Kenji naturally wouldn't want to make things difficult for Pluvia.
However, when he sat in the Four Seas Hall, he could barely keep his composure.
Good grief, no wonder she hadn't ntioned it earlier or later, but chose this mont - she wanted to help deal with Sal Kingdom's envoy!
Kenji had never imagined that what should have been the Chancellor's job would end up falling on him. According to Pluvia, the old Chancellor was advanced in age and in poor health, so she simply let him handle it instead.
What nonsense - that sa old Chancellor who had confronted in court with such a booming voice, and now they're saying he's old and unwell? Who would believe that?!
Kenji sat formally at Pluvia's left hand, while at her right sat the Sal Kingdom's envoy.
However, to Kenji's surprise, the envoy sent this ti was actually a young woman.
If Calot showed so slight disdain toward won, the Sal Kingdom didn't even treat won as normal citizens. At least in Calot, common won weren't discriminated against - at most they faced so opposition in taking official positions (which was why Pluvia's position as emperor was unstable).
But Sal Kingdom wasn't like that. Except for girls from noble families, most common won could be bought and sold like goods, to the point that Calot had repeatedly expressed its disapproval and issued many warnings.
So when this young woman stood before Kenji, he couldn't help but wonder if he was seeing things.
"Seventh Princess Uheya of the Sal Kingdom offers the highest respects to the esteed Emperor and Duke Anos."
The girl executed a perfect classical Calot bow.
Probably King Tuwa of Sal had found himself a beautiful wife, because Uheya as his daughter looked nothing like her father's fierce appearance that practically had "brute" written across his face. On the contrary, this girl was slender and graceful, with bright eyes and white teeth, carrying herself with dignity and elegance. She didn't look at all like a princess from the Sal Kingdom.
In Kenji's mory, when he had previously gone to Sal Kingdom for military exchange, he had personally seen those princesses - none of them could be called beauties, and they were all rather burly. Mounted on horseback wielding sabers as if they ant to cleave people in two.
But this Seventh Princess was quite the opposite. Though from a northern kingdom, she had the gentle appearance of a southern Calot lady. If not for her slightly northern ethnic features, Kenji would have thought she was from Calot.
Just as Kenji was sizing her up, Uheya suddenly turned her gaze to him and showed a gentle smile: "Duke Anos, it's been a long ti. Since your visit to our country, I haven't been able to forget you."
...
Kenji could only smile and say: "You're too kind, Your Highness. You're truly the unforgettable one - among your siblings, you're certainly the most outstanding."
"You know each other?"
Pluvia asked curiously. That Kenji had known this princess before and hadn't told her made her sowhat uncomfortable.
"We had so connection. When the previous emperor was alive, my father went to the Sal Kingdom for exchange, and I accompanied him. The Seventh Princess was the one who received then."
"Oh? You weren't very old at that ti, were you?"
"Not yet of age. I was just tagging along with father for a tour."
Kenji candidly explained how his old man had taken him on an official expenses-paid trip. Of course, while his father had left him with many sses in many matters, he had at least taken his son's education seriously. Initially, Kenji didn't want to go, but it was his father's personal persuasion that made him interested in seeing the northern territories.
Of course, after arriving, he basically spent all his ti hanging out with the Seventh Princess.
Don't get the wrong idea - they really didn't do anything. The Seventh Princess was even younger than him. At the ti, they were both in their chuunibyou phase as passionate teenagers, doing many things that now seed extrely foolish, like calling themselves the Twin Heroes of the Steppe, with one wielding a saber and the other carrying a sword to uphold justice.
Of course, this was all in their own imaginations. Their so-called justice-upholding actually consisted of beating up so thugs who owed money to taverns, all while shouting various technique nas.
Now, this princess had put away her forr edge and beco a proper gentle lady.
"I'm deeply honored that Duke Anos rembers ." Speaking thus, this daughter of the steppes stepped forward two paces and presented a curved saber: "This is our Sal Kingdom's national treasure. eting you today, I present this as a gift to you."
Kenji solemnly accepted the curved saber. As he drew it from its scabbard, a lightning-like cold gleam flashed, making everyone catch their breath.
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Princess."
Kenji sat down and looked at the princess.
However, the princess didn't continue speaking, instead looking at Kenji rather strangely.
Ah, wait, princess, why did you stop? Why aren't you presenting a gift to Her Majesty?
Kenji's gaze darted between the emperor and the princess before him, taking the opportunity to look the princess up and down - that waist, those legs, that... ahem!
No, wait, she doesn't seem to have any other gifts?
Oh no, surely she hasn't...
Kenji realized sothing terrible.
The Sal Kingdom had never really established a dedicated diplomatic departnt and rarely trained diplomatic talent. Even their so-called diplomatic departnt had only been cobbled together in recent years. And in terms of diplomatic etiquette, they were particularly lacking.
There had even been instances where they sent envoys to negotiate peace with the previous emperor and ended up using "I" to refer to themselves - mind you, this was in formal diplomatic occasions, and the Sal Kingdom had already acknowledged subordination to Calot at the ti.
So... Could it be the princess had only prepared a gift for ?
Damn it, no, Uheya, you're setting up!
If it had been so soldier from the Sal army who ca with only one gift, he might have believed it, given the Sal Kingdom's diplomatic inexperience. But for Uheya to claim ignorance of diplomacy was pure nonsense - having grown up studying Calot classics, how could she not know Calot's etiquette?
However, Kenji could only think awkwardly for a mont before turning to Pluvia:
"It's an excellent blade, but as I am Calot's Duke, during this national exchange, this sword should be a token of friendship between our two countries."
Better quickly attribute this to the nation, otherwise all the goodwill he'd built up with Pluvia would be gone.
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