Cooperation as a show of sincerity

"This is beyond my control, son," The marquis sighs in defeat, "I did not expect that the king would cover it like that for the second prince… It just goes beyond me, especially when he involves a royal member of another kingdom in this. I am not sure what the king is thinking. This will be blown up to be quite a problem even in terms of foreign relations. I will send some letters to some close friends to see what we could do. I am sure that there will be a lot of opposition to the king's choice, but losing access to the Garden of Oracles and being accused of causing it could justify anything that the king does to Ian."

The marquis pinches the bridge of his nose from frustration. The king purposely restricted him from walking out of the house to block him from meeting up with other nobles to convince them to oppose the decision made against Ian.