The meeting continued the next day. We were slightly sidetracked during yesterday’s meeting, so nothing was confirmed. Other than that my two mothers weren’t against the idea.
I could go to the North as long as I want to.
The main purpose of this meeting is to discuss the details of the elven and human alliance. I intended to take responsibility for managing this. As a matter of fact, I didn’t care about the alliance. I just wanted to borrow their strength so that I could enter the North. I’ll let my moms decide how the alliance operates.
“I’m bringing Freya with me this time.”
“No problem. Sit.”
My two moms looked at Freya. She sat down cautiously to the side and placed her hands on her knee as a kid would.
Elizabeth recalled Tanya when she saw Freya. She asked me, “That’s right. Son, where’s that young girl who reversed the tables in the battle?”
“Tanya didn’t come. I haven’t thought about what reward to give her yet.”
Elizabeth rested her face in her hands and with a smile, replied, “What does she want, then? Money or land? Bravery is an excellent characteristic; her loyalty should be repaid. Son, what does Tanya need? Just let me know, and I’ll make sure to satisfy her request.”
I still don’t know what she needs. I asked her what she wanted on the way back, but she just stuck behind me and held onto my cloak. She expressionlessly told me, “This is fine”.
Therefore, I have no idea what I should give her. I don’t think a kid that young needs money or a government post.
‘What shall I reward her with? If it was Freya, I could give her a can of…’
‘Oh yeah! Tanya is a kid, too. I’ll pamper her the same way I pamper Freya. I’ll give her a can of honey cherry tomatoes. Kids won’t turn down sweets, after all.’
“I will give Tanya her reward. I don’t think it will cost much, though.”
“All right. She did come to assist you, after all. Mommy won’t interfere, then.”
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and put one leg over the other. She revealed her usual proud and confident signature Empress smile. She looked at Vyvyan, who was sitting with a graceful posture on the side, and said, “Now then, Elven Queen, since we came to a consensus yesterday, should we discuss the alliance between our two races now? While our two races have maintained the most basic degree of harmony over the last decade due to my son’s existence, this alliance has no precedence.”
Vyvyan looked back at Elizabeth. She smiled and spoke with extreme hostility, “That’s right. An elven and human alliance is something of the long-gone past, so long that the Galadriel tribe didn’t exist yet at the time. We’re forming an alliance this time, as we share a common enemy, not because our relationship has improved. This is purely a military alliance. The military alliance is to follow my son’s command. I’m doing this purely for my son’s plan and to combat the North, not because of some emotional attachment to you humans.”
Elizabeth laughed in an easy-going manner, “It appears that it’s been too soon since our last war. However, I must say that I agree with you. This alliance is purely a military alliance to allow my son to enter the North.”
The two of them coldly snickered. Despite them both smiling the entire time, I felt the atmosphere between them was immensely terrifying.
“Umm… aren’t we going to discuss the details? It’s not time to be talking about this, is it…? Further, I remember that your relationship had improved a fair bit already… Can the two races really not ally with each other?”
Elizabeth looked at me as if the answer was obvious, “Impossible!”
Vyvyan looked at Elizabeth and indifferently remarked, “Only if this woman understands what first come, first serve means.”
“First come, first serve? I gave birth to my son. I was also the first one to hug and kiss him. You want to talk about first come, first serve with me?” Elizabeth went on in a cold tone, “Look at you. The elves follow a loyal belief system, being loyal to only one. You’re basically a machine that destroys all the views and values of the elves.”
Vyvyan looked at Elizabeth with ire and fired back, “It’s for the sake of our bloodline! This is for my son’s sake! Plus, my son is my brother’s offspring. He had a part in my son’s birth. I didn’t betray my brother! You on the other hand have been stealing from me, ever since we met. You stole my brother and now you’re trying to steal my son. I let you have my brother, but I will never let you have my son. At the very least, not this time! Not happening! Our races can form an alliance, but I must take my son, and I’ll be the one to continue raising him!”
Elizabeth stood up. She looked at Vyvyan and sternly said, “Ah, you’re right. My thoughts exactly. Let me raise my son, and I’ll agree to form an alliance with you elves. Until this is settled, our races will never be at peace! Our alliance this time is solely to allow my son to enter the North. Our conflict won’t end.”
I looked at the two of them, dumbfounded. I sighed hopelessly.
Freya looked at me with a very odd gaze. She then tugged my arm and whispered next to my ear, “Your Majesty, why do I feel that the two resemble Miss Nier and Miss Lucia so much right now?”
“Please don’t talk about it…”
“All right… But it appears that they will not reach a full alliance any time soon, so we can do with just the military alliance for now. Your Majesty, let us not attempt something futile. Go and organise the military alliance.”
I felt that Freya was right.
I looked at the two, who were ready to get physical, and cleared my throat, “Your Highness, Your Majesty, can we please put that aside for now? Mm… I promise that I’ll settle it once we deal with this matter… Mm, can we discuss the military alliance now?”
The two of them looked at me with strong distrust, but they did stop bickering.
Elizabeth walked up to her chair and sat down. She then looked at me and said, “Mommy can provide you with the human army stationed near Socina. They’re experts at fighting in snowy lands. Mommy is fine with providing gunpowder, manpower and resources. I know that your guard unit suffered heavy losses this time, so you can choose from the Valkyries as you please. Or rather, you can choose any of my guards to replace your own.”
I shook my head, “No thanks, Mom. I don’t need anyone to join my unit. They won’t be able to keep up with the training. I just need an army.”
Vyvyan looked at me, “We, elves, will open a path for the human army to pass through. Once my son heads to the North, we will set up a temporary re-supply camp on the other side of the Grand Canyon. We elves will support you with everything we have got, Son. After all, they are the elves’ enemy. They’re enemies that have come through time and the Galadriel tribe’s enemy.”
Elizabeth stood up again and exclaimed, “Same for humanity. This is a war my son is waging, which means that the Prince of humanity is participating in a war. As such, humanity will do their best to support their Prince!”
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