For some god forsaken reason, silence was the only thing that followed after everyone else arrived. Rontress expected there to be some heated argument or maybe someone will initiate conversation in a way that makes everyone comfortable— she expected Zale to do this, but he probably doesn't know how to when it comes to those "equal" to him. — but nothing like that happened, and so, everyone just sat at the table awkwardly.

  Grabbing a plate and then placing food on it was Rontress' chosen move to break the ice, if no one else wants to initiate, then she'll do it herself.

  Times like this really proves just how Inns can help negotiations, she didn't have to start some weird topic that the others may not like and instead do what's expected of her in a place such as this: grab food and start eating.

  "We should eat before the food grows cold." She decided to give everyone some form of incentive just in case they were hesitating, now they're forced to eat because it's impolite and there's a possibility of them missing out.

  "Rontress, I hear you are capable of making wonderful contraptions using runes." Zale is finally talking huh? Was he waiting for this? Has he been planning to ask her about her profession all this time? "Everyone says that your class is related to that, is that true?"

  Not answering is impolite, saying that she wants to keep her secrets is impolite, deflecting might get her out of this but it can also backfire on her as the crown prince might choose to push past her boundaries and continue asking her specific questions until she's left with no other choice.

  His status is the biggest issue here, normally, she can just say no, but this is the crown prince.

  "No, my class is actually [Mire Trapper]." She lied and sprinkled a bit of truth on top of it. If someone ever asks her about why she lied about the truth of her class in the future, she'll just say that she was keeping herself safe. "I was expected to be a priestess in the past however, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I became a [Trapper] instead."

  "Oh, I've heard about that, you were an acolyte for the local church, yes? The one with an insane bishop?" Eonea butted into the conversation, Rontress expected her older brother to stop her but Zale just kept his silence. Interesting. "It can be pretty hard for a young child to experience something so harsh, are you okay?"

  "Some might even be driven to insanity, I'm glad that you're not affected by your experiences, Rontress." Why did the king even say this?

  Rontress stood still, she asked herself why the father and daughter did this when they've agreed to become allies moments prior and tried to find an answer.

  Were they throwing her under the bus? Testing her? No... They're picking a narrative that will convince both Zale and Aegob aren't they? Implying that she's gone insane might be her way out, all she needs to do is play along and say that she's found the light after going to church.

  But then what about the future? It helps with their current conversation yet can possibly hurt her as time passes, if Aegob and Zale believes she's insane, the royal family might claim insanity should they ever frame her.

  And she can't have that. It's a way out and a leash at the same time, she's saying no.

  "No, I wasn't affected by my time in the church at all! I remember that it was a great time even, I helped Flotol a lot when I was an acolyte." Rontress chuckled light heartedly, treating their claims as a joke might offend them but she's offended that they even tried to shackle her socially. "And if it was meant to be harsh then what can I say? I'm a hardy girl."

  "Oh? You're saying that Folsan was normal?" Honing in on the cracks within Rontress' deflection was Eonea's next move, it shook the claim but didn't break it. "I can't imagine how someone like that ended up being insane in the end, what happened to him?"

  "Who knows?" Rontress had to stop eating just so her brain has more mental space to focus on the conversation. She can't say that it was because of Folsan's ego, even if Folsan can't defend against the ensuing rumors, the royal family can.

  It'll be her word against theirs, and it's clear who the population will side with.

  "You're not sure?"

  "No." Playing ignorant was the only option here, Rontress returned Eonea's attack with a defensive move. "Maybe you can investigate? I would be more than happy to help."

  Will the princess take the bait? Will she understand that Rontress wants to be alone with her so that they can talk in private about this particular problem? When it comes to dealing with what happened to Folsan, they can come to a consensus all by themselves, everyone else is unneeded.

  "I'll consider it." Not a yes, not a no either.

  "Anyway, Rontress, you've been leading Flotol alongside Ifira right? And your family as well?" Zale went from asking about her class to her family and how they lead Flotol, did he just forget what he was going to ask while Rontress and Eonea exchanged social blows?

  "Yes, me and Ifira have been leading Flotol for some time now." Rontress didn't have time for this, she didn't want to give this foolish prince an edge when it comes to the throne by teaching him how to lead either. She decided to throw the ball in Ifira's court. "You should ask Ifira about them, she's been very proactive, more than me even."

  And that was true, all this time Rontress had been busy working on making Flotol the best tourist spot within Oberlon, which meant all her efforts were centered around the Gilded and Swampside District as well as the Misery Swamp itself.

  While she did help Ifira on occasion, it mostly amounted to her giving the heiress tips on how to act, brainstorming ideas with her, and reviewing the reports about Ghorise's progress. Everything else is done by Ifira's hand.

  "Oh, is that so?" Zale now had no choice but to turn to Ifira, Rontress confirmed something then: this man is actually scared of her, Zale's discomfort around Ifira was always suspicious so she's happy to have confirmation that it's because of fear. "Can you tell me more about Ghorise's progress Ifira?"

  "Sure thing!"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  And so a long winded story about how Ifira took down drug dens inside of Ghorise, fixed the roads by hiring workers, started a project that repaired the rest of the infrastructure as well as dig an underground sewage system, planned a road to go between Ghorise and Flotol, and how the bandits hiding along the outskirts of the town were taken care of poured out of Ifira's mouth.

  Rontress finished her plate by the time the heiress was done talking.

  "Rontress and I actually killed the bandits together, some of them escaped though, which I think was rather unfortunate." Ifira didn't stop talking through it all, and why would she? Breathing is more of a suggestion to her than anything.

  "Haha..." Zale's laughter was weak, barely there. Ifira finally broke him? Maybe. "That all sounds interesting, I can't believe you managed to do all that in the span of 4 years, that's amazing!"

  And his enthusiasm is now back, it's amazing how he can hide his frustration so easily.

  'It's not exactly bottled up though, just waiting until it can get released.' Unlike Aegob whose bottled emotions constantly simmer until he finds some way to cope— which in his case is mostly eating. — Zale is actively finding ways to release his emotions.

  Assuming she tries to get them to her side using their emotions, the results will be that one will become dependent on her while the other will try to look for a way to bring her down or at least satisfy himself.

  Addiction, cravings, women... Zale can be controlled with the right coping mechanism, she just needs to make sure to indulge his whims.

  Which can be hard to do, because what if Zale becomes king? What if, during his reign, his craving is conquering? Can Rontress even puppet him when he's too busy worrying about war? Definitely not.

  Zale was crossed off her mental list of potential pawns, he wasn't useful, never will be useful. It's better to discard him when she gets the chance.

  "You seem like you're thinking deeply, Rontress, what is it about?"

  "Ghorise and Flotol." She answered the king without missing a beat. "Looking back, Ifira and I somehow managed to push through several problems, such as the not-so-ideal location of her territory, the monsters in the swamp, as well as all the diseases that used to spread here."

  "Indeed, it is amazing how you two turned what otherwise would have been a useless territory into something amazing." Eonea shook her head as a way to say that what the two of them did was unbelieve. "You can't even farm here right? Most of your food comes from the swamp or brought here by merchants."

  "We found a way to grow food." Ifira murmured.

  "Yes, of course." Now Eonea was staring intensely at Rontress. "It's interesting how that works."

  "What do you mean?" A strange sense of suspicion washed over Rontress and her gut told her to ask more about Eonea's thoughts on the matter.

  "It's interesting to me how you managed to accomplish something thought was impossible, that's all, what with all the insects eating the crops, the water ruining roots, as well as magic possibly corrupting what you grow." With every mention, the others looked more and more suspicious. "Did you use magic, Rontress?"

  "What are you talking about?!" Ifira suddenly rose from her chair and slammed the table, thankfully, it held. "Are you saying we're feeding our own people food that can potentially corrupt them?!"

  "It's just suspicious, that's all." Eonea's smile was cheshire. "I'm sure everyone else must think the same as well."

  "While I don't want to accuse you two of anything, I can't help but be suspicious." King Obierce joined in, of course he would. Rontress caught on to their act. Damn it. "Tell me, Rontress, what did you do to make it possible for crops to grow here?"

  "That's what this is about huh?" Rontress let out a tired sigh. "You should have just asked, you know?" Is it in their blood to scheme? Why did asking her for something as simple as this need to be so stressful?

  "You want to know how we did it? I'm a trapper, I created traps for insects, magic, and other similar things." Rontress answered bluntly and casually, she didn't want them to have any sort of advantage over her. "We have schools here that help turn children into more trappers and with them, we are able to create a system where they create traps and maintain them for our farmlands."

  The school actually was the main reason why she chooses to say her class is [Mire Trapper] instead of a regular one, as it is the most common type that pops up within the village.

  "Really now? And you're not doing anything yourself? Is it an automated system?" Eonea dipped her head forward. "I find it suspicious that some of the buildings here are made out of plants, and even the raft is the same. How were they built?"

  "Bylor." / "There's a wizard here named Bylor." Rontress and Ifira said at the same time.

  "Oh, so you have a wizard?" Zale now looked interested. "A personal wizard working for you?"

  "Yes." Rontress confirmed, she could see why the prince was so stressed. Very few nobles can actually afford to hire a wizard for a week, and to have one actively working for your family means you're either incredibly rich, powerful, or have made a deal with one.

  "Must be the leyline." Eonea murmured, sounding unsure herself. "It begs the question of why he didn't stay inside of the forest and instead came to you, he even went as far as to help build structures."

  And all of that did sound suspicious, Rontress isn't gonna answer any of them though. "If you want to know his motivations, you should just ask him."

  "Yes, that's right." Ifira confirmed, her composure now returning. "You should ask Bylor yourself if you want to know more about his motivations."

  "What she said." Rontress added more weight, she knows damn well that these guys won't just be satisfied with a few sentences. "Bylor is pretty secretive as well so you should exert caution."

  "Fine! We get it!" Zale lost his patience and glared at the two of them. "You both are insufferable, we understand you have a wizard helping you! Fine!"

  Everyone didn't know how to react— especially Ifira, who was just staring. — and could only sit in silence while Zale tried to fix what he just did.

  "I—" he pointed at the wine. "Did that thing get me drunk?"

  And that made the rest of the royal family look at the bottle of wine Ifira's group brought into the room. On the other hand, the two girls locked eyes, Rontress silently asked her best friend what this is all about but Ifira could only shrug in confusion.

  "You're kidding." Aegob reached forward and was about to see for himself but Rontress slapped him on the back of his hand. "Ouch."

  "Do you wanna improve yourself, Aegob?" The prince nodded. "Do you wanna make me lose faith in you just like everyone else?" He shook his head. Rontress smiled and grabbed his hand, "I believe in you, okay? So stop with your vices."

  The moment Rontress finished talking, she was pushed away by Zale. "What was that?!" The crown prince glared at her, "I try to give you attention and you ignore me! And somehow he gets your attention?!"

  Aegob stood up and covered her, "this isn't her fault."

  "You!"

  Rontress turned towards Ifira, her smile was more like a wince. "Can you help me up?" Ifira slowly did so, her expression complicated. "Thank you, I was caught off guard that's why I fell."

  "Me too, why... Are you..."

  "Hm?" Rontress tilted her head. "What is it?"

  "Nothing." Ifira shook her head and faced the king. "I think your son got affected by the wine."

  "... I can see that, I didn't know this was possible." King Obierce picked up the bottle and popped the cap, he sniffed the aroma and smiled. "How much is this?"

  "You can have one free bottle as a gift after this? We have plenty of those." The way Ifira answered made the king raise a suspicious eyebrow. "Yes, we have a lot of those." She decided to double down instead of backing out.

  "I see." King Obierce smiled and put the bottle back down, but not before pouring himself a glass. He took a shot. "Ahh... Okay, you two, stop." That's all it took for his two sons to stop fighting. "Now then, I think you and I can come to an agreement that it is beneficial for your family to remain as Flotol's leaders, no?"

  Rontress nodded. "Yes, definitely."

  "Good, I'll make sure everyone knows that I acknowledge the change in leadership of the swamp." King Obierce's smile was light. "Good luck."

  "Thank you." The good luck was definitely needed, just because the king permitted her family's rule does not mean the rest of the court did.

  She took a shot herself, wondering why in the hell is the kingdom's political structure a republic instead of a pure monarchy. It would have been convenient if only the king had a say when it comes to making decisions in the kingdom.