Jorah frowns and grumbles something about people being unreasonable, while everyone else in the room seems either amused or bewildered. Tessa glances around in confusion.
"What other conditions is he talking about?" (Tessa)
As she scans the faces around her, waiting for an answer, she notices that her daughter, Selena, has gone beet red and is staring at the floor like it holds the secret to eternal life. Nearby, Elira is stifling laughter while Ilina looks like she's about to murder Jorah. Mizuki, meanwhile, appears deeply interested in the contents of his tea cup.
As for Jorah himself, he's staring at her as though they're comrades in arms, and his indignant voice quickly reveals the reason.
"Yes, they're being quite stubborn, Tessa! Perhaps together we can make them see reason! All I requested is that Mizuki's seed be systematically spread to other elven women, so they can bear his children quickly. When that was refused, I merely asked that he expand his harem.
"But for some reason, they even denied me that request! And mind you, it's not like I suggested that he take strangers into his bed, or even take more wives. I simply pointed out that Ladies Alto and Cara, you daughter Selena, and maybe Darak's daughter Linnea should be suitable concubines." (Jorah)
Tessa drops her tea cup and plate, shattering them on the floor. Her voice is practically a shriek, her righteous indignation helping to dispel some of the other overwhelming emotions that had been threatening to make her faint again.
"You did what!? What the hell were you thinking, you moron!?" (Tessa)
Jorah jerks back as though he's been slapped, genuinely shocked by her response.
"Isn't it obvious? From what I've been told, Mizuki impregnating those women would produce elven children that are more powerful than Elder Dragons, and even their furthest descendants would be high elves of a new bloodline! Can't you see that such an arrangement needs to happen as soon as possible!? If we hurry, every territory could soon have an elf strong enough to single-handedly defend against armies! Our people would become the strongest race on Azura!" (Jorah)
All the violence that was bubbling inside Tessa a few moments ago is washed away, her mind unable to experience anything else but the sheer, unrestrained bafflement induced by Jorah's shameless and absurd reasoning. While she falls into slack-jawed silence, Ilina's significantly more irritated voice rings out.
"Jorah, so help me gods, the next time you bring this up I am going to choke you to death myself! I am not sharing Mizuki with anyone other than Nina, got it!? No more wives, no concubines, and sure as hell no...seed spreading!" (Ilina)
Nina begins chuckling nearby, and smirks at Jorah.
"You'd do well to recognize that Ilina is more possessive of Mizuki than me, elf, because I don't sense that she's lying about her threat to kill you. Personally, I'm okay with Mizuki taking Cara as a mistress, but if Ilina isn't, she has my support on the matter. Fufufu...but don't worry, Mizuki and I are already working diligently on our first child." (Nina)
Finally embarrassed enough by the discussions to intervene, Mizuki clears his throat and desperately tries to change the subject.
"Ehem...so, Lady Tessa, now that you know everything, I'd like to ask you again. Will you reconsider supporting my marriage to Ilina?" (Mizuki)
Hearing his question, everyone in the room falls silent, and a more serious atmosphere overtakes the gathering. Shocked from her stupor, Tessa's body jolts as she glances up at Mizuki, his words slowly sinking in. Her eyebrows knit together as conflicting thoughts fill her head, and her voice is strained.
"I...it's...I don't..." (Tessa)
She trails off, unable to bring herself to voice a decision on the spot.
The fear of the unknown once again grips her heart as she contemplates her answer. She's the last line of defense, as it were – if she says yes, everything changes. There is, of course, the fact that too much backlash from the public could undermine the marriage.
However, she's confident that if the commoners are first told the truth about Mizuki, with the unanimous backing of their nobility and royalty, they'll accept his marriage. That's especially true if they have a little bit of time between learning the truth about Mizuki and learning about his engagement to Ilina.
Having his protection in the midst of this threat from the Empire, having him publicly build the trains for them to use, learning about what it means for him to be a Nephilim – if it's paired with a public friendship between Ilina and Mizuki, Tessa wouldn't be surprise if the commoners started secretly wishing for the couple's engagement before its even announced.
With everything going on right now, Mizuki is a beacon of hope to their people. Anyone, including the nobles, would be insane to not support his wishes after learning everything that Tessa has today.
And as that thought occurs to Tessa, her eyes widen involuntarily.
'Have I been...manipulated? By the Princess?'
The more she considers it, the more certain she is that it's true. The whole sequence of events for the meeting today and their emotional toll on her was too...perfect.
How the nobles were first given the opportunity to beg, plead, and threaten to get their own enchanted items. How Nedonera conveniently snapped at them aggressively, then directed all their questions to Mizuki before they even knew the truth about him, just so he could turn them down emphatically.
At the same time, Ilina clearly demonstrated herself to be the only one who had Nedonera's ear, and eventually, the only one who could overturn Mizuki's flat refusal of building them trains. Those gambits ensured that one message would be clearly delivered – the King, Queen, and nobles don't have Mizuki's and Nedonera's trust, but Ilina does.
Then, came the reveal about the Empire's imminent invasion, and with it, the overwhelming fear of annihilation. Conveniently, of course, this organically led to the 'revelation' of Mizuki's god-like power, his admission that he'd already killed Belmod after trying to aid the elves with subterfuge, and his stalwart, detailed pledges to protect them from any subsequent invasion.
In one fell swoop, Ilina got a second message across – the elves are in desperate, hopeless need of a savior, and Mizuki has proven himself the clear choice.
Finally, just when they'd started to take that protection for granted, Ilina revealed her engagement with Mizuki, probably knowing full well that all hell would break loose and they'd get outright hostile with her over it. Naturally, Ilina was all too quick to point out the dire repercussions of every single alternate course of action to supporting Ilina's plans. That, plus her earlier reveals about Mizuki, made them feel the weight of the metaphorical axe on their necks as they searched desperately for a way out.
Like any shrewd manipulator, after the stick was sufficiently brandished to make them think twice about one action, the carrot was dangled to draw their attention to the one she preferred. Yes...she offered them the trains and MMCs, simultaneously flaunting how she'd succeeded with Mizuki where they'd failed.
Of course, Ilina probably knew that wouldn't be enough for Jorah and Tessa. That's why Ilina made sure the prolonged emotional turmoil would make Tessa doubt herself, regressing into cold, explicit logic. Then, it was merely a matter of getting Tessa to slowly voice every one of her lingering reservations about Mizuki, so that Ilina could drag out the process of countering them individually with new revelations – Mizuki's longevity, his ability to sire elven children, and so on.
She kept pushing, until Tessa was exhausted from slowly, publicly making concessions, until she only had Mizuki's humanity as her last line of defense. Then, Ilina crushed that in the most clear, incontestable fashion possible. Even Tessa's own daughter could see Mizuki was a race beyond reproach for the elves – a Nephilim. And with that final card played, Tessa was overwhelmed.
From start to finish, the Queen, the King, the nobles, and especially Tessa – they all danced in the palm of Ilina's hand.
'And now, I'm the last one waiting to bend the knee...if only as a formality.'
Tessa glances up at Ilina, her incredulity and indignation at the storm of insight she's just had written plainly on her face. As though privy to Tessa's inner thoughts, Ilina slowly twists her lips into a small smirk, her eyes cold and victorious, like a wolf looking at cornered prey.
To Tessa, it feels like the Princess isn't even bothering to hide what she's done. She may even want Tessa to know, like it makes no difference at all to her. Like Tessa knowing that she was manipulated is inconsequential. And Tessa knows why...
Because Ilina is right.
Even if every single word out of Ilina's, Mizuki's, Nina's, and the royal's mouths today was orchestrated to perfection by Ilina with the sole purpose of breaking Tessa in every possible way. To lead her to this decision. Now that it's happened, and she looks at only the facts and the paths before her, knowing she was manipulated doesn't change a damn thing.