The Amber Sword

“He truly is a hero!” Fleetwood did not hide his thoughts.

“Mr. Brendel-”

“Just call me Brendel.” Brendel interrupted.

“Brendel, I’d like to hear your opinion on the current situation, if you would?” Princess Gryphine picked up the porcelain teacup from her desk. She raised her head, her wide bright eyes a gleaming silver.

Brendel’s eyes swept through the entire room. The members of the Royal Faction were composed. The princess, while she seemed naive at times, actually had a very sharp mind. Only the little prince showed an ounce of fear, peeking at Brendel from behind his sister. However, there was one person whose piercing gaze made him feel uncomfortable. Maynild stood behind Gryphine, her intimidating presence causing Brendel to shift his line of sight away from her.

“To be honest, things aren’t looking good for the Royal Faction right now,” replied Brendel. “The north had long since belonged to Duke Seifer, the empire’s two greatest armies, the White Lion Squad and the Black Blade Squad, are controlled by the noble families of the north. The southern troops have yet to recover from Madara’s attacks, which is probably why Count Radner still hasn’t signed the treaty with Yinstar Dragon.”

Brendel paused. He wanted to say that the south still had Duke Viero, Duke Karsuk, and Duke Grinoires. However, amongst the true powers in the north and the south, the only one who still raised Covardo’s flag was the princess and her followers. Once the winter has ended, the ice would melt and the army in the north would march south, destroying the princess’s hopes.

But that was precisely why the empire had decided to ally themselves with the Arreck region, so he relented.

Brendel shook his head.

“I’m sure all of you know that Highland Knights are different from you. I can give you my support, but trying to get the help of the other Highland Knights is nearly impossible.” He wasn’t a true Highland Knight, but a bit of confidence and some preparations had already brought him so far.

Even if Ciel were here, he would not be able to find any holes within his story.

The members of the Royal Faction knew that Brendel spoke of the truth, so they could only nod in silence. Fortunately for Brendel, he was still in possession of Trentheim, which was the only thing stopping Count Radner, or else the rest of the members would have thought twice about going against the Holy Cathedral for this kid.

Brendel chuckled, “That doesn’t mean there isn’t any other way. Karsuk has always been threatened by Madara, and the nobles up north have already caused much dissatisfaction among the Highland Knights. As long as you don’t antagonize them, I believe that they wouldn’t mind supporting the Royal Faction. The only issue is that not everyone would want to join the losing team.”

Gryphine nodded, but she still knew not how to solve the problem. She did not actually take Brendel’s suggestion into consideration. The only reason why the Royal Faction met up with Brendel was to gain the support of the Highland Knight. Since that hope was gone, she could feel her heart start to waver.

She looked at the hourglass. There was only a little time left until the conference would begin.

“Mr. Brendel, I have one final question to ask. It’s a private question, would you be willing to answer it?” Gryphine raised her head and asked.

Brendel nodded his head.

“You and Yanbao…?” she asked, a hint of concern in her voice. House Yanbao had yet to show support for the Royal Faction. She knew that Brendel was Dilferi’s vassal, yet their actions said that they had long crossed the line of vassal and lord. Furthermore, Brendel was her knight, so she was thinking of trying to convince Dilferi to support their cause.

If she was able to gain the support of House Yanbao, it would greatly benefit the Royal Faction.

“Actually, I have no relationship with Miss Yanbao. On the contrary, I’m only using her so that I can enter this meeting.” Brendel let out a slight smile.

Everyone was shocked.

“I know it sounds rude, but the invitation was only sent to Duke Karsuk. A mere Highland Knight like myself has no place in the Sophora Garden, I hope that my lords can empathize with me.” Brendel added on while shaking his head.

The members of the Royal Faction stared at Brendel. This kid dares to coerce a noble below the nose of the Holy Cathedral? Is this courage or stupidity? If they weren’t so certain that Brendel had nothing to do with the assassins, then he would have been their number one suspect.

However, the princess chuckled. She knew that Brendel was not speaking the truth. She was close friends with Dilferi, and anyone could see that the duchess was worrying about Brendel in the morning. Would someone who was kidnapped be concerned for her kidnapper? Perhaps there was, but this situation was not one of them. Albeit so, she did not expose Brendel, instead saying, “A desperate person would go through desperate measures. Your actions in Trentheim have already left us a deep impression. Who would’ve thought that you would surprise us once again here in Ampere Seale. I really pity Dilferi, it seems that Mr. Brendel does not know how to treat a lady well.”

Brendel broke out in cold sweat, remembering the duchess’s furious gaze.

It’s not all my fault! How could I have known she was such an innocent young girl?

At the same time, he breathed out a sigh of relief as Princess Gryphine’s expression returned to a state of calmness. Brendel knew that his plan had failed. Even at first, he did not dare to carry too much hope, after all, he was an outsider compared to the princess’s trusted advisors. If she could be swayed by a few words from him, then the half-elf princess must be a fake.

Brendel had to prepare for his next move. However, he was rather uneasy with the way things were progressing, especially when the Holy Cathedral announced that they wanted him. Brendel did not think that Archbishop Wood would turn back on his words so quickly.

There must be something else going on…