A royal is never wrong ~ A zodiac story

Chapter 12

Pervaz

"Let the three kingdom summit begin!"
Around the triangular table sat the nobles from the three kingdoms.
On Pervaz's side were the king and the prince accompanied by their closest allied.
On Versailles' side were Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer and Saggitarius.
Lastly, the Gladians had brought their king and queen, their crown prince and Duke Libra Quiven.
Today was the start of the first official meeting.
Every year, they would join to talk about their alliance and diplomatic affairs from each kingdom.
Gemini decided to go first. "Today, I stans before you as the Prince of Gladia. We have been suspecting a coup d'état for quite a while. Our suspicions were confirmed recently while Duke Quiven and I were out of the capital. The palace was under attack. Fortunately, I had taken precautions in order to avoid the outcome. Those same precautions have also been set. At the moment, my guards should be having a tight watch over the kingdom. Of course, it is inevitable that we will require the aid from your kingdoms in worst scenario. I ask you today, as a man who will fight for his land, for your assistance if ever war broke out."
He sat down as the nobles clapped.
That's when Prince Ophiuchus spoke up. "And how would that benefit us?"
Libra, who was sitting next to his cousim, raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Did you just ask how that would benefit you?"
The pervazian prince nodded with a nonchalant smirk.
Just as Libra was about to rebut, Gemini stopped him. "Don't. Let me take care of this." He whispered to him before continuing the conversation.
"Prince Ophiuchus, may I remind you of the alliance the three kingdom has agreed upon. It's also the entire reason we are having this conversation. Of course, if you refuse, there is nothing I can do. I'll just, instead, ask Versailles' military for help. Their king seems quite eager to assist me in the defense of my kingdom." He pointed at King Aquarius who had stayed silent the entire time. A bit shock, he stuttered a little bit. "Y-yes. Of course I'll help you."
Ophiuchus sighed. "Do whatever you want. Just remember that it was the previous royal family who signed the alliance, my father never signed anything."
"Fine. I guess I'll take away your port privilege. After all, Pervaz is a landlocked territory. Without us, your trades with the other continents will end up being nothing but a failure."
That last statement from the prince of Gladia managed to shut Ophiuchus up. It was clear who won this debate.
Saggitarius, sensing the tension between the two other kingdoms, decided to change the subject.
"Prince Gemini, since you are done, I would like to adress an issue that has been bothering. This is a matter with the King Firenzo. Lately, the immigration rate in Versailles has went up by a considerable amount." She placed on the table the numerous documents with all the stats. She then pointed at one of the papers. "This. Is the crime rate which has also augmented in numbers. As we can observe, ever since the immigration between Pervaz and Versailles has went up, so has the crime rate."
Before she could continue, she was interrupted by Ophiuchus. "And what proof do you have that my people are involved in such activities. Are you suggesting discrimination in the great country of Pervaz?"
She didn't expect that. The prince wad sly and she had lost her cool.
"N-not at all... I-"
Just then, Aquarius decided to butt in. "My sister was attacked by a couple of bandits recently." He stopped to look at his sister and then change his gaze to Cancer. "She was accompanied by my general who has reported to me that the bandits characteristics matched those of a pervazian."
"Enough. I will not allow my citizens to be discriminated for such petty matters." King Firenzo exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table.
"

Discrimination??? King Firenzo, do not confused safety for prejudice. And if you claim the safety of my people is a petty matter, then I would recommend you take a look at the streets of Pervaz."
Firenzo was infuriated while Aquarius kept a stern and professional look on his face.
"You. You come into MY country! And dare to insult MY people! I shall let you know that I am a respected king with much more experience than you'll ever have!"
Aquarius started getting annoyed. He couldn't believe this greedy and tyrannical man was the king of a land. How despicable. "For someone who slaughtered half of his population two decades ago, you sure talk a lot about protecting your people."
That was the last straw. The king jumped on Aquarius and slapped him on the face. He continued exchanging blows with him. Of course, Aqua was much younger than him and the tables quickly turned.
Seeing his father losing the fight, Ophiuchus attempted to join in but was held back by Cancer.
The general had no intention to join the fight, but he just got scolded by an angry Taurus and had no choice.
While the king of Versailles was beating his opponent to a pulp, Libra noticed a metallic weapon in the king's jacket.
This was bad. Aquarius had no intention of killing and was only defending himself. Firenzo was another story. In the face of a losing battle, he had no problem shedding blood.
The Duke ran and pushed the king off before pinning Firenzo to the ground. He then shouted for Gemini. "Gemini! Take out the knife from his jacket!"
The prince did as he was told and retrieved the weapon.
Libra sighed in relief.
He was glad it was over.
The king of Gladia decided to finally speak up. "Everyone, I suggest we continue this tomorrow."
Everyone agreed and left the room.

...

As Gemini walked in the castle's halls he ran into a woman, whom he recognized as Lady Pisces, prince Ophiuchus' aid.
His clothes have been found dirty as they had fallen off the carriage. He had enough to go through the ball and today's meeting, but he needed some new ones for the next few days.
"Lady Pisces!" He called out. The young lady stopped as the Prince walked up to her. "I've been wondering if you knew a tailor, preferably a good one, who'd be willing to make me clothes in the span of a couple of hours."
Pisces started thinking. "Well, we don't have a personal tailor in the palace there is one who owns a shop in the capital. His name is Aries. I'll give you his adress."
She took out a piece a paper and wrote: Ram's shop, Donovan street

So this is the second part of the three kingdom summit. Ik originally, I was going to do two, but I'm gonna need to make a third one.
p.s Did anybody watch the solar eclipse? I'm from Ontario, Canada. We were supposed to have a clear view of the eclipse, but of course, mother nature hates us and decided to give us a cloudy day.