Chapitre 35: Pre-war tension part 1

For the first time, the war hall was actually silent. No one knew what to say to this new shift in authority and no one wanted to raise awareness toward that point either.

So it was a stalemate that left most people baffled and surprised in equal measure.

The young prince, now king, was known to be friendly in nature but not necessarily kind. His mood was also easily influenced and there was no telling when he might snap.

Saying that though, he did love his country a lot but everyone knew he did not actually care for them above the court or Lady Jess.

Speaking of the female, many people took a glance at her in concern as well as mock. Since long before, her position of power had been set at the king's side. It would not have been wrong to say that she was the most likely candid for the next queen.

She was an Alpha of high birth and strong too. The match, while not traditional, would not have been terrible for either side.

But now her position seemed to have been replaced by an unknown nobody of a questionable reputation and people were counting on her to rectify it. She was the only one the king would be willing to listen to anyway.

And once the lady began to move, everyone held their breath. The confrontation was coming and it would be volatile. People were already starting to make plans inside their minds in case the lady lost face today.

After all, there was no longer a guarantee that the king would take his lady's side over the stranger.

The female reached the table, her impassive face giving the masked stranger a lookover. For a few seconds, everyone could see the metaphorical lightning clash between the two figures and they held their breaths.

The king did not look too worried but every onlooker could tell that he had a far too tight grip on the armrest and was about to interfere.

Keito did feel the tension and it unnerved him. The action of tensing was unconsciously taken, he did not even notice he did that at all.

He did want to interfere too, but did he want to stop Jess's and ask her to leave the teen alone or did he want to ask the teen to move from a position he had forced him into? The decision was his to make and he was not sure about the right answer.

'We put him there. He belongs on our side' his wolf was right and Keiot could see that. Everything had just gone down the drains in the recent days when Noah had not been there and the stress would kill him.

'But Jess stood by me too all this while and she has a higher standing' and wasn't that the whole problem? She was one of the highest-ranked nobles at this point and her reputation of loyalty was unmatched.

If he asked her to move on then her reputation would take a hit and she would come to hate him. That was not a desirable outcome.

The staredown was still going on when something shifted in the female's gaze. Unseen to anyone else, her body seemed to stiffen even when her face finally broke out into a small smile.

The female did not comment, nor did she show any disgraceful action.

She simply walked to the other side of the table, the advisor's chair which was empty and sat down. Her regal posture and straight back still made her come about as the most dignified figure in the room of high authority and her cold eyes moved over to the stiffened crowd.

"Perhaps you all have important news to share? Please don't stop on my account" with one word, the court was back in order.

She gave a small nod to the king and the new occupier of her original seat, her eyes not betraying anything she was feeling and Keito felt admiration for her. She had handled it in the best way possible and he could not be more proud.

"Please start this meeting" Keito gestured for the ministers to start and that finally kicked started the questions and overload of information he had been expecting.

"Your majesty, there has been no news about any moment from any kingdom for a few days now. Either they are silencing all our spies or they had backed down after the last assault" that had been another news Keito had been expecting.

This part, at least, was identical to the last time. The enemy had retreated as a bait to force their forces out and tire them before attacking back. Their biggest advantage was the knowledge of the terrain they had.

"Send a few trusted people to scout ahead and maintain the stronghold into your own territory. Should it come to battle, try to get them to a terrain you are familiar with. Don't fall into an enemy trap" the minister was red in his face and Keiot hadn't even begun.

Their pride was something Keito forgot when he made his plans and that was not a good thing at all.

"I suggest you station forces here and here. Leave the centre unguarded but do set out some traps there too. It would be easier to cover the centre later than the sides" the masked teen finally spoke up and pointed out some places.

Keito looked at those suggested places and had to agree. Noah clearly remembered the biggest flaw in their earlier strategy - the divide.

The attack had come from the sides and people had staggered as a result. The disharmony came because the leaders did not get along which was stupid but not unheard of.

"I see. I'll overlook the central parts since I don't need too many people to function. I suggest the guard captain overlook this operation instead of the esteemed nobilities. After all, we cannot allow their noble hands to get sullen over this small thing" the suggestion came from Jess and many looked happy to hear it.

Of course, they missed the insult in her words since her tone was so mellow.

Obviously, she knew how to manipulate these nobles. A true queen of the court she was raised to be and it showed in her mannerism.

That solved one problem since the guard captains were much more capable and got along well enough to secure the parameters.

"No, we cannot do this. Why does an outsider get to make these decisions and as much as I respect Lady Jess, I cannot allow war to take place in my territory. We are already short on the food supply in our region" not everyone was equally on board with the new plans.

"I'm sure the food minister can help you with that problem, though I must say that the crisps were flourishing a few months back in your region when I visited. Why was I not informed of the major disaster that destroyed all those crops?" Keito had not actually visited that place but he had during the war in his previous life.

He knew how much food supply there was and how much more was needed but the other did not. The other just wanted to wash his hands off of the case and also get some momentary benefits.

"T-there was a recent storage burn which was minor enough. I did inform the minister of food and other affairs but we did not think it was important enough to tell your highness since it could be solved between ourselves. But a war" the other left it unfinished, allowing everyone else to fill in the gaps themselves.

The minister agreed with the other on this and that was it.

Or it would have been had Noah not yanked on his sleeve below the table. It was a small pull but he did feel it clearly.

The other was facing the ministers but his head gave a very noticeable small tilt which was an agreed sign between them during their past. How nostalgic.

But that also meant that there was foul play at work here which no one noticed. No, not no one, Jess had caught onto it too and perhaps, so did the finance minister.

Most people did not seem to care either way which meant that they were likely not involved.

'How curious that they did not inform us about this when the situation could have turned dire. Think they were behind the attack here too?' they were not the attackers since they had too many solid alibis but it could no longer be ruled out that they were innocent either.

'The food minister has a foreign wife right? One from the valley who escaped some time back and was saved by him when she crossed the border. I guess we will need to pay him a visit sometime soon now' Keito could start from here and if nothing else, he would be eliminating a tractor.

The meeting went on and more points continued to be raised. Some valid but most just fuss by privileged people and it continued till the late evening hours when everyone was dismissed.

Then and only then did Keito gesture for the other to follow him toward his private chambers. They had a mystery to solve now.

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