"Is there none?" Queen Athena asked General Trevor when the latter didn't say anything for a few seconds.
Being snapped out of his thoughts, Trevor Amari quickly lowered his gaze. "There is, Your Majesty." He made a deliberate pause and said, "The Qalagon Queen wants us not to plan for war. She wants a peace agreement and if we can agree to that, she promised to not attack Jerivia."
Though the Prime Minister and Minister of War knew that it will be hard to not think of revenge after losing their King, they also knew that Jerivia can't really afford another war right now.
It will take them a lot of time to rebuild the Royal Army, let alone the kingdom.
Not to mention that the King died without any heir!
The future of their kingdom was so dark right now.
What will they do now?
"You are the only one who knows what happened at the Mane Valley," Queen Athena said to General Trevor and shifted her gaze to him. "Do you think the Qalagon Queen mean what she said?"
Though the General didn't expect the question, he nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. If conquering us is what she really wanted, she can do it by using the remaining soldiers at the Mane Valley. But she didn't do that and give us a chance. In our current situation, she won't gain anything by pretending with us."
Thinking about it for a while, the Queen looked at the Prime Minister and then the Minister of War. "What is your opinion?" she asked.
"We don't have much choice, Your Majesty," Prime Minister Dallas responded. "If we want to save the kingdom, we should prevent another war no matter what."
"I agree with the Prime Minister," Minister of War Edin Amari promptly said.
"Then we will propose the peace deal," the Queen stated. She let a few seconds pass and then said, "You should also get ready to select a new King."
"Your Majesty," Prime Minister Dallas muttered with confusion written all over his face. "What do you mean by that? Even if His Majesty is gone, you're still alive. Why would we -"
"I don't want to rule," Athena said, interrupting the Prime Minister. "I have my own reasons."
The Queen might be young but... the Prime Minister knew very well that she had so many capabilities when it comes to administering the kingdom. In that field, she might even be better than her husband!
Arin Helev had also once said that Athena will even make a better ruler than her younger brother who was the Crown Prince of Nathania.
The Prime Minister believed that even without the King, the Queen will be able to rule and rebuild the kingdom but... she didn't want to rule?
Thinking of how complicated the change in monarch would be, the Prime Minister got down on his knees. "Please reconsider, Your Majesty. With His Majesty gone, Jerivia needs you more than ever. Selecting a new king will only weaken us more and make us an easy target for our other enemies!"
"Don't worry, Prime Minister. I will make sure that Jerivia is safe," Athena said in a firm voice. "That will be my last duty as the Queen of Jerivia."
* * *
When Aryan Tripas was informed of the ambush and the death of Zaro Aventine, the King was instantly filled with rage!
He relied on Jerivia to aid him with the ration his soldiers needed but... everything was ruined!
As he always struggled to control his anger, the Nardodian King was destroying things inside his tent like a madman!
While General Arnet, the one who relayed the news to the King was quietly standing still on the side with his gaze lowered, Commander Favian of Azamet and King Declan of Alora stepped in to stop the Nardodian King.
"Please stop, Your Majesty," Commander Favian begged. "This will solve nothing. We have to be on our right mind and find another way."
"Another way? What are we supposed to do if the Masked Commander keeps on cornering us?" Aryan Tripas snapped. "This is our problem, Favian. She does whatever she wants and we can never guess what she's up to. Will we always say that we must do something after she already caused damage to us?!
"What will be the next? The main camp? Will we just wait for her to kill us all?!"
"I know what you mean but Commander Favian also has a point," King Declan spoke up. "Acting this way will not solve anything, Aryan. No matter what, we must collect ourselves. The lives of thousands of soldiers depend on us."
Hearing out his friend, Aryan Tripas clenched his fists and took a deep breath. Nevertheless, he still slammed the desk one more time. Then he turned to General Arnet. "Send a letter to Minister Colson. General Randal should hurry. We can't just wait here while our soldiers will run out of food soon."
"I understand, Your Majesty," General Arnet responded and walked out of the tent.
"I will also send someone to Alora," the King of Alora said. "There must be a way to collect some more grains."
"I will send a letter to my King too," Commander Favian spoke up. "We need to find every way to solve this mess."
"I'm tired of waiting," Aryan Tripas grunted. With the whereabouts of Emor still not known, he was growing more and more impatient now!
However, unlike him, King Declan's strongest trait was his patience.
"We can't afford to be reckless now, Aryan," the King of Alora said with his voice hinted at his overflowing patience. "If things went out of hand even just once again, then we will be all dead. The Masked Commander won't hesitate to crush us."
"I don't think we have much time now, Declan," Aryan Tripas promptly said in a firm voice. "Now that she takes care of the troop from Jerivia, the Qalagon Queen will know that we are out of choice. That mean she will soon come for us.. I'm sure of it."
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