The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1038

As inspection corvettes from the Honored Ones arrived to search the new arrivals for threats, Ves met up with Lord Javier again in the lounge.

Lord Javier grinned at Ves. "This is it, buddy. Soon, you’ll get to meet other Vesians besides me. I hope there are lots of Imodrissians among the Vesian delegation."

"Will there be?" Ves wondered. "I heard that a prince of the royal family will head the Vesian delegation. Won’t they all come from the Royal Territory in the center of the Kingdom?"

"Sure, but the Royal Territory isn’t as rich and powerful as the individual duchies." Javier explained. "There’s only so much resources and manpower the Royal House of Vesia can draw upon within the only territory they control directly. It’s a capital territory in isolation."

His remark emphasized the weak position of the Royal House of Vesia. The ducal houses who carved out the majority of the Vesia Kingdom’s territories for themselves did their best to suppress the royals and their ambitions to rein in the largely unchecked nobility.

"If the Royal House is so weak, why is Senator Tovar negotiating with them in the first place?"

"If not the royals, who else?" Javier shrugged with a smile. "If they negotiate with one of the duchies, the other duchies would never accept that they upheld the interests of the entire state. Negotiating with all of the duchies at once is unfeasible. Not only would the peace talks become mired with infighting and irreconcilable differences of opinion, it also risks exposing the peace talks before they’re ready to go public."

All of those arguments made sense to Ves. "So even though the royals are weak, that’s also an asset to them because the duchies aren’t afraid of them. At the very least, they are useful tools whenever the Kingdom needs to forge a consensus."

Diplomacy was one of the few areas where the various Vesian noble influences left to the royals. It would be far too chaotic and downright catastrophic if every single duchy of the Vesia Kingdom pursued their own diplomacy. By allowing the weak Royal House of Vesia to take charge of this domain while simultaneously supervising every deal they negotiated, the duchies would not be forced to reject any proposed treaty just because their rivals presented it first.

"Have you heard which royal prince has agreed to represent the Vesia Kingdom in the upcoming peace talks?"

Lord Javier nodded. "Senator Tovar filled me in. The leader of the Vesian delegation is Prince Colchester. He’s nearly as old as the senator at around 230 years old if I recall."

Ves hadn’t heard of Prince Colchestor before. Then again, he never needed to learn about the members of the Vesian royal family when he studied mech design.

"What is Prince Colchester known for in your circles?"

"Prince Colly is a bit of a boring member of the royal house." Lord Javier snorted with contempt. "He’s not a mech pilot and never even bothered to serve in the Mech Legion. Instead, I heard he’s highly respected in the field of economics. He used to an economic planner who took part in huge decisions that affected the economy of the entire kingdom. I also heard that he’s a bit conservative and restrained in many political matters."

"How so?"

"For example, Prince Colly is a big proponent of solidifying the class system. He thinks too many commoners are elevated into the nobility and he thinks it’s ridiculous that its too easy for the aristocracy to lose their status after going through a tough time."

Ves smirked. "I think his own interests and the interests of the royal house plays a large part in his standpoint on this issue."

"The old prince also thinks we should scale back the intensity of our wars against the Bright Republic because the losses we’ve suffered are very heavy. He isn’t making a lot of friends with that extreme opinion."

Only in a warmongering state like the Vesia Kingdom would moderation and restraint be considered extreme, Ves thought.

"So a prince like that is leading the Vesian delegation?"

"He’s the most peace-loving idiot among the princes of the royal house. He doesn’t have much credibility with the supporters of the war within the Kingdom, but as long as his entire house backs him up, he might stand a decent chance of smacking the duchies back into sanity."

While Ves doubted that the weak royal house could convince the duchies of stopping the war, Prince Colchester might surprise him, even if Lord Javier didn’t think much of the old royal.

The fact that Lord Javier didn’t bother to address the prince as ’his highness’ or the like reflected the Vesian lack of respect for the royal family. Granted, they often skipped such styles of addressing each other except in formal circumstances.

Also, Ves doubted that Prince Colchester would like it if someone called him Prince Colly in his face!

"Is there any other advice you can give me before we land and attend the opening banquet?" Ves asked.

As a hostage, Lord Javier wouldn’t be present at the first formal introduction between the two delegations. In fact, he wouldn’t be showing up much at all in order to control how much he gave away to his fellow Vesians.

"You’re a bigger deal than you realize, Ves." Lord Javier said seriously. "Try and flaunt the fact that you’re Senator Tovar and Professor Ventag’s pet."

Ves immediately frowned at such a ridiculous response. "Pardon?!"

Lord Javier just grinned in response. "I purposefully call you a pet, because that’s what you are to them. A useful puppy that barks whenever they praise you and fetches the sticks they throw out. Don’t feel insulted, Ves. In this setting, it’s an advantage. The Vesians you’ll meet during the peace talks are all nobles and elites that Prince Colly finds worthy enough to be a part of his delegation. They’re mostly going to be older men and women just like the ones who are part of your own delegation. It’s impossible for you to earn their respect on your own. However, as long as you’re shameless enough, I think you’ll be able to get in their good books by using the name of a renowned senator and Senior Mech Designer."

Well, such concerns weren’t very relevant to him. Senator Tovar had a good reason to agree with holding peace talks in the Reinald Republic. _{freёwebnoѵel.com}