Three Pieces of Bad News

After staying in the Eastern Four Provinces for a month, Roland left James and Ulysses in charge of the noble land exchange plan and defensive deployments, then immediately set out on his return journey aboard the Dawn, hastening back toward Double Gate Island.

However, while he was returning to Double Gate Island, several major events suddenly erupted across Saint Nor Continent.

On May 5, the Terra Royal Family publicly announced a marriage alliance with the Arkmund Family, one of the Sacred Alliance Empire's five Imperial Electors.

Princess Doris, Phillips's legitimate daughter, married Kendrick, the Arkmund Family's third-in-line heir.

At the same time, the three great kingdoms of Terra, Cardina, and Ribela announced the formation of a strategic alliance to jointly face all challenges and crises.

The moment these two pieces of news emerged, they shocked the major kingdoms and countless nobles.

What was the Terra Kingdom trying to do? They belonged to the Arcane Empire, yet these two actions clearly amounted to openly betraying the Arcane Empire's camp and joining the Holy Alliance. How could the Arcane Empire tolerate such behavior?

Yet what left everyone dumbfounded was that, in the face of the Terra Kingdom's betrayal, the Arcane Empire chose silence. Aside from a few harmless condemnations from the Department of Diplomacy, Seraphim and the other core leaders showed no intention of punishing the Terra Kingdom.

For a time, the Arcane Empire's prestige plummeted. The major nobles all offered their own opinions, speculating that the Arcane Empire had been overwhelmed by the demons' siege and had suffered a drastic decline in strength.

But before the major nobles could begin probing them, on May 10, under the supervision of the two great empires, the Human Alliance and seven non-human races, including the elves, dwarves, and orcs, signed a thirty-year peace treaty