14 Chapter 14

Where the smaller girl removes her hood, reveal a figure that gives me the feeling of seeing the moonlight burst into my room. It takes me a while to get myself out of shock from the impact of her beauty. As white as the snow, the eyes as blue as the deep ocean, which gives me the feeling of being overpowered when being glared at. Her white-dark hair is well-taken care of, and the special about this hairstyle is that it is the unique trait of the royal house of Lithuania, House Cornubia. Even overall she has the appearance of a 12-14 girl, her beauty still attracts me and makes my mind out of its' track.

The girl smiles naughtily, I'm sure that she knows how she can attract the opposite sex. I take control back my mind by thinking about the nights I spend with Abigail, it calms me down, and finally, I can focus on investigating the girl. A member of the house Cornubia, the house who has sought an alliance with Poland 10 years ago but surrendered before the enemy and left Poland fighting alone. I intend to say something aggressively but the girl takes the advance, bow a little, and then speaks:

- Greetings, Lord Jan Wozniak of Poland. It's my honor to be presented before a man famous for his chivalry, stewardship like you. May I present myself, my lord?

Swift speaking, proper manner for a girl of such age. Of course, my age might be a little higher than her in this world but if counted the years living in the past life, I'm twice her age; hence, this girl must be a good learner or even more, a genius. She has the blood of the royal house of Lithuania and due to her manners, she is well educated. What makes this girl run from her net to Warsaw, where her life can be in danger at any moment. I nod, giving her permission to continue speaking.

- My lord, I'm Christina Cornubia, the sole daughter and true heir of Aurelia Cornubia. I'm engaged to you 13 years ago when I was born. Our fathers hope that with our marriage, Poland and Lithuania will be united as one nation and become the strongest realm all over Arcadia.

I stand up from the chair; from the moment I see this girl, I'm continuously shocked. Aurelia Cornubia, according to my history teacher, is the Duke of Lithuania, he was murdered by Priam Cornubia, his bastard, and that event cause the Polish-Lithuanian Coalition to collapse. My father used to tell me how important the marriage between me and the princess of Lithuania is and hope that Lithuania and Poland can set aside differences and be united. But everything happens to fats, I had planned to somehow abduct Christina from Lithuania so that I can have the casus belis to kick Priam out of the throne. I speak:

- Everything is too sudden, my lady. Can you tell me more about your story?

The paper she brought with her has been passed to me by the mayor and I have checked whether it is fake or not, plus with the color of her hair, I can guarantee the truth of her words. So I need to know more about her situation, her existence in Warsaw could cause a war with Lithuania, which I do not want to since Poland still has not recovered its' wounds from the past war yet.

Christina continues her speaking:

- After my father was killed, my half brother and his men seek to find and kill me. Luckily, my father's loyalists save me and hide me in their home, hiding the colors of my hair and pretending I was their daughter. But Priam found out, he sent an army to attack them and raze the city I was living in. With my closest friend and maid, we escaped from the city, joined in the refugee for more protection on our way to Poland. I was given the paper that proves the engagement between me and you; so I rode her with the expectation of you supporting my claim to the throne of Lithuania.

It is a long and very tragic story that Christina had to endure. I can manage to deny her existence in Warsaw simply by sending her out of my court to somewhere else safe in the city. Abigail's mansion will be ideal since I've already a decent amount of guards there but which kind of man dares to send his future wife to live with his lover and bastard. My relation with her can be ruled immediately by that.

After consideration, I offer her two rooms beside each other for her and her maid in my palace, even though it might increase the chance of her being revealed. Regarding the matter of supporting her claim, I tell her that I will consider that and promise to give her the answer as soon as possible. I need to know more about my potential opponent, Priam Cornubia. He has the backup of the Roseryth Empire, which worries me a little bit. However, I doubt if the Empire will care about this small matter, a vast territory with a large population as well as cultures and politics are enough to keep them busy themselves.

Nonetheless, current Poland can't face Lithuania on open war. The military strengths between the two countries are significantly different, I have heard rumors about Priam is still struggling to fight his father's loyalists but I have to make sure of that. I take a paper and an ink pen to start writing a letter, which I'll send to my Spymaster, Janusz Raswill for deep investigating about the current state of Lithuania and useful methods to tackle the problems.

I'll visit the Church myself to meet Pope Richard. The first is for the contribution of the church in this war and the second is for asking him to start swaying the Christain nobles inside Lithuania. I can't trust Christina yet but I need her to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth like in my past life. Poland and Lithuania have the same situation of being surrounded by stronger countries so being united is necessary. Christina can sit on the throne but I'll somehow influence her court, which makes me have control over her and gain more power in the Commonwealth if it is successfully formed.

That is for the future, now I will continue with my daily tasks, ruling my country. I will make Poland become the strongest nation in the world but it will take time. Like an old saying" Rome wasn't built in one day". A great nation can only be built step by step and stably. I must share time to visit Abigail and Alesky too, the joint of having a child is burning inside my chest, which gives me more and more encouragement to move forward. For a brighter and happier future.