March 1703, Capital of the Duchy of Valstad, Fort Midknight.

The representatives of the coalition peace talks stayed in a mansion near the Golden Lake Palace, and their personnel included Mr. Alvallo, the foreign minister of the Papal States of Flandia, and his entourage, a total of seven people, three young diplomats of the Knights of Cruside, thirty princes of the Sylvinian Empire and his servants, and twelve representatives of the various powers of the noble alliance.

The peace talks took place two days after the arrival of the coalition representatives, and the meeting took place in a quiet palace outside Fort Midknight.

The Duke of Easter Midnet, as the leader of the Duchy of Valstad, personally participated in the peace talks, and sitting on his left hand side was the Duchy's foreign minister, Count Southgate, and on his right hand side was his chief military adviser, the famous military expert Simon Gallieni.

Behind the Duke stood a dozen representatives from the military, banking, handicrafts, chambers of commerce, churches, etc., the youngest of whom was an officer with the rank of major, Dali Einfurt, who humbly stood behind several marshals and listened carefully to the speeches of all parties.

The situation of the peace talks was exactly the same as Dalí had expected, with neither side making concessions and wanting the other side to make a compromise, which then turned into mutual attacks and accusations, and the smell of gunpowder became stronger and stronger.

"Lord Duke, your accusation of our so-called 'invasion' is really nonsense, our army is protecting the weak, and our papal state has every reason to send troops to protect the Templars in the territory of the League of Nobles, the Holy One has clouds, and the shepherd protects his flock, rightly!" Alvallo, the foreign minister of the Papal States of Frantia, said righteously.

The Earl of Southgate, Foreign Minister of the Duchy of Valstad, replied with sharp words:

"Lord Alvalo, I have a question, if the reality is really as you said, since it is to protect the people, why should the army of your country sneak into the country wearing the uniform of the noble alliance, shouldn't the messenger of the gods be above board?

It is true that our Principality of Valstad is a secular country, but we allow all kinds of religions to engage in legitimate activities, there is no evidence that the believers of the Church are persecuted by the Principality, your churches and monasteries are all over the Principality, the Church Church can be said to be the largest religious force in our country, the priests and monks live a superior life and are highly respected, how can there be persecution? ”

"Humph! The Templar Church in your principality never pays tribute to His Majesty the Pope, and I know all the tricks of this little trick, but you have engaged in a few cardinals in a vain attempt to deceive the congregation of your country with false doctrines, so that the Catholics in your territory will not accept the teachings of our Pope, the only spokesman of the true God. ”

"Oh? When did our peace negotiations become denominational debate conventions? Wouldn't the other countries of your coalition do the same thing, according to you? What country wants to subject its population to the control of a foreign power?

Isn't it the same with the Knights of Crusside, who claim to be with you? Didn't their knightly captains also set up a few 'cardinals', and they played the same role as our 'cardinals', in order to take the clergy into their own hands and empty the power of His Holiness the Pope.

It's really strange, with the same behavior, why don't you declare war on the Knights, and only trouble our principality, it's not fair! ”

The Foreign Minister of the Papal States, Lord Alvarlo, was speechless, his face flushed, his gray beard shaking, and beside him, three young diplomats from the Knights of Crusaded Kingdom bowed their heads silently, their faces full of embarrassment, and it seemed that the Earl of Southgate's speech was also fighting within the coalition forces.

(The Earl of Southgate is the best debater I've ever met!) He was very knowledgeable, and his words were humorous and sharp. Dali secretly admired in his heart.

"Sectarian strife is still left to the professionals to discuss, there is no point in blaming each other, we are now talking about how to end this war, this matter is related to the lives of thousands of people, everyone is for their own interests, so don't talk about it anymore. I suggest that we be more frank in our statements. ”

The man who spoke was Prince Franz of the Sylvinian Empire, who was still very young, with a handsome face and curly blond hair.

Duke Easter Midknight nodded: "I support His Excellency Franz's proposal, let's talk something practical!" Then I'll start first.

I myself love peace, and I started this war completely because I was forced to do so, for the simple reason that our principality of Valstad is fed up with the blockade of external forces, which seriously restricts our development, and I would like to take commercial trade as an example.

For example, I now have a truckload of handicrafts made in the Commonwealth, and if I want to transport this carload of goods out of the peninsula, I have two options: sea and land.

The mainland countries have raised customs tariffs on the goods of our principality, and the cost of sea transportation is extremely high, so I choose land transportation, but land transportation has to pass through the borders of many small countries in the east of the peninsula, and taxes must be paid every time I cross the border, and after layers of exploitation, the goods are finally transported outside the peninsula, but at this time, I must increase the selling price to recover the cost, which has caused the export competitiveness of my goods to decline, and the same is true for imports, which seriously restricts the economic development of our country.

In order to gain living space and break through the blockade, I can only annex by force, not only for the benefit of the principality, but also for the survival of all Valstas on the peninsula! ”

A representative of the League of Nobles hurriedly retorted:

"That's why you started the war? I can understand your frustration, but this can be resolved through negotiation, the multiple borders you complained about no longer exist, and we have now formed an alliance of nobles and made an internal duty-free agreement, and you only need to pay a tax once for your goods to cross the border.

You keep saying that you are for the Valstad people, and you are saying it righteously. But the war you have waged has brought nothing but misery and death to our nation, and because of your decision, the Varstas have killed each other in the land of their ancestors! ”

The Duke replied: "Short-sighted! We can compromise internally on the peninsula, but what about the blockade of foreign countries? Your alliance of nobles secretly signed a treaty to form an alliance, and these little lords only want to preserve their position, and they don't care about the future of the nation at all! You have betrayed all the Valstads by opening the passes that our people regard as a natural barrier and allowing other armies to enter the peninsula! ”

Another diplomat of the noble alliance was a little irritable, he couldn't hold back his anger, and sneered: "That's a good point, you really want the future of the nation? Don't want to be the emperor of the peninsula yourself? You are like your ancestor, the tyrant Emperor Salolière Midnet, bloodthirsty like him! , we little lords don't need your rule, greedy dictators! ”

"Hey! Watch your words! How dare you speak to the Duke like that? One of the attendants behind the Duke said angrily, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist, his fingers opening and closing.

The tension in the conference hall escalated suddenly, and the person who spoke to mediate was still Prince Franz, who raised his palm and made a gesture of persuasion:

"Oh my God, calm down, this is not a trade market, we are not quarrelsome people! We are all nobles and gentlemen! Stop attacking each other with words and just say what you think! ”

Seeing that the atmosphere had stabilized slightly, the prince continued:

"As the rightful heir to the throne of the Sylvinian Empire, I hereby solemnly make my country's request. The Duchy of Valstad must immediately cease all military operations and return the territory of the Noble Alliance, otherwise, we will continue to follow the agreement of the coalition forces and help the Noble Alliance to fight. ”

Hearing his speech, the representatives of the Papal States and the Knights also expressed their positions:

"I seconded it on behalf of the Papal States of Flandia! If we are to withdraw our troops, the Duchy must first cease its aggression.

"I seconded the proposal on behalf of the Knights of Crusside! To add that the principality must compensate us for the war costs! ”

Seeing that the representatives of the three powerful countries were firmly on their side, the representatives of the noble alliance suddenly gained confidence:

"We have sworn to defend our territory, and I hope that the Duke will abandon his plans for conquest and return peace to the peninsula."

After speaking, the representatives of the coalition forces sat in silence and waited for a response from the principality's side.

Duke Easter Midknight's face was solemn, and he spoke a few words with the political and military advisers around him, and then stood up and solemnly announced:

"I was expecting the coalition to show sincerity in the peace talks, and we were ready to make concessions for this, but in the end, all we had to wait for was your threatening words.

Then I will also say that the three foreign armies must withdraw from the peninsula immediately, and the lords of the noble alliance can keep their property, titles, estates and castles, but they must surrender the administration of their territories, otherwise we will continue our military operations. ”

Lord Alvalo spread his hands helplessly:

"I admire your courage to declare war on all four of us at once, Lord Midknight."

The Duke sneered:

"You say I'm declaring war? Which three countries quietly entered the peninsula, who made their armies pretend to be aristocratic allies, who intervened in the internal contradictions of the Valstad nation, and who did not declare war? It seems that there is no need to continue the conversation, and everyone's time is valuable. I declare that this is the end of this peace talks. ”

Hearing this, the delegations of the Papal States and the Knights immediately packed up their things and left.

Prince Franz made a helpless expression: "In this case, peace is no longer possible, I hope the upcoming war can make you sober." Also, I would like to stay in your place for a day or two, can I allow that? ”

"Your Excellency, as you said before, we are all nobles and gentlemen, defending our respective interests on the battlefield, and outside the battlefield, we should maintain our manners and follow etiquette. Feel free to visit and I'll send someone to be your guide. ”

"Thank you very much, farewell."

The delegates of the League of Nobles also began to pack up the papers on the table and prepared to leave with the other delegations, and before leaving, the Duke stopped them:

"Fellow Varstads, time will tell, remember what I say now, only a unified and powerful Valstad nation can guarantee the dignity of our people, please greet the lords of the eastern region on my behalf, everyone, farewell, see you on the battlefield!"