Chapter 12: The Unpleasant Decision…

  I looked towards the window and saw the carriage that Countess Maurez was riding in leaving the residence. After seeing her carriage leaving the Albright residence through the gate, I turned my gaze towards the proposal she had left behind, now at my table.

  “Sanctuary Preservation for Solunoct Duchy's Forest Act,” murmured me.

  After quite a heated discussion with her, I decided to request the draft ordinance proposed by her, which she didn't want to reveal to me citing that her proposed ordinance was not yet fully completed but I pressured her to give the proposals.

  Flashback…

  “My lord, should I remind you that my proposal ordinance still is not complete and it can make you misunderstand the meaning of what I said?” said Countess Maurez as try to defend her argument for not giving me the proposals.

  I chuckled to hear what she said, “If countess worries about the meaning, I just take the assumption for all the concepts; like you asked for guarantee for my decision of your ordinance, I also need to have at least the hard paper of your work even if it mean was not complete yet!”

  She still didn't budge with it, “Again, I'm sorry my lord but I can't provide you the half-finished…”

  “But why did you bring it?” I decided to cut her words.

  “Excuse me?” asked Countess Maurez while frowned and tilted her head.

  "I didn’t know that maybe you've already put it back in order either intentionally or unintentionally, but when I read your report of the destruction of the forest in Etvini County, I also read half of your proposed ordinance, you put that paper on the left side, while the reports on the right side.”

  I leaned forward, “Frankly, I found that your proposed ordinance is more likely almost done and quite to be understood by a 12-year-old kid like myself. All you need to do is just some re-calculation on how this ordinance can be implemented through the duchy as what I saw it was just based on the county under yours. And now, you wanted to tell me it's not complete, even though I agreed that a normal kid wouldn’t understand your ordinance, but fortunately, as for me, I quite understand the meaning of your ordinance!”

  Straightened her posture, her piercing gaze still locking onto mine as if gauging my every move or rather annoyed by my smile. She adjusted the cuffs of her tailored jacket, “It seems you started to developed some persistent as you are perceptive, is that correct?” her voiced sound like a sharp as razor.

  “But let me make one thing clear my lord, I didn’t bring that draft for your approval…”

  “Did I ever say that I will approve it?” asked me playfully.

  She looked quite stunned and at a loss of words.

  I leaned back to the seats, “Countess, I just want to have your half-finished proposed ordinance for comparison with your later finished proposed ordinance, nothing more. Let’s just say that I would think about making the counterpart or maybe another version based on your half-finished proposed ordinance and then we compare it and discuss which is more flexible and acceptable, how about that?”

  Countess Maurez tilted her head slightly, her piercing gaze narrowing further as though scrutinizing me for any signs of weakness yet the feeling of being pushed to the corner. She let out a soft, measured exhale, her lips curling into the faintest semblance of a sardonic smile.

  “You are relentless, my lord,” she remarked, her tone icy but controlled. “Relentless and audacious, should I say. You play with words like a gambler just like when you proposed the gambling license law,” she looked at me full of calculation and possibilities, “I don’t know whether you are already prepared with loaded dice, turning every angle between your interest or duchy advantage or instead it was not at both. At least it gives you a commendable trait in a leader if only it weren’t so exasperating to deal with and used it correctly and wisely.”

  She adjusted the cuffs of her tailored jacket, a deliberate motion that seemed to signal she was recalibrating her strategy. Her long hair, tied neatly behind her, swayed as she straightened her posture further.

  “Let me be clear, my lord,” she continued her voice now a low, deliberate growl. “Despite that, I support you, but it can be changed if you use my draft ordinance, which is my work still incomplete as it may be as a weapon to corner me, which you probably already know that I do not appreciate being pressured into prematurely releasing it nor being pressured by something I proposed. However...” She paused, her sharp eyes locking onto mine. “I see that you are determined, and I have no interest in wasting my time arguing with someone as... persistent as yourself.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Should I give you a mirror?”

  She didn’t react to my remarks and reached into her briefcase and retrieved the folded document with almost exaggerated care. Placing it on the table between us, she kept her hand resting atop it, as though reluctant to let it go for a moment.

  “But mark my words, my lord,” she said, her tone shifting to one of warning. “This is not an invitation for improvisation. If you attempt to ‘make a counterpart’ to my work even without consulting me, you risk undermining the very foundation of what this ordinance is meant to achieve. You claim to understand it—prove it by respecting the integrity of the process.”

  “Of course, I respect the integrity of the process, did you ever see I acted something that crossed the lines between integrity and the process, like making your 'half-complete' ordinance into law without consulting you?”

  She chuckled and smirked, “For now, you seem to fully follow every rule and law that this empire made, which makes me wonder,” she looked at me like trying to find any mistake that I made as her body leaned forward and she put her chin on her hands that was put on her knees.

  “Did you act like an obedient child just because you need the emperor's approval for your title or were you totally just an obedient naive child that incredibly surprisingly got very lucky that every proposal you made started to bear fruit or rather turned people into greedy looting our forest?”

  I met her gaze evenly, my smirk unwavering. “I don’t know either, Countess Maurez,” I shrugged, “Maybe you’re right, I just got an enormous number of incredibly lucky probably?”

  “Even if you trust in luck, there should be a limit, my lord, I’m not a person who put my trust in a leadership that believed that luck was the only thing on his mind,” said Countess Maurez with her icy tone.

  “Then, why don’t we use your proposed ordinance as the base to test whether my version of the proposed ordinance would work?” I grinned at her as she realized the situation.

  For a moment, Countess Maurez’s lips pressed into a thin line, I couldn’t read her expression as she leaned back, folding her arms, her eyes like twin daggers, and scrutinized me once again.

  “You’re a bold one, my lord,” in a steady voice laced with warning, “So bold that perhaps too clever for your own good. Twisting every word and meaning, but let me tell you something my lord, I cannot deny that you have a certain... tenacity. One that may yet serve this duchy well, provided it is tempered with wisdom and restraint. Consider this,” she tapped her finger lightly on the folded document on the table, “a test, as you so boldly want to test whether you lead based on luck or indeed you lead this duchy based on morally realistic. But do not mistake my cooperation for approval or trust, I will also not tolerate it if I find you really lead this duchy based on luck and you can’t give a good reason or defense with your proposed ordinance against mine…”

  She leaned forward with a smirk on her face, “...you may see me act like Count Coisenmo!”

  I also replied with a smirk, “And what if my counterpart happens to improve upon it?”

  Her lips tightened into a thin line, and for a moment, her composure seemed to teeter between frustration and reluctant amusement. “If that day comes, my lord, I will either commend you for your brilliance or remind you of the consequences of overstepping. Until then, consider this draft a test of your judgment—and your restraint.”

  She slid the document across the table, her expression cold yet resolute, she prepared her clothes and took her coats “Do not make me regret this, my lord. For your sake and for the duchy’s. Or else…”

  With that, she turned on her heel and strode toward the door, her long coat sweeping behind her as she grabbed her briefcase. The sharp click of her boots echoed through the chamber as she left, her departure every bit as commanding as her presence. Leaving me sitting at the chair while holding her half-complete proposed ordinance.

  Flashback end…

  Ah…

  Why does it feel so… exhilarating?

  I felt it creeping up on me—a strange, uncontrollable sensation. My lips twitched before curling into a grin, and within moments, I was laughing. It started as a soft chuckle, but it quickly grew, echoing through the quiet solitude of my study. The polished surface of my desk reflected the faint tremor in my fingers, not from fear, but something that came from my mouth.

  Laughing and excitement.

  I leaned back in my chair, holding the proposed ordinance in my hands, my laughter spilling out in waves. The sheer absurdity of what had just happened overwhelmed me. Countess Maurez, the most unyielding, razor-sharp woman I had ever encountered, had not only confronted me head-on but had also yielded—grudgingly, perhaps, but yielded nonetheless.

  Never, not in my wildest imaginings, did I think I’d face such a battle of wits with someone as fierce as her. And to emerge with this ordinance in hand… It was almost surreal. Not to mention I also had a meeting with the Coisenmo’s couple. What a lucky day for me…

  First I met the hypocritical couple who unfortunately was my aunt with her husband and their lavish capital style that they tried to force in their territory which was very inconsistent with the style in Solunoct. Both of them of course lack cooperation as they act according to their wish by giving rope and then twisting it until it's so intertwined that no one cares again. Unfortunately, they didn't do it well when they met me, while the count demanded that I rescind my rights, the countess was eager to be appointed as duchess in waiting or rather ducal regent of Solunoct by cleverly Countess Coisenmo gave me the letter. A letter that was giving me an advantage where the letter from the empire that they bribed me to stay in their territory so it would come late and tarnish my reputation. But she decided to give it to me to gain my trust and ignored her husband's wailing.

  “Hahahahaha…hahahahaha….” I can feel my stomach hurt for a laugh.

  Those eyes, eyes full of greed, manipulation, and cynicism buried under a warm and soft gesture of her at me. While her husband's eyes wanted to kill me at that moment. I hugged my body as it chilled running down my spine and shuddered to hold my laughter, I didn’t know why but it felt so exciting like we played seesaws while holding each other's neck with a knife.

  Then at the second meeting, as soon as I finished writing my response to the emperor, and ordered Oliver to send it while also investigating the emperor's entourage's stay at Tabarun. It's when Countess Maurez demanded to meet me personally. What a coincidence right?

  I put the paper and thoughts came to my mind. In the past Countess Maurez that I know indeed had a sharp tongue, was fierce, short-tempered, and always straightforward. But the person I met today was like someone quite different, she indeed had sharp thoughts, fierce, straightforward, but not short-tempered. Maybe you see her as short-tempered but she used that as her facade and to show that she was dominant in the conversation and her approval and mercy is more rare than her intimidating and sharp tongue.

  I glanced at the paper again, unable to stop another burst of laughter from escaping. Her sharp words, her icy glare, the way she measured every move like a seasoned tactician—it was both terrifying and thrilling. I wasn’t sure if I’d outmaneuvered her or if she’d simply let me think I had. Either way, I’d survived her storm, or rather I dragged myself into the eye of her storm.

  “I can’t believe it,” I muttered to myself, still grinning as I shook my head. “Those two women… they’re terrifying.”

  For a moment, I sat in silence, catching my breath, the laughter finally subsiding. But the grin stayed, lingering as a reminder of the strange, exhilarating dance I had just shared with the formidable Countess Maurez and Countess Coisenmo.

  As for information, I will create a counterpart of Countess Maurez and bring it to the council to be debated which proposals are more acceptable or maybe we can compromise.

  To be continued…