Half a month had passed since the Principality of Walternia occupied the border village.
Over those half a month, the atmosphere in Prye City, the Royal Capital, had been taut as a drawn bowstring. In streets and alleys, the topic of conversation gradually shifted from initial curiosity and outrage to a deep-seated anxiety. In teahouses, storytellers no longer recounted tales of gifted scholars and beautiful ladies; instead, they began telling of the Goldflower Kingdom's heroes who had resisted foreign invaders throughout history, trying to inspire the people with the glory of their forebears. In taverns, drunken burly men slapped tables and shouted about teaching the Walternians a lesson, but those who remained sober all knew that war was no child's game. Once it began, bloodshed and sacrifice would follow.
The envoy Karl sent, carrying a sternly worded state letter, rode at full speed to Walternia's capital and delivered it to the Grand Duke of Walternia. The letter explicitly demanded that the Walternian army immediately withdraw from Goldflower territory, release the detained villagers, formally apologize for its border violation, and compensate for the losses. Before the envoy departed, Karl personally summoned him and instructed him to be neither servile nor overbearing—to make clear the Goldflower Kingdom's firm stance, while not taking the initiative to close the door to negotiations.
Yet the Grand Duke of Walternia's reply dashed Karl's expectations.
In his reply, the Grand Duke of Walternia not only refused to withdraw his troops, but instead claimed that the village and its surrounding region had belonged to Walternia since ancient times and had merely been illegally occupied by the Goldflower Kingdom for many years. He even turned the accusation back on them, charging the Goldflower Kingdom with massing troops along the border and threatening Walternia's security. He demanded that Goldflower first