Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 179: The Way of Alliances

Yet before I could call out to that stowaway person I had in mind to aid me in my heinous little scheme, Darius’ voice once again sounded out, saying with unconcealed worry "This a dangerous game, sire. One where failure could spell a faster doom than if we do nothing, especially if our intentions are revealed prematurely to the Frozen King."

"All schemes, almost by definition, are dangerous and risk ridden games." I retorted the ancient man’s worries.

"Indeed, sire." He nodded, but then quickly continued in a grave tone. "But schemes are a vehicle to politics, and all politics are, in essence, is the battling of interests and the equalizing of benefit and cost, and I fear that the possible cost of firmly solidifying the alliance of the northern giant to the western hegemon, possibly forever more against us, is not one weighty enough to equate the scales with the simple, and uncertain probability of delaying the alliance of the two, while attempting to bleed Luminous Empire dry."

His words caused us all to grow momentarily quiet, with new frowns decorating our faces, before a single voice, clad in a cloak of confusion then rang out saying.

"Pardon me, my lord Grand Vizier," Leonid respectfully called out, as he carefully asked "but weren’t you just saying that the alliance between the two was a near certainty by this point? So why do you speak now as though the union of the two would grow worse by us taking this risk?"

"I concur with the general." Horus then added, puzzled in the same manner as Leonid, as he continued "An alliance in an alliance after all, and if it is going to occur either way, then why not at least try to weaken them before it happens? At the very least it’s better than doing nothing and just allowing them to unite without obstacle."

"You are indeed correct, in a surface level manner of speaking." He replied, before calmly explaining "Yes, the alliance between the two powers is indeed a near certainty by this point, as they would undoubtedly feel threatened by the marital union of us and the eastern empire, but not all alliances are equal. And the one that is going to be formed between the Boreas and Luminous Empire is almost certainly going to be an especially fragile form of it. One built on short term interests and impeded by a history full of hate between the two; but if we are found out to have been tampering with their interests, while also attempting to discredit their future emperor, then the alliance would have another layer of foundation added to it, which would be a shared grievance with us, a substance that would be far harder to rattle and dislodge than simple short term benefit."

The hall returned to quiet there after, as everyone slowly digested the ancient sage’s words, before Horus again argued "But if we did nothing, couldn’t they achieve similar results of bridging that gap of trust and interest, by just mimicking us and offering the other a marital proposal between their ruling houses? Wouldn’t that also greatly aid in their unity, while we do nothing in reply?"

"It would undoubtedly help, but again, their long pandemonious past can not be so easily ignored or brushed aside, and such a path if they choose to tread it, would invite a whole host of troubles of it’s own." Darius explained, before I joined in a second later, saying.

"The Grand Vizier is right. Which also proves my brother’s still unnurtured talent for the political arts, as he specifically chose princess Ziyi from the start to court, even if his heart swayed his decision somewhat, it still remains an excellent choice, for if he had done so with another, such as a princess from the Luminous Empire, neither I, the people, the nobles, or any here, would’ve agreed to such a union due to the tumultuousness of our history."

"So what now?" Leonid then asked, summing up the whole debate. "Do we abstain from doing anything, allowing our foes to construct a troublesome, but ultimately flimsy alliance; or do we risk strengthening their future coalition, but delay them in their efforts, buying us some much needed time, while simultaneously bleeding them in the process?"

"Hmm." I casually hummed in thought for a second, as I leaned back in my chair, my mind a garbled mess of conflicting voices, some proud, some bloodthirsty, some mad, and some uncertain, each competing for the position of the most correct choice of actions I must implement.

And yet in all honesty, despite the undeniable logic and wisdom imbedded in Darius’ words, I still leaned in favour to my own plan, believing it the better option to take at this point in time, despite it’s obvious demerits, for one and only one reason, and that is Nicholas’ terrifying ability of foresight.

This cheat like ability is nigh unstoppable, with almost no weaknesses, bar one; and that is it’s inability to properly deal with overwhelming power.

Yet to achieve such a nearly impossible thing, the ability to overwhelm the behemoth that is largest empire on the planet, with the aid of the strongest economic juggernaut at it’s side, I need to obtain a degree of might that utterly puts to shame the glories and achievements of my past self, and for that, time is an indispensable ingredient, one that can not be lavishly spent on hopes I know to be fruitless.

For even in my past life, the Luminous and Boreas Empires became the closest of allies, even if the start of it was undeniably unsteady; but they did eventually achieve it, regardless of their past; and I very much expect a rebirth of that troublesome league in this lifetime as well, so instead of turning a blind eye to the inevitable, by allowing the two to ally even earlier in this lifetime than in the last, I believe it a far more pragmatic approach to inconvenience my future enemies, for the time being at least, offering me some much needed time to further prepare for the coming conflicts.

"How vexing." I muttered under my breath, finding myself slightly hesitant before the threat of Nicholas’ omniscient ability, and beginning to dread what he would come to know and then do, because even if he wasn’t as experienced and well weathered in the ruthless world of imperial politics as he was in my past life, his frightening intelligence was still present and correct.

’He doesn’t even need to try very hard.’ I carefully thought. ’If he does indeed gain knowledge of what will come to pass, then he just has to whisper a few insinuating hints in his father’s ears, and the Frozen King would be more than enough to wreck the entire plan.’

’What to do. What to do.’ I continued to muse in agonizing lethargy, all to the back drop of my tapping index finger on my armrest, as I cyclically persisted in weighing the possibility of successfully outwitting both Marius and his emperor, as well as the Frozen King, Mikael the first, all the while managing to discredit Nicholas’ claims, if and when he gains them, before he then decides to utilize those same nuggets of information.

On and on I went, traveling in directionless syphons of echoing repetivity, until I eventually came to the conclusion that all this thinking was for naught, if I don’t first obtain the confidence of the one, whose efforts would most significantly contribute to the poisoning of Mikael’s ear against his beloved son.

So I suddenly half turned my head backwards with a small smile, as I knowingly gazed at my long shadow, cast by the light filtering through the wide glass windows nearby, and asked "What do you think Eve?"

Hearing my sudden string of words, a different silence, not born of contemplation, but of surprise descended upon us then, as everyone tensed in shock, before quickly jumping from their seats and onto their feat, throwing their gazes behind mine, awaiting to see if a scene similar to yesterday’s would occur.

And sure enough, just like last night’s hauntingly beautiful spectacle, a cocoon of gloom emerged from within my shadow, and from it came a woman of pale blonde hair and garbed in a luxurious black dress with a cane in hand.

"This is the third time you’ve accurately sensed my presence when I was utilizing my divine power." Were the first words she’d said as soon as she appeared, with a sour expression of her angelic face that looked like the epitome of endearing charm in my eyes.

"Your imperial majesty." All those gathered at the table and who had seen her the night before immediately bowed in greetings when they saw her, but this was not true of all who were present in the hall, as the maids and guards who had not seen her yet, were all clutching their weapons in the ready position, fearing a threat to our lives.

Yet when they saw the highest ranking men of the empire react with such humility and reverence before the unknown woman, before then hearing their choice of words when addressing her, they immediately understood the error of their magnitude of their own folly, as they scrambled to their knees a second later, crying out "We greet her imperial majesty!"