Henrietta’s brows drew together as she folded her arms across her chest, her eyes fixed sharply on Lucas. "Tell the truth, Xavier. Are you in love with Princess Nyx? Because I truly cannot understand why you would risk so much, why you would put yourself in the middle of sothing that could bring the wrath of two kingdoms down on your head."
"No," he answered firmly, his voice quiet but certain. "It isn’t about that. I am not in love with her." He exhaled slowly, as if choosing his words with care. "But she told herself that she would never be happy being handed off as a bride to the emperor of Rus. She confessed it plainly, without any hesitation. I cannot ignore that, Henrietta. I saw the way it weighed on her, and I cannot sit back and pretend it doesn’t matter."
Henrietta tilted her head slightly, a frown tugging at her lips. "You speak as if her personal happiness outweighs the survival of kingdoms. Do you even realize what you are saying?" Her tone was incredulous, tinged with the frustration of soone who could not reconcile his reasoning with the reality of politics.
Lucas t her stare with calm determination. "I understand perfectly well. But tell this, Henrietta, what is the worth of an alliance if it is built on the chains of soone’s misery? Nyx deserves more than to be treated as a bargaining chip between rulers. And if she despises the path they have chosen for her, then I will do everything in my power to prevent that path from taking shape."
Her lips parted in disbelief, and for a mont Henrietta was silent, unable to find the right words. When she did speak again, her voice carried both anger and exasperation. "You cannot be serious. Going to Rus will not only strengthen our ties with the emperor, it will also favor her cultivation in ways you cannot even begin to grasp. Nyx has a high affinity for ice, Xavier, and Rus is steeped in cold. The climate itself could beco her greatest ally, shaping her into soone far more powerful than she could ever beco here. Do you not see how perfect the match is?"
Lucas shook his head, stepping closer as his voice sharpened. "Power gained at the cost of her heart is not power worth having. I do not care how well Rus matches her affinity. I do not care what it might offer her cultivation. What I care about is her choice, and she has made it clear where her heart lies. I will do everything I can to prevent that alliance from ever happening."
Henrietta’s eyes widened, and she stared at him as though he had just declared his own death sentence. "You are mad," she whispered, then raised her voice again with biting disbelief. "Completely mad. Do you even hear yourself? The emperor of Rus is not a man who takes insults lightly, and you, one cultivator, no matter how clever you think you are, cannot hope to defy an entire empire. If you truly an what you are saying, then you are not only reckless, you are walking straight into your own grave."
Her words hung heavy in the air, and though Lucas did not flinch, the determination etched on his face only made Henrietta shake her head slowly. In her eyes, he was not brave, but utterly consud by a cause she could not understand. To her, he looked like a man throwing himself willingly into the jaws of death, all for the sake of a princess who had never known what it ant to carry such burdens herself.
At that mont Henrietta thought he must be in love with Nyx, no matter what he said, because nothing else could explain this level of madness. And to her, he was really, truly crazy. She tightened her arms across her chest and let out a low sigh of frustration. "You are going to get yourself killed, Xavier," she muttered, her tone resigned, as though already mourning a man who refused to see reason.
"Henrietta," he said, fixing his gaze on her, "you ntioned Rus and its strength. But tell , what of the Empire stronger than Rus?"
Henrietta’s lips parted, "There is such an empire," she admitted, her voice quieter now. "Great Lechia lies far beyond Rus, and it has a reputation darker still. Its ruler is not a king, nor a council of n, but an empress...an empress whose cruelty is said to eclipse that of any tyrant living today. They say she wields power not just of armies, but of mind and sorcery. To cross her path is to invite ruin....her cultivator armies and Alchemists practice the deadliest and most forbidden arts."
Lucas’s jaw tightened, yet his eyes glimred with a strange resolve. "An empress... vile and dangerous, you say." He leaned forward, his voice gaining strength. "Then that’s the empire we should be looking toward. If they are as mighty as you say, if their reach already dwarfs Rus, then why waste ti struggling to appease Rus? No...if I could secure an alliance with her empire, it would change everything. Valerion would not need to bow its head to Rus. And Nyx..." He paused, his fists clenching lightly upon the table. "Nyx would not have to be offered up like so token of submission."
Henrietta blinked at him, her expression caught between disbelief and alarm. "You cannot be serious, Xavier," she said quickly. "An alliance with her? That woman would eat n like you alive and spit out their bones. You don’t understand the kind of fire you’re speaking of. Even the Empire of Rus hesitate to speak her na aloud, yet you dare to think of negotiating with her?"
But Lucas shook his head firmly, his voice steady. "If the king would grant leave, if he would trust with such a task, I would not disappoint him. I would carry his ssage to that empire, and I would do it with every ounce of conviction in . If I could present sothing of great value to her, sothing to make her empire see the worth of Valerion, then she would have no reason to turn us away. If I succeed, the alliance with Rus would no longer matter, and Nyx would remain where she belongs...safe, free, and not a pawn on their board."
Henrietta stared at him now, her eyes wide, the flickering candlelight catching the disbelief plain upon her face. She searched his expression for even a trace of jest, for so sign that he was only speaking in reckless bravado. But there was none. Lucas’s eyes held no mirth, only a steady, burning determination that frightened her more than anything.
She shook her head slowly, almost to herself, and leaned back in her chair, as if putting distance between them could help her make sense of the madness spilling from his lips. "You truly are insane," she whispered, her words carrying both awe and exasperation. "Completely insane."
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