The Sugimotos and Tamamuras

"We've become a regular visitor here, Your Highness. We might as well bring in our stuff and start decorating the guest rooms as ours." Faust told the Kasai prince as they waited for a household staff to open the mansion door for them. "Seems like the Duchess had taken a liking to seeing your face from time to time. I wonder when she would agree to close the trade deal with Kasai."

"I'm working on it, Faust. Jeanne is still reading the terms." Prince Yoh assured him.

They had been in and out of the Mont St. Michel mansion for almost two weeks. Most of the time, the Kasai prince and the duchess would talk about their childhood experiences, their fathers, Hao, and the unborn child. The terms of the trade agreement were only discussed for a few minutes before they leave for the night. The duchess would just pat his hand, smile at him and would say that she was across everything and she was just making sure that both parties would benefit from the trade deal.

The door of the mansion creaked open to reveal a grumpy-looking Marco.

"Ahhh, good to see you, buddy!" The blond medicine man patted the butler's shoulder before letting himself in.

Marco replied with a grunt. He hated welcoming these guys in the morning. He wished that they would finalize the trade negotiations already so that his mistress would stop inviting them over. He hated seeing the Kasai prince's face which reminded him so much of that ingrate who lived with them for 7 years.

The butler led them to the duchess' tea room where she would usually chat with Prince Yoh alone. This time, Faust was asked to come in with his partner. The two spotted a group of aristocrats waiting for them inside. They were the Tamamura and Sugimoto clans of Kasai. The first two families they had tried to woo.

"Hello, Your Highness," the oldest lady from the Tamamura clan greeted him. "We thought you have given up that's why you stopped visiting."

"I'm sorry, My Lady..." The prince bowed down. "We're juggling missions from the king so there's a slight delay. We still hope that you would go back to Kasai to start anew."

Everybody stood up to show respect when the lady of the house entered the room with her butler.

"Thank you all for coming!" Jeanne settled herself on a chair. "Please make yourself comfortable." She scanned the room with her eyes to check if everyone she expected to come was there. "Ahhh, you looked confused, Faust."

"Apologies, My Lady, I never expected to be included in the discussion much less see the Tamamuras and Sugimotos here. Not that I don't want to see them. I'm just clueless about what's going on."

The Duchess smiled and took a bunch of papers that Marco handed to her. She skimmed through them before beckoning the prince to approach and get them from her. "Congratulations Yoh and Faust! I have signed the trade agreement with Kasai."

The duo looked at each other with their widest toothiest grin. Finally! Another mission accomplished!

"My king would be delighted, Jeanne. Thank you!"

"You're most welcome but I did not do it for your brother, Yoh. I did it for Kasai. You told me that the kingdom had suffered economic losses due to the war. The dukedom of Mont St. Michel has always been an ally of Kasai. But regardless of whatever relationship we have, helping people who fell victims to the atrocities of war is the most human thing to do. My heart goes out to those unfortunate people who had no financial capacity to leave their war-torn land so they had to survive with what was left of their homes and livelihood. I couldn't imagine how my dead father would react if I refused to give assistance to those people in need. I bet he would be utterly disappointed." The Duchess stared at the clan heads as she said the last statement. They looked at one another with unease.

"May I be allowed to speak, My Lady, Your Highness?" The head of the Sugimoto clan asked. He was a clean shaven old man in his 60's wearing an impeccable suit.

"Yes, you may..."

"We were good friends with Duke Francois and King Mikihisa that's why we accepted your invitation. I must admit that it would take a long time to trust their children because of their youth and lack of experience in leading their respective turfs. But the sad truth is that our dear friends are no longer with us and there's nothing else we can do but to put our faith in the new generation of rulers. We would want our descendants to be proud of us, their ancestors who had actively participated in the rebuilding of the kingdom we had always referred to as our home. That is why the Sugimoto clan have decided to come back to Kasai."

"The Tamamuras will renew our allegiance to Kasai as well. There is no apt time but now to give back to the people who have worked for our family for generations. It would be wrong to abandon them again..." The clan matriarch declared.

"I deeply appreciate it, My Lady, My Lord... Kasai will be able to bounce back because of your unwavering support." Prince Yoh shook the hand of each clan head. He went back to where Faust was standing and did a fist bump with him. Two family names would be crossed out of their list. King Hao would be extremely happy with this development.

"Ladies, gentlemen, may I invite you all to the dining hall for a celebratory lunch?" Marco asked the group.