A few months later, an event about the economic and trade partnership was held, and all nations within the Larrod Continent were invited to attend the event. It was held in the Jalem Kingdom. The event was held once every 5 years, and it was meant to unite all nations within the Larrod continent under one system to boost trade.
Everyone is enjoying their time, having light conversation, and building friendships with people from other nations.
While the event is ongoing, King Maden is currently in a luxurious room reserved for high-ranking people.
After a little more drink with his official, he decided to leave early as he felt this heaviness on his old body. King Maden is 75 years old, so he is not as strong as he was in his younger days, and his illness doesn't allow his body to do whatever he wants.
King Maden told one of his officials to inform King of Jalem Kingdom and others that he will be leaving early.
After The Official finished informing everyone, King Maden walked out of the room, but suddenly King George of Estamore Kingdom rushed to stop him and shouted, saying that he wanted to speak to King Maden.
The moment King Maden heard King George shouting, he paused and felt like his body had awakened from a dream. Even with his body feeling heavy, the moment he saw King George, he was locked in to face King George.
King George: Maden? My friend, please look at me, I am not here to face you as the king of Estamore, but as we were back in our early days, please, Maden.
King Maden: King George, so what do I own the Pleasure
King George: Please, Maden, drop the formality, I want to talk to the Maden I know
King Maden: What do you mean, Your Majesty? I don't quite understand what you are trying to suggest.
King George: Maden, it hurt me to see you, my good friend, to try and burden yourself with such responsibility, let it open. Maden, Me, and Us as a whole are willing to stand with you. You don't need to burden yourself and risk your Kingdom's Future with the Redecan Empire.
King George speaks to King Maden desperately as he is fear of his good friend will be pulled into the dark side of the world.
King Maden looks at King George as he tries to reach out to him, not as the King of Northeerass. King Maden keeps a relaxed face, but is unable to completely stop himself from feeling saddened as the weight of King George's words hits him deeply. King Maden responds calmly.
King Maden: As the King of my people, it is in our best interest to act for the benefit of the kingdom. Letting emotion guide our decision is like letting a lion run free in a town full of people, There for I must ask you to respect our stand and our decision for the future of our land.
King George now felt this intent paint of hopelessness, he gripped his fist and closed his eyes, and opened his back to look at Maden. King George responded with a louder voice from his earlier calm tone.
King George: Maden, please just let it go. What you are doing right now will come back to hurt you and your people. Everything may appear to be growing now, but it will slowly consume you as who you are. You believe in something that will imprison you.
After King George mentioned what he believed, King Maden immediately felt immense frustration within him to the point where his hand was slightly shaking. King Maden looked at King George with a slightly angry face while responding calmly with an incredibly frustrated tone.
King Maden: George, you are the last person that I wanted to hear it from. The reason I am where I am right now it becuase of my hatred toward your way of how this world should be. What you are doing may be right, the free world, but it is also slowly rotting the generation; you and everyone of your people are making this world turn into a world full of delusion.
King George argues back by trying to explain why he and the Western world are still doing it.
King George: But that is what we as humans should live, all of us have emotions to treasure, and it is what we believe
King Maden: And that is where you wrong, half of it
King George: But we all wanted to be free, not controlled
King Maden: And that's why you don't understand
King George: Yes, I do
King Maden: No, you not, what you creating here is not the world of logic or solution of thinking, what you creating here is the thinking of belief, where they let their believe influent their sanity
King George understands what he means, as he himself also experiences this as well. King George tries to calm himself.
King George: Maden? Please
King Maden: You said, I don't have to bear the burden, but what about you, George? This idea and dream of yours is creating a burden for you as well, so we are no different from each other.
King George: I am only trying to build a world (Feeling weak as he speaks)
King Maden: How can you tell me to let it go when you can't even fix your own problem?
King George feels like all hope is nothing more but word. King Maden responds calmly.
King Maden: If you feel, excuse me, I must take my leave now,
King George stood there, feeling frustrated with himself. He was thinking maybe it would be best if he didn't come to talk to King Maden. King George took a few steps in the opposite direction from King Maden, then he paused and thought.
King George: I thought I could convince him, and try to maybe make him feel guilty to change his mind, but somehow it affected me instead
After the night ended, King George felt defeated, even though he was supposed to be the victorious king. Maden has demonstrated, something even without explosive power, and without your nation being as big as others, you can still defeat them with just words.
As for the Redecan Empire, Emperor Cladiest Sudio is with the Grand Guardian Malay. He informed Sudio that the King of Pansolina, as confirmed dead, and the Queen, who is his duaghter that suceeded the throne, are actively trying to find her father.
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Brilliant news, so what about the instruction that I entrusted to you
Malay: We have spread the news around and pointed it back to Alexander Rush, but as a dead man, no further leads will come out
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: A job well done again, Grand Guardian Malay, and
Malay: it is my pleasure
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Then what about my good friend, Maden? Is he acting strange at all
Malay: Last night at the cooperative event in Jalem Kingdom, King Maden had a deep-hearted conversation with his childhood friend King George of Estamore Kingdom
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Oh, and how deep are we talking
Malay: Despite King George trying to make him guilty, King Maden was somehow able to deflect it back at King George. It's a show that King Maden is still as sharp as he was
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: A brilliant report, it lifted the worry within me, now I can sleep easily without worry for another night. Maden's conflicted self makes me uneasy that I don't know where he might be standing tomorrow. Who knows, I might find myself bleeding while walking alongside him.
Malay: I believe you are worrying too much, Your Majesty
Sudio puase, look at Malay.
Emperor: And that is what makes you forever be my pawn, Malay. You don't understand, if you were to be in my position, you would have done the same. But how well you can performce dependence on how well you can adapt early and plan at least one step ahead,
In my view of this world, it will forever remain too complicated to fully understand; only prediction can help you move. Every step comes with consequences that will come to haunt you now or later. Now you should be able to understand why I am being so cautious of Maden.
Look at you now, you and Maden are very similar.
Malay little shocked and he asks Cladiest Sudio.
Malay: In what way, your majesty
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Your conflicted self, a conflict, something that you don't want to, but you have to force yourself to do it, and bear the feeling of that stress for the rest of your life.
The only difference between the two of you is the fact that he is stronger and more powerful in control and thinking, while you are only strong in explosive magical power, with less brain to process
Malay: My deepest Apologies for being unable to live up to your expectations
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Apologies mean nothing if you don't even feel it. I can tell, Malay, your face may be straight and calm, but I can tell you are extremely angry at me right now.
If this place wasn't the only place that you can go, you would stab me in the back just like Maden does. You serve me weren't because you are loyal or you respect me, it's because you don't have anywhere else to go, you can't kill me because you are too weak.
Malay felt this deep anger in him, he gripped his fist intently, but in front of Cladiest Sudio is nothing more but an ant trying to face against a gigantic monster.
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Maden is the king of his people, he didn't want to lean too deeply and too far on both sides, he wanted to go somewhere balance what he like to call it a tranditional norm which is also not something I wanted, the reason he came to me is beucase the western world is leaning too deep and too far to the world of the free, which is rotten the generation from the inside out if we didn't had a common enemy you might see me and Maden rip each other apart
Malay: Weren't. Because you wanted to cement yourself at the top?
Cladiest Sudio turn his gaze to look at Malay intently.
Emperor Cladiest Sudio: Do I really have to answer that question?
Malay felt this intense silence and the pressure from Sudio. His eyes couldn't seem to look at Cladiest Sudio directly, while Cladiest Sudio looked at him with a straight face. the hestitation takeover him, and Everything went silent for a few minutes until Malay was able to make himself respond.
Malay: No, Your Majesty
Studio continues to look at Malay for a few more minutes.
Emperor: You, dismiss
Malay: Understoon, Your Majesty