Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1081: Chapter 1080: Closed-Door Conference

In the spacious and bright Hatching Room, the low resonance of the rune devices accompanied by the humming of the ventilation system quietly echoed, but these slight sounds were not noisy; instead, they made the entire room seem even quieter.

This quietness lasted for a short while before Enya gently broke the silence: ”Is that so... It seems that a lot of things have happened...”

”I don’t know much either,” Betty said a bit apologetically, ”some of these things were told to me by the master or Princess Rebecca, and some I heard from others chatting... They said a lot, but I didn’t quite understand most of it. It feels like those things are happening far away, and I don’t know why everyone is discussing it so eagerly.”

”Being enthusiastic about distant happenings is a joy for many mortals — but focusing on the things around you is just as good,” Enya’s tone was gentle, carrying a faint pleasant tremor as it came from within the eggshell, ”I can see you’re a very simple child, which I like very much — if possible, we could become friends.”

”I’d love that, I love new friends!” Betty immediately brightened up, but quickly remembered something and hurriedly corrected, ”But I’m no longer a child — I’ve been an adult for quite a while!”

”...An adult, huh,” Enya’s voice fell into sudden silence for two seconds after Betty’s words, then she spoke softly, with a hint of emotion a maid could not comprehend, ”You mentioned earlier that those envoys from Talronde spoke about many things with your master, and they went to that meeting together, right?”

”Yes,” Betty nodded repeatedly, ”I heard the master mention it, saying something about ’dragons returning to this world,’ and that it has far-reaching implications, but I don’t really understand it.”

”Returning to this world... how wonderful,” Enya’s voice sounded with a touch of pride, and maybe a bit of a smile, ”They’ve taken their first step, and it’s sooner than I imagined... After more than a million years, finally, something good happens in this world again.”

Betty blinked. She found that Lady Enya always said things she couldn’t understand, but she didn’t mind — the world is full of things she can’t understand, many of which she could get explanations for by reading or asking the master, and those she simply can’t comprehend... she’d just let them be, they wouldn’t affect her mood.

So she quickly set those confusions aside and once again smiled. She picked up her favorite large teapot and got up to the pale golden giant egg, ”Lady Enya, would you like some more tea?”

”...A little more, please, thank you,” Enya hesitated for a moment before saying, ”But this tea ultimately just spills outside and adds to your cleaning burden.”

”Not at all, they all flow down the grooves beside the base to the floor — I can wipe it off later,” Betty smiled happily, ”I’m very good at cleaning; when there weren’t many people around here, I could clean an entire floor of tables and chairs all by myself!”

As she spoke, she approached the golden giant egg, carefully pouring the steaming tea onto the eggshell’s surface, curious, ”Lady Enya, can you really ’drink’ tea like this?”

”It’s a very peculiar feeling, I’m not sure if I’ve precisely ’tasted’ the flavor and heat... but it feels nice,” Enya’s voice was quite cheerful, ”I never thought I’d have such an amazing experience...”

”But I feel like it’s a bit odd,” Betty looked up at the eggshell in front of her, ”I remember last time when I poured tea for Mr. Egg, he didn’t seem very pleased...”

”Is that so? That’s unfortunate... but I’m fine with it!”

...

Nightfall at Outpost 112. The lights set up throughout the town were already lit, the sky full of stars covered this border settlement established by elves. The artificial light and the starlight intertwined, outlining the graceful and elegant lines of the racially characteristic buildings in this interplay of light and shadow. The increased visitors made this once quiet small town lively and bustling, yet outside the outpost, it remained a dark vast wilderness — the dark ridges and the endless night-valley fiercely contrasted with the scene, reminding every visitor what the ’boundary of human civilization’ truly meant.

The Jade Hall was located on the west side of the town, built on an elevated area, so from the second-floor rooms of the hall, one could directly overlook the barren wilderness outside the town — Matilda Augustus stood in front of a pointed-arched floor-to-ceiling window with elven characteristics, gazing into the vast night outside. Her sight swept over the expansive and somewhat fearsome darkness, towards the hazy glow at the dark horizon’s end: that was the grand silhouette of the great wall casting on the horizon, and even at such a distant range, that awe-inspiring energy barrier could still be seen clearly with the naked eye.

After gazing for a long time, Matilda finally withdrew her gaze: ”There lies the boundary of human civilization... I only remember vaguely looking at it from afar once when I was very small, yet never thought that until now we’d still only be able to view it from a distance...”

Emperor Rosetta Augustus was sitting not far beside her on a chair, he looked up at his daughter: ”Gazing at it from afar, what do you feel?”

”I feel it’s an abyss ready to expand at any moment, a giant maw poised to swallow the civilized world — the destructive power is kept on that wasteland by a thin barrier, with countless mutated monsters that could sweep the world beyond, yet the human nations around this abyss have slept in peace for hundreds of years, which feels somewhat... irrational.”

”That barrier isn’t thin — in fact, its energy focus layer is half a kilometer thick, but you’re right, against the vast Gondor wasteland and the even vaster Loren, even such a thick energy barrier seems as thin as paper,” Rosetta nodded slightly, ”We’ve been protected by this ’paper’ for over seven hundred years, but even so, this paper once exhausted the strength of the nations on the continent.”

Matilda turned her head to look at her father: ”...Did Gawain Cecil arrange the meeting address here to remind those nations, which have become complacent outside the barrier for too long?”

”A mature ruler always sets more than one objective in their arrangements. Using the desolation near the great walls to alarm the world may be one of his goals, but it’s certainly just one of them,” Emperor Rosetta said. ”Nevertheless, he is the first to attempt integrating all the Mortal Nations, a path none of us ever envisioned... For this reason alone, we should take this meeting seriously.”

”And also treat Cecil Empire’s potential ’appetite’ cautiously, right?” Matilda turned around, her expression extremely serious. ”What do you think Gawain Cecil will talk to us about tonight?”

”...Neither he nor I are fond of wasting time,” Rosetta said after a brief pause. ”There will be two meetings here: a formal treaty signing between Cecil and Typhon, and an alliance meeting of the Mortal Nations—we both know that compared to the second meeting, the first cannot waste too much time and effort. Tonight we must finalize the framework and bottom line of the treaty in a closed-door meeting; he won’t delay this matter until the next day, nor will I, so he’ll likely directly present his terms... then it’ll be simple bargaining.”

Matilda pondered this, and just as she was deep in thought, the sound of footsteps and a knock came from outside the door, followed by a senior attendant entering the room, bowing at the doorway: ”His Majesty Gawain Cecil has arrived.”

”Please invite the guest in,” Rosetta immediately said—he didn’t need to arrange his demeanor because he was always prepared for what was about to happen, ”Matilda, you sit beside me.”

As Gawain walked into the reception room, he saw an exquisite coffee table placed at the center of the room, illuminated by the light from the chandelier. The tabletop made of lapis lazuli gleamed, and Emperor Rosetta Augustus was already seated on a sofa on one side of the table, with the ’Empire’s Pearl’ who had previously visited Cecil sitting beside him—no other figures could be seen in the room.

This was a closed-door meeting, a heads-of-state contact before formal, public negotiations. It didn’t quite align with typical diplomatic conventions, but here—Gawain and Rosetta themselves set the ’norm.’

Beside Rosetta was only Princess Matilda, and similarly, Gawain hadn’t brought more personnel: only Amber accompanied him, whom he deeply trusted as his Minister of Intelligence.

A ’clack’ sound came from behind, as the door to the reception room closed behind them. Gawain walked forward with Amber, and Emperor Rosetta Augustus rose to greet them even before they got close—this middle-aged man, who always wore a gloomy expression, now had a smile, and his originally somber and negative aura seemed noticeably diminished. This evident change, of course, did not escape Gawain’s notice. Gawain smiled slightly: ”Good evening, Rosetta, you’re looking much better than when we last met.”

Rosetta’s smile became more pronounced; he even joked, ”A good night’s sleep is extremely important for a middle-aged guy like me—fortunately, my sleep quality has been quite good recently.”

Gawain clearly understood what the other party was referring to. It was a nice opener—a shared experience of sorts that could effectively draw both sides closer and make some not-so-’friendly’ terms harder to voice. Although such personable small talk might not have much effect on people like him and Rosetta, it at least set a better atmosphere for what’s to come.

”It seems today there are only the four of us here,” Gawain nodded to Matilda not far away. ”With no outsiders present, it looks like we can chat more freely.”

”Miss Amber,” Rosetta also looked towards Amber beside Gawain, his expression briefly very serious, but quickly returning to normal, ”I’ve heard you’re an elusive shadow grandmaster and an expert in the field of intelligence. Your appearance in public symbolizes Gawain Cecil’s utmost sincerity.”

Frankly, in that instant, Gawain did get suddenly worried, thinking that perhaps Amber’s quick wit might be helpful in this meeting but overlooking whether her flamboyant nature would cause a scene in such a solemn occasion—but when he turned to look at the half-elf beside him, he was greatly surprised to see that this usually boisterous, unruly figure was now showing an extremely professional, impeccably polite demeanor. She faced Rosetta’s praise with a perfectly timed smile, with almost no flaw in tone or expression: ”You flatter me—I’m merely here to fulfill my duties, and as for sincerity... I trust that standing here means both you and our Majesty exhibit the utmost sincerity.”

”...Of course,” Rosetta nodded slightly and then casually remarked, ”Diana has greatly praised the Cecil intelligence agency to me, even saying ’agents personally trained by the Cecil intelligence head might be the finest in the world.’ I doubted that, but recently, as matters in Aldernon stabilized, I indeed witnessed their remarkable prowess in my spare moments.”

Amber beamed broadly: ”You still overpraise us—in my view, your country’s Wanders and agents are equally outstanding, especially that batch doing ’business’ in Tamdor.”

Rosetta’s expression did not change a bit; instead, he slightly turned, gesturing for Gawain and Amber to sit, all while casually saying, ”Such situations should decrease in the future, shouldn’t they? We’ve wasted too much effort in prying into our neighbor’s secrets.”

”Of course, we are here today to establish further trust.” Amber’s smile remained bright, her tone so sincere that it even surprised Gawain a little.

However, how genuine that ’sincerity’ was remained uncertain, as Gawain and Rosetta’s attention were evidently not on that matter.

”Let’s discuss the issues truly worth our attention,” Rosetta took the initiative to bring up the topic once both sides were seated, ”A war, stemming from misunderstanding and deliberately incited by enemies, erupted between Typhon and Cecil. Now everything should end, shouldn’t it?”

”Of course, and in fact, the war has already ended,” Gawain nodded, speaking with a candid expression, ”We’ve already signed a long-term ceasefire agreement at the border, and discussions between our generals are going very smoothly. We’ll undoubtedly issue a joint peace declaration and publicly explain the truth behind the scenes. This matter will conclude peacefully; trade will resume, and exchanges at both national and civilian levels will reopen—on this point, we surely have consensus.”

”I have no questions about this matter,” Rosetta’s expression was stern, and a gradually tense aura finally began spreading around him, ”Whether it be diplomatic recovery or reopening trade routes, diplomats will naturally negotiate these points thereafter. However, there is one matter—I wish for your direct response.

”How much longer will Cecil’s Army remain stationed at Winterwolf Fortress?”