After the routine meeting at the palace came to an end, Hattar didn't tarry at all and rushed back to the manor. He summoned Anthony and recounted the events of the meeting without delay, then expressed his confusion.
"Master Anthony... what on earth is going on? Why would my father suddenly change his stance like this?"
After hearing Hattar's account, Anthony pondered for a bit and quickly formed a hypothesis.
If they had only defeated the armies of Duke Rickman, the Kingdom of Basel wouldn't have had such a tremendous reaction.
But now things were different. The slaughter of the tens of thousands of troops and dozens of nobles headed to the Earl's domain not only severely affected the internal balance of power within the kingdom, but the strength they demonstrated naturally instilled fear in His Majesty the King!