It was late after midnight when all the paperwork for the trade deals, treatises, and contracts concerning the subordination of the Provarian kingdom and it's induction into the new coalition of nations. When all of that was done, Esteban merely slumped over the table and fell asleep, fatigue getting the best of him while the others shook their heads and laughed.
"I guess we should get back to our chambers then..." John said as he got up from his seat and headed towards the door
The other officials also followed suit with one of Esteban's Valamen uncles who woke the King up and helped him out of the room along with some other soldiers. Soon the only ones left in the room were King Valasaire, Valaron, Valamar, and Vera who acted as a guard. They were talking about some miscellaneous things after the meeting.
"So I guess we'll be going home soon." Valamar said
"Of course, after all of this is finalised." Valasaire said as he was reviewing his notes on the prior meeting "With the acquisition of the Provarian colonies I believe it will help out the growth of our economy. What of the plunder from the Gissario family manor?" Valasaire turned towards his younger brother
"We would be getting half of the loot. An estimate of about three hundred thousand gold imperials." Valaron answered as he looked at the financial notes he had taken
"That's a lot." Valamar said "I'm surprised the Gissario managed to still have over half a million gold imperials in assets."
"Don't be. They didn't contribute much of their personal wealth towards the previous invasion and I'm guessing they were saving some of these assets to pay the banks they owe should they not manage to find any other way." Valasaire said
"Someone found an unopened chest filled with Latinite currency. A hundred thousand gold solidus." Valaron said
"How much is a hundred thousand gold solidus again?" Vera mouthed her words towards Valamar but without a sound so as to not alert her father as she was standing behind him but King Valasaire noticed Valamar's gaze at her and so he rolled up some used document files and smacked Vera on the head "Aiiiihh.!! Papa hansit do i! ( Papa, that hurt! )"
Valamar merely held in a snicker as he saw that. "I would appreciate it more if you would give just as much focus to diplomacy and economics as you do your martial training." Valasaire bluntly said "A hundred thousand gold solidus is roughly the same as a hundred and ten thousand gold imperials. Which then roughly equates to how much of our currency?"
"..." Vera's mind was blank for a while but when she saw Valasaire raising the rolled up documents again she immediately blurted out "...a-a...a hundred and twenty thousand serenes!"
"Good. At least you still know that much." Valasaire said "Anyways, you train with regular swords how hurt can some rolled up documents make you. Parlobilobi ma ho! ( stop exaggerating! )" Vera only smiled and stuck out her tongue at her father before she bent down and hugged him while smiling sheepishly
"You know I'm your favourite." She said to which Valamar rolled his eyes
"I don't play favourites." Valasaire said as he smiled slightly while patting Vera's head "Careful child, my shoulder still hurts a bit."
"You sure could've fooled me." Valaron said with a slight chuckle to which Valasaire shot back a glare "Anyways, it's all but confirmed that the Latin Empire has been financially backing these proxy wars against us trying to undermine our influence."
"Those damned Latinites." Valasaire scoffed "Send the money as proof to uncle Alexios. This should provide enough of a casus belli for Auros should they wage another war against the Latinites and after we're done solidifying our victory here, we can begin preparations to confirm our power within the Northern oceans."
"..I guess more war is now inevitable." Valamar said
"Ever since the end of the first great war, we all know for a fact that a second one will be coming. And it's been over one and a half millennia since the first one. The world has recovered enough."
Valamar was slightly uneasy at the thought of the countless amount of lives that would be lost and the innumerable damage that war would bring upon Terra. Although he did not voice these concerns, Valasaire was aware of his heir's concern.
"I get that you're feeling troubled, son." Valasaire said softly "Peace is a beautiful thing... but the current situation now is not true peace. War is a necessary evil and trust me, son, it's either us or our enemies who strike first and judging from this, it is easy to see who struck first, is it not?"
"I understand, father. I'm not so naive as to think that idleness is the ideal step to take to attain peace." Valamar said before he closed his eyes for a while and looked to his father with a calm expression "Besides, I may have hard feelings thinking of the many lives to be lost in the coming times, but I think you are misunderstanding my main goals."
"And what is that?"
Valamar looked to the surroundings to make sure no unwanted ears were there to misunderstand him "The lives and prosperity of the Rumasilian peoples have always been my first and foremost priority."
"As any good future Rumasilian King should have it."
"The livelihoods of the Rumasilians come before all else. 'World peace' is nice and all but at best wishful thinking to achieve that goal. The rest of the world can go down in flames but by God I'll make it so should that happen, Rumasil alone stands strong amidst the chaos. I only hope none of the brave Rumasilians who give their lives in the wars to come do so in vain." Before he stood up and left, Valamar left one last remark "...But then again that's if I become king which may not even come in the next half-century considering your health, hahaha. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy my time with my beautiful wife."
"That was anticlimactic. You had me shivering there for a bit, little brother." Vera said
"Little rascal. Go then, your wife must be missing you." Valasaire said with a slight smirk and a faint sense of pride around him as he saw his eldest son while slightly shaking his head as he saw his son left the throne room in a slightly carefree way.
"Honestly, I thought I saw our father there just now, even if just for a split second." Valaron remarked that Valamar had looked similar to the late King Valasar
"Olo. Maybe he can be the king that father always wanted and I never could be." Valasaire said
"To achieve Rumasilian supremacy had always been father's dream... But to achieve that dream and make it a reality is another matter entirely. I believe Valamar has the right mindset to bring Rumasil back to its past glory."
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"I hope so."
"Well enough of this sad-talking, please!" Vera said as she hugged her father tightly and lay her head on his "Stop talking like you're going away anytime soon! Like Valamar said, you still have until you're a hundred!"
"You never know, child." Valasaire said as he softly smiled while caressing Vera's head "Don't tell your siblings I told you this, for I will deny it and I stress again that I love you all just as much... but maybe I feel closer to you because you're closer at home. Your younger siblings might have millenia to live but the both of us, we're just regular people."
"Awwww.... I knew it!" Vera said happily
"Well, while you two have a sweet father-daughter moment, let me excuse myself as I have some reports to review. Goodnight, your majesties."
"Goodnight, bapauda!" As she saw her uncle left Vera turned to her father who looked like he still had some things on his mind. Not wanting to bother him any further, Vera let go of her father and tried to excuse herself "Well, maybe I'll excuse myself and give you some much needed space, papa."
As Vera walked to leave the room, Valasaire unexpectedly held back her arm which surprised her. "Actually, Vera. I hope you don't mind if you stay behind for a bit." Valasaire gestured to a chair for her to sit on "I have something important to talk to you about." Valasaire still had a calm tone but it was mixed with a bit of seriousness that made Vera a little uneasy
"What is it, papa?" Vera asked, "What's so important?"
"How old are you now?" Valasaire asked to Vera's confusion
"Why are we getting on in age? You know my age I don't need to tell you again. Papa, you know that's a really rude question to ask a lady."
"Just answer the question."
"twenty...one…ish?"
"You are the eldest among my children. And your mother and I care about you deeply. And I would like to think that we've been good parents."
"Papa, can you get to the point, please? You're honestly confusing me."
"Songon i do, borukki (It’s like this, my daughter). All of my sons are married... my youngest daughter is engaged... and-..."
"Okay, papa, I think I get it now." The moment her father mentioned marriage, Vera slightly rolled her eyes as she realised she's finally having 'the talk' with her father. "You want me to get married, right? Is that what it is?"
"Basically, yes. But again, I say to you, I don't want to be forceful. I'm not here to force you to marry some bloody morbid and fat old bastard who's been married five times, no. Of course not! But I can't as a father just stand idly by without doing anything to leave you to your own devices without a clue. I just want you to tell me the truth, what do you want? Don't keep such things from me or your mom. You're free to confide within us..."
Vera fell silent to her father's questioning. She began pondering to herself, and she began recounting everything she's been through and all things pertaining to this matter.
"Is it that... you already have a certain man that you like and you're just not telling me?" Valasaire asked
"No, there's no man I'm seeing..." Vera answered quickly while shaking her head
"Oh dear God, no... Another... girl?" Valasaire gulped and began to feel nervous as he asked the question
"What?! No!! Ewwww...!! What are you saying?" Vera replied even quicker and retorted in genuine shock "Tried that out, wasn't for me."
"Ohhh, Puji Tuhan, you had me worried there for a-... Wait, tried that out?"
"It's nothing! Pretend you've never heard that!"
"I can't even if I wanted to. Would you care to explain?!"
"Look dad, it was at the barracks one night way back when we were still new recruits and maybe some of the girls might have sneaked in some alcohol one night and we may have possibly and irresponsibly under the influence and deep intoxication partook in some activity that I'd say would be less than proud to admit... But it never went anywhere, and we didn't particularly enjoy it, I mean... it's just some slight groping, maybe a little bit of rub-..."
"Okay, I think I've heard enough from you. And I completely regret asking you that." Valasaire rubbed his eyes a little stressful "... alright, I've never heard you say that, you said nothing, and we weren't discussing anything in particular about that. Anyways... So what is the problem?"
Vera returned to a state of silence, but this time she looked at Valasaire a little more intently as it began to redden a bit.
"Wait, why are you like that? What's wrong?!" Valasaire noticing this sudden change immediately asked
"What's wrong is I'm not your real daughter and no matter how much you say I am, the blood that flows in me won't be the same as the one that flows in my younger siblings!! The looks that the high noblemen give me when I sit next to you and mom and the rest! The thought that I'm not worth as much as my siblings! You don't think I know why all those great nobles ask for Valerie's hand first before they go to me?! And only the minor nobles actually go and look for me first? Look, I love Valerie, but what the hell?! God forgive me for my envy but am I not lying when I say that I cried the night after her surprise engagement! Where's my prince charming?! Where's my consideration?!!" Vera finally shouted in frustration
"You don't know what you're saying. That's a damned lie! You know full well that you had no shortage of suitors from the great houses! It's your damned rule of dueling each and everyone of them that's the problem! It's Valerie who'd always been getting your scraps!" Valasaire said in a tone that was indicating for Vera to calm down but she was having none of it "But that's besides the point. How many times do I have to tell you so that it could be understood by you that you are my daughter regardless of what others say! That was what I decreed personally when you were only so small and weren't even able to talk properly yet!"
"You may have decreed long ago that I am your daughter, but don't think I don't know the conversations behind my back! ‘Ai bereng jo imana! Holan boru aing, boasa imana mangolu songon boruniraja na asli?! Sai tongtong ma hubege halak na mandok songon i!’ It's always the same conversations, 'oh look at that Vera, who does she think she is waltzing around as if she were a real princess! Why did the king take in a bastard daughter like that?"
As soon as he heard her say 'bastard daughter', Valasaire lost his calm facade and the look on his face was instead painted with that of shock. "Where did you hear that?!"
"It doesn't matter where, but what matters is I know! I wasn't the daughter of Lady Theodosia Memnos, I have no Memnosian blood in me! I was a drunken mistake made one night at a damned brothel between the Great Lord Valarian and some half-wolf beastman girl! By all means my real father was in the clear wrong and he too was about to be punished if it weren't for Lady Theodosia who begged for mercy on behalf of her husband! She didn't die giving birth to me, she died giving birth to a stillborn son! I was left at the palace gates in the middle of the night where everyone was none-the-wiser! I was in a basket with a note left inside and only a genuine Valamen seal left inside as proof of my lineage... So there you have it! You thought I'd have never found out but I did! I'm just a bastard-born girl picked from the damned streets whose real mother didn't even want her and whose original fate was to grow up in the slums and probably end up a whore."
*Plop*. A sound could be heard as Valasaire slapped Vera right across her cheek with a power that was enough to leave a visible handprint and was quick enough so that she wasn't able to dodge it. Suffice to say that the physical pain may be bearable but her surprise was unimaginable. Her father had never once before administered such discipline towards her. She was used to seeing her brothers being physically punished, but she was never on the receiving end until now. Vera also realised the terrifying expression on her father's face and she couldn't handle it anymore as her red eyes had watered and the tears then flowed. The pain she felt in her heart was unbearable and she immediately dashed out of the room.
'W-wait!! Vera, don't go! I'm so sorry!" Valasaire, who was filled with emotions, realised what he had just done on impulse so he called out to her daughter and tried to hold her but she was too quick this time and managed to exit the room
Valasaire was completely at an end as to how to deal with the current problem he faced with his daughter. Guilt started to come up as he recalled the expression of pure shock on his daughter's face as he struck her. In frustration he shouted and banged the table which showed a slight crack. He needed better control of his emotions, but more importantly, he needed to talk to his daughter and fix things.