Mark didn’t know whether that embassy was coming in peace, to test the waters, or to look for trouble. But whatever the case, he would need to be prepared.

And for that, he first needed to hear what Rose had to say.

The two kept walking down the corridor until they finally reached the doors of the meeting room, where the rest were already waiting for them.

Upon entering, Mark saw that Rose, Alice, and Ely were seated around the large table that occupied the center of the room.

The table was long, made of dark stone, with enough chairs to seat a dozen people, though at that moment only three of them were occupied.

Ely and Alice looked up when they saw him come in, and almost instantly got to their feet and walked toward him.

"Allow us to help you with that, my lord," Alice said, reaching out her hands toward the books Mark was carrying under his arm.

"Yes, let us take those, Master," Ely added, taking the rest of the books.

"You didn’t have to," he said, letting them take the books anyway. "But thank you."

The two carried the books to the table and set them in front of Rose while Mark walked toward the seat right beside the vampire.

"How are you?" Mark asked, looking at her.

"Quite busy," Rose replied without looking up from some scrolls she had spread out in front of her. "I’ve spent days reviewing the kingdom’s finances and trying to understand how the hell the trade routes work around here... so let’s just say I haven’t had much free time."

"Sounds exhausting."

"It is."

"What about me?" Aria chimed in, visibly offended, as she walked toward the table. "Isn’t anyone going to come help me with my books? Isn’t anyone going to ask how I’m doing?"

Rose, Alice, and Ely ignored her completely and continued with what they were doing without even looking at her. As a result, Aria’s expression of indignation was so obvious that Mark ended up letting out a small laugh.

"Unbelievable..." Aria muttered, setting her books on the table with a soft thud before dropping into a chair with a pout. "And then they say I’m the dramatic one."

"Because you are," Rose said without looking up from the scroll.

"I wasn’t talking to you!"

Mark laughed a little more before settling into his seat.

"Well," he said. "What’s today’s meeting about?"

Ely, who had already returned to her place at the table, was the one who answered.

"Today’s meeting will be brief, Master," she replied. "There isn’t much to report beyond the central topic, which is the notice that arrived in the early hours of the morning."

"The one about the beastman delegation?"

Ely looked at him, surprised.

"You already knew?"

"Yeah, Aria told me on the way here," Mark replied, nodding toward the blonde sitting in the chair beside him.

"Well, so I am useful for something," Aria said, crossing her arms while still feigning indignation.

"Anyway..." Mark continued, ignoring the comment and looking back at the others. "What exactly do these beastmen want?"

Alice picked up one of the scrolls from the table and slid it toward the center so everyone could see it.

"According to what it says here," she replied, looking at the scroll, "they want to establish friendly relations with you."

"...With me?" he asked with a furrowed brow. "Not with the kingdom?"

"That’s precisely what caught our attention," Alice continued. "The scroll is worded in a strange way. It doesn’t mention the kingdom at any point. Instead, it makes direct reference to the ’Emperor of Death’ and expresses interest in establishing friendly relations specifically with you."

"That’s strange..."

"We thought so too," Ely added. "But it’s probably just a wording error. Perhaps whoever wrote the message wasn’t sure how to refer to the kingdom’s new political situation and ended up addressing you directly by your title."

Mark thought about it for a moment.

"...Yeah, that’s probably all it is," he conceded, setting the scroll back on the table. "It wouldn’t make sense for an entire kingdom to want to form relations with me personally rather than with the nation I govern."

"In any case," Rose chimed in, finally setting her own scrolls aside, "wording error or not, this is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss."

Everyone looked at her.

"We know very little about the different beastman kingdoms," she continued, resting a hand on the pile of books Cali had gathered. "That’s why I asked for all these books. The problem is they only contain historical information, not current."

"I understand... this embassy gives us the chance to get first-hand information," Mark said, grasping where she was going.

"Exactly," Rose confirmed. "A diplomatic delegation always brings more information than it intends to reveal. If we play our cards right, we can get much more out of them than they think they’re giving us."

"And what’s the plan to make that happen?" Aria asked, having already abandoned her little drama and now listening attentively.

"I’m still thinking about that..." Rose admitted. "I first need to finish reviewing these books to better understand who we’re dealing with before designing a concrete strategy. But I’ll probably have something ready by tomorrow."

"And in the meantime?" Ely asked.

"In the meantime, I want each of you to focus on your current duties," Rose replied. "We have a whole week before the delegation arrives, so there’s no need to rush."

"Understood," Alice said.

"Alright," Ely followed.

"Yeah, yeah," Aria added, waving a hand.

Rose gathered her scrolls and stacked them neatly on the table.

"Very well," she said, looking at each of the women in front of her. "If no one has anything else to add, that’s all for today... You can go back to your responsibilities."

Nobody added anything.

The three got up from their chairs almost simultaneously and began saying their goodbyes as they walked toward the door.

"With your permission, my lord," Alice said, giving a brief bow before leaving.

"See you at dinner, Master," Ely continued with a smile.

"I’m going to torture some new servants," Aria added, stretching as she walked toward the exit. "I mean... train them."

Mark watched them file out one by one until the room started to empty.

Then he also got up from his chair, ready to leave along with the others and return to the endless list of pending matters he still had to deal with.

But before he could take a step, he felt a hand grab his arm, he looked down and saw it was Rose.

The vampire had taken hold of his arm without getting up from her chair, her eyes fixed on him and an expression that had nothing to do with the calm tone she had used throughout the entire meeting.

"Master... could you stay for a moment?" Rose said quietly. "There’s something important I need to tell you."