"So what do you think of Uncle Cassian?" Asked Riya as they were heading back.
"I would describe him as a very tough man...no warrior. He is a man with a simple mind. From our interaction, I could tell that he really hates weak people. He expects the people around him to be strong." A good example of that would be the rule that he made for his daughter. His daughter is allowed to marry anyone from any race and from any tribe as long as the man his daughter chooses is as strong as her or stronger than her.
"You're right but there is more to it." Riya looked outside of the window. It was time for the sunset.
"Uncle Cassian is our Hero. Back when, the first Elven Empress, my Grandmother was on the path to unite all the elven tribes to form the Celestial Terrain Empire, Cassian was someone who played a very important role. He was my grandmother's sword and spear. Cassian is considered to be the greatest general and commander that the Lands of Elves have ever produced."
"Out of 89 battles that he was leading, he has never lost any of the battles. He had accomplished 70 clean victories and 19 draws in his life. Whenever he was leading an army, the people used to celebrate their victory in advance because it was Cassian Nightrider who was leading the battle." Aditya just nodded his head. Deep inside, he was really impressed by what this man had accomplished.
From her words, he understood that the war hero was as old as the first Elven empress of this empire. 'But to think that a man who has lived this long and has so much experience would lose to Riya under one minute...!!!' Aditya wasn't denying Riya's strength or anything but he was now more sure that Cassian was holding back in that spar.
"Uncle Cassian was one of the forces that was responsible for driving out the foreign Empires that tried to colonize parts of our Empire. To this day, Cassian is seen as the War Hero of the Celestial Terrain Empire. He had the option to retire and live the rest of his life peacefully when my Grandmother retired. Or he could have gone to the Main continent to reach a Higher level of cultivation rank. But he didn't. Instead, he chose to stay in the Celestial Terrain and train the next generation."
"There is no questioning Uncle's loyalty towards the Celestial Terrain Empire. Because he was so busy with his work he didn't get married up until 500 years back. He loves this Empire and this land very much."
"But, Uncle's views are kind of flawed. When my mother took over, on many occasions he had disagreements with my mother. He didn't like the peaceful policies and steps that the New Empress took right after sitting on the throne."
"This is why the relationship between my mother and Uncle Cassian is strained and not that good. Even though both of them live lives in the Capital, it had been years since they last saw each other's faces. Uncle believes that under my mother's rule, the Celestial Terrain had gotten a lot weaker. He believes that her policies and the steps that she took to maintain peace only made the Empire weaker both internally and externally."
"Soon after my mother took charge of everything, Cassin who had disagreements with her gave up his position as the Commander of the Celestial Terrain's army and willingly became an instructor." Since the Celestial Terrain always has been at peace, the commander of the military didn't have much work to do. So it makes sense why Cassian gave up his position and chose to become an instructor instead.
Aditya could somewhat understand Cassian's frustrations. From his conversation with Amelia, he understood that her means of doing things were very peaceful. She always did things in a way to ensure that there was always peace and stability in her territory.
Even when the 10 elders of the Empire were pressuring her and were giving her a hard time she still refused Aditya's offer to end them.
"Before our Empire controlled a few islands at the Westnia Empire. And through a series of trade deals and agreements with foreign empires, some small parts of the Beast Continent also came into our Empire's possession. Until my mother took the throne, we had sent our troops to these territories of ours to provide protection to the people who lived in those territories."
"But when my mother came into power she sold these small territories to other powers and recalled all the troops back to the Empire. Uncle Cassian was very displeased and very unhappy with her choice. He even argued with my mother on this matter."
"Cassian argued that keeping those foreign continent territories would have increased the Empire's influence in other continents and this would have been beneficial in the long run. But my Mother said that keeping those territories was a waste of time and resources. Keeping those territories and sending troops was costing the Empire a lot of money and resources which was really true and which was something that Uncle Cassian failed to see. The Celestial Terrain was already powerful enough, there was no use of having any foreign presence."
"Aditya, what do you think on this matter?" Asked Riya. She was also confused on this matter. She wasn't that good at Geopolitics. She wasn't sure who was right or who was wrong in this situation.
Aditya folded his arms and thought for a second before responding. "It's difficult to say who is wrong and who is right in this matter. As far as I am aware, the foreign policy of the Celestial Terrain always had been to stay neutral and maintain peace. Because of this reason, the Empire has accepted any Alliance offers that it received from other Empires. Because of this, the Empire has never supported any conflict or any wars around the whole world. On one hand, I understand that Aunty wanted to make their intentions clear and pulled back their foreign presence to make it clear that she wanted the world to know that the Celestial Terrain would always remain neutral no matter what. The Empire isn't concerned by what is happening outside of its territories."
"But from the perspective of the General, this was a wrong decision. Uncle Cassian saw this move was weakening the Empire's might and foreign presence."
"If you ask me who is right and who is wrong then I would pick Uncle Cassian's side because his views align with mine. If my empire was in such a situation then I never would give up those territories. The Istarin Empire's foreign policy has never been able to stay peaceful or neutral. Sure, we will stay neutral and peaceful towards those who didn't provoke us but if someone provokes us then we will respond back."
"Aligning with my views and foreign policies, giving up those foreign territories was a really stupid move. I would never do that and I can understand why Uncle Cassian was so dissatisfied and angry about this matter. But when understanding the foreign views of the Celestial Terrain, then I can't blame Aunty Amelia for her actions either."
"After all, she did this for the best interest of her empire. Even under your grandmother's rule, the Empire's foreign policy has been to stay neutral and peaceful. Since the Empire was not concerned about what happened outside of its territory, there was no need to hold on to foreign territories and waste millions of gold coins and tons of resources."
"This is one of those situations where both sides are right from their own perspectives but both sides have failed to understand each other's perspective."
Riya was amazed by Aditya's response. When she taught about it, Aditya was right. Cassian doesn't want the Celestial Terrain to become weak. He had fought, bled, and made so many sacrifices for this empire. He fears that if the Empire becomes weak, then foreign enemies might try to attack the Empire again.
On the other hand, the Empress wants peace. She wants nothing to do with any foreign power. She wants her Empire to stay completely out of any conflicts and wars. She doesn't wish to make any enemies nor does she wish to make any friends. In simpler words, her foreign policy was, 'Leave us Alone'.
"When I was young I was sent to train under Uncle Cassian. But because of how brutal his training was, after one week, my mother brought me back home. Uncle Cassian thinks that the new generation is weak because there are no wars and conflicts. This is why he is so strict and harsh with the new recruits."
"He is too strict in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with being strict but being too strict isn't good either. Who knows maybe because he was being too strict, many of the recruits will leave the training camp saying that this is too hard for them and they can't do it anymore. This will be a loss but the Empire." Riya nodded with his head.
Scene change____
By the time, Aditya and Riya returned home it was already time for dinner. Entering inside, Aditya was surprised and even slightly shocked to find the Empress herself cooking dinner for them.
Amelia was cooking dinner. Aditya didn't think that a woman of her status would cook with her own hands. This was really surprising to Aditya. There were no maids to help her out. She was doing everything alone.
Seeing Aditya looking surprised, Riya smiled and said. "My mother likes to cook. She has been cooking as long as I can remember." Saying that she went to the kitchen to help her mother. Although she can't cook, she could help her mother with other stuff.
"Oh, you two have already returned..." She said looking slightly surprised.
"Yes. We went to meet Uncle Cassian." Riya didn't hide the fact that she took Aditya to meet Uncle Cassian.
Riya respected Cassian a lot. She viewed Cassian as her real uncle. This is why she took her future husband to see him.
"How was he?" Although the relationship between Amelia and Cassian is strained and conflicted, Amelia never forbids Riya from meeting Cassin.
"He is doing fine as always."
As both mother and daughter worked side by side, Aditya leaned against the wall and stared at them. Looking at them, he almost couldn't tell the difference between them. If both of them wore similar dresses and with same hairstyles, then it would be extremely difficult to distinguish them. The only major difference was Amelia's breast and ass was much bigger compared to Riya's.
'I wonder if Riya will grow like her mother.' Aditya couldn't help but have such thoughts in his mind.
