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Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 9

In the 1,500 years since its establishment, the Mages Association has spread its influence across the entire continent like a net, and the Lords were nothing more but one of the elements of that net, forced to dance on the palm of their Mages Association puppet masters to whatever tune they decided to play at the current moment.

「The death of my father, Matthias, has thrown the alliance into chaos, and doubt that it is going to recover from it anytime soon. And even if I aimed to rebuild it, then things would just return to being exactly the same if I also ended up dying mysteriously. That is why at the next Factory Alliance Lord’s Conference I am going to propose the establishment of an Electoral Council. It will consist of only the most influential Lords of the Factory Alliance and from among them the next leaders of the Alliance will be elected. After the alliance achieves the unification of the continent, it will become a council that is going to be tasked with choosing the person most fitting to become the Emperor, as the name suggests. 」

「Are you saying that you are going to willingly abandon the hereditary tradition of the Kraische family? 」

「Yes. After all, there is no guarantee that our family will continue to produce excellent leaders in the future. 」

Marlene smiled.

「And besides, even if I lose my life, my grandfather’s will is still going to be inherited. If Dartania agrees to join the Factory Alliance, then I would like to name you the Prince Elector, Lord Milza. 」

「Is this bait that I am supposed to fall for? 」
Milza snorted.

「If that is what you want to think about it, then that is fine too, you are free to think so. 」

Marlene protruded her chin slightly. Apparently, Milza’s response was not to her liking.

「There is a possibility that I will become the Emperor, or that at the very least I will be in a position that will allow me to choose the next Emperor, so I do not think that those are bad conditions. 」

As a newcomer to the Factory Alliance and a Lord hailing from a small continent, it is extremely unlikely that Milza would be chosen as the Emperor, but to be honest, Milza never entertained the possibility of him being an Emperor for even a moment. But if he could become a sword in service of the Emperor, then that would be fine with him. He initially had very high hopes for Vilar Constance to become Emperor, but after the fiasco that was the Fantasia Union’s Lord’s Conference followed up by his refusal to help Pavel Murat when he asked him for support, he became completely and utterly disappointed with him.

(I thought that I will not live long enough to see the continent being unified under a single ruler… )

But now Milza was not so sure about that anymore, because the Margrave of Waldrind seemed to possess enough of a strong will in order to turn that ambition of hers into reality. That much was clear to him based on that short exchange of theirs.

(At the very least, she had enough guts in her to come here while knowing that she might be risking her life.)

Normally that would have been enough for Marine to properly convey her determination to Milza… but a part of him was still feeling uneasy about this whole thing.

Milza’s father, Sayid, was not interested in the matters of the continent at all. All that he cared about was the income and the wealth that he could continue to obtain from the trade in the South Seas, and a businessman like him would never dare to break the friendly relations established with the nations allied to Dartania, Artuk included.

It would be meaningless for Milza himself to intervene and invite the messengers from the allied nation to Dartania to discuss the matters related to war, since his father would never let them in if he knew what they were up to. No, in order to turn Marine’s proposal into reality, he would have to prepare everything himself without his father catching wind of anything.

Milza’s heart was already swaying between accepting Marine’s offer and rejecting it, but he still needed to ask her about the price that she herself was willing to pay for securing his cooperation with her.

「I heard that you met Alexis Ducet when you were sent to study in Elam, and the two of you immediately fell in love with one another. 」

「That matter is a thing of the past already. 」

Even though Marine said that with a decisive tone, Milza did not miss the ever so slight shift in Marine’s gaze.

According to Vilar himself, during the Battle of Selvis he actually crossed swords with Marine. Back then, he had a prefect occasion to kill Marine and end the conflict between the Fantasia Union and the Factory Alliance, but he did not do it because he did not want to kill a member of his family. And while he was fighting her, Vilar also confirmed that despite her words and actions, the Margrave of Waldrind was still in love with the Marquis of Halusia. However, even though she still loved him, she seems to have given up on marrying him and ending the conflict between the two powers through peaceful means. Right now, as far as Marine was concerned, the only option for the Factory Alliance to deal with the Fantasia Union was by force.

However, even if Marine’s feelings have changed, the same thing cannot be said about Alexis Ducet.

Generally, it can be said that the Kraische family has always been affectionate towards their loved ones and the members of their families. That is a good quality to have as a human being, but also the one that undesirable for a Lord to have, since it can make their judgment too naïve when the really hard decisions will have to be made.

It is that very naivete that ended up bringing death on both Jurgen Kraische and his son, Mathias. Milza suspects that the reason why Marine seemingly gave up on marrying Alexis was because she thinks that if she tried to push the idea of their marriage through once more, she would place the Marquis of Halusia’s life in danger as well.

(It would be best of she got rid of that naïve softness of hers.)

Milza muttered to himself in his mind, and then he looked at Marine again. Even in the inner palace of Dartania where Milza grew up, there was never a woman who possessed a noble beauty that could rival hers. If Alexis Ducet possessed the kind of beauty that would make him likened to the sun, then Marine Kraische was definitely like the moon, both serene and mysterious.

He did not realize when it happened, but the clouds that were covering the sky parted, revealing the crescent moon that sone brightly above their heads in the eastern sky. The stars were also twinkling as if they were competing against one another.

「I do not care if it would be just for tonight. I want to make you mine. 」

Milza knelt on the spot declared that to Marine while looking up at her. At that moment, one of the maids screamed in and ger and tried to stand up.

「Y-You vulgar knave! 」

The other maid also glared at Milza with a terrifying expression as if she wanted to kill him on the spot. However, Marine held them both back with a gesture of her hand and said:

「I you think this is going to humiliate me because I am a woman? 」

Marine looked down at Milza, and she quietly asked.

「I believe Ido not even need to answer that. 」

Milza snorted in response.

「Even if I will become your woman for today, you should know that my heart will never be yours. 」

「I am well aware of that. I want you to think of it as a ritual meant to cement our agreement to fight together from now on. 」

Milza said with a completely straight face.

「Do you want this to be a sacrifice from me to you? 」

「If that is what you want to think about it, then that is fine. 」

Milza returned the words that Marine had used against him earlier back at her.

「Fine. But I have never been with a man before, so I will leave everything to you. Is that fine with you? 」

Maline said resolutely, and Milza nodded solemnly. He had already predicted as much from the way she reacted to his proposal, and yet there she was, ready to sacrifice her everything for the cause she believed in. That is the way of a true supremacy.