Lilianne felt conflicted.
'She isn't wrong.'
Everything Lady Seraphina had spoken was true. Since the distance between the territories was so great, whatever kind of help House Ravenshade sent would take time to arrive. So if a strong noble house attacked without any warning, then they would be crushed long before any help could arrive.
So it was very reasonable for her to ask them to stay within this territory.
But Lilianne couldn't just leave the Florivelle territory for such a long time. She couldn't just leave her daughter with the Ravenshades either, since that would be too irresponsible of her as the girl's mother.
She let out an internal sigh.
'Do I have no choice but to negotiate?'
It wasn't that she was at a dead end; she could still see a path forward. It was just that she didn't want to take that path. After all, she wasn't all that good at negotiations and politics, while her opponent was Duchess Seraphina—the woman who was renowned for those things.
