Chapter 296 - Pursuit

"Hahahaha! Last time, I was striking a deal with your brother...now I'm striking a deal with you, the Crown Prince! Oh, how far have you fallen~," said a tyrannical-looking man as he eyed the first prince of Regulus.

"Watch your mouth, Alexandre, if it wasn't because of Rowan leaving so abruptly and some damn mercenaries causing turmoil within our ranks, do you think we would have stopped our assault?!"

The man sitting in front of Albert was the tyrant ruler of Merkruz, Alexandre Merkruz.

"Hah! That's the funniest thing I've heard! Without your strategist, how will you even continue your pitiful assault?"

"Why you—"

"You think you're worthy to sit there across me?" Alexandre interrupted.

"Without the aid of that woman, your kingdom would have already fallen!"

"..."

"Pitiful, this is just how low your kingdom has fallen. Even the Second Prince can get away scot-free after committing an act of savagery and treason!"

"Shut up!"

"Hahahahahaha! Why don't we get down to business?"

"...Tsk..."

"Now, now, we both have the same goal right now, so why don't we put aside our hatred for a moment. We both have the same target in mind, Fatima Silvaria of the newfound Silvaria Kingdom."

"..."

"I honestly don't understand you. Why would you not help that woman in her time of need, but instead strike a deal with me to ensure her death?"

"That's none of your business."

"I thought she was your third brother's wife?"

"..."

"Tsk, tsk, a family feud, eh? How stupid. You have us knocking on your front door, but here you all are attacking each other like rabid dogs. I'm questioning myself if I should have started this war in the first place when all I needed to do was wait until you guys eventually kill each other off!"

"Don't spout nonsense!"

"Pfft, if it wasn't because of those stupid elders in my kingdom's court, I wouldn't have even started this war, but now that things have escalated to this degree, I naturally can't forgive the bastards who took away many of my kingdom's fine soldiers!" Alexandre replied.

"Are you still going to war with us then?"

"I wish I could, but unfortunately I've lost too many in this war due to your brother's wife! What I want is her head!"

"Didn't you already strike a deal with my treacherous little brother already?"

"I have, but now I want to strike a deal with you."

"What do you want?"

"We want passage into your kingdom so that we may attack the Silvaria Kingdom hidden deep within the Sky Piercing Mountains."

"You want passage? And then once you get that you'll just straight-ahead attack our lands! You think I am foolish?!"

"Relax Albert, at least listen to what I have to say."

"..."

"I want that woman's head, but I want her more as a bride... a talented young woman like her should naturally stand next to someone as gifted as I!"

Albert scoffed at his words, "Don't flatter yourself."

"Hmph, in exchange for the passage, we'll sign a treaty of non-aggression for the next 10 years. How about it? I'll give you some time to build your forces and stabilize your rule over the kingdom before I consider attacking you again."

"..."

"Isn't this a perfect opportunity? You won't have me breathing down your neck for the next 10 years, and if I'm in the mood, I'll even destroy or just hand over the Silvaria Kingdom to you on a silver platter! All I want is the girl."

"...You're sounding more and more like my stupid little brother..."

"Your little brother is just a lecherous fool. What I want is not just her body, but also her head."

"...Then you'll just use her to attack us after the treaty."

"Pretty sharp, aren't you? So that's why you should build your forces properly for the next 10 years. I heard that the Silvaria Kingdom has been trading many precious ores and raw materials to your kingdom..."

"..."

Since the Regulus Kingdom became allies with the Silvaria Kingdom, they've been receiving a large intake of precious materials and ores through their trade with Silvaria. He had been eyeing these precious resources of the Silvaria Kingdom, but the kingdom was so cut off from the world that even until now, no one other than Rowan knew about the Kingdom's actual location within the Sky Piercing Mountains.

Rowan was also the only person who has ever step foot into Fatima's kingdom. Albert had long since found the mountain pass leading into the No-Man's Land, but the mountain path had many branches leading to who-knows-where and it was naturally populated by a dense amount of monsters. Any form of search party or expedition had been wiped out so there was no one to report about the route leading to Silvaria Kingdom.

Only Fatima and Rowan knew. Fatima would naturally not share such important information and whenever he asked Rowan, his brother would always give an excuse to not leak the info. None of his retainers knew about the passage as well, so the Silvaria Kingdom's precise location had remained a mystery.

"Albert," Alexandre called out and interrupted Albert's thoughts.

"...What?"

"My men have been pursuing the woman's entourage deep into the mountains. They're probably heading back to their kingdom to regroup and strike back, but I'll soon have the precise location to their kingdom."

"They made it past the border?"

"No, they didn't. The woman had instead bypassed the border and went straight into the mountains. She most likely has another route to her kingdom. Once I find this new route, I'll just use that instead."

"W-wait!"

"I won't wait. We either strike the deal now or not at all. But remember this, once I've finished dealing with the Silvaria Kingdom, you're kingdom will be next."

"...Fine, then... I'll agree to your terms." Albert said through gritted teeth.

"Hmph, you should have agreed from the start."

******

After their agreement, Albert had immediately issued for his kingdom's border army and Karen's army to cease any ongoing aggressions with the Merkruz forces and Alexandre did the same. Now both kingdoms have stopped attacking each other and the Merkruz army was only waiting stationery in front of the Regulus Kingdom's borders.

When Karen got wind of the treaty that her older brother had signed with Merkruz's ruler, she couldn't help but question her brother's intentions. They were sacrificing an alliance with the Silvaria Kingdom only because Fatima's family had disrespected the royal family.

She couldn't understand how this had happened, but when she heard the full account from one of Rowan's men, Karen was immediately infuriated. When Karen went to find her second brother, she couldn't. It was like that person had suddenly disappeared from the face of Alterna.

Albert was the only person who knew where Armano was. He had locked Armano inside a tower in the palace to undergo rehabilitation and healing.

Rowan wasn't able to catch up with Fatima so he decided to just head over to Silvaria by himself. He brought along only his trusted subordinates and the private army that he had been secretly raising.

******

A few days later, Rowan was able to arrive at Silvaria with his small army. It was a good thing that Silvaria's border guards were able to quickly identify Rowan or else they might have begun attacking him with their new weapons, modern Earth's cannons.

These weapons which closely resembled the Mag-Cannons that Rowan had seen during their attack on the Merkruz fortress caused him to widen his eyes in shock. He didn't expect that the Silvaria Kingdom also had these weapons.

The weapons were only similar in shape, but not in function. The Mag-Cannons launched magic bullets at their enemies, while Earth's cannons only launched cannon shells.

Rowan quickly went to have an audience with Kaiser, but right after receiving his report, Kaiser and Anastasia were shocked to hear that Fatima had fallen out with the First Prince and that Cecil's wives were with her.

"W-wait! What do you mean Cecil's wives?! Is this some kind of joke you're pulling on us, boy?!" Kaiser yelled furiously.

"N-No sir! What I speak is the truth! Two women had suddenly showed up one day and saved Ima on her journey to the frontlines. One thing led to another and when they revealed their identities, they called themselves Silvarias and stated that their husband was someone named Cecil Silvaria!"

"Impossible!"

"Sir, please hear me out. What I'm saying is true. Ima had asked for their husband's description and she was able to confirm that the person who's those two women's husband was undoubtedly her brother!"

"S-so...He's alive...Hahaha...He's alive! Honey, c-can you believe this?!" Kaiser roared in happiness as he turned around to face his wife.

"T-two...women? You mean that...my little Cel has two wives?" Anastasia asked to no one in particular.

"Eh?"

"Wait...now that I think about it...you said two!" Kaiser turned his attention back to Rowan and roared.

"Y-yes..."

"So he has two wives?!"

"F-From what I've been observing, those two have proclaimed themselves as your son's wives. If I'm not mistaken, the first wife's name is Lucia Silvaria and the second wife's name is Serilla Silvaria..."

"..."

The rest of Cecil's family members from the main branch and all the other branches were currently present so when they heard Rowan's words, a deadly silence befell the hall.

"My big brother...already has a wife?" Angelia said with a despairing look in her eyes.

"Two wives, Angel," Gabriel corrected her with a snicker.

"Ohohohoh, looks like our little Angel is no longer number one in our youngest brother's heart~"

"NOOOOO!!! Shut up stupid Luca!"

Luca only snickered in response, while Gabriel was still as absentminded as usual. Only Matheus was nodding his head in approval at the news.

"Not only does our youngest brother come back to us, but he even brings back two women with him."

Cecil's family from the main branch were all elated that the successor had finally come back while the elders and family members from the other branches only paid attention to the fact that the successor had brought back two women as wives, something that went against tradition.

Normally, the wife of the successor would be selected and introduced by the elders, but Cecil had gone against traditions and chose his partner, or partners, himself. It was unprecedented and unheard of for the successor to have chosen his partner or have more than 1 partner.

The main branch's elders, Cecil's grandparents didn't seem to particularly mind because after being sent into another world, they were separated from Cecil from the start and had long since lost the chance to introduce anyone to him.

Knowing that he had found a partner to spend the rest of his days with, the two elders were naturally happy for him, although they couldn't help but frown a bit at the thought of that little rascal having found 2 wives instead of just one.