Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Balaji was one of the main diplomats of the Amir Sultanate, responsible for the neutrality in the oppressive atmosphere. They were known as some of the best diplomats in the subcontinent, able to maneuver through intense political situations with these excellent minds.

Balaji was leaving for the capital of the Marathas to leave their goodwill to the nation after the intense war effort. He was waiting for the arrival of Rohan first. He wanted to talk about something before he left for the Maratha kingdom.

"You are here." Rohan called out from afar.

Balaji turned to Rohan, a man in his mid-30s and known for being the best diplomat in the history of the Amir Sultanate. He was partially responsible for the current neutrality situation.

"Late!" Balaji scowled.

"Sorry, I had to take documents as I was also headed to the Empire now." He said politely. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to ask about the Maratha Empire." Balaji said. "Their king is new, so the normal approach would work?"

"I have no information on the behavioral patterns of regent." He admitted.

"About that." Rohan scratched his chin. "Have you heard about the alliance between the Empire and the Marathas?"

"Yes?"

"We can safely assume that the regent has a bit of an immature outlook when it comes to politics."

"Why so?"

"The alliance was finalized very quickly, given there was no help from the Empire directly to the Marathas." Rohan explained. "On the outer side, it seems like the Empire gave a lucrative deal enough to gain their trust."

"But from the Empire's expansionary pattern so far." Rohan sighed. "The Emperor is shrewd and calculating. I can say that the deals would look lucrative but once you delve into it, the Empire will be the one profiting."

"Is that just your assumption on a groundless basis?"

"You could say that... But my intuition has never betrayed me." Rohan smirked. "The Regent is not prepared to know the nuances of politics."

"I believe you can exploit the gaps."

Balaji sighed. "I guess... it makes somewhat of a sense."

"Better than nothing…"

"I told you." Rohan smirked.

The genius diplomat Rohan had always surpassed him despite having less experience. It was the eye of the genius that allowed him to analyze such situations. His intuition and the ability to trust and capitalize on it had been useful for the Sultanate.

'Geniuses are different.'

Although the thought of the genius demotivated him. He wasn't a man to go out without a fight.

Rohan smiled. "I found some good information too…."

"What?"

"The Dutch seemed to have contacted the Marathas for a deal." He smiled and passed a note with some information.

"How did you get these?"

"Merchant guild." He smirked.

"Lord Yogi, eh... His influence is something else."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Of course…I owe a lot to Lord Yogi. He was my savior." Rohan said, smiling.

"Ok then, I shall take my leave. Best of luck."

Balaji didn't know that Rohan considered him a rival. Although a genius, the hard work of Balaji didn't go unnoticed. Seeing Balaji strive, Rohan got motivated and began to perfect his craft.

He was quite grateful to Balaji for helping him reach the position he was in.

Balaji took the carriage and headed to the Maratha kingdom. He went through the papers of the relations between the Amirs and Marathas. It wasn't a big relation.

The relation was merely transactional in nature and allowed for trade between the kingdoms. The merchants of the Amirs were allowed in Marathas, which was the best thing they could ask for.

Since the Marathas allowed them to access the Surat port, which was a heavily commercialized port, it let the Amir accumulate wealth and trade a lot with the foreigners despite not being connected to the sea.

'The rebuilding efforts are underway.'

'What's next? Mass recruitment... surveys?'

According to their informants, mass surveys were being conducted on the border between the Empire and the Marathas. He paused and thought for a second.

'Roads probably…'

'So he was right after all... something must be going on...'

Now he got a vague picture of the situation he had to work with.

Meanwhile, Rohan's carriage was heading to the Empire's capital, Hampi. Rohan was in a much tougher spot than Balaji, considering that the Amir Sultanate never had any relation with the Empire, which made it much harder to negotiate.

He was going through the information, scratching his head.

"What a mess!" He mumbled. "There isn't much to begin with."

"The spies seemed to have gathered useless information." He frowned.

It was because the internal affairs team was very active and squashed any attempt at information gathering.

"I have to rely on this." He sighed and put the papers aside.

He knew the facts about the recent annexure. The battle was a breeze for the Empire. They used the Marathas and Mughals to get the best deal even without losing any military might or money.

It directly gave him a warning that the Emperor or anyone that was guiding the Emperor was very sharp and intelligent. If he had to compare, they would possess intelligence similar to his master, Lord Yogi.

The feat was quite extraordinary in itself. The alliance with the Marathas was quite unexpected too. He thought initially that the Empire would expand aggressively, which they didn't. They even ceded some areas to the Marathas as a token of goodwill.

This part was odd for an empire that could hold the land. Considering the information from the civil war before the Emperor took charge. Rohan reached the conclusion that the Emperor was one of the people that looked at the bigger picture rather than going for short-term influence gains.

'Everything seems to be part of a bigger plan.'

"I have to be careful this time." He muttered.

Unlike the other negotiations, this time he possessed limited knowledge about the individual and the situation in general.

This was a test of his ability in this field.