Chapter 412: Evaluation of Negotiations and a Reason

Nolan, Sharon, Cassiopeia, and Draco walked out of the parlor.

When Halmar saw them, he greeted them with a smile.

"How did the negotiations go, Your Highness? Did everything go smoothly?" Halmar asked.

Considering the dire situation of the Kingdom of Kaldarion, he was sure the negotiations would have gone perfectly.

Unexpectedly, Sharon shook her head and replied indifferently, "No. The negotiations fell apart."

Halmar’s smile immediately disappeared, replaced by shock and confusion.

"The negotiations fell apart? How is that possible?" Halmar narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

In his mind, the king would definitely accept all of Sharon’s offers, even if they were difficult or harmful for the Kingdom of Kaldarion.

After all, they had no choice. The white dragon problem was getting worse, and many soldiers had already died trying to hold back its rage.

It could be said that he was the one most cornered and in desperate need of Cassiopeia and Draco’s help to end the situation.

"There was a small conflict," Sharon said with a sigh. "So we’re going back to the Great Velmora Empire now. Thank you for the warm welcome, Halmar."

With that, she and Nolan, along with Cassiopeia and Draco, walked past him, leaving Halmar frozen in place.

"Return to the Great Velmora Empire?" he repeated in horror. "Wait, Princess! Don’t leave like that. I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding between His Majesty and you."

But no matter how much he pleaded, Sharon and her party kept moving toward the exit.

"Damn..." Halmar gritted his teeth. "What exactly happened? How could His Majesty be so careless as to let them leave? Then what about us? Are we supposed to keep throwing soldiers at the dragon’s wrath?"

Just thinking about it made Halmar furious. His soldiers were his friends, yet they were dying for nothing, and he couldn’t accept that.

"I have to ask His Majesty about this," he said firmly.

They couldn’t keep sending soldiers to their deaths.

If this continued, the soldiers’ morale would crumble, and a rebellion could break out among them.

***

When Nolan, Sharon, Cassiopeia, and Draco stepped out of the royal palace, a cold breeze greeted them.

"So, are we really leaving, Your Highness?" Cassiopeia asked curiously.

She felt that things weren’t that simple. It wasn’t impossible that Nolan was preparing a bigger plan.

Instead of answering, Nolan asked, "Can you teleport us to the port?"

Cassiopeia was a little surprised, but she didn’t refuse. She snapped her fingers, and in an instant, the four of them vanished.

Moments later, they appeared at the port where their ship was docked.

Coincidentally, Jack and the crew were staying at an inn two hundred meters from the port, so the ship was completely empty.

Nolan walked over to a chair and sat down, and the other three followed and took their seats as well.

"I know you’re confused," Nolan began, crossing one leg over the other. "From the start, the negotiations didn’t go smoothly. Glarvic was extremely stubborn and refused to compromise. Just because we asked for the port of Sevarn, he insisted on rejecting everything. If I hadn’t stepped in, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed."

"But isn’t that reasonable?" Draco asked hesitantly. "If I were him, giving up one of my kingdom’s ports would be like letting the enemy access my sea, right?"

Nolan rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Let me ask you this—how far is it from the central continent to the northern continent?"

"If there are no weather problems, fifteen days should be enough. But if there are storms or anything else, it could take up to a month," Sharon replied.

"Let’s take the longest time—one month," Nolan said. "Do you really think Father would be stupid enough to send a large army to attack Kaldarion for that long? The supplies alone would be enormous, and there’s no guarantee we’d even win. We don’t have the experience to fight on a snowy battlefield."

"On the contrary, Kaldarion would win. And besides, Father wants the port not for military reasons but to make it easier for merchants from our region to travel. Indirectly, it would strengthen this kingdom’s economy."

"But..." Nolan gave a dismissive smile. "Neither Leina nor Glarvic has any long-term vision. They assume we’ll attack them. They want help at a cheap price, which is clearly impossible for us to accept."

He knew that the three main ports of the Kaldarion Kingdom were among their biggest sources of income.

Yet Glarvic was unwilling to sacrifice even a single port for the safety of his people, which only showed how selfish he was as a king.

Sharon, Cassiopeia, and Draco felt that Nolan’s words made sense.

Suddenly, Cassiopeia lifted her head and looked at Nolan seriously.

"Then what about the Netherium mine? Are we just going to let them have it?"

This was actually the most serious issue—the very reason they had come.

"There’s no way they can get it," Nolan scoffed. "The Netherium mine isn’t something you can extract as easily as gold or other minerals. The material is extremely fragile, and without the right techniques, they won’t be able to mine it at all."

Many might wonder how he knew that.

Simple—he was the owner of the Blue Moon Trading House. The only party that controlled the Netherium mines in the Great Velmora Empire was his Blue Moon.

So naturally, he knew how the mine worked.

"But I heard that several other kingdoms have their own methods of mining Netherium, like the Holy Empire of Valtanir, the Eastern Empire of Izanagi, and others. What if Glarvic asks them for help?" Cassiopeia asked in a heavy voice.

"Well, it doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with us." Nolan shrugged.

Sharon: "..."

Cassiopeia: "..."

Draco: "..."

"However," Nolan continued indifferently, "they’d better be prepared to face the consequences. Do you think those powers won’t get greedy once they hear the news? It’s very possible they’ll demand such a huge share that it creates even more problems for Glarvic. Or worse, they might launch an all-out attack on the Kingdom of Kaldarion just to obtain high-grade Netherium."

How foolish of Glarvic and Leina—they didn’t even ask about the share he was offering earlier.

In fact, Nolan had planned to give a fair split so Kaldarion would benefit too.

That way, there would be no jealousy or grudges to ignite a conflict.

Unfortunately, the man was far too greedy and short-sighted to think ahead.

The prime minister, Leina, was just as foolish as her king.

Cassiopeia and Sharon exchanged knowing glances.

"So, are we going back?" Sharon asked.

"Back?" Nolan laughed coldly. "Of course not. We’ll wait until the Royal Palace comes begging for our help. And Draco, Cassiopeia, I’ll need your help to speed up the chaos later."

Cassiopeia and Draco exchanged serious looks and nodded in unison.

"Leave it to us."