In an exalted state, the king of Poutis shouted to those present, "Do you really think I'll let you take my lands? It makes no sense to give freedom to a kingdom ruled by an uncultured woman and then make an alliance. It's like taking the leash off your dog and putting him at the table to eat with you."
While Sian pondered whether or not to make the noisy king be quiet, a smile formed at the corner of the king of Hosnein's lips.
"If you dare to even mention such nonsense again, we will have war!" declared the king of Poutis.
Suddenly, the king of Hosnein began to laugh loudly, and the king of Poutis looked at him with confusion and indignation.
"How dare you laugh at me?!" The king of Poutis shouted again, with veins pulsing on his forehead.
Upon seeing the way the king of Poutis was acting, the king of Hosnein shook his head in denial and said, still laughing, "Your blood still runs hot as ever. Even though years have passed and knowing where your uncontrollable fury has led you before, you keep repeating the same mistakes. I cannot hold back."
The king of Poutis seemed even more irritated with the response from the king of Hosnein.
"How can you laugh about something so important? Is this what you think is the conduct of a leader?" questioned the king of Poutis.
In response, the king of Hosnein shrugged and a mysterious smile appeared on his lips.
"After all this time, you seem to have forgotten the favor you owe me," said the king of Hosnein. "Do I need to refresh your memory, Frederick?"
At the mention of the word "favor," the expression on the king of Poutis's face froze.
Looking cautious, the king of Poutis asked, "What do you want?"
"Just focus on your other responsibilities and accept what has been proposed," said the king of Hosnein, changing his tone to something more persuasive. "I trust you to do the right thing."
The king of Poutis was momentarily speechless, looking at the king in front of him with disbelief. But then, slowly, his face softened and he nodded his head.
"You're right, my friend," he said. "I'll forget all about this and focus on my responsibilities."
The king of Hosnein just smiled and turned his attention to the others gathered in the hall.
"With that, we can say that Sian is the guardian of the three kingdoms, Hosnein will form an alliance with Poutis and Gauss, but the latter two will not form an alliance with each other. Does anyone disagree or have anything to say?" said the king of Hosnein.
Sian momentarily felt the urge to disagree about the part where he is the guardian of three kingdoms, but he knew it was pointless to argue with the king of Hosnein. Besides, he was also very intrigued about what was going on behind the scenes.
Given the way the two kings acted, Sian was sure there was something between them. Specifically, the king of Hosnein seemed to have something he could use against the king of Poutis.
"I have nothing to say," Sian said as he stood up. "I have some things to do, so I'll take my leave."
In reality, Sian had nothing to do except to return to the table where he was with his childhood friends. But since this meeting with the rulers was only giving him a headache, he did not want to spend any more time in this hall.
"Wait!"
Unfortunately, before he could leave, the king of Poutis spoke again.
Looking calmer, the king looked at Sian. "I still have something I need to ask you."
Sighing, Sian had no choice but to sit back down.
"What do you need from me?" he asked.
"My nephew disappeared a few days ago," replied the king. "He was last seen around here. Have you seen him?"
"No, I don't remember seeing anyone from the royal family around here," Sian answered honestly.
"My nephew, Jiuliano, was accompanied by the Silver Moon mercenaries," the king said. "They are a well-known group of nobles' children outside of the succession line and have a considerable amount of notable accomplishments."
"Oh," Sian arched his eyebrows in surprise, remembering the king's nephew. He was the man who intimidated Ophi and used former members of the Silver Moon mercenaries to try to defeat him.
Without taking his eyes off Sian, the king didn't miss his change of expression and asked again, "Are you sure you didn't see him?"
"Well..." with a brief pause, Sian continued in a single breath as he averted his gaze, "That doesn't sound familiar at all."
The first time, Sian managed to lie with an honest expression, as he really didn't remember the king's nephew. But now that he remembered, he didn't have time to fabricate an excuse and was caught off guard.
"My personal guard, Jerome," the king pointed to one of the guards in full golden armor behind him. "He was responsible for hiring the Silver Moon mercenaries to ensure my nephew's safety during his journey through the kingdom."
Upon realizing the confidence in the king's words, Sian realized that, due to his previous response, he probably already suspected what had happened. Despite this, Sian maintained an impassive look as the king continued.
According to the king, after his nephew's disappearance, he put his spies to work and discovered that the last place he and the mercenaries were seen was in Solaris. According to witnesses, the last time his nephew and the mercenaries were seen, they had left at night for the forest.
There were reports that a shepherd had heard mournful cries, and when the guards went to check, there was nothing there, not even a drop of blood. The king's spies stayed in the city to investigate and discovered a rumor about a haunting.
Every night, cries were heard in the forest, in the same place where the king's nephew disappeared. However, when someone went there, the cries disappeared. Even when they waited until nightfall in the place where the cries usually came from, the location changed.
What's even stranger is that there were always signs of combat at the location where the supposed haunting cried. Initially, they thought it was enemy spies who had done this, but since they did not make contact with demands, this was dismissed and the king's nephew was considered dead. Finally, when they arrived at the hotel, everything became clear: the mercenaries killed the king's nephew.
In the king's words, these cries in the forest, the disappearance of his spies, everything was an obvious provocation by the mercenaries to the crown. Apparently, because his nephew was a frivolous and irresponsible, the king believes he did something that deeply angered the mercenaries.
As these mercenaries were also arrogant, they killed him and sought amnesty at Sian's hotel, which was now considered the embassy of Hosnein.
Obviously, the king's theory was just a theory. The only part he got right was the fact that his nephew was irresponsible, which provoked Sian's anger and led to his death.
"As the one who hired the mercenaries on my behalf, Jerome knows their faces well," said the king. "Even though the leader of the group now has a bit of beard, he did not escape Jerome's eyes. Furthermore, Jerome also recognized that those who are acting as hotel guards are some of the members of the Silver Moon mercenary group. For killing a noble, they deserve to be judged and punished by me, so I demand that you hand them over."
The king gave Sian a piercing look, waiting for a response, but Sian simply leaned back in his chair and sighed, which seemed to have annoyed the king.
With narrowed eyes full of suspicion and anger, he said, "I will tell you only once more, hand over the mercenaries that you are harboring."
Handing over the former mercenaries and getting rid of a headache seemed like a great option, but after spending so much effort training them, Sian was not willing to do that.
"Your Majesty, I can explain."
As Sian remained silent, Illianna seemed to have a plan in mind.
"Be quiet!"
However, before she could continue, the king intervened furiously. "You are not allowed to address me directly!"
"Please, Your Majesty-" Illianna tried again, but before she could continue, the king threw the glass he had in his hand in her direction.
However, before the glass could hit her, Sian caught it. This was an easy task due to the virtually non-existent strength of the king.
Looking at Illianna, who was surprised by the king's action, Sian said, "You said that nobles are always polite and composed. Well, it seems that is not always the case."
Since the king knew the faces of the mercenaries, Sian knew that there was no escaping this situation with a lie. As it had come to this point, he had no choice but to resort to the use of force.
Given the current situation, Sian had only two options: forcibly enslave the king as he did with the Silver Moon mercenaries, or move the entire hotel area to another place, such as his duchy in Hosnein.
Although the first option was less troublesome since the king was only a few meters away from him, there was a problem: he was prohibited from doing so. The reason was simple, he had already done this before with the king of a small kingdom, which caused a big problem with Sekil and resulted in a prohibition.
This happened because the ruler of the territory he enslaved already had a powerful being residing there, which was Sekil.
Although people did not know, just like Ayzeret, Sekil was one of those who taught Sian how to fight. Like Ayze, she was also a powerful dragon, which in itself showed her strength, and like all dragons, she was very territorial.
When she found out that her offerings were not arriving because of Sian, she gave him one of the biggest beatings of his life. To complete his punishment, she made it clear that the next time he did something like this without her permission, he would meet her in an educational session on the reasons why not to anger a dragon.
Furthermore, even if Sian were to obtain permission, she wanted 80% of what the conquered kingdom possessed. Although dragons were greedy by nature, her reason for demanding this was not greed, but rather tantrum. Dragons are extremely vindictive creatures and have the stubbornness of a spoiled child when they get upset about something.
That being said, between the options of enslaving the king of Poutis and then having to deal with a dragon, or beating him and then moving on, the latter seemed less troublesome.
Without another word, Sian got up from his chair and began walking towards the king of Poutis with a malicious smile on his lips.
Sian knew that the course of action he was taking at this moment was irreversible, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of satisfaction as he asserted herself in front of the king.
"Well, I did try to be polite," Sian said in a cold tone of voice that visibly made the king uncomfortable.