543 CH 503: WILL YOU....?
While the witches of the councils were a little rattled by the bold way in which Sol started this whole discussion, they were not little girls who would lose all their wits at the first signs of difficulty.
Exactly because of what he said and promised, many of the council's members who had been neutral in this situation woke up and decided to ask many questions.
The topics of the negotiation had many small points that needed to be taken into account but in general, it bore down to a few great points. Such as.
The place of the witches in Lustburg. What kind of position would they be able to lead.?What would be their obligations? In short, what will be their rights and duties if they decided to join lLustburg
Secondly, there was the wealth of Salem and each witch in general. Would they have to pay taxes to the crown? If so, how would this be organized? How much would they have to pay and how regularly. In the first place should they even pay taxes?
The way Salem will be seen officially. Will Salem be considered a Vassal state, an allied state? or not even a state at all? Were the witches Citizens of Lustburg or Citizens of Salem or Citizens of Lustburg and Salem?
Where would they live?
Would they have to participate in the war? Share their technologies?
How much power did Sol have over them as King of Lusburg and what would happen in the next hundred years when future Kings took the throne?
But the greatest question of them all was one very simple and basic — Should the witches truly open the gate once to join Lustburg? Was it a wise decision or a foolish one?
If they did open, what kind of rewards would they receive and if they refused, what would happen?
All those questions had their importance and were seriously headache-inducing but as a prince, Sol had been trained for such an event ever since he was a young kid.
He knew how to keep his composure even as he received an onslaught of questions from the witches.
Some more questions were very much more dangerous.
What would happen to the families of those who persecuted the witches in the past? What about those who were still alive?
Would Lustburg give monetary rewards as a payment? Since Ambrosia was a demigod and the witches were the vast majority in the Duke's realm. Shouldn’t it be Salem who takes control of Lustburg?
Finally, an even more insidious question prevailed. Such as asking if Sol was willing to die to atone for what his ancestor did or if they had the right to massacre all those who hurt them in the past or at the very least imprison them and treat them as slaves.
Sol quietly took note of the extremist but otherwise showed no sign of anger. He could understand that more than a desire to hurt, they were simply girls who had lost too much and wished for everyone to feel the same.
Some were also testing him to see what he would do in the current situation and thought he hated tests. Being tested by someone so much weaker than him made him only find them cuter and more interesting to observe.
‘Well, we will be here for a very long time it seems.’
There was no way that negotiations between the two would be settled in one day and Sol did not plan for this to happen.
What was going on now was simply to iron the big picture and make sure everyone was on the same page. He would let Clara and some members of the Crown Shadow who specialized in diplomacy take over once he was done.
What was even more interesting was how the witches made sure to not mention the fact he found a way to help the witches escape their curses.
Clearly, they all understood that this was one of the main points of this whole discussion and was keeping it for later.
Sol kept his composure all along and continued to answer no matter what question was thrown at him.
"Firstly, I do not believe in punishing innocent people who know nothing of the errors of their ancestors. But those who are still alive will be appropriately punished based on the severity of their crime."
He knew it was impossible to satisfy the witches if he was not more sincere in this case.
"As I promised Witches will be considered as citizens of Lustburg in the same title as any citizens. They will have the same duties as any citizens and the same rights."
He continued, "The witches will not be forcibly conscripted for the war. I abolished such actions and promised normal citizens many advantages should they join the war. The same advantage will be proposed to the witches who decide to participate."
He smiled, "Even as I speak, Kali Asmodeus is working alongside two of the greatest minds I have as subordinates and they are creating epoch-changing weaponry. I would be happy if more witches choose to join the project but I will not insist on not coercing anyone into doing it."
He tapped his finger and a holographic picture of Lustburg appeared.
"The Four Directions will be given the title of Dukes and will have their territory in Lustburg. Witches can choose to live in said territory or any territory for that matter. For now, I am sure those titles are not of much importance to you. But later you will understand what it truly means."
"So you want Salem to stop being an independent existence and join fall under the control of Lustburg?"
Befana spoke and the other witches gazed at Sol.
This was one of the most important points of this discussion.
Opening the gate of Salem was one thing.
Becoming the subordinate of Lustburg was another thing.
Even more so when in this case they would lose their entire autonomy.
"Lustburg and Salem should have never been divided in the first place. Only by being together can we become stronger and as such I have made my decision long ago about something I believe will make everyone happy."
The witches looked confused as Sol stood up and started walking towards Medea on the other end of the table.
They were starting to wonder if he wanted to make another great speech or anything of the like but in the end, they all gasped and opened their eyes wide in surprise when they saw him take a knee in front of Medea.
His hand seemed to plunge deep into space before a small box appeared in the palm of his hand.
By then, even Medea was unable to breathe as she started to realize what was happening.
"Medea. We have known each other for nearly as long as I can remember now and we lived through many important moments together."
"Sol…"
Medea was trembling and tears were starting to gather at the corner of her eyes.
"Medea Asmodeus. I love you and I wish to spend eternity with you. As such, I humbly ask you…Will you marry me?"
It was as if a literal bomb had just exploded.
(AN: I think one or two more chapters to settle this and it will be good. Arc is slowly coming to an end. Still, hehe. Who saw this coming?)
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