Badge in Azure

“Saleen what did you say?” Lex responded after a long while.

“I am saying, we should get married.” Saleen professed. He roughly understood Holy Rock City’s intention and he only made this decision after seeing Lex in person.

“What’s the reason?” Lex asked seriously, as she looked at Saleen.

“Do you still need a reason? After the marriage, I will have two identities, I will be able to enter and exit Qin freely. Your uncle is making a compromise!”

“That’s it?” Lex’s gaze became increasingly serene as she probed.

Saleen sighed, he knew what Lex wanted to hear. Saleen could propose to Lex, but if he were to say other things, he would feel like he was cheating on Sika, even though all this was Sika’s intention and Sika had given Saleen the permission to do so.

“A mage cannot force themselves to love something. Lex, I can only say so much regarding this matter.”

Looking at Saleen’s awkward appearance, Lex laughed, then said, “Holy Rock City is asking us to deal with Cloudflow ourselves, which means that the chance of an alliance between Qin and Cloudflow is very small. Holy Rock City will not allow me to fail so quickly. Safilos hopes that I can stop advancing west. Perhaps, he might even ask me to hand over three cities to his men to defend. Next spring, he will launch a third offensive at the north of the Purgatory Desert, so as to push the Tanggulasi people back to God Grace Duchy.”

Even though Lex did not make herself very clear, Saleen could still understand. At the moment, Holy Rock City would not fall out with Cloudflow. This war would only be between Cloudflow and Bitter Water County.

Saleen shared the same sentiments too, “I can marry Lex and become the first batch of throne successors. Holy Rock City will not interfere with Lex’s marriage and they will have to give her substantial gifts. They might even deploy large amounts of resources from the national treasury to reinforce Daliang City. The Cloudflow people will not be able to find fault with these affairs and they cannot use this as an excuse to declare war on Qin.”

Saleen spoke slowly, “I suddenly realized that the thoughts harbored by nobles are very detestable. I have been thinking from their perspective. Lex, just marry me. I just cannot tolerate the contempt the Cloudflow emperor has towards you, I am going to kill that scumbag.”

At this moment, Lex burst out in boisterous laughter, then said, “Saleen, how do you know if I will be willing or not?”

“The both of us have always been very calculative towards each other, there are no deals between us. We… are mages.”

If one desired something, they would have to pay an equal price for it, this was the principle guiding all mages. Lex’s gaze became gentle. Indeed, all her experiences with Saleen were calculated down to the last detail. There were no investment-related deals between them with the exception of the first time Saleen took the Green Dragon Magic Nucleus to her. At that time, Saleen was still a confused grade-2 mage.

“What about Sika?” Lex posed this question and Saleen actually heaved a sigh of relief, he was still worried that Lex would not mention this topic.

“Sika is currently the Caucasus Queen, Metatrin’s regent, and the first in line to the title of Metatrin King. She already has my child. I feel that the kingdom will be hers sooner or later. I will be the prince of Qin, as long as you become the Qin emperess.”

“In that case, does it mean that you are not letting Sika be embroiled in our affairs?”

“Not only Sika, none of the Caucasus people will participate in this matter,” Saleen replied with much determination.

Lex did not continue probing, as Saleen’s attitude was unwavering. Lex had her doubts regarding the goddess’ contract. Emotionally, she could accept the resurrection of the goddess. She was not sure if there were certain terms which were detrimental to humans, and she could not discuss this with Saleen. She did not know if the goddess’ contract contained restraints against herself and Saleen.

The moment the contract was resisted, there would be too little of them left to even bury. They could not even verbalize the terms of the contract.

Lex already felt sufficiently satisfied after hearing Saleen’s answer about Sika. Sika would never become a queen, but she could become a king. If Sika became the king of Metatrin and was not involved in the resurrection of the goddess, then Metatrin Kingdom would be a piece of clean land which was unrelated to any gods.

Even though this was not the outcome Lex hoped for, she did not continue probing further. She realized that Saleen’s face remained very tender despite almost being twenty years old.

Since the words had been spoken, this matter had to be looked into right away. The Cloudflow people were preparing to develop a city. Given their transportation abilities, this city could be constructed within one and a half years. Saleen and Lex had to get married before this city was completed, they also had to draft a battle plan.

Since the Qin emperor wanted to withdraw Lex’s county, Saleen’s and Lex’s strategic direction would also have to be altered.

Experiencing so many battles together, Lex and Saleen could understand each other without needing to speak. From now on, Cloudflow would become their main offensive direction. If they could occupy the entire ocean. Not only could they invade Cloudflow from the sea, they could also interact with Qin’s southern nobles.

All along, the southern nobles were compliant towards Emperor Chanake, but they resisted Prince Safilos. Lex would not face any harassment by the nobles in the ocean. Naturally, her influence could be cemented.

It had to be noted that even though Qin’s southern nobles did not own any warships, they had established countless cannon platforms along the coast southeast of the ocean, tightly sealing the sea. If Lex and Saleen could dominate the ocean, they would be able to grasp all authority. Lex could even obtain materialistic support from the southern nobles and use the ocean as a base to launch an offensive into the Cloudflow Empire.

Prince Safilos said that he had wash his hands of Lex, but in actual fact, he could see right through her plans. Lex had to make further development, if she conquered Loulan, then the Loulan people would surely acknowledge the daughter of Emperor Chanake. She would never give up her territory.

Since the Cloudflow people had come forth, Qin thus used them to restrain Lex’s development in Loulan. By rendering little support, the Cloudflow people would not be able to succeed, but Lex would not be able resolve the problem in Loulan.

Even though Lex was a county queen, she had a few hundred nobles serving her. On the other hand, Saleen only had a few nobles, but he needed to inform an equally huge number of people. Those people whom he did not confer a title to were still influential and wealthy in Metatrin.

The main powers in both countries had to be notified, which was akin to deploying an entire country. Unlike an alliance, the marriage between the both of them would determine the fates of the nobles in both countries. The relations between both countries would be more intimate.

Daliang City, Metatrin City, and the Bitter Water Prefecture had teleportation portals. The news of Lex’s and Saleen’s engagement had circulated throughout both countries, as though it had grown wings. Holy Rock City also learned of this news.

“My sister is getting married!” In Holy Rock City’s palace, Emperor Ojarvis was tearing up as he read a letter in hand.

Within the shadows, the mage who served him spoke in an ethereal voice.

“Your Majesty, what do you intend to give the viscountess?”

“I don’t know, I plan to go to the mage’s tower to enquire about this.” Ojarvis clutched the letter in his hand as he stood up. In the great hall, only he and the mage were present. The nobles had congregated in the prince’s official residence, discussing Lex’s marriage and the war with Cloudflow. Ojarvis was simply an isolated emperor.

Prince Safilos’ residence occupied a vast area, but it was very simple compared to the palace. The Qin emperor did not harbor any extravagant desires and the prince was the same. In Qin’s thousand year tradition the larger nobles lived a simpler life while the smaller nobles were more extravagant. It seemed like the nobles’ vanity could only be satisfied by being rudimentary. This was a very rare thing in the other three empires.

The twelve grand dukes from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as the other important figures in Holy Rock City, were present. Prince Safilos’ study could not accommodate so many people, so he placed them in the dining hall.

Whenever the prince organized a banquet, a few hundred close affiliates would come, so this dining hall could sufficiently accommodate these important people.

Safilos used the guise of a banquet to invite these people to his residence. At the moment, this residence had implicitly replaced the palace. It had transformed into the center where the Qin Empire disseminated its orders.

“Just like that, the Cloudflow people insulted the Grukos imperial family, however our current enemy is the Holy See. That moronic emperor has attacked the Bitter Water County and we don’t have the power to defend. I hope that all of you can send reinforcements one way or another.” Prince Safilos’ voice was peppered with rage.

Indeed, Safilos did not adore Lex, but she was still a Grukos after all. Safilos was agreeable to the marriage, but he was not willing to be forced to agree to it. The Cloudflow people had really deployed one-million man army to Daliang City and this was akin to giving Safilos a tight slap across the face.

The Cloudflow people tried to snatch Lex away and this could not happen. This event had deviated from Safilos’ original wishes, so he could only gather the nobles to help think of ideas to help Lex hold the fort. Of course, it was best if Lex could use all her forces to invade Cloudflow. That way, the southern nobles would immediately stop cooperating with the Cloudflow people. At the very least, half of the southern nobles would comply.

“My elder brother has died, but his prestige still lives on strongly in the hearts of the southern nobles.” Most people adored Lex, if Lex could replace Ojarvis as emperor, Safilos would not even need to worry about the situation in the south, as the war in Loulan would have been resolved long ago.

“Your Highness, to what extent should we render assistance?” The person speaking was the minister in charge of military affairs who also doubled as a grand duke in the House of Commons.

“Other than troops, we have to give whatever support we can! Mm, forget about magic nuclei, we still have to launch a third offensive against Loulan next spring. Since Metatrin produces magic nuclei, let them handle this themselves,” Safilos said sternly.

“Then I shall contribute one-million pounds of rations, including flour, rice, and oats.” Someone immediately responded.

“I will donate two-thousand sets of armor!” The person speaking was a marquis. He had trafficked armor and weapons, but the House of Commons turned a blind eye to it, so he knew that this was the time to contribute back to the empire.

“I will give two-hundred stallions!” A noble who specialized in the trading of warhorses also opened his mouth. Such horses were very precious military assets. By contributing two-hundred horses, Lex would be able to breed thousands of warhorses in a span of few years, this supply would be endless.