Faust's primary goal in coming to the Midwinter Kingdom was undoubtedly to encounter 【Snow White】 and complete the 【witches' feast】.
However, beyond that, conquering the Midwinter Kingdom and bringing this ancient realm under his rule was another objective.
Selena waved her hand dismissively, not caring at all.
"What is there to discuss? Haven't you been dreaming of trying to unite the crowns with the Midwinter Kingdom? Arrange it however you like; as long as we enter a marriage contract, you will be the rightful King of Midwinter."
Even the Queen of Midwinter nodded gently and spoke.
"Faust... you are the savior of the kingdom. Even if I must abdicate and yield the throne to you, it would not be a problem."
As witches who pursued happiness, they cared little for wealth or fame; for them, the only major affairs of state were love and carnal desire, and they found little else worth fretting over.
"What are you saying! Do you think I've been risking my life for that?!"
Seeing Viviana's gaze turn subtle beside him, Faust quickly explained.
"Abdication is going too far. What virtue or capability do I have to dare act as a usurper of Midwinter? I have no intention of seizing power; on the contrary, I don't even plan to establish deep roots in Midwinter. I only wish for the name of a joint personal union. As for the specific relationship between the two countries, I prefer them to be inseparable allies."
A personal union, as the name implied, meant joint rule—simply put, different kingdoms sharing the same king.
The Midwinter Kingdom and the Qingxi Kingdom would remain two distinct nations, with their own cultures, laws, and government institutions, only happening to share the same monarch.
Generally speaking, this form of union was quite fragile, relying entirely on the common monarch to maintain the link; if the succession issue was not handled properly, they would be lucky not to become archenemies, let alone allies.
Conversely, if it could be guaranteed that an heir would hold the titles of both kingdoms, then the united crowns could even merge into a federation, becoming indistinguishable from one another.
In essence, they would be two parts of a single whole.
This fairy tale world had not yet birthed modern nationalism and followed extremely traditional and conservative values, so the merger of kingdoms truly depended only on the will of the monarchs.
Before meeting Mephistopheles, Faust's original plan was to find an opportunity to marry a foreign princess and then unite the crowns through her; as a Paradox player, he had far too many little tricks for manipulating inheritance rights.
But after understanding the essence of the fairy tale world, Faust immediately abandoned the war criminal playstyle that others would despise.
To hell with being a war criminal! I'm going to embrace the optimal strategy!
Fight for love and justice!
Thus, the prince regent spoke plainly: "As I promised, I can share everything I have with my lovers. Whether it is authority, wealth, or status, we are equals."
Faust was not currently thinking about a merger; it was too far-fetched to even consider.
Was the populace of Qingxi, a nation only decades old, going to annex the ancient and powerful Midwinter Kingdom? That would be quite the feat of consumption, and it was hard to say who would end up assimilating whom.
Furthermore, Faust did have a few little schemes of his own.
While he called it joint rule, based on the nature of witches, they wouldn't be sensitive to such matters at all, so wouldn't he be the one making the final decisions anyway?
It might look like a joint federation, but in reality, it was just governance by a harem.
Unfortunately, Faust's little trick was seen through by the princess of Midwinter at a glance.
Selena crossed her legs, listening intently to the prince regent's proposal, before pointing it out incisively.
"I see. Are you treating us as your vassals?"
Having his thoughts exposed, Faust quickly maintained his composure and argued.
"Vassals... that's a bit much. How could I ever view you as vassals? We can discuss everything together."
The exquisite princess smiled.
"But as long as you make a request, we cannot refuse, even if it means gambling the entire kingdom's survival on a single great war."
Seriously, couldn't you just play dumb like Viviana? Some things are better left unsaid.
Faust and Selena stared at each other for a while before he finally let out a helpless sigh.
This 【Snow White】's aesthetic principles made it impossible for her to tolerate any underhanded schemes; if there was something to be said, it had to be said openly, never hidden away.
Faust actually quite liked this personality, even if he was the one being challenged.
"Fine, then I'll speak the truth. I indeed need your help."
The prince regent looked around at the three women and said solemnly.
"I have a deal with the Second Empire. In the future, I need to help their dragon lord tear through the encirclement."
"!!!"
At the mention of anything related to dragons, everyone immediately became serious, and the relaxed, pleasant atmosphere was instantly swept away.
After all, the tragedy of the Midwinter Kingdom was caused by the curse of a demonic dragon; Selena and Lola's hatred for dragons went without saying, reaching an insurmountable level.
Lola pursed her lips, her eyes lowering slightly.
"The Second Empire... those fallen ones who were bewitched by a dragon and chose to follow it?"
Faust continued, "That's right. Not long ago, I entered a secret alliance with the Second Empire. The Qingxi Kingdom accepts aid from the empire and will help the Second Empire against the dragonslayer encirclement in the future."
Hearing this, Viviana realized: "Your Highness, your secret conversation with the imperial princess earlier was for..."
Selena tapped her arm unhappily with her finger and said coolly.
"I assume you have an explanation? Otherwise, I don't believe someone of your intelligence would make such an unwise move for the sake of petty immediate gains."
Faust nodded. "I believe that the dragon lord of the Second Empire... might not be evil."
As soon as he finished speaking, Selena instinctively retorted.
"Hah? A dragon is a dragon. How could there be such a thing as a kind-hearted dragon? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Dragons had to be evil, and could only be evil; this was a truth of the world, and there had never been a precedent.
At least, not in the memories of ordinary people.
Faust responded, "But if the dragon lord of the Second Empire truly intended to destroy humanity, why has she never stepped out to slaughter humans? If a true dragon were to act, how could the empire still exist? Even the civil war is being fought with such restraint; it's hard to believe that dragon lord truly wants to exterminate humanity."
"Let me ask you, before this, was there ever a dragon that would allow humans to follow them and provide them with protection?"
"This..."
The girls couldn't help but frown in thought as they heard this, realizing this was a key issue that was usually overlooked.
Success!
Seeing this, Faust rejoiced inwardly and high-fived Mephistopheles in his heart.
Although the history of fallen fairies would be corrected, that cognition tampering would only occur after the dragonslaying was complete.
Before Lian died, the wheel of destiny would not interfere too much. Even if there had been many good dragons before, in human cognition, Lian was still the first "dragon" to be so low-profile and gentle.
It had been decades, and she hadn't even started padding her kill count! Any other dragon would have already killed millions.
Therefore, there was room to maneuver.
What Faust wanted to do was simple: put himself in danger.
Simply falling in love with a witch was easy, but using a witch to blur the path of fate was much harder, as a witch would likely only want to stay with her lover forever, lacking the drive to strive for more.
Only when the lover was in a dangerous situation could the witch's subjective initiative be stimulated; his experience in the Midwinter Kingdom had fully proven the correctness of this concept.
If he was going to do it, he would do it big. What could be more fraught with danger than participating in a dragon war!
Rate on N.U.
