. When someone with the Appraisal Skill appraised the armor of the Kingdom’s Royal Guard, they found that two attributes had been enchanted upon it.

Usually, only one attribute can be enchanted, so everyone was astonished. Thus, they had been investigating why the Kingdom possessed so much equipment with multiple enchantments.

“While chatting with a Kingdom knight who was off-duty, I found out that the Enchanter who added multiple resistances to the armor is Lord William.” “Is that true?”

“Yes. When I requested others in the mission to check, we heard the same story from Kingdom nobles. It seems His Majesty King Edgar II told the nobles of the Kingdom that they should realize the magnificence of Production Skills.”

“My word, is Lord William a top-tier Enchanter as well?” When fighting powerful monsters, armor becomes extremely important. The Empire possesses iron-making technology superior to that of the Kingdom, and the quality of their equipment is high overall.

However, armor enchanted with multiple resistances displays defensive power on a completely different level than simply the quality of the iron. “Lord William is a genius of an extraordinary magnitude…”

As Prince Ernst was deep in thought, a retainer of the Prince who had joined the Imperial mission rushed in, his face pale. “What is it?”

“Your Highness, important information has come in from the Imperial Intelligence Department gathering intel in the northern Duchy!” “What kind of information?”

“It seems the Albion Kingdom has developed not just drought-resistant wheat, but cold-resistant wheat as well.” “What? Cold-resistant wheat, you say!”

“Yes. It seems the northern Duchy expects a bumper crop next year by sowing the cold-resistant wheat.” For our country, which is suffering from poor harvests due to low temperatures, we want cold-resistant wheat so badly our hands would reach out from our throats.

“Do we know the developer?” “We do not know for certain, but since the new variety of wheat seems to have arrived from the Fairchild Margrave territory, the possibility that it is Lord William is high.”

“I see. Then it is almost certainly Lord William. I don’t think talents capable of developing new wheat varieties appear so often in the Kingdom.” The Prince groaned.

“Is Lord William blessed with that much talent? I was thinking of giving up since there seem to be major circumstances, but I can no longer say that.” With a look of determination, the Prince raised his head. “Eugen, make a formal proposal to the Albion Kingdom.”

“What did you say?! I apologize, but could I ask you to repeat that?” The Albion Kingdom‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs could not suppress his surprise and asked again despite it being a diplomatic discourtesy.

“Very well. Let me state it once more.” The Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Karlsruhe, did not blame him and made the same proposal again.

“The Vandle Empire proposes to the Albion Kingdom to welcome Lord William, the second son of Margrave Fairchild, as the husband of Imperial Princess Silesia and as a member of the Imperial Family.”

The Kingdom nobles were astonished by the sudden story. Prince Ernst had instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to make this proposal during an exchange event where many Kingdom nobles were participating.

This was to make many Kingdom nobles think that letting Will go to the Empire would benefit the Kingdom, and to move the Albion Royal Family.

Incidentally, this was an exchange event that Margrave Fairchild and Will were not attending. The Prince had carefully chosen the opportunity to prevent the individuals themselves from saying they had already refused the invitation from the Empire.

Count Karlsruhe continued further. “Through this marriage, the friendship between our Vandle Empire and the Albion Kingdom will deepen further. Considering the current situation where the monster offensive is intensifying, we believe this is beneficial for both countries.”

“B-But, for an Imperial Princess to marry a Margrave’s second son… If it were a marriage between the Royal Family or a Duke’s family and the Imperial Family, I would understand, but…” Count Karlsruhe answered the confused Kingdom Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Our country evaluates Lord William‘s Production Skill extremely highly.”

Prince Ernst spoke so that the Kingdom nobles could hear. “If the Kingdom approves this marriage proposal, the Empire will offer as much gratitude as possible. If the Kingdom desires, we will even consider providing our iron manufacturing technology.”

“Your Highness, that is…” Count Karlsruhe tried to stop him in a panic. “If Lord William comes to the Empire for that price, it is cheap. I will persuade my father.”

“What! You mean to teach the iron manufacturing method that is the foundation of the Empire’s development?” The Kingdom nobles buzzed with excitement.

“That is how much we evaluate Lord William‘s ability. Although you have begun to prioritize domestic affairs recently, your country is still one that worships swords and magic. Lord William would likely be better able to demonstrate his skills by becoming royalty in the Empire, which values commerce and technological development.”

The Prince stepped in further. “If the Kingdom refuses, the Empire is willing to shed blood.”

“Your Highness, you must not speak such things lightly.” Count Karlsruhe hurriedly tried to restrain him, but the venue went into an uproar.