The witch thought I am a Demon God
Chapter 1031 - 526: Exchange of Territories_2

Chapter 1031: Chapter 526: Exchange of Territories_2

Ivita was momentarily stunned, then a smile appeared. "This isn’t a gesture of goodwill, it’s setting a trap for me."

"I knew their plans wouldn’t just end there."

"Let the Frankish emissary in, no need for special guards," she said, "they can’t harm me, even if they have some means prepared against me, isn’t the Hearthstone Witch still by my side?"

Soon after, the Frankish emissary led a White-fronted Horse into the council hall, his eyes skimming curiously over the Arthas Palace’s council hall, surprised to find that its luxury could almost match that of the Frank Empire’s court, though slightly inferior.

Indeed, it was normal; as Alsace was the strongest secular Elector and the previous two usurping Pseudo Kings loved luxury, the council hall had certainly been built as a face-saving project.

The Frankish emissary did not offer Ivita great reverence but merely bowed arrogantly and nodded. With the Kingdom of Frank now claiming to be an empire, its people grew increasingly proud, believing themselves to be the smartest, most superior race, and regarded other ethnicities as inferior.

"Respected King of Alsace, I come representing the Emperor of the Frankish people of our Empire. The Emperor of the People conveys his sincere earnestness to you, believing that the alliance of the United Kingdom and the Empire has already collapsed, and a wise monarch like yourself should stand on the correct side."

"Therefore, let me present to you three treasures."

The Hearthstone Witch, seated next to Ivita’s throne, hastily stood up, her face greedy as she said to the Frankish emissary, "So what kind of gifts have you prepared to present?"

"What kind of gift would the Emperor of the People have?"

Ivita scoffed coldly. "If your so-called ’Emperor of the People’—those two terms together already seem linguistically flawed—if your monarch wants to convince me to support him in attacking the Holy Empire, then, Sir, you might as well stop talking to avoid embarrassing us and making it so you can’t return today."

The Frankish emissary’s face twitched, "In war between nations... one cannot kill emissaries."

He was indeed somewhat afraid; the young King of Alsace might just kill him outright, so he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you misunderstand. Please let me explain, this is the first gift from the Emperor of the People, a horse named Zar. This horse comes from the United Kingdom, later captured by our Frankish noble officers, reputedly a God Beast from the overseas New Continent, perceived by the local natives as having created an island in the middle of a river."

"With exotic sentiments."

"The ancient natives’ astounding legends..."

The emissary removed a granite statue of a deity from the horse’s back. "This is also a mysterious Evil God from the New World called the Black Three Brothers. Whoever holds this strange statue will gain immense strength and their wounds will heal unusually quickly. The only flaw is that this thing craves blood."

"But I dare assure Your Majesty that the more blood it drinks, the stronger its power becomes."

Ivita looked at him coldly; the standards of the gifts were acceptable, and it was evident that precious gifts had been carefully selected, but in essence, they conveyed perfunctory contempt. Both items were colonial specialties from the New World, suitable perhaps as gifts to friends or distinguished guests, but in this context, somewhat inadequate.

Events like this usually called for items native to the Dark Magic Forest itself.

The Hearthstone Witch glanced at Ivita, not daring to accept these gifts on her own.

There were no great nobles of Alsace present in the council hall now, just some minor nobles maintaining the council hall who all showed expressions of disgust and hatred towards the Frankish emissary.

Having waited a bit, the Frankish emissary said awkwardly, "The third gift, better than the first two, much better. This is the map of three Earldoms, one Marquisate, and one Duchy bordering our Empire."

The Frankish emissary unfolded the map. "No amount of gifts can match the generosity of this one."

"The land on this map holds countless treasures."

"His Majesty Louis XI now bestows these maps upon you."

Presenting a map in such an occasion typically signified offering the territory it represented, symbolizing a generous gift.

But now the situation was very strange.

Ivita’s expression was odd, and not only that, even the normally greedy Hearthstone Witch and a group of minor nobles were stunned.

Faced with the Frankish envoy who was waiting for a response, the Hearthstone Witch incredulously shook her head and said, "What do you mean? What relation do these five countries have with the Kingdom of Frank? I have never heard of your joint rule over these countries. What are you doing presenting their maps here??"

The Frankish envoy, far from being embarrassed, spread his arms, extremely excited, "I am here on behalf of the Emperor of Frank to present to His Majesty these five territories on the map. Our Emperor of the Frankish people will recognize these five territories as your lands, helping you to expand Alsace, making Alsace Kingdom the most powerful and expansive kingdom within the empire."

"As everyone knows, Emperor Aoyue III of the Holy Empire has consistently tried to infringe upon your legitimate interests. And you have repeatedly tolerated, but the other side only encroaches further."

"You just need to switch sides, and you can obtain these lands."

Ivita’s expression was peculiar.

He had long guessed that the Frankish people were quite shameless, but he never expected Louis XI to be shameless to such an extent.

If it were a matter of dividing the world between the two countries, five territories were rather stingy, but if it were to truly give oneself five territories, these lands would at least have to remain temporarily in Frank’s hands.

The Hearthstone Witch was laughed out of anger.

"Is your Emperor joking? If it’s about negotiating territories, the control of these lands clearly belongs to Emperor Aoyue III and the actual lords. Does your emperor enjoy using other people’s possessions as bargaining chips?"

The Frankish envoy became serious. "It’s not like that, actually these five territories are just an appetizer. Our empire is planning to establish a federation named the Rhine Federation between the empire and the merely ostensible Holy Empire."

"These five countries are considered the lands of Alsace, while those smaller countries outside of these five will establish an independent federation outside of the empire."

Ivita understood then; the other party wanted to split the Holy Empire and make part of it that leaned towards the Kingdom of Frank independent, thereby establishing a new federation to reduce the legitimacy of the Holy Empire.

It indeed was a malicious scheme.

It would weaken the Holy Empire without having to confront the Electors and the Emperor head-on. Louis XI indeed had many capable and exceptional people around him.

Especially since they also wanted to involve him.

Ivita said, "Not so long ago, even now, we are still at war."

The Frankish envoy said, "Your Majesty need not feel burdened. Allies are things that change with circumstances. Every monarch must consider the interests of their own country, so changing allies is nothing out of the ordinary. Whether it’s Aoyue III or the United Kingdom, their political leanings and alliance relations have changed countless times."

"The key is, you and Emperor Aoyue III have fundamental conflicts, but you and our Emperor of the Frankish people do not have such fundamental conflicts. Allie with us, and Alsace will become strong; but allying with the empire, not to mention if the empire lost, even if it wins, afterward would mark the start of Aoyue III’s aggression towards Alsace."

Ivita said nothing, that indeed was a possibility, but the future after all is yet to happen; if one only looks at possibilities, then everything is possible.

But the way the other side put it, was also a way of thinking.

A mid-ranking noble finally couldn’t hold back anymore, angrily said, "What about dealing with the Great Lord of Black Death? You threw that great trash into the Dark Magic Forest and just left it."

Ivita coughed slightly, and the noble immediately bowed his head and backed away, knowing he had overstepped.

The Frankish envoy then said to Ivita, "Your Majesty, that was just a temporary measure. We, the Frankish people, are absolutely confident that after achieving our goals, we can take care of the Great Lord of Black Death."