Chapter 237: Kazura’s Kingdom (Part 2)
Seeing Amy stubbornly holding her ground, Reina sighed in resignation and gave the coachman the order.
"Let’s go."
Emotions aside, Amy joining them was far from a loss. Having a friend by Shirone’s side would be a great help. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being pushed back from the very start.
Reina rested her chin on her hand and pouted as she stared out the window.
She could practically see Amy’s smug smile in her mind.
The carriage was headed toward the Thornlight Mine, located halfway up the Origin Mountains where Shirone’s home was. During the ride, Reina briefed them on the general situation.
Tormia, Kazura, and Yakma were once a unified nation. But as the nobles grew more powerful, factional disputes arose, eventually leading to their separation. Now, they maintained a tripartite alliance.
"In a way, you could call them newborn nations. Kazura hasn’t even been independent for a hundred years. The Republic of Yakma, in particular, refused to recognize Kazura’s independence until recently. War never broke out, but it came dangerously close—eighteen years ago, to be exact. In short, when Kazura’s internal affairs became unstable, they secretly sent away the first prince—Shirone."
Shirone felt a slight comfort knowing that he hadn’t been abandoned out of hatred. The fate of the kingdom had been at stake, so there must have been no other choice.
Of course, that didn’t erase the lingering sadness. But since nothing was certain yet, he forced himself to ignore the rising emotions.
"I’ve heard about it too. They say it was on the brink of civil war. Yakma had even finished mobilizing their troops. But..."
Amy trailed off. It wasn’t something she could bring himself to say in front of Shirone.