"Your highness"
"Is there something wrong, milady?"
"One hundred gold coins"
".....For what?"
"Surely you came here knowing the consequences of your actions, no?"
"I don't get why I would need to give you a hundred gold coins though"
"What if father were to revoke his support from you and were to go to the neutral faction? What do you think will happen. What's more is that father's office was destroyed because you incited him"
"...Is this how you were able to..."
"Yes"
"I will transfer it onto your account"
"Thank you for your cooperation. I shall make sure that father would stay as your supporter"
Knock. Knock.
"Milady"
"What is it? Is it something urgent?"
"Yes, milady. Young master Roman and Sir Dereck are about to arrive"
Huh?
I grab Kainston by the collar and drag him to the garden.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"If you want to live I advise you to get the hell out of here. Now"
The duke and duchess of Emond are very doting parents especially to their daughter. Nicholas would do anything for mother while Roman would do anything for father.
If brother Roman finds out the cause of the commotion, Kainston may be put in grave danger.
Luckily, there was a path leading towards the training grounds which leads to the stables.
After shutting Kainston's mouth with a handkerchief, I made the knights to drag him inside and send him back to the royal palace.
"Phew... thank goodness he's away now..."
"Bea!!!"
Roman shouted while holding a sword.
"Where is that bastard?!"
My life was going great for the past two months but now, things keeps on getting in my relaxation Sunday.
"Dereck, please take the sword away from brother Roman"
Roman was afraid of hurting Dereck so he willingly gave it to him instead.
"Do it"
"Do I have to?"
"Yes, do it"
Dereck carried Roman onto his arms.
"Let's go!"
We sprinted back to the drawing room where I was talking to Kainston just a few minutes ago.
"Why did you make him carry me"
"Let's be honest here for a moment, okay. You would have chased the carriage and would have done something insane, right. That would put all of us in danger, including mom and Nicholas as well as all the servants in the duchy"
He stayed silent while looking down as he could not refute my words.
I then gave the two as short summary of what happened. Why the duke's office was in total ruin. Why the prince visited the manor. Everything except as to how the bookshelf was on the ceiling.
Due to all the stress that accumulated from within as he listen to my story, he fainted.
"So, Dereck, what happened in the empire?"
"..."
"Do you not find me trustworthy enough?"
"It's not like that"
"Then prove it"
I already knew.
That what they had talked about was the beginning of the conquest of the Vanifi empire to rule over the whole continent.
"I.... Do you really want to know? You are a scholar already so you will most likely hear about this sooner anyway"
"Which is why there is no harm in me knowing it now"
He bit his lip in frustration before answering.
"The Vanifi empire waged war on all kingdoms except the empire in the north, the Fellide Empire and the kingdom of frost, Kellorga. The reason for that is that it would be too troublesome for them to conquer a land that will not bring any benefit to them"
That, of course, makes a lot of sense. If they want to invade the Fellide empire they would have to bring dozens of warships just to transport the soldiers and rations alone which will make it disadvantageous for them.
Meanwhile, the kingdom of frost, Kellorga is a kingdom that only has one season. Winter all year around which earn the title as the kingdom of frost.
Because of this no one would bother to think of invading it. Up to now, it only has survive due to the fact that the entire kingdom is an archipelago. Despite being a frozen nation, there are countless fishes that can be eaten. And for some reason trees grow five times faster there for firewood as if giving them the chance to live in such a place.
"What else? Which country are they planning on invading?"
"The countries that they plan to invade is the kingdom of Chejada. Next is the kingdom Mheodure. The kingdom of Nuguetan. The Kingdom of Quelnaron. And finally, the kingdom of Loate"
If memory serves me right, Loaten should have been second or third.
It is normal for them to invade Chejada first since they have the strongest military form in the continent which would impose significant threat later on if they were to be left to prepare for the war. The only reason why they can beat Chejada is because the Vanifi empire has more soldiers and more resources to spare.
As for Chejada almost half of their land are not suited for agriculture but has a lot of minable areas unlike the other countries.
So how come Loate became the last country that they will invade?
...Hm?
"Dereck, why are you trembling like that?"
"The thing is... the Vanifi empire will be invading our neighboring kingdom, the Chejada kingdom first"
"So?"
"As proof that the Loate kingdom won't interfere on the war, me and Roman propose that we would sent 'hostages' to the empire so that Loate would avoid disaster as much as possible until the Chejada kingdom becomes a part of the empire"
That is indeed new which did not exist in the novel.
"Well... the second prince of the empire propose that the one that will be sent is... you. The youngest scholar in Loate"
Huh?
My mouth opened on its own.
The tea spilled onto my dress.
'What?'
Let us think calmly for a moment.
"I..."
"Shh! I'm trying to think here"
I became the 'hostage' because of two reasons. One, is because of the fact that Dianna Emond became a scholar which intrigue the second prince from the empire. Two, is that the fact that Roman and Dereck came up with the idea of sending 'hostages' to the Vanifi empire which then gave the second prince the excuse of making me go there.
While there are pros there are cons to it as well.
"Have you reported it to the king?"
"Not yet"
"Fine. Tell the king that I accept"
"What?!"
Dereck looked at me. The face that he had that was filled with shame became conflicted.
It was a normal reaction.
After all, who would want to go to another country just to be treated as a war prisoner just after waking up from a year long coma no less.
"I am sorry but because of what you've said my plans are now falling apart. I have to go and reconstruct everything from scratch so I will have to go now"
"WAIT!!!"
I bolted away and took Emmanuel with me to go the the inn where Uziel is living at the moment.
...
"...And that is why I will have to go to the empire for at least a half a year"
"So there is really no other way?"
"Yes. There is no other way but to go"
Uziel and Emmanuel looked at each other as they felt sorry for me.
I'm not mad or sad about the fact that I will go there since I am not the heroine.
The heroine was sent over to the empire for a whole year because of the same reason at a later date which is about four years from now. She was treated rather poorly since in the empire, male or female, they value wisdom and skills the most.
And I, a well known doctor in my previous life and is known as the youngest scholar in Loate, won't faced the same predicament like the heroine did.
"You, you better be back soon, okay?"
Uziel said as he try to hold back his tears.
"Don't worry, I will"