In the guest pavilion of the Valerian Palace, Wesley sat on the reception room chair with a sombre look on his face. Sitting in front of him were his prime minister, grand duke, and duke of the Astonville Kingdom, all of them with a similar expression.
"You cannot cancel everything, your highness," his prime minister said. "With the rumours around you, you cannot find someone with such a high standing as Lady Natalia," he added.
"And what do you expect me to do? Hand over my kingdom to him on a platter?" he thundered. "The kingdom is small as it is, and if I hand over three towns to Valerian, nothing will remain," he added, furling his fist into a ball.
"You know we need Valerian more than it needs us, so I think we can negotiate again, since all the emperor gave were suggestions and he did not demand them," the grand duke said.
