Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 277 - 276 - Troublesome Princess

Things were tense in Lind's office as he activated the formation seal on the double doors.  They glowed with Qi as the arrays shined for a moment before settling down.  Cyntilla was massaging her temple while Mira was giggling in a corner!

Ethry was now in her dragon form staring at Lysanna fiercely.  Clearly, the young dragon had not been informed either.  Lind's mother was simply amused by everything as 3 images flickered to life over his desk.

Seeing his wives again should have felt warm in his chest, but the rage in his heart mitigated it entirely.

"Ah, Little Lysanna is there.  Finally confess, did you?"  Shoti's words froze Lind.  Confess?  Lysanna was going to confess?  He stared at her, but her face simply smiled back up at him.

"It would seem the little minx had her father betrothed her to Lind."  Cyntilla's voice made all 3 images frown in Lysanna's direction.  Lind's rage was dissipating as he was grasping some things as his mind cooled.

Of course his wives would not make such a massive decision without him.  They had grown so close in the near century together that he was foolish to have ever thought so.  They would, however, not interfere if a woman wanted to confess her feelings to him.

They would vet any such woman far better than he and warn off any they disliked.  Lind pinched his nose as all eyes turned to Lysanna for answers.

"Well, you all approved of me approaching Lind so I went to my father for final approval.  I am still a princess of Tur so I could not confess to a man without consulting my father."  All nodded as that made at least a little sense but then she began to fidget when silence fell.

"What happened after that?"  Qing's calm voice dispersed the tension even more but Lysanna looked down and seemed to be blushing heavily.

"..."

Lind nearly bolted upright.  Ethry looked confused too but no one else heard Lysanna.

"What was that?"  Annabelle was looking a little stern for a change but all shared her concern.  Things had not unfolded the way they expected.

"I, ah, um, may have been excited about getting your approval.  I knew Father and Mother approved of Lind long ago as a true ally of our kingdom.  So, I may not have worded things clearly."  Lysanna obviously changed her words but Lind looked harshly at her.

"You said I had already proposed?"  His words made all the women in the room stare hard at Lysanna who was beet red.  She also looked like she wanted to sink into the couch.  Where had the little vixen gone that boldly asked when they would wed?

She was more afraid of his mother and wives than she was of him!

Lind sat back down and pulled Ethry to his side.  She immediately wrapped herself around his shoulders and stared down at Lysanna.  She may be confused by what the princess said, but she understood the woman was a threat to her order of the world.

"How could you possibly have said that to your father, a king?!"  Mira was now not so amused.  It was not a small thing and if the royal couple had put things in motion, her son would be forced to do something unpleasant one way or the other.

"You have to understand!  I went to my father fully intending to just relay that I was going to approach Lind openly.  I did not expect to find him in negotiations with Seluthir's envoy for my hand in marriage!"  Lind closed his eyes.  So her future was really coming into focus.  Seluthir was a small power over a week away but was a trading partner in the Saint Kingdom.

They were the last stop for the flow of some low grade goods to Tur.  It was not a bad kingdom by any measure, but the prince was very young, as in a teenager!  He had only just reached the peak of the Soul Realm to Lind's knowledge.

He had a few disciples from there that often would bring some requests to the sect.  The mission hall was not restricted to only Tur for the inner or core disciples.

The demand for their services was vast, even a few in the Demon Empire once they were vetted by Lind and his trusted aides.

He could see the appeal to formalize the bond between the 2 kingdoms from both sides.  They were good neighbors already and a marriage would solidify that bond even more.  It did not, however, explain Lysanna panicking so much to make the current blunder.

"You have shown yourself to have a sharper mind than that, Lysanna.  What about that meeting made you say I proposed to you?"  Lind was calm now but also curious.  The King had always seemed a very reasonable man.  If his daughter had interest in a man he approved of, what could the issue be to make her marry against that interest?

Lysanna was not blushing anymore.  Her face looked fierce and much more in line with her role as a princess of Tur.

"They offered my father several mines we need badly for my hand in marriage to that child!"  Lind frowned but again, felt something was off.  While such a negotiation was a reality of noble or royal families, it did not sound like a definitive offer.

His sect by itself would be more attractive compared to any offer Seluthir could put forth.  There had to be something else.

As if reading his mind, Lysanna calmed herself and resumed being the level headed but spirited woman he had come to know.

"My mother was there so it was not the first meeting.  Further, they seemed to have a contract laid out with points previously discussed.  Neither of my parents seemed unwilling but they never even let a whisper of it come to me."  That aspect, Lind could understand.  The 90 years of friendship let him gauge that the king actually knew his children.

When Wyndam was a 6 elemental, it was clear the king acted in his son's best interests over the kingdom.  Wyndam hated being a royal prince.  He hated the life he led, so when the king let him apply to the Moebius Sect, he knew his son might never come back.

The man had often spoken of being glad to see his spirited daughter return publicly compared to the austere and reserved woman she pretended to be in previous years.  Such a woman would not let negotiations like her marriage proceed without involving herself.

It may have been unwise of the king as a father, but as a man responsible for the lives under him, it may have been the only choice as king.

"So when you stumbled on that meeting, what exactly did they say?"  Cyntilla was perhaps leaning toward Lysanna now.  Afterall, she had been in a similar situation herself.

"Sigh.  They actually seemed excited to tell me about it.  Thankfully, the negotiations were only what to present to me.  In other words, I actually arrived at the most opportune time.  I was unprepared and I really panicked as I read the proposal."  Lysanna looked depressed as she summoned the memory.

A scroll then appeared in her hands that she gave to Lind.  He saw there was no seal so he opened it to find the official symbol of Seluthir stamped on the lower left corner.  It was succinct and to the point with no flowery language.

It lent credence to the king of Tur being serious as it was his preferred way of writing up contracts.  No loopholes, no interpretation for future generations.  It was meant to be a bedrock agreement or accord.  His laws were the same.

The courts had been ravaged by their precedents when he re-wrote nearly ⅔ of existing laws that were ambiguous.  The vast majority dealt with nobles treating commoners like resources or objects.

Now, the proposal followed that same pattern of being clear and dried.  There were no hidden traps or backdoors legally speaking.  It was also not a bad deal for either side.

Seluthir did not only get the princess, obviously, but also assurances of the mineral wealth that would now be Tur's would be split between them, with the lionshare staying with Tur.  The imports would be reduced and the descendants of Lysanna and the Prince Vell would retain the possibility of both thrones if no viable person lived to ascend the throne.

That last part would normally be tricky but cultivation strength was linked to it as a resolution.  The possible candidate had to at least reach the peak of Iron Tier before 35 and Gold Tier before 50 to qualify.

Those were not easy conditions to fulfill unless one was a true prodigy.

Tur would also get more than just the mines but a promise for alliance against any enemies in the future if Tur is attacked.  While peace had existed for thousands of years, it was still a border area that could spark conflict if some renegade force tried to do it.

It was not a bad idea to have a contingency for that realistic scenario.

In the 90 years Lind had lived there, the occasional criminal tried to hide out that could have pulled troublesome powers chasing after them that could cause a spark of conflict.  Perhaps such revelations made the King include it in the proposal.

"The fact you have this proposal means your father wanted to know more?"  Lind saw her nod slowly before she fidgeted again.  His eyes narrowed and he was not alone.  "What else?"

"After the envoy left, I may have…at that point, uh, um, said you proposed to me today."  If there was a time where Lind could fall over in frustration, it would have been that moment.

"What were their majesty's reactions?"  Qing was the first to find her voice as the rest stared at Lysanna.  She was only at Stone Tier so the pressure was not small from all the beings around her.  The dragon was also an Iron Tier so it was making her break out in sweat.

"Mother was thrilled.  She wept openly!"  The bright and cheery announcement made Lind feel guilt.  His own mother frowned deeply at the girl, but a part of her felt pride knowing another mother approved of her son.

"And the King?"  Lind suspected that was the issue now.

"Ah, father was not unhappy at all, but he is conflicted.  He asked me what I wanted to do and I said, um, I said that I would consult you!"  Her blush returned as Lind finally realized the real reason for her coming.  The real reason she tried to force the issue was because she knew how he would react and pull in all the people she trusted to help with the situation.

It was all planned!

She was still embarrassed because she truly loved them all, but it was still all planned!

"Sigh.  In the future, should you need help again, how about you just ask, Lysanna?"  Lind felt tired.  The troublesome princess smiled meekly as she nodded.  His wives and mother relaxed but Ethry growled at her.

A pause was followed by laughter that made the dragon jump.  Lind patted her head and felt better laughing while he began to put his thoughts to it.

"I suppose we should back up slightly as you all conspired behind my back.  You, Lysanna, wanted to confess.  My wives all knew it was coming so we will be discussing that little fact later.  For now, I want to be clear that I do like you, but not as you wish me to."  Lind spoke softly and was as gentle as he could be.

He expected her to cry, but instead, Lysanna simply smiled widely at him before looking to his left.  Cyntilla was there and Lind turned to look at her and found her virulent green eyes looking at him like an idiot.

"I know you are thick headed, my love, but surely even you are not that thick headed?"  Lind was confused.  His interactions with the royal family had been very cordial but he at no time had interest in Lysanna.  He had been very careful about any misconceptions.

His honest confusion made all the women aside from Ethry laugh heartily.

"We are not expecting an undying confession of love, husband.  As we have told you before, such marriages as ours are not unusual and you have been a doting husband to boot."  Qing smiled warmly over her image that made Lind blush.

"Lysanna knows how you feel, idiot.  She is not saying she expects reciprocation but she wants to openly court you!"  Shoti was blunt as always but he loved that about her.

"Honestly, she is just like your other wives.  Confident, open minded, and most of all, she walks her own path without fear.  Obviously!"  Mira even dropped a bomb on him.  His own mother!  He could not deny the similarities.  Lind liked people like that anyway, but now he was confused.

"Am I to understand that if a woman has interest in me, has all your approval, and can get past my mother and Ethry, she will openly pursue me?  Also, I will not be consulted at all?"  Nods all around greeted him.

"We don't want to influence your opinion, Lind.  You always talk about people having a choice in their own lives and while I don't want to widen our family in this way exactly, I won't deny someone the chance to try."  Annabelle's words floored him.  Mostly because he had said them long ago in the former Aether Sect.

Back then, he had talked about the divide between the aether children, but now it was used to explain how Lysanna was encouraged to pursue him openly.  The rest would be between Lysanna and him.

It was hard to argue.  He was not consulted because if they all approved he would be hard pressed to reject such a woman, but being caught blindsided was not fun either.

"Ah!  Lysanna, it is your fault!"  Shoti suddenly shouted while pointing at the princess.  "It is because of how you have confessed you made it harder!"  Lysanna blushed and nodded but she clearly was off kilter due to the sudden proposal from Seluthir.

"Fine, we will table that conversation as right now we have to address the political mess we are mired in."  The room became silent at Lind's words.  It was not wrong that things were…sticky.  On one hand, they could explain things a bit better to the royal couple, but on the other, Seluthir would not like being treated as beneath Lind Frey's interest.

While the Moebius Sect was respected, the pride of royals would not allow them to be treated as a fallback position.  It was troublesome, and had no clear answer.

"I think, my love, you are wrong.  Your current focus should be spending time with Lysanna and settling that issue.  If you are open to letting her try, then it resolves in her current favor, but if you are truly against it, then it resolves the proposal and no one needs to know the full details."  Lind slowly nodded at Cyntilla's words.

She, of all, had the most sway on that topic.  LInd sighed and then nudged Ethry to let him go.  Her silver eyes looked pleadingly at him but he only smiled and let Mira take her.

"Thank you all and we WILL be discussing this issue soon."  Lind saw them smirk at him as the images dissolved and Cyntilla just pecked him on the cheek before following Mira out of the room.

It was back to Lysanna and Lind but now the tension was turned to awkwardness.  Where did they go from that?