After a light greeting, the group entered the reception room of the Lord’s Castle.

Inside, Friedrich and Santana reserved a separate room to talk among themselves, while Cazerose and Elizaveta settled down for a discussion among the women.

This was the first time the two had met directly.

However, since the husbands were rather close, they shared the common thought that it would be good for them to build some rapport as well.

As a result, they began their calm conversation with teacups and refreshments arranged before them, while keeping the guard posted outside.

“I’ve heard a lot about Mr. Cazerose. I understand you met Lord Santana in quite a unique way?”

“Yes, that’s right. We happened to meet while I was experiencing a bit of an adventurous phase in my childhood. After going through various things, we ended up in a political marriage.”

“How impressive… It sounds like a tale from a fairy tale.”

“And I’ve been told that Lady Elizaveta and His Highness Friedrich have a great bond. You have as many as 13 children, don’t you? I’m just envious.”

“Oh ho ho… We’ve been married for quite a while, and my husband is exceptional in many ways.”

With a slight blush, Elizaveta spoke proudly. Though they did touch on political matters, the sheer number of children she had was unmatched compared to any other noble families on the continent.

Furthermore, despite having given birth, she still maintained her beauty, which was a bonus.

In this aspect, Cazerose felt a genuine envy toward the woman before her.

“I’ve been married to Mr. Santana for over two years, but we still have no news of children. In that regard, I’m envious.”

She also wished to have a child with Santana as soon as possible, but that wasn’t easy.

Moreover, sitting beside her was Estelle, a formidable competitor who had just recently married Santana.

In that context, Elizaveta’s image of the ideal wife was one with a loving husband and a bunch of kids, which Cazerose found herself dreaming of.

Meanwhile, Elizaveta, receiving genuine compliments from Cazerose, responded with a pleasant smile while showing signs of a not-so-simple feeling of ‘envy.’

“Thank you very much for saying that. But, isn’t it you, Mrs. Cazerose, who is the wife of the famous Lord Santana Andreas? I’ve been envious of your husband’s ability to shake the very foundations of the continent.”

“Haha…”

Cazerose awkwardly smiled at the somewhat delicate compliment.

Although she couldn’t openly express it, as Elizaveta said, Santana’s capabilities were already recognized across the continent.

He had led the ongoing decade-long war according to his will.

Almost all of his plans had ended successfully, leading to a tremendous butterfly effect resulting in the emperor’s downfall.

However, the results presented by Elizaveta and Friedrich were dismally meager in comparison.

Their first effort, the salvation of Bohemia, ended with Friedrich’s forces from Palatinate acting independently, leading to catastrophic losses.

Additionally, during Friedrich’s absence, Palatinate fell into ruin due to the betrayal of the hired mercenary king Mansfeld, leaving Friedrich’s family stuck playing host in Lorend.

Then, Elizaveta’s ambitious alliance with Chris IV from Mark, which sought to turn the situation around, barely got anywhere, let alone reach Palatinate, resulting in yet another clean defeat.

At least they had preserved their dignity with their defense in Lorend, but even that was largely due to information and tactics shared by Santana in advance, so it couldn’t be claimed fully as their achievement.

Thus, one side faced endless success while the other experienced nothing but failure.

In light of this, Elizaveta couldn’t help but feel a strong inferiority complex concerning Cazerose.

‘In terms of command, our husband is superior, but in this meeting, the Heretic Alliance’s speaking rights will mostly go to Santana… His achievements are just so grand… Sigh… If only my husband were a little smarter, that would be wonderful. How did things turn out like this…’

Despite loving her husband deeply and having endured this painful time together, she knew Friedrich’s limitations better than anyone.

He was excellent in leadership, appearance, and character, but not fit to be a ruler in times of strife.

He had masculine appeal but lacked any real allure as a politician.

Thus, Elizaveta tried in various ways to compensate for her husband’s shortcomings, but her efforts ended in failures not much different from her husband’s.

Feeling disappointed about this, she quietly sipped her tea.

As both women felt a bittersweet sense about what they had and what they lacked, faint yet bittersweet smiles began to form on their faces.

*

“Honestly… I was quite shocked at that time. Watching that grand army swept away in the river of Lorend was… it felt incredibly precarious, even though I wasn’t the one taking the hit.”

“It must have been quite a spectacle. I wish I could’ve seen that; it’s a shame to have missed such an interesting scene.”

Friedrich animatedly shared heroic tales of his encounter with General Spinola in Lorend. Listening to him, I genuinely responded with envy.

Though I was the architect behind it, I regrettably had no means like TV or cameras in this world; I could only see fragments of the battle’s aftermath on pieces of paper that reported results.

Even during the battle in Bohemia, I couldn’t see the overall scene due to fog, which meant I couldn’t vividly witness the detailed large-scale battles, and that fact was just disappointing for me.

After wrapping up the stories about past events, I began discussing the upcoming meeting with Friedrich, a comrade and ally belonging to the same Heretic Alliance.

“First of all, regardless of anything else, Your Highness, you must absolutely reclaim ownership of Palatinate. Now that Franz Kingdom has taken over the Lorend region, if the position of Palatinate wavers, it will allow the influence of Franz Kingdom to grow uncontrollably.”

“I see what you mean. While I may give up on other things, I won’t ever concede Palatinate. That land has been ours for generations. It won’t be taken from us.”

“Yes, it absolutely must be that way. I will do my utmost to assist you regarding that. And one more thing…”

“What is it? If you have any more requests, feel free to ask.”

Friedrich, who seemed to have little other ambition than to reclaim Palatinate, had the authority as an imperial prince and leader of the Heretic Alliance, which I felt the necessity to utilize.

“I must receive what I deserve in return while readily giving what I can. This is a basic principle of trading. Based on that, our Bohemia cannot miss this opportunity.”

Historically speaking, such large-scale meetings were rare, and it was also the first time Bohemia held such significant speaking rights at one.

Moreover, although not in attendance, another link—Dragona Empire—existed behind us.

Thus, after acknowledging and accepting that I was the son of the Lord of Bohemia, I began preparing to achieve a long-held goal:

That was…