Raymond explained to Arabella that in the meeting Ferdinand had with the King of Crux, they learned that it was the nobles who had been hardheaded despite the King wanting to return all the slaves as soon as possible.
The King could not force the nobles since they were also his support.
The noble families were powerful so even the King cannot just demand that they follow his decision when most of the nobles were against it. Moreover, slaves were important in Crux so the nobles didn't want to let go of theirs.
With the King's powerlessness, it took so much time to respond to Ferdinand's letter. Some of the nobles were only alarmed after they heard there were more knights at the borders and that Ferdinand himself was already there.
A lot of the nobles were still hardheaded though. But the King knew that they were in danger so he asked to meet with Ferdinand.
