Bear School Astartes

’Bang,’ Veltrest’s fist slammed on the table, his face full of fury.

”It’s definitely not me; I’ve never thought about marrying a little girl to get the crown! After all, I...”

”After all, you’ve been having an affair with Lady La Vallette for the past four years,” Miv smiled again, ”like two loving doves, just waiting for the old baron to close his eyes.”

”Don’t glare at me, my relative. It’s reasonable for countries other than Temeria and Redania to have spies, isn’t it? I pay them to do just that.”

”Considering the Sintra throne, many kings would be willing to sacrifice their happiness for it.”

”Wait a minute.” Henselt scratched his beard, suspiciously, ”Speaking of ’many kings,’ Calanthe was going to marry her granddaughter to King Aivelle of Videns’s son. Does that old fellow also have suspicions? It concerns Sintra’s territory. And it’s not just him...”

Vizimir murmured quietly, ”Indeed, King Aivelle has three sons. Among those present, who else has male offspring? Hm? Miv? What if you’re confusing us on purpose?”

”Then you can count me out,” Queen of Lilia smiled even more charmingly, ”Both my sons are still wandering around, it’s the price of indulgent upbringing.”

”Even if they haven’t gotten into any trouble worthy of the gallows, I doubt they suddenly aspire to be kings.”

”Although they are my sons, all I can say is they are even more foolish than my late husband. May he rest in peace, anyone who knew my husband would know what that implies.”

”Absolutely,” King of Redania agreed, ”I’ve met him. Are your sons really more foolish? Goodness, I thought he was foolish to the limit... Please forgive me, Miv.”

”I forgive you, Vizimir. Now, who else has sons?”

Miv spoke, her eyes brightly fixed on Henselt.

King of Codwin said coldly, ”My son is already married!”

”Is that really a problem?” Demavi chimed in sarcastically, ”A wise person just mentioned: considering the Sintra throne, many kings would sacrifice personal happiness, let alone the happiness of a prince.”

”I will not tolerate such slander! Don’t pick on me; don’t other kings have sons too? Like Nedimir from the Humphries Alliance, he has two sons, and he’s a widower! And don’t forget Istrad Tisson from Kovir!”

”Exclude those two,” Vizimir waved his hand, ”both families are considering political marriage, planning mutual governance. At such times extending hands outward is both impractical and greedy.”

”Indeed, both Humphries and Kovir are too far from Sintra. They’re in the farthest north, unable to reach here.” Demavi suddenly shifted the conversation, ”But there is someone very close to Sintra, very close!”

”Who?”

”Enshir of Enriss. He hasn’t married yet and is younger than you, Veltrest. He is in good health, heard that three knights’ wives are his lovers.”

”For the sake of smallpox and plague,” Redania’s king furrowed his brows deeply. ”If that’s the case, Enshir could crush us without much effort!”

”Obviously, the Sintra people and nobles would follow Calanthe’s bloodline. Imagine if Enshir got the young lion, what then? Adding insult to injury, Queen of Sintra would also be the Niflgaard Empress.”

”Empress?” Henselt sneered, ”You’re exaggerating, Vizimir. Why would Enshir grant that girl an empress’s crown?”

”He has already captured Sintra, conquered it, ruled it, made it into a province. To give away an empress’s position for something already in hand?”

”First,” Veltrest countered, ”Enshir is occupying Sintra as an invader. But if he can find that girl and make her queen, he can legitimately rule there.”

”The cost of Niflgaard’s governance in Sintra will plummet! Sintra could even support the Niflgaard Empire!”

”Niflgaard marrying into Calanthe’s lineage will no longer make them an invading enemy to the North but a neighbor we must respect and engage.”

”The public is already scattered in heart; by that time, resisting a war’s pressure would be enormous. How could we fight the Niflgaard people? We’d really become invaders to Sintra!”

Righteous and unrighteous wars seem a matter of names.

But if the difference really lies in name alone, shouldn’t all ministers and generals throughout history have a total pragmatic view?

Yet there’s not a single person who wouldn’t use the claim to justice when they have it. Anyone who has a choice between a righteous and unrighteous war knows what to choose with eyes closed.

This isn’t just a name... It’s actual power!

”Damn!” Veltrest’s face turned utterly grim, ”I don’t know who’s looking for that child, only that it’s not me. But I declare I will start searching for her now.”

”I still believe she is dead, but we cannot take risks; her identity is too important!”

Henselt first nodded, then said, ”But another thought, shouldn’t we first discuss, after finding her, who she should marry? This shouldn’t be left to fate, right?”

”Initially she can be with Visegrad’s guerrilla troops, which can greatly boost the morale of Sintra survivors and refugees, becoming a symbol.”

”But to ensure Sintra remains an iron gate against the South after its restoration... don’t act naive, you all understand what I mean.”

”When that little girl takes the throne, her husband is crucial, he must be able to bear the responsibility of defending the North at the Yaruga River’s mouth! Anyone here volunteering?”

”Not me.” Miv said jokingly, ”I relinquish this right.”

”I don’t intend to exclude those not present.” Demavi said seriously, ”We can’t exclude them.”

”Even those who are about to engage in joint rule like Nedimir and Istrad Tisson are no exception. Even including Visegrad.”

”Perhaps Marshal Sintra might have unexpected methods of using that ’battle flag’? Everyone’s heard of examples of marriages between nobles and commoners, right?”

”Though this marshal is already ugly with age, with enough absinthe and aphrodisiac, the little girl might fall for him. Even if just for a few nights, that would be enough. Do we have a King Visegrad in our plan?”

”No,” Veltrest murmured, ”That’s not included in my plan.”

”Neither for me.” Vizimir said with a pained look, ”At most he’s a collaborator during the war, after the war? Maybe he could establish merits, but it depends on his ability. That’s it, I have no intention of placing him on the throne.”

”Besides, if the one seeking the lion cub is Enshir, we can’t afford this risk.”

”Of course.” Henselt said decisively, ”The lion cub must never fall into Enshir’s hands, she must not... cannot fall alive into the hands of anyone detrimental to us!”

”You want to kill her?” Miv frowned, ”That’s too disgraceful. We don’t need such extremes. First find her, then hand her over to me, I’ll teach her to become a graceful princess in a castle deep in the mountains.”

”Then marry her to some Northern knight, a rootless, homeless knight, everyone can oversee. When you next see her, she’ll have with her a child, and another one still in her womb.”

”If I calculated correctly, this means there would be three potential usurpers inclined towards Niflgaard in the future.” Vizimir said coldly. ”No, Miv. This course of action is indeed disgraceful, but we cannot take risks.”

”As long as that girl lives, her allegiance is the greatest destabilizing factor. It’s a matter of national interest, kings.”

The wind whistling through the Ponta River Valley continued to ruffle the window frames, and the kings fell into silence.

”There’s one more person.” Suddenly, Veltrest, who had been silent, spoke up, ”Forgive me, kings. Deciding to kill a little girl is indeed too extreme, so I’m trying to find some room for maneuver.”

Miv sided with her relative this time: ”We’re all ears.”

”Isn’t there still a distinguished noble family within Sintra itself?” Veltrest said meaningfully, ”Young, suitable, handsome, and absolutely unyielding against the Niflgaard Empire... you know who I’m talking about, you’re well aware.”

”Sintra shall remain Sintra’s Sintra, still standing as an iron gateway before the Niflgaard Empire. A free, powerful, determined nation.”

”Well said, Veltrest.” Demavi sneered, ”But we cannot control him!”

The King of Temeria immediately retorted: ”Control? Esteemed King Demavi, even if you placed your own son on Sintra’s throne, would you dare to say: you can control him?”

”When he takes the throne, no matter who funded him before or whom he worked for or whose blood he carries, it will not change one fact——”

”The one sitting on the throne will have power, and once those powers are finely operated over time, he can break free of control! Becoming a king!”

”There have been many regent kings in history, when it’s time to step down, they do step down, don’t they? There’s no perfect control.”

”I indeed cannot control a son who becomes king.” Demavi frankly admitted.

”But at least I can exert some influence, because I know my son, I know how to say things in a way that will make him value or accept something more, refuse it, or be enraged.”

”But Lann of Sintra? We haven’t interacted with him, the only time we saw him was him slaying others on the battlefield with terrifying prowess.”

”But how battlefield performance translates to national politics... Who knows? In the end, we don’t understand him.”

”Only you! Veltrest, only you have had daily interactions with him.”

”This brings us back to the start, I suspect... You might just want someone you’re familiar with, but we’re not, to occupy Sintra’s throne?”