The orange banners of the Panish Empire continued to flow proudly in the wind of the port city of Elgon.
With the fall of the Drussian coalition, there was practically nothing left to stop the Panish conquest of the Drussian Union.
The Drussians would need a miracle if they want even the slightest chance of victory against the Panish Empire.
With 10,000 Panish conquistadors under Sebastian Reese Nemeny going southeastwards while another 10,000 were being lead by Julio Del Pieto northeastwards. Soon Drussia will fall under Panish control.
On the other hand, Rodriguez De Espanosa was left with 10,000 men at Elgon city in order to secure the city just in case any foreseen circumstances were to occur.
As the newly appointed Marshal who replaced the ageing Sebastian, it was Rodriguez's role to secure the only port city that the Paniards exercised control over within Drussia. After all, it was the most important and only logistical port that aided the Paniards in feeding the war effort in Drussia.
In fact, Rodriguez is planning to transform the already predominantly Panish Elgon city into the capital city of this region. Rodriguez has already received permission from the King of Espain; Phillip the III to establish a new puppet-state Dutchy with himself as the Duke once he successfully annexes all of Drussia.
Although it was pretty much guaranteed that Rodriguez will succeed in setting up this new dutchy, he would still need to secure border control if he wants to keep asserting his control over this new duchy.
That is why he is currently holding a secret meeting with a certain someone in the castle's garden.
With a glass of wine in his hand, Rodriguez continued to wait for this special person.
Eventually, that person finally arrived.
Accompanied by one of Rodriguez's knights, she entered the gardens.
The woman donned a steel breastplate which she wore over her maroon red noble clothing. Attached to her armour was a velvet red cape which stretched all the way down to her ankles. Engraved onto her breastplate was the shape of a heart on fire.
The knight bowed to Rodriguez before leaving while the woman took her seat opposite Rodriguez. Soon after, Rodriguez made his greetings.
"Princess Victoria Grandhart Steiner, welcome to the grand city of Elgon."
Victoria smiled gently when she heard Rodriguez's introduction.
"It is an honour to be in the presence of someone as accomplished as yourself; Lord Espanosa. I heard that you are quite the accomplished man, responsible for resolving a majority of Espain's internal conflicts."
With a friendly gesture, Rodriguez replied to the princess.
"No the honour is all mine. I am proud to be of service of Katholic Royalty, even if it's not my own."
Victoria continued to smile gently when she heard what Rodriguez had to say. After a few seconds of silence, Rodriguez offered her wine.
"Would you like to have some good wine? They've been aged quiet well"
With a gentle smile still on her face, she accepted his offer.
"But of course."
Rodriguez nodded with a smile when he heard her answer before pulling a string attached to his finger. Soon after, a male servant carrying a glass chalice and a wine bottle entered the garden.
As the servant proceeded to pour her wine into her glass, Rodriguez initiated some small talk to lighten the mood.
"I trust that you had safe travels?"
Victoria shrugged while answering Rodriguez's question.
"Relatively safe travels. You have no idea what 'problems' I had to go through just to meet you here."
Rodriguez chuckled before replying.
"But you still made it here unharmed no?"
More likely than not, the 'problems' she was referring to was how she had to hide her royal name and pretend to be a lowly commoner as she smuggled herself throughout Drussian lands.
Both of them knew that if it weren't for the Panish forces diverting the Drussian's attention, Victoria would have never safely made it to the city of Elgon or at least not without any major difficulties.
Although she didn't laugh, she still had a smile on her face as she responded to Rodriguez's question.
"If you don't count throwing away my royal name and pretending to be a lowly merchant as being harmed then yes I was unharmed. But I did not come here just for your sympathy."
Rodriguez returned the smile when replying.
"And I did not call you here just so I can console you."
With her glass of wine filled, both of them paused to silently make a toast before proceeding to drink their wine. Once they finished and returned their glasses to the table, Victoria voiced the real reason that they were holding this secret meeting.
"You want the Kingdom of Ostria to recognise your sovereignty and guarantee our allegiance once you successfully annexed Drussia correct?"
Rodriguez wasn't surprised by her knowledge of his plans. Instead he answered her question calmly.
"That is correct."
Victoria shook her head in slight disbelief when she heard Rodriguez's response.
"Don't you think that you're getting a little too ahead of yourself? So far your forces have only gained a small foothold in the west-most Drussian provinces and as far as I can tell, there are still numerous rebel cells spread out amongst the lands you do control."
Victoria's smile gradually began to disappear from her face as she said this.
"Yes the biggest Drussian threat to your conquest has been utterly defeated and yes, we are both Katholic nations but..."
As she spoke, the smile completely disappeared from her face and Rodriguez felt that her body was enveloped by a non-existent fiery aura.
"That is not enough to warrant an alliance."
Although Victoria gave off a sort of fiery unyielding aura, this did little to deter Rodriguez's determination. He has faced much more gruelling battles that to him, this was practically nothing. Nevertheless, Victoria continued to don her fiery aura as she concluded her opinion.
"In the end, why should the Kingdom of Ostria form an alliance with a fledgling Dutchdom that can barely even be counted as legitimate?"
In response, Rodriguez only took another sip of his wine before he answered her question with his own.
"As the 1st princess of Ostria, isn't it your duty to ensure the prosperity of your Kingdom?"
Victoria's eyebrows raised slightly when she heard Rodriguez's reply. However, her smile still returned to her face when she replied.
"Oh I see... I understand now."
Rodriguez nodded before he continued explaining himself.
"If we were to form an alliance, you would guarantee security in your northern border as well as a another fellow, friendly Katholic nation. You know what I'm inferring to with this."
Victoria responded with a slight shrug.
"You also want to secure trade rights?"
"Of course I do and you know that you do too. You have lost the ability to trade with Espain due to how the Turkmen navy still holds control within the Meldean Sea. However, what about trade through Drussia? Sure it may take longer but it also more secure."
Victoria raised her left eyebrow as she asked another question.
"And how exactly will you do that?"
"The Panish Empire will instead import goods through the Breetish isles and into this city instead of the Meldean Sea. From there we can officially trade Panish goods for Ostrian goods without fear of being raided by the Turkmen."
A look of understanding grew on Victoria's face after she heard Rodriguez's answer. On the other hand, Rodriguez took another sip of his wine before he continued.
"If we were to form an official alliance, the Kingdom of Ostria can officially secure its northern borders as well as trade with a trustworthy fellow Katholic dutchdom. Aren't these benefits enough reason to officially declare an alliance?
Victoria shrugged once again before she responded.
"We are already receiving support from the Pope, Benetia, Maldovia and... the Panish Empire itself. Why would we need the to declare an alliance with your dutchy?"
Rodriguez himself shrugged as well in response.
"I already said it didn't I? You will guarantee security in your northern borders."
Rodriguez paused for a moment to let what he said sink in before he continued.
"You will finally be free to begin your campaign against the Turkmen."
Victoria's eyes widened as she listened to what Rodriguez had to say.
"Please don't look too surprised. We both know the reason why the Kingdom of Ostria never invaded Drussia or advanced southwards. Your Kingdom can't afford to risk fighting on two fronts."
As looks of mixed feelings continued to grow on Victoria's face, Rodriguez continued to explain what he knew.
"You can't count on help from the weakened Fench while your other neighbouring countries can't afford to aid you at the moment. It is literally in your best interest to recognise and form an alliance with my Dutchdom if you want to begin that Turkmen campaign that you long for."
Once Rodriguez concluded his explanation, the garden was soon filled with complete silence. Victoria stared at Rodriguez's eyes for a long time before she finally spoke again.
"And how do I know that I won't be stabbed in the back while we advance southeastwards? How do I know that you're not luring my Kingdom into a trap?"
Rodriguez responded with absolute confidence in his voice.
"It lines in with the Panish Empire's... and my dutchdom's interests that the threat of the Turkmen Empire is eliminated. We can't afford for the Eslamic religion to gain any foothold on the mainland continent."
Victoria seemed to have inadvertently clicked her tongue once she heard Rodriguez's answer.
After putting on a wry smile, Victoria finally conceded.
"I understand your points... But these decisions of national importance are not mine to make, but my Father's... However..."
Victoria paused for a moment to make a sigh before she continued.
"I will try my best to convince my Father that an alliance between your Dutchdom and the Kingdom of Ostria is necessary."
Soon after, both Victoria and Rodriguez went to make a toast. However, before either of them can actually drink, they were instead interrupted by a knight.
"My lord! We have urgent news regarding Sebastian Rieese Nemeny!"
Rodriguez couldn't stop the scowl from forming on his face.
"What could it possibly be?!"
With a look of anxiety the knight answered him.
"His entire 10,000 strong army... it... it..."
"It what?! Come on! Answer me!"
Rodriguez shouted in anger at the stuttering knight. After the knight regained his composure, he finally finished his message.
"It was completely annihilated."
The only sound made in the silence that followed was the sound of glass shattering once it hit the floor.