Chapter 538 - Duration of the marriage contract

“If you look at the documents, Your Majesty, it is very clear and definite...!”

“Delpiano.”

Sir Delpiano, who had been standing behind, took a step forward, holding the Marquis Manchike's handwritten document.

“Excuse me, Viscountess Panamere.”

He opened the document sent by the Marquis of Manchike and carefully traced the contents with his fingers.

“In this part, please read the exact wording.”

“The biggest reason we cannot accept this marriage contract is that the person we are marrying is different from what we initially promised."

Unlike Prince Alfonso, Grand Duke Pisano had no army and was thus far removed from the alliance he had aimed for in the Abandoned Kingdom.

No matter how much Irene looked at the text, she couldn't figure out what the problem was.

“Isn’t this a marriage alliance rejection letter?”

“If you look closely, you will see that His Excellency the Marquis of Manchike’s rejection here is a ‘conditional rejection.’”

Delpiano pointed out the sentence below, “The biggest reason is...”.

“If we interpret this the other way around, doesn’t this mean that if Grand Duke Pisano has an army, he will be closer to the alliance that the great nation was aiming for?”

Viscountess Panamere could no longer hold back and screamed.

“That’s nonsense!”

She shouted while standing, the veins on her neck bulging.

“Why are people who know this doing this!”

Are you demanding that we hand over diplomatic documents with the simple, unexplained "unacceptable"? It was absurd. It completely defied convention and standard interpretation.

“This is simply diplomatic rhetoric...!”

“Viscountess Panamere.”

Leo III cut her off with a very proud and sinister smile.

“You are not an ambassador, are you?”

A plenipotentiary was a diplomat dispatched with the authority to conclude agreements on behalf of a country.

Originally, the authority to represent a nation rested solely with the monarch. The plenipotentiary granted permission to make final decisions on specific matters without the monarch's approval. This allowed the nation to be bound by agreements concluded solely by the diplomat, without the monarch's signature.

'Oh, my lord.'

Viscountess Panamere cursed quietly inwardly.

"If so, should there be a disagreement between our two countries regarding the interpretation of this passage, we will have no choice but to send another envoy to your sovereign to ask for his exact opinion. You are merely an envoy."

Usually, the question of whether a diplomat is a plenipotentiary is raised when attempting to discourage them by judging their rank. Philip IV did the same thing to Prince Alfonso, who visited the Kingdom of Gallico after the death of Queen Margaret.

But Irene's rant wasn't because Leo III had started a fight that didn't go as planned.

'God helped me.'

Irene was not a plenipotentiary. Among the envoys the Manchike sent to the Etruscan kingdom this time, there were no plenipotentiaries.

Leo III's refusal to grant his son the credentials of ambassador extraordinaire and plenipotentiary on Prince Alfonso's journey to Gallico was an act of open distrust of him.

However, this time, the Manchike' Etruscan journey was different. They thought they could simply marry Prince Alfonso without further negotiation of the terms of a major treaty!

Irene was given only the powers of a Consul General, which meant she could make decisions on routine matters.

'If I had received the appointment letter as ambassador, I would have been in big trouble.'

This Etruscan expedition almost had a plenipotentiary. The candidate for that plenipotentiary was none other than Princess Julia Helena.

'If the Princess had had the authority to do so, she would have signed the marriage contract with Grand Duke Cesare before the ink was even dry!'

A chill ran down her spine.

The afternoon in Manchike's kingdom, where Marquis Synadenos and Princess Julia Helena were laughing and chatting, flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.

“Our daughter is being sent as the monarch’s representative, so should we give her a plenipotentiary title?”

“Haha! As the successor, wasn’t that the right you naturally had?”

"Until I die, it's impossible. You need to receive a separate letter of appointment, and the other country must also grant you agrément."

Marquis Synadenos, perhaps feeling it was too much power for his young daughter, withdrew his offer of plenipotentiary status at the last minute. Julia Helena grumbled for a moment, but the thought of meeting the Golden Prince soon cheered her, and she didn't worry too much.

'Thank you, Yesak.'

“Your Grace?”

"Yes, yes?"

Irene, who had been lost in thought for a moment, came back to her senses at the call of Sir Delpiano.

Sir Delpiano slowly explained to the dumbfounded woman with an embarrassed expression on his face.

“I don’t think it would be appropriate for Viscountess Panamere to visit Manchike alone, leaving the Princess behind. So... How about we send our own envoy to Manchike without bothering you?”

It was a ridiculous proposal. In fact, this whole plenipotentiary thing was just an excuse that would vanish if a single letter containing the following text arrived from the Manchike Marquis.

"You're right in saying you won't let me get married. Absolutely not."

So, instead of sending people from the Viscountess Panamere side, they were sending their own people to waste time on the road.

Irene laughed at her opponent's shallow trick. She'd inserted the item knowing this would happen. She didn't mind dragging him out on the road for years.

“The treaty of marriage alliance signed by the two countries included a clause stating that ‘the title of Principessa will be granted to the Princess of the Marquis of Manchike within six months.’”

Viscountess Panamere looked straight at Leo III.

“That means, if our Lady does not become the Principessa of the Etruscan Kingdom by the end of April, the treaty will be null and void.”

It was Irene's gambit.

Are you going to let her get married without her parents' permission?

Or are you going to adopt her as your stepdaughter?

Being adopted meant that marriage was out of the question, which was also a good thing.

But Leo III was not at all shaken.

“The date is sufficient. If only Manchike would agree.”

Irene smiled inwardly. If she wanted to hold the state wedding before April was over, she wouldn't be able to do much more than prepare for the ceremony now.

'Even if it's a wedding where you're bringing in your niece-in-law, it's still a state wedding. What do you mean you're going to just invite one person to officiate the wedding, take the oath, and end it?'

Even the Etruscan kingdom didn't have a resident Cardinal. A wedding ceremony with a bishop reading the marriage contract was unacceptable. Shr had absolutely no intention of rushing through a marriage that would be a failure.

Viscountess Panamere sharply criticized the Etruscan King so that he would not say anything else later.

"If no conclusion is reached by then, I hereby inform you that the draft marriage alliance negotiated between the two countries will be rendered void, and all negotiations will have to be restarted from the beginning."

Irene deliberately left out the statement that Princess Julia Helena's return should be made by that time at the latest.

In fact, Irene had planned to flee before the Etruscan kingdom finally unleashed any unrest. Her firm response to Leo III's insistence that the marriage treaty was still under negotiation stemmed solely from her fear of being falsely accused of breaking the agreement without permission. If the Princess and their entourage had fled in the night as planned, outsiders would likely have perceived them that way.

But if they leave it like this, there will really be absolutely no diplomatic nitpicking when they disappear after the end of April.

Leo III chuckled, completely oblivious to Irene's inner thoughts. He was satisfied, at least, that he had gotten through this situation safely.

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry.”

The moment Irene saw that smile, she was overcome with the urge to tell Leo III that 'Princess Julia Helena has over 20,000 ducats.'

'Hold on, hold on.'

Princess Julia Helena received Irene's promise, even giving her a pinky and two thumbs-up.

'Until we leave Taranto, my dowry will remain a secret from everyone! Especially not from Grand Duchess Rubina and King Leo III!'

The Princess believed that she had cried and begged Viscountess Panamere to promise to keep this fact secret from Leo III.

'You're right, Princess, sometimes you don't even realize you're being childish.'

It was because she was raised too well. This wasn't because the Marquis of Synadenos and his wife had spoiled their only daughter.

Julia Helena was a Princess of the royal court and a descendant of the empire. Furthermore, her appearance and personality were every bit the vivacious Princess of a fairy tale.

Everyone in Manchike was weak towards the cute Princess. Whether she asked cautiously or boldly, the knights unconditionally granted her requests, no matter what they were. If Julia Helena cried, the court vassals would erupt in chaos.

'But, Your Highness, it's no use holding me and crying...'

Thanks to the Princess-like treatment she received from her vassals and knights, Julia Helena overestimated her feminine charms. For example, she now believes her tears will be effective against Irene, her companion.

'All the servants are men, so they only left behind the Princess's habits.'

But Irene decided not to shatter Julia Helena's illusion. She could have revealed Julia Helena's true financial situation to Leo III right then and there. But...

'If we then come out and say that the Princess's dowry is less than promised and that the marriage partner has changed from a Prince to a Grand Duke, then the story will get long.'

Back then, refusing would be much more difficult than it is now. It would be better to pretend to have the upper hand in negotiations.

Irene had no intention of engaging in further discussion. She would remain silent as a mouse, and then, once she secured the Princess's minimal cooperation, she would simply flee.

Having calculated everything up to this point, Irene attempted to retreat, but Leo III stopped her.

“Your Grace. Wait a minute.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

"You're not an ambassador, are you? Let's keep our audiences sporadic for the time being."

Irene almost screamed. It was such a brazen declaration of disrespect.

'Be patient, be patient, they say if you be patient three times, you will be spared from one round of reincarnation.'

She asked with difficulty, softly.

“Then, if you need anything, can I ask Count Marquez? But I heard he hasn’t reached Taranto yet...”

“Ah. That’s right. Marquez.”

Leo III seemed to have forgotten the explanation he had heard earlier that Rubina had been forced to receive the documents because Count Marquez was absent.

“Without Marquez...”

He looked around. Rubina didn't like that side of things, and he didn't want to give her too much power.

“Until then, talk to Delpiano.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Even Sir Delpiano, who was born with two bodies that were not enough, had a sad expression on his face.

***

While Leo III was canceling one audience after another, Prince Alfonso of San Carlo received a completely unexpected visit.

The first visitor was a welcome guest.

“Countess de Mare, no, Your Highness, the Princess!”

She was a tall, slender young woman, swarthy and tanned by the blazing sun. She strode toward Ariadne, arms wide open, in an utterly intimate manner.

For a moment, Ariadne, unable to recognize the other person, almost took a step back. Then, narrowing her eyes, she asked.

“Petruchia...?”

"Bingo!"

The young woman answered cheerfully, then crossed her arms over her chest and bowed gracefully.

“Greetings from Petruchia Vitelli, the top lord of the Veloce!”

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