"Enough with this!", It was general Haraldus who said it.
"Your highness, I apologize for my rude speech however I believe we need to consider some options now," He said.
"I afraid you don't mean to attack them.", Advisor Ay Soo spoke.
General Haraldus looked at the man with his eyes filled with rage. Ay Soo didn't even try to hide the sarcasm in his speech. Ay Soo ignored General's glare and spoke to the King, "Your Highness, diplomacy is the only way for us now. We can't afford to lose more manpower in such crucial times." He indirectly showed the threat of Driton Empire.
"Hmph.", King Francis turned his gaze towards his son. Prince Arthur was rather calm, but alert. He sensed his father's gaze and met his eyes. Both father and son communicated through gazes. Then King Francis moved his gaze back to the hall and said, "We agree with Advisor Ay Soo."
Then he moved his gaze to General Haraldus and said, "But we can't disagree with General Haraldus either."
Listening to his final sentence, Prince Arthur, who was looking at General Haraldus, suddenly looked at his father. His stare had a little disapproval, but he perfectly hid it from everyone. King Francis didn't look at his son this time, instead, his gaze was studying General Heloise. She was calm as always as if she was expecting this from him. General Heloise met his eyes and then moved her gaze again as if this issue didn't matter to her. General Haraldus gave winning stare to Advisor Ay Soo. Old man Phillipe was looking at all this and sighed indirectly. Then he turned to see his young master, Prince Logan who was still sitting still saying nothing all along. Prince Logan was deep in his own thoughts. Old Phillipe coughed a little, bringing Logan back to the senses.
After a moment, King Francis took a deep breath and spoke, "We think now everyone is clear about the situation Stovaria in. We were thinking and discussing a lot about this from a few months. We met many advisors and even checked the conditions of the kingdom." Then he looked at Arthur and continued, "Prince Arthur sent us the detailed report about east now and then. This helped us a lot, especially while deciding some remedies."
"We know how everyone is suffered. Your endurance is admirable and Stovaria will never forget this. All we wanted is to maintain peace within the country with its prosperity."
King stopped momentarily and said, "Thus, we have decided to something."
Everyone in the hall focussed all their attention to King Francis.
"We have decided to form an alliance with Abanthus by marrying Princess Catherine to their Prince Ivan Roderick."