Chapter 1081 — The Closed-Door Meeting

"...Neither he nor I are men who like to waste time," Luo Yan said after a brief pause for thought. "There will be two conferences here: one is the formal treaty between Cecil and Typhon, the other a league conference of the mortal nations. He and I both know full well that compared with the second, the first must not waste too much time or too much effort. Tonight we will settle the framework and the bottom line of the treaty in the form of a closed-door meeting. He will not let this drag into tomorrow, and neither will I—so he will most likely lay out his terms directly... and then it will simply be a matter of bargaining."

Matilda pondered this, and just as she fell into thought, footsteps and a knock came one after another from beyond the door. Then a high-ranking attendant entered the room and bowed at the threshold. "His Majesty Gaoyang Cecil has arrived."

"Show the guest in," Luo Yan said at once—he had no need to compose himself, for he was always prepared for what was about to happen. "Matilda, sit beside me."

When Gaoyang walked into the reception room, he saw an exquisite tea table set at the center of the room, the light of the chandelier falling across its surface—a tabletop ground from blue crystal, gleaming brightly. Luo Yan Augustus was already seated on the sofa at one side of the table, and beside him sat the "Pearl of the Empire" who had once visited Cecil. Beyond them, no one else was to be seen in the room.

This was a closed-door meeting, a meeting of leaders held before the formal, public negotiations. It did not much accord with the conventions of interstate relations—but here, Gaoyang and Luo Yan, the two of them, were themselves the convention.

Beside Luo Yan was only Princess Matilda, and Gaoyang likewise had brought no more people: only Amber, the intelligence minister in whom he placed deep trust.

A click came from behind, and the door of the reception room closed at their backs. Gaoyang walked forward with Amber, and Luo Yan Augustus rose to welcome them before they drew near—this middle-aged man, whose face always carried a gloomy air, now wore a smile, and his originally dark and negative bearing seemed to diminish considerably. This obvious change of course did not escape Gaoyang's eyes, and he offered a faint smile. "Good evening, Luo Yan. You look considerably better than when we last met."

Luo Yan's smile grew a little more pronounced, and he even made a joke: "A good night's sleep is very important for a middle-aged man like me—fortunately, my sleep has been excellent for some time now."

Gaoyang clearly knew what the other was referring to. It was a good opening—a shared experience that could just about be called fighting side by side could effectively draw the two sides closer, and at the same time make certain less "friendly" terms harder to put into words. Though pleasantries of this sort might have little effect on men like him and Luo Yan, they could at least improve the atmosphere that followed.

"It seems there are only the four of us here today," Gaoyang said with a nod toward Matilda not far away. "No idlers present—so it seems we can talk to our hearts' content."

"Miss Amber," Luo Yan too looked toward Amber beside Gaoyang. His expression turned very grave for an instant, but quickly returned to normal. "I hear you are a shadow grandmaster whose strength cannot be gauged at all, and an expert in the field of intelligence. Your appearing in public before others means that Gaoyang Cecil's sincerity is at its greatest."

Frankly, for that instant Gaoyang felt a sudden twinge of worry. He had only thought that Amber's clever head might be of help at this meeting, and had overlooked whether this fellow's flighty temperament might produce some spectacle on such a serious occasion—but when he turned to look at the half-elf beside him, he was utterly astonished to see that this creature, who was always so careless and unruly, now wore an expression of the utmost professionalism and perfect propriety. She faced Luo Yan's praise with just the right smile, and from her tone to her bearing there was scarcely a flaw: "You flatter me—I am here solely to perform my duties. As for sincerity... I believe that since we are standing here, the sincerity of both you and our sovereign is naturally absolute."

"...That goes without saying," Luo Yan said with a slight nod, then added, as though it were a casual remark, "Dailan once praised Cecil's intelligence apparatus to me in the strongest terms. She even told me outright that 'operatives personally trained by the head of Cecil intelligence may well be the finest intelligence personnel in the world.' I used to be quite skeptical, but recently, as the situation in Aldernan has gradually stabilized and I have had a little leisure, I have indeed witnessed the excellence of their methods."

Amber immediately broke into a radiant smile. "Again you flatter me—in my view, your country's wanderers and agents are equally excellent, especially the batch doing 'business' in Tamdul."

Luo Yan's expression did not change in the slightest. He merely turned slightly and gestured for Gaoyang and Amber to be seated, saying offhandedly, "In future, situations like this need to be reduced somewhat, don't they? We have wasted too much energy prying into our neighbors' secrets."

"Of course. We came here today precisely to build further trust." Amber's smile remained radiant, and her tone was so sincere that even Gaoyang felt a little surprised.

But how much weight this "sincerity" truly carried was impossible to say, and Gaoyang's and Luo Yan's attention was clearly not on the matter either.

"Let us discuss the matters truly worthy of attention," Luo Yan said, taking the initiative to raise the topic once both sides were seated. "A war broke out between Typhon and Cecil, born of misunderstanding and deliberately guided by the enemy. Now everything should be brought to an end, should it not?"

"Of course—and in fact this war has already ended," Gaoyang nodded and said with perfect composure. "Our two sides have already signed a long-term ceasefire agreement at the border, and the general-level talks between our two militaries have gone very smoothly. Next we will undoubtedly issue a joint peace statement and explain the truth behind the scenes to the public. This affair will end in peace, trade will resume, and exchanges at both the state and popular levels will reopen. On this point our two sides should be in agreement."

"I have no doubts on this matter," Luo Yan said gravely, and a slowly tightening air finally began to spread around him. "Whether it is the restoration of diplomatic relations or the reopening of trade routes, the diplomats will naturally settle all of that afterward. But there is one thing—I want a direct answer from you.

"How much longer will the Cecil army at Winterwolf Keep remain stationed there?"