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|Jafariun Veltur, Duke of Variks Empire POV|

"No! We cannot attack the Lorian kingdom out of spite!"

I rub my head as I can feel an intense headache inside my head.

"We already lost too many people in this famine, and you want to declare war against the kingdom that has the largest supply of food?!? Are you out of your mind?!? Your son already caused so much damage that I am afraid it will be really hard to stitch back together, and you want to declare war? Just hand your head to them as you will be dead if you do that! Do you know why?!? Because they are one of the most powerful kingdoms in the western continent in terms of the military!"

"Hmph. You must believe a drunkard rumor."

"You…! Argh!"

Is this bastard already losing his mind? Or is there a curse that makes my own brother this stupid?

"You know what? Fine! Do you want war?!? Go for it. However, remember that once you call for a banner, expect my banner will not appear at your call."

I can see my brother try to shout and throw a temper tantrum, but before he could do that, the prime minister, Lord Bakun Xerias, interrupted him.

"The same with me. If you decide to declare war against the Lorian Kingdom? There will be no gold flowing. I will not pay for this stupid folly."

"What?!? I'm the emperor! I can do whatever I want!"

"And I'm the Prime Minister. I'm the one taking care of the empire."

After saying that, Lord Bakun walked away from the throne room. I followed him out of the room. We ignore my brother's tantrum, and when we are far enough from the throne room, I say.

"Do you think he will declare war?"

"No. Even when he did that, it was only a letter declaring he wanted to go to war with the Lorian Kingdom. There is not a single noble who will mobilize their army if I can help it. We cannot tarnish our name even more to the people of Lorian kingdom."

"Thank the gods for the small mercy. Even if we go to war against the Lorian Kingdom, I don't think we can win the fight. The Black Heart Pirate has destroyed our navy, and we did not have time to fix it as each time we do that, the pirate attacks our shore to prevent us from attacking them back."

"While I'm not a military expert, I also know that we will not win in this war. I know the reason why many merchants can successfully sail to the western continent is that they pay the pirate to be their bodyguard."

"Should we hire the pirate to become our naval army?"

"No. They are pirates in the end. Unlike mercenaries who can be tamed as long as we pay them, pirates are different. They do whatever they want. When they see a weakness, they will bite the hand that feeds them."

"If they do that, then why can the merchant hire them?"

"Because they have bigger teeth than us. Do you see how few sailors we successfully recruit each year? They are recruited by the merchant family. They get trained to navigate the ship and how to command a soldier to fight naval combat."

Huh? Now he mentions it each year, the number of recruits in the navy force decreases.

"Now you mention it. Yeah, the number is decreasing each year."

"Because the officers in the navy are corrupt and only accept people that pay the highest."

"What?!?"

There is corruption in the navy?!?

"Yeah, the officer in the navy is corrupt."

"Why didn't you tell me?!? I will take care of it."

"It was not that simple, my friend. While you are a duke that oversees the army, the navy is overseen by Duke Target. You cannot get into his area of authority. What makes matters worse, the one that makes that rule is the son of Duke Targhik."

"Urgh"

Haaaa… I hate this. I really hate this. A stupid ruler combined with a stupid and greedy noble? It is a combination that can cause a disaster. After releasing another tired sigh, I look at my friend and trusted ally in this city before saying.

"So, what should we do? I'm thinking of going back to the Lorian Kingdom alone with a few trusted men and begging to get some food from them."

"Ah, yeah. That. Thirty times the original price, huh? Not only that, but Isaac Lionheart also banned people that sell their food to use at the original price. I did not mean to offend you, but how can that stupid cunt is your nephew?"

"I don't know, my friend. I still ask the same question myself."

"Anyway, I will come with you. Please wait for a week before we go to the Lorian Kingdom. How long does it take to go to the capital city of Lorian Kingdom?"

"Two weeks we will arrive in the Sea Dragon City and two weeks from Sea Dragon City to the Drallac city. Or we can take the river route and arrive in the capital city a week earlier."

"More or less a month, huh? Very well. We will go to the Lorian Kingdom in a week early in the morning. I still need to make a plan to make sure the empire is still running while we are away."

"Of course."

With that, go separate ways. Lord Bakun needs to take care of the problem inside the city while I need to prepare our accommodation for our journey in a week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can we go to the market, dear?"

I look at my wife Lucina, resting her head on my shoulder, and say.

"What for?"

"Eli and I want to cook something, and we need some fresh ingredients."

"Sure. Do you want to come as well, Eli?"

Eli looks at me from my lap and says.

"Yes. I need to buy a specific ingredient."

"Can I ask what food you want to make?"

"That is a secret. Don't worry. This food will not cause any problems for the baby inside Lucina."

"That's good. Anyway, should we go now?"

Before Eli could say anything, someone knocked on my office door. Lucina put her head away from my shoulder, and Eli got up from my lap.

"Come in."

A second after I said that, Richard got inside my office and bowed toward me.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your time, my lord."

"Don't worry, Richard. What can I do for you?"

"You get an important letter from the empire in the eastern continent."

"From who?"

"From the Variks Empire."

What do they want now? Do they demand that I be killed or something? I take the letter from Richard and begin to read it.

After a few seconds of reading, I nod my head.

"What is it, dear? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is okay, Lucina. The letter is coming from the Prime Minister of the Variks Empire."

"What does he want from you?"

"Nothing. The letter said that he and his companion would come to Drallac city in a month."

"Oh? Do they want to come to declare war or something officially?"

"I don't think so. The letter said that they came here to apologize for what their crown prince said to me."

"Oh? Will you forgive them?"

"That depends. Richard."

Richard walks forward and says.

"Yes!"

"Send some of your shadows to the Variks Empire, especially their capital. They can use the enchanted ship to get there faster. I need your shadow to get there before they can get here. I want to know at least why they come here and apologize and even send their prime minister to do it. Fruit does not fall too far from its tree. By the look of the crown prince, I have a feeling the emperor is not the one to order the prime minister to apologize to me."

"Understood."

I'm willing to give a second chance, but there will be no third chance. If they betray my second chance, then I will try my hardest to make them suffer.