"Are you done?" the Princess asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

Nathan groaned even as he tried to think over the information Pulsie had told him.

The Minister of Defense looked disgruntled at the Princess' disdain, but thankfully didn't provoke her. Perhaps he had some self-preservation after all.

"I find it confounding how you can be so foolish and still have a seat in this council." the Princess continued. Nathan had wasted his groan before, this was the time to groan. The situation had taken a turn for the worse if the Princess was striking back.

The courts of Diery might be old, but they paled before the Mad King's balls. The Princess was sure to have a barbed tongue from her time there.

"The ones who blame the ignorant are often the ones most ignorant themselves." she said. "Is it the Headman's fault that he wasn't informed, or the fault of this council? Headman Schroff wasn't the one that decided most of Diery didn't need to be informed of what took place in their capital, this council was."

"The expenditure to inform every village of every little-"

"Is negligible before the Diery budget. Just the Eastern Isles could easily support this from our leftover budget, and I do not for a moment think that we have more money than you. The Countess has been earning humongous profits from her expeditions abroad, where is that money going?" the Princess asked.

"And is the security of the county truly a 'little' matter? Perhaps I should leave then, if an Adept counts for so little here."

Nathan sighed. The Minister had tried arguing against the wrong woman. And apparently struck a nerve.

"I think we can all agree that not informing the villages was an error on the part of this council," he began.

The Minister of Defense opened his mouth. The Minister of Justice thankfully elbowed him before he could make it any worse.

"But we can discuss measures to fix that later. The Marshal has come through with his information." Nathan relayed what he had learned as quickly as he could, a bit afraid that others would interrupt, and an argument would erupt again. The council proved more dysfunctional with every second.

How had the Countess managed things with a council like this?

"Minister of Justice, what do you think?" Nathan said as the Minister of Defense scoffed at the blatant favoritism. Well, if he had a problem, then he should keep his mouth shut. The rest of the ministers were doing exactly that.

"I am still unsure. What is the Mastery you speak of? I have not heard of this term." the Minister said.

Nathan turned to the Princess. "I think you would be able to explain this better than me, Princess. The Elven cultivation does not differ much after the Journeyman stage, yes?"

"The cultivation systems do not differ greatly in any stage, it is a well accepted fact that they were spawned from a single mold. Perhaps even made by the same person. But that is beside the point." The Princess took a deep breath.

"The Mastery is the core of what defines them as a person. When one breaks through to the Adept stage, they must become a Master of themselves. That is the criteria for breakthrough, except the mana of course. The Mastery is simply the core of that realization."

"I see." Nathan did not, in fact, see. The explanation was confusing, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to get any easier to understand.

The Princess sighed. "Take our recent Adept, Strovn. The breakthrough he had was realizing what he wanted to do. To follow in Elder Bel's footsteps and emulate his path. That is his Mastery, the realization that propelled him to Adept. Master of self does not mean that you must master yourself entirely, that might be impossible for us mere mortals to accomplish. What we must find is something that defines ourselves."

"And that is a Mastery." Nathan finished.

"No, Mastery is a core of it." the Princess said, sounding frustrated. "Perhaps that was a bad example. Strovn's breakthrough was less complicated. The realization is often bigger-"

"I think that is enough." Nathan stopped her. "Thank you for your guidance, Princess. I might need the rest of it later for my own breakthrough, but we are on a bit of a deadline here. The General will find it rude if we delay for too long."

"That time has already passed." the Minister commented. The Princess raised her eyebrows. Nathan felt her mana pass over him, sensing him.

"Oh. I did not realize." the Princess said. "Congratulations on our breakthrough, it is fortunate that the Diery county has another Master among us."

The council paused. And then looked at him. Nathan felt several mana's pass over him, their intent clear. That did little. The mana of a bunch of Apprentice stages wasn't enough to pass through his senses, let alone detect what cultivation he had.

"Yes, I was fortunate enough to break through to the Master stage yesterday. Or perhaps unfortunate. The event was more than a bit harrowing. Now onto matters of actual importance-"

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"I think we should start with the benefits the General keeps mentioning. " The Princess said. "What benefits does the county provide to the Dean."

"Pulsie?" Nathan asked.

" A basic set, most of it was up to negotiation. The county will provide a salary of ten thousand gold a year, that's very cheap for an Adept mind you, and citizenship for the Dean's entire family. If the dean has a manual, then they can set up a noble family in the county. I doubt any of them is attractive to a man like Moruvier Senesor.'

Nathan relayed what Pulsie said to the council, but he was already thinking. Pulsie might have missed something.

"The citizenship." he said, along with the Princess and the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Defense. Did the Minister of Defense just contribute something? Perhaps he shouldn't kick that guy off the council.

"If the Senesor duchy is not giving the General's family a manual, then he may wish to make use of the ones the county gives every citizen. That could be a big step-up for his family. " the Minister of Justice said.

"There are five other forces that give manuals publically, and many others that would happily share their manual, to take an Adept into their number. I doubt the royal family would refuse if Moruvier Senesor wanted to join them." the Princess noted.

"Hmm, but would they take his entire family?" Nathan asked. "This is not merely Moruvier's family, but a branch family of the Senesor ducal line. That means we would be stealing a part of the ducal family from the duchy. That would certainly be taken as a hostile act."

"But the General is the one that wishes to join us, wouldn't they honor that?" the Headman asked.

The Minister of Defense scoffed. "No. The General is a part of the Senesor family, he was born into it. What he does with himself is not up to him."

The village headman didn't comment anything, but his confusion was clear on his face. A commoner would of course have a lot of issues understanding this part of noble society. The part where the family basically owned its members.

Nathan included himself in that list. In fact, he couldn't do what he wanted. After all, did anyone ask him before declaring that he was the Crown Prince? Well, the Emperor did offer terms. And make concessions. But there wasn't a chance they would have given up if he said no.

"A person born into a noble or royal family is property of said family." he murmured, out loud.

The Princess sighed. "Yes. That is why, I suppose, Moruvier has not been able to escape. If any other force takes him and his family in, it would be equivalent to declaring war on the Senesor duchy."

"Then we are refusing him?"the Headman asked.

The Princess shrugged. "I doubt a war is preferable, but we have no reason to fear the Senesor duchy. I could wipe out their entire army. The Diery county is superior in every way, especially once they lose Moruvier."

"Well, it’s not that simple, Princess. The Diery county is still waging a trade war with the Zerolain duchy. The war might not have turned harsh, but it has still isolated us. The Senesor duchy and Meria duchy weer the only two to continue their treaties the last harvest." the Minister of Defense said. "The Senesor duchy is as close to an ally we have in the Solerian Empire."

"I would call them a neutral force, not an ally. The royal family is an ally. The Meria duchy can barely be called an ally, given the countess' relations with them. The Senesor duchy merely decided not to get involved in a messy situation." The Princess commented.

"Will there be an impact on food sales?" the Headman said.

The Princess looked thoughtful. Nathan already knew the answer.

"That could be a problem, the Senesor duchy surrounds us. If they block us from moving our goods through their lands, our entire trade route could fall. Maintaining relations with them is crucial for our economy."he said.

"That is exactly why the Senesor duchy is maintaining a neutral outlook, they are going to rely on us in the coming royal council." the Princess noted.

"That might not be as big a problem as you think." Pulsie said. "The Zun Emperor has offered the hand of his Crown Prince to the Countess for marriage. I am sure they will be amenable to opening the pass up for trade. The route through the Solerian Empire is testy to begin with, the Bern march is barely neutral. The Marchioness might be on our side, but I have it on good authority that the Marquis hates us. “

"What?" Nathan said out loud.

“The Senesor duchy may be able to order the march to open their lands now, but that might not be possible if they are removed from the royal council. The Bern march is likely to make a move for a position on the royal council. If the Marquis breaks through, they will have three Adepts. The royal family will have to give them a seat on the royal council then." Pulsie continued.

The council looked at him.

"Is there new information?" the Princess asked.

Nathan nodded. "Yes, just give me a minute."

"The Crown Prince of Zun is proposing to the Countess? Tha-that is a huge thing, you know? Does the Empress know about this? I think the Empress should be informed at once-"

"Nathan, the Empress was the one contacted. This is part of the official alliance between the Zun Empire and the Solerian Empire. Don't let your feelings get ahead of you." Pulsie cautioned.

Nathan sighed. "I am not letting my emotions get ahead of me. This is just a mess to begin with. "

"As you say."

"What happened?" the Princess asked. Nathan sighed.

"I just had a conversation with Pulsie. The Emperor of Zun has apparently proposed that the Countess marry the Crown Prince of Zun as part of a military alliance between the two nations."

"What?" the village headman said, banging the table. "The villages won't allow this!"

"The Zun are treacherous, this must not be allowed to happen!" the Minister of Justice apparently shared the opinion. Even the Minister of Defense didn't object this time.

"What is wrong with the Solerian Empire? I say we should look south instead of looking towards our enemies." the Minister of defense said.

"Yes, yes." the Village Headman said, sharing a look with the Minister of Defense. Well, it would seem that this was the one thing Diery would come together about.

"Ok, then. What are our options?" he asked. "If we don't go towards the Zun, then how do we deal with the situation in the Solerian Empire? If the Senesor duchy does use their location as leverage, how do we deal with it?" he asked.

The Minister of Defense smiled. Nathan did not like that smile. That smile reminded him of his mother. That was a smile one took when they were hunting something.

"Well, what's stopping us from swallowing the Senesor duchy? That would solve our location problem. The Senesor duchy directly borders the royal family's lands. The trade route would be secure."

"What's our justification? The Emperor will need a serious justification to go to war with the Senesor duchy. Or have you forgotten the law against conflict between nobles? Just a trade dispute won't cut it." Nathan asked.

"How about we start stealing their nobles? Starting with Meruvior Senesor?" the Minister's smile stretched wider. "That should provoke a response. Then we can retaliate."