Margaret sighed softly. The hot spring had given her fair neck a lovely flush:
"It wasn't that we couldn't defeat them. At the time, we were already facing pressure from Delarion in the north, while the coastal regions of the Laggson Kingdom, predecessor of the Laggson Duchy, produced brave and battle-hardened soldiers. On top of that, the United Kingdom navy was somewhat underdeveloped at the time. Not only did the Laggson Kingdom occupy the bay region, but it also had a chain of small islands south of the bay to serve as its final defensive bases.
"So, in order to avoid fighting on both northern and southern fronts at once, our ancestor gave up on absorbing the region along the western shore of Starfall Bay by force. Instead, peace was made in exchange for the Laggson Kingdom ceding part of its territory and being reduced to a duchy."
Margaret concluded:
"That land is also the only region in the entire southern Old Continent that the United Kingdom has, in practical terms, never conquered. A few years ago, some people in the country tried to push an agenda to make the Laggson Duchy part of the United Kingdom, but it ultimately came to nothing."
"I don't think my journey south will involve directly dealing with someone like the Grand Duke of Laggson."
After all, whenever Shade went to other cities, he usually only spent time in the Lower District, at the docks, or out in forests and wilderness—Moon Bay excepted.
"That's not certain."
Galina smiled and moved a little closer to Shade. Vanessa, who had been on Shade's right side, yielded her place, and Galina naturally leaned against him:
"Margaret and Leisha probably don't know this. I only heard some rumors myself—the Grand Duke of Laggson intends to mediate the conflict