About six months have passed since King Ludwig II came to Nova Lemuria,...... and he is finally returning home.

"Ugh. ......
"Come on, Constantine.

　Constantina clung to King Ludwig II with tears in her eyes.
　Karolina desperately tries to pull her away from him.

　Constantina seemed to have grown quite attached to King Ludwig II.

I'm glad. I'm glad to see you two are getting along so well.
"...... Well, yes.

　Hercule vaguely agreed with Bradamante's words.
　Hercule had miscalculated ...... the extent to which Constantina would fall in love with King Ludwig II.

(......Will she send us information that will be advantageous to our country?

　The reason why royalty and nobility marry abroad is to deepen the friendship between the two countries. ......
　Another role is to pass information to the home country.

　It would be an exaggeration to say that they are spies, but to some extent they do have that aspect.

　Naturally, all countries are aware of this fact.
　Therefore, they can limit the quality and quantity of information they give to their wives, and hide what they do not want to be known.

　Hercule is doing something similar to Scheherazade.

　As a result, it is not possible to probe into state secrets, but it is still an important window of information.
　For example, Rinasha, who married Ihsan of Kurotsuki, is informing Lemuria of the current situation in Kurotsuki, even though she is filtered by Kurotsuki to some extent.

　Therefore, Hercule was expecting Constantina to play such a role in the future.
　But...

　However, when Constantina became too attached to King Ludwig II, it became impossible for her to do so.
　She loves her husband, but her motherland is still her motherland.
　I want her to feel that way.

　Motherland?　I love my husband more than that!

　This is a very beautiful story in a love story, but I don't want my daughter to be in that situation.

(I hope she's as dry as Linasha. (I wish she was as dry as Linasha, but ...... she's still young, and we'll have to teach her a lesson.

　In the worst case scenario, the spying can be left to Constantina's bodyguards and followers.
　And ......

"But Bradamante. I'm going to miss you ...... a little bit.

　Hercule said lightly to Bradamante.
　Fortunately, he was able to get to know Bradamante.
　Her loyalty seems to be to Fulling, so we can't expect her to deliberately release information that would be detrimental to Fulling. ......
　Still, more channels of information are desirable.

That's right, Your Majesty. But as long as the friendship between our two countries remains unbroken, our friendship will never be severed. I hope we will meet again soon.

　Bradamante replied to Hercule nonchalantly.

　Although it was half-obvious that she was his mistress, she was still a member of his diplomatic mission.
　Therefore, she could not kiss him passionately and say good-bye.

　(Well, we'll come back next year or so.) But since we made love last night, we have no regrets.

(Well, we'll be back next year or so, I suppose. (We'll probably come back next year or so. ...... And if Ludwig II decides to study abroad in earnest, he'll stay here for a longer period of time.

　This visit of King Ludwig II is just a face-to-face meeting.
　If King Ludwig II likes Lemuria, we can expect him to study here for a long time.

　Not to be smug, but Lemuria has a better culture, technology, and legal system than Fullerling.
　In fact, King Ludwig II seemed to be overwhelmed by Lemuria's national power.
　If he was an industrious man, he would have wanted to study abroad to learn from Lemuria.

　That way, he could enjoy the body of the bradamante a little more.
　Or not.
　We can make King Ludwig II pro-Lemuria.

　That would certainly have a positive impact on the future of relations between our two countries for a hundred years.

"Ugh ......, goodbye ......, goodbye .......
"Constantina, this is not a goodbye. Constantina, this is not goodbye. ...... I'll be back soon, I promise.

　Hercule watches as Ludwig II pats Constantina's head.
　Fortunately, King Ludwig II is planning to come back soon.

"Well, Your Highness. I'll see you soon.

　Thinking that it was about time, Hercule said to King Ludwig II.
　He nodded broadly.

I look forward to seeing you again. Emperor of Lemuria.

　And so the diplomatic mission of Fraling returned home.





"Now, on today's agenda: ......

　After King Ludwig II's return.
　After the return of King Ludwig II, Hercule gathered his subjects for a quick meeting.

"Fortunately, the West has settled down. There will be no major battles in the west for at least another ten years.

　The west has settled down.
　Yes, the west.

"As you have already heard, the east is currently in turmoil again.

　Until recently, the situation in the East was stable.
　There are multiple reasons for this: ......

　More than a decade ago, Hercule's victory over Phallus brought the borders into order.
　Scheherazade's marriage to Hercule deepened the friendship between Phallus and Lemuria.
　The alliance between Kuro Stake and Lemuria made it impossible for Phallus to make a move.


　Sasan VIII was more interested in Sindhira, or the east, than in Lemuria, or the west.

　These are just a few examples.


　However, in the last ten years, the situation had changed dramatically.
　This was due to the end of the war between the Kuro and Silk Kingdoms.

　According to the information from Linasha, Kuro Thrust had won the war on somewhat favorable terms.
　Considering Linasha's position as the queen of Kurotsuki, it might have ended in a painful draw.

　But that was irrelevant for now.
　According to Linasha's information, it was a close fight between the two sides.
　So whether you won or lost, ...... you still lost a lot of troops.

　This indicated a decrease in the pressure on Foulds from Kurotsuto.

　There was another change in the situation.
　This was the information that Sasan VIII had succeeded in bringing Sindhira to her knees a few years ago.
　This information came from a missionary who had come to the Kingdom of Fars to preach.

　Unlike the war between the Kuro Rush and the Silk Kingdom, the battle between Foulds and Cyndira was dominated by Foulds from start to finish.
　In the first place, Sindhira was just a place name, and in reality it was just a series of small kingdoms that were steadily attacked by Farus.

　This increased the national power of the Phals: ......
　It is indeed an exaggeration.
　It is difficult to collect taxes properly from a newly conquered land.

　However, the fact that the rebellion in the Sindhira region had died down meant that Phars had more military power.

　With the marriage of Scheherazade and Hercule, and the marriages between the elves of both countries, there was some optimism that they would not attack so easily. ......

　The last war in Edelna changed that optimism.

　Fars had lined up his troops on the border at that time.
　They did not attack us, but they were ready to attack us and put pressure on us.

　What this means is that Phallus has the capacity to go to war with Lemuria and is willing to do so at the worst.

Well, ...... it's not like they're going to attack us today or tomorrow, is it? ......, right?　Todoris.

　Hercule asked his most trusted diplomat.
　He nodded broadly.

"Yes, Your Majesty. At the moment, our country is in a position to end the problems in the west and focus on the east. In other words, we are on the same terms as Fars. Sasan VIII is a brave man, but not a savage one. In principle, he will not attack us. The alliance with ...... Kuro Thrust is not out of effect.

　It is true that Sasan VIII has shown himself to be aggressive.
　But that's while Lemuria is fighting Fulling.
　Moreover, he never tried to cross the border, just posture.

　In other words, this could be taken as an indication of Sasan VIII's intention to "do it if there is a chance, but not otherwise.
　It could also mean, "If you attack us, we will intercept you.

　It is merely a check.

Therefore, ...... will now reinforce the eastern border. Specifically, we will move the Tonten soldiers who have been assigned to the Kingdom of Chelda to the east. We will also be renovating and expanding the Great Wall (Remes).

　The defenses on the border against Fars are still strong enough, but ......
　The defenses on the border against the Fals are still strong enough, but they are far from perfect for Hercule.

　This was because he had invested his manpower and resources in the problems of the west, with Bulgaron, Cerda, Edelna, and Fulling.
　The more we focus on the West, the less power we have to direct to the East.

　Up until now, however, there had been no problem in postponing this due to the friendly relationship with Fars.
　But now that the situation is more urgent and we can focus our efforts to the east, it's a different story.

"Also, ...... will begin a full-scale campaign against the tribes of the Havilah Peninsula.

　Habila Peninsula.
　The Habila Peninsula is a large peninsula that lies between Lemuria and Fars.
　Most of it is desert, but ...... it was also a major trade route for the Lemurian Empire to obtain spices and other luxury goods without going through the Kingdom of Phars.

　The Lemurian Empire had no advantage in controlling this area directly, but it was important for the Lemurian Empire to gain political control of this area in order to stabilize trade.

Of course, the Pharrs will try to counter this. As a result, there may be a kind of proxy war in the ...... Havilah Peninsula. When that happens, perhaps our country will have to send troops directly. While you're at it, acclimate your standing army to the desert climate.

　We must avoid a full-scale confrontation with the Fals.
　Hercule told his subjects of such a policy.




　But ...... whether Hercule and Sasan VIII want it or not.
　As long as the powder keg exists, it will explode at some point.


　That was the inevitability of history.