His second son, Miles Sligar, was a very willful man who craved the spotlight. The family, including their father, was torn between which young man deserved to be the heir.
The reasons were three-fold. First, they were born only two years apart. Second, the eldest had a weaker constitution, while the second son was healthy and strong. And thirdly, Curtis liked his second son’s personality and doted on him especially.
It was clear to see why he still had not named an heir.
“Lord Romello?” Kreuz said at last, having waited until the man had finished reading.
“Yes?”
“Was there something good written there?” Romello glanced over at Kreuz for a moment. “I just mean…you’ve been smiling as you read it.”
Romello froze for a moment. Smiling? At a time like this? he wondered to himself.
“No, unfortunately there’s nothing good in this report,” he said, “although it will aid me going forward.”
“I see…” Kreuz responded vaguely, perhaps because he didn’t understand what Romello meant. After thinking about it for a moment, he smiled. “So what you mean to say is, although you may not have received a full meal, you did receive top-quality ingredients to make one. But even when you have the ingredients, you need a skilled cook to prepare it, or else it won’t be as delicious as it could. And the opposite goes as well. I’m sure since you’re the one preparing it, it will definitely be delicious. Am I correct, my lord?”
“You certainly have a way of flattering people, Kreuz.”
“Thank you for the compliment.” Kreuz said in a joking tone of voice.
Romello chuckled back.
Two days later—in other words, five days after Romello had started staying at the inn—Alf returned. He had his usual soft smile on his face with no trace of fatigue.
“What happened?”
“He will return the money to Duke Baskar tomorrow.”
“Wonderful! I’m glad you made it happen under such tough circumstances, and in such a short time too.”
“Yes, I’m grateful he agreed to it. It seems Duke Baskar is running quite low on funds. He immediately agreed to a meeting with Count Talbot. An employee will deliver a letter from Talbot along with the money, so it will be returned on the morrow. Of course, I checked the contents of the letter myself. It said, ‘Enclosed is the money paid to us by Duke Baskar from Nort’s company, which acted as a security deposit, proof of identity, and for safe passage of the people who passed through my domain. Since these people passed through without incident, I thought it appropriate to return the money. However, since we never received a request for return of the funds, we apologize for the delay but have enclosed the money you entrusted with us here in full.’”
It certainly wasn’t common, but sometimes powerful merchant families or nobles would pay a deposit—a traveler’s tax, if you will—when entering another domain. It served as a guarantee that the person was who they said they were and as an insurance policy in case they were involved in some kind of trouble. And if there were no such problems, the money would be returned to them upon them leaving the domain.
That system was how Romello had decided to explain the money that Count Talbot would receive.
“I think that’s fine.”
“Thank you. Now, regarding your meeting with Duke Sligar, I’ve rescheduled it for tomorrow. You’ll be seeing Duke Crowe before him as his schedule lined up perfectly.”
“All right. You did well, Alf.”
“Think nothing of it, my lord. That’s all the information I have for you today, so if you’ll excuse me.”
“Of course. Get some good sleep tonight.”
And so the next morning, Romello went to see Duke Crowe. Chester Crowe had a tense look on his face; it was clear he was nervous to be meeting Romello for the first time. But once Romello brought up the topic of a mutual non-aggression pact, that stress melted away, and Crowe agreed to come to Tasmeria to meet with him to speak further about it at a later date.
Now that that was settled, Romello took a bit of a rest and then headed toward Duke Sligar’s residence. It didn’t take long to get there at all.
“How was it?” Alf asked, walking behind Romello.
“It was fine. Let’s go,” Romello chuckled slightly and then started walking again.
Alf didn’t say anything further and continued following him.
“Welcome, Lord Romello!” An elderly man dressed in butler’s clothing greeted Romello and his companions at the door with a welcoming smile and a bow. “The master is waiting. Please, follow me.”
Romello and Alf instinctively knew that this was a person with whom they should not let down their guards. The butler didn’t do anything in particular that was suspicious—in fact, he seemed like a rather friendly person. But when faced with that impeccable smile, both of them became cautious, sensing deep down that the butler was much like Alf.
The elderly butler padded down the red-carpeted hallway. Romello, Alf, and Kreuz and the rest of the guards followed behind them. “Please wait here. Your guards can wait in the next room.”
Romello sat down on the sofa while Alf stood waiting behind him. Soon afterward, the butler knocked on the door and appeared again, this time with the lord of the manor in tow.
Romello rose to his feet.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Curtis Sligar. I’d like to welcome you after such a long journey. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry about that,” said Romello. “I’m not used to traveling such long distances, and I think the fatigue just got to me. I’m much better today. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me.”
Curtis sat down on the opposite couch, and Romello took his seat again.
“Now, Lord Romello. I assume you’re very busy, so what brings you all this way?” Curtis’s voice already had a sarcastic tone to it.
Romello heaved an inward sigh, despite the smile he wore on his face. “Isn’t it the natural thing for a prime minister to want to do? To forge greater ties between nations?”
“Is it now?” Curtis’s mouth turned slightly upward, but his eyes were not smiling at all. “You’re quite the hard worker. My country and yours have never had much in the way of diplomatic relations. Oh, actually—I suppose a portion of my country and a portion of yours did have ties, now that I think about it.”
Romello smiled. I knew he’d allude to that, he thought. “Yes, so I’ve heard that my Count Talbot and your Duke Baskar are friends. In fact, just before I left the inn, a messenger from Count Talbot came and informed me that he would be going to see Duke Baskar today. I’m sure their meeting is already over though.”
Curtis’s expression immediately changed. “Is that right? Well, I hope that will form a strong bridge between our two countries.” He recovered quickly, a sardonic smile returning to his lips.
“Yes, quite. Personally, I’d love to forge even deeper ties.”
“That’s a wonderful thing. Do you have any specific plans?”
“Well, discussions between us are absolutely essential to those agreements, as well as understanding that they’re the foundation of diplomacy. Honestly, I’m not sure if we should have cross-national ties or ties with individual domains. That’s where I’d like to start, anyway.”
“I see, I see… And when do you plan on starting these discussions?”
“I’d like to say anytime, but since I came here in a rush so I could see everyone at once, I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t bring the necessary documents. Now, this is just a suggestion, but I’d like to invite you all to my kingdom for further talks.”
Curtis frowned slightly at that.
Romello pretended not to notice and continued. “It’s the off-season for high society now, and in my kingdom, we’re having many events celebrating the founding of our nation. It would be a wonderful opportunity for you to see our land, but most of all, it would be easy to have a meeting with all five of you and our highest-ranking nobles. I’ve already talked to the other dukes, and they’ve agreed. Now, it’s up to you.”
“Oh? Baskar and Crowe agreed?”
“I understand why you brought up just those two names, but when I said they all agreed, I meant all four of them.”
Even though he hadn’t met with Baskar directly, he’d given Talbot an invitation to pass on to him. If he had sent it through the mail, the duke might not respond. However, once given an invitation in person, he would have to. Romello had received word that Baskar easily agreed to the meeting, perhaps because it was after his money had been returned. Both Talbot’s servant and Alf’s spy had given him the same account, so he knew it was accurate.
Curtis’s cheek twitched at Romello’s response.
“Do you perhaps have a problem with those two houses being invited…?” Romello asked, intentionally painting a worried expression on his face. Once again, Curtis’s cheek twitched at Romello’s reaction. He laughed inwardly, thinking to himself Now, you shouldn’t let your emotions show so easily on your face! In fact, a moment like this was when it was absolutely essential to hide your true feelings and wear a smile.