Summoning Italy

Chapter 43: Sidelined

Third Foreign Affairs Building, Esthirant, 18th of January, 1640; 3 days later

"Do you really expect my country to accept this trade deal of yours? You must be having a laugh,"

Kaios could not believe it. For the sixth time now, once more another Philadean nation had rejected their proposed trade deal. And it was one of their most generous yet. The man rubbed his forehead before he looked to his counterpart. The Ambassador for Leilith, a fairy woman, fluttered her wings in annoyance.

Kaios spoke up, "Miss Greim, what more can you ask for? Parpaldia is willing to hand over much of our own luxurious goods in exchange for a few workers. I told you we have since outlawed slavery in the empire and we'd make sure they'd all be paid handsomely."

"You and I have a very different definition of 'handsomely', sir Kaios. Not to mention, we still demand the compensation for all the hardship you've brought down upon my people. Making them pick fruits 18 hours a day, much of them have lost their ability to even flutter their wings without pain!" Greim said in anger.

"That's not-"

"Aside from that? You have not even returned at least half of the slaves we were forced to give you. Many of their families continue to wonder where they are. And, Parpaldia has promised that you'd help develop the kingdom. And so far I've seen zero progress," she said in annoyance as she stood up. "It's a no from me, Sir Kaios. The Kingdom of Leilith will not allow this so-called deal to insult the integrity of our nation. Good day." Greim said. Suddenly she then turned into her tiny fairy form and flew off with a micro huff.

Kaios watched her leave before he groaned and sighed deeply. That was another trade deal that was essentially thrown out of the window. Ever since the hasty emancipation of the slaves in Parpaldia, the economy has taken a huge hit. And for what? To keep the wine flowing and the fuel delivered for the nobles.

The man sighed deeply as he stood up and walked to his laptop on his desk. It was once more, time to write another failed trade deal report.

...

Imperial Palace

"... As such, the Kingdom of Leilith will no longer be entering a new trade relationship with Parpaldia. And I've no doubt this is due to them being in a new trade agreement with Italy a few weeks ago," Kaios said with a frown, head bowed down in shame.

In front of him, Ludius clasped his hands in contemplation as Remille had her book settled onto her lap. The two were having their afternoon together, but the news once more soured it. Ludius looked to Kaios with a frown, "This is the sixth time, Sir Kaios. Sixth. That we have lost a trade deal."

"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty but... The Italians..." Kaios was tired of muttering that word each time. It was always the Italians.

"You don't need to explain yourself any further," Ludius said as he looked to Kaios with... surprisingly, there was no contempt on his face like before. More so exasperated understanding. "Do you at least have any good news on the recent efforts to bolster our economy?"

"Ermm... Well, according to our military heads, so far we've seen relative success in employing new sailors for the navy. No luck for the army nor the wyvern corps... In the industrial side of things, we're slowly returning to a stable rate of manufacturing our muskets and cannons, but not as fast as before either. Ship yards are still at a standstill. The civilian economy however is still in the red. Even our shops here are now struggling to keep supply... As such the Bank of Esthirant had no choice but to raise interest rates since they are not being paid back quickly enough," Kaios said with a frown.

"Oh good. More problems upon more problems," Remille said with a grumble. "First we lost our territorial ambitions, now we're slowly losing our influence and our economic might..."