Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

A few months ago

The Royal Palace of Alcázar, Capital City Madrid, The Spanish Empire

The Royal Palace of Alcázar stands tall in the capital city of Madrid as a representation of the royal power of what was once the most powerful empire in the history of the world. Alcázar is a stunning masterpiece featuring traditional Mudejar, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture.

It has ornate tilework, grand courtyards, and richly decorated interiors, including the Hall of Ambassadors and viewing rooms that showcase the artistic brilliance of the Latin world. All the halls are surrounded by lush gardens, fountains, and beautiful statues of ancient legends.

The Royal Palace of Alcázar is currently the residence of the Emperor of the Spanish Empire, Charles Balthasar de Habsburgo, the patriarch of the Habsburg family of the Spanish lineage.

In this usually peaceful residence of His Majesty the Emperor, today is one of those unexpected days when there is no peace to be found.

Several nobles of the empire hurried into the Royal Palace, with either anger or unhappiness written on their faces. Additionally, they seemed to be in quite a hurry as they walked quickly, causing their unexercised bodies to sweat profusely.

Charles was waiting in the courtroom for everyone to arrive, without much expression on his face. If anyone unfamiliar were to see him, they would think that Charles was in his normal mood, since he is usually not a person who shows his emotions.

However, if someone familiar with Charles were to see him, they would immediately know that His Majesty is currently very unhappy and fuming with rage inside.

Obviously, the prominent nobles and important dignitaries, being some of the closest to the emperor, understood his current situation and knew not to provoke His Majesty without reason.

Unfortunately, even though they were lucky enough to escape the anger of His Majesty, the poor Pedro Santiago was left all by himself to bear the brunt of the questioning and scrutiny of His Majesty, with no one to help him out.

Charles did not want to start the meeting abruptly. "Has everyone arrived? Is anyone yet to come?"

Don Alvaro de Mendoza, who has become the new valido of the Spanish Empire, whose role is similar to that of a chief minister under the emperor or a chief advisor, knew that the question was for him. He quickly got up from his seat and briefly looked at the participants of the meeting, making sure no one was missing. "We are ready, Your Majesty."

Charles nodded his head.

"This matter is nothing new. It’s about the unprovoked aggression of the Bharatiya Empire against our Philippine colony."

"Although the profit we gained from this Philippine colony has become less and less in recent years, it is still a very important colony to us due to its strategic location in Asia. But now it is no more—it has been forcefully snatched away from us."

"So, my question is, how should we deal with this enemy?" Charles looked around at the faces of the nobles with a questioning gaze, then continued, enunciating clearly, "Or let me rephrase it." Charles showed his true colors as his eyes lit up with a burning intensity of anger. "How should we punish this disobedient elephant of Asia?"

As soon as they heard the question of their monarch, the nobles were immediatly filled with indignation and anger. How could it be someone else’s chance to rob the Spanish of their own territory when it had always been the other way around? Some older nobles lamented how far the Spanish Empire had fallen.

But overall, the reaction of the nobles was quite mixed.

"We should send our galleons to not only take back the Philippines but also cripple their navy, Your Majesty."

"Instead of going to the Philippines, we should consider fully occupying that island off the southern coast of the subcontinent, which they call Anuradha Puri, for ourselves, Your Majesty. It could potentially be more profitable than the Philippines."

"We should cooperate with the Dutch to teach them a lesson, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, I believe we should not rush to a conclusion. The Bharatiya Empire is not a weak empire, and its emperor, Vijay Devaraya, is not a weak monarch. They currently have the largest armed forces in the world, enough to defend against any foreign threat by land, and they also possess one of the largest naval fleets in the world.

Although still incomparable to ours, it is more than enough to defend their borders and cause us considerable trouble."

"So, I recommend we consider our relationship with the Bharatiya Empire in the long term, especially given our current economic difficulties."

"Coward!"

As the comments grew louder, Charles became annoyed and silenced them all with a wave of his hand.

"Before we come to a conclusion, let us hear what the ambassador to the Bharatiya Empire, Pedro Santiago, has to say for himself," his tone slightly sarcastic.

Petro Santiago, who was brought into the Royal Palace almost as a prisoner, was already very tense. But after seeing the intense gaze of the people around him and the burning stare of His Majesty, he immediately felt like he was locked in a basement in Antarctica. No words came to his mouth.

Noticing the growing impatience on His Majesty’s face, he knew he had to answer the question, or else, not to mention escaping with a light punishment, he would be lucky if he was only punished by a quick death by a rifle after being framed by all the nobles after concluding that going to war with the Bharatiya Empire was not profitable.

"Your Majesty, I am very sorry for my negligence, but please understand that I was not made aware of the Bharatiya Empire’s move on the Philippines, or else I would have definitely been successful in convincing the Bharatiya Emperor to stop his madness. But sadly, by the time I knew, it was already too late."

"That being said, Your Majesty, I believe the response I received from the Bharatiya Empire would interest you much more than a war with the Bharatiya Empire."

Everyone in the courtroom was shocked. They did not expect that the ambassador to the Bharatiya Empire would truly betray his country and join the side of the enemy. Why else would he take the enemy’s side?

Charles had grown angrier and was on the verge of lashing out. ’How dare this bastard vijay not only attack my colony but also bribe my official and send him back to my court to recommend I avoid a war? How much disregard does this bastard have for the spanish empire?’

"Preposterous!"

"How dare you, you deserter!"

"If I were not in the courtroom, I would have already beaten you to death, you traitorous bastard!"

When everyone started cursing at the top of their lungs, the Chief Advisor Don Alvaro was silently scolding pedro in his heart as well, but surprisingly for a completely different reason. "This idiot, how was he able to become the ambassador in the first place with such poor communication skills?

Instead of outright stating the benefits promised by the Bharatiya Empire, he actually implied that the Spanish Empire could avoid war as if they were weaker than the Bharatiya Empire."

Alvaro’s expression was unsightly as he clenched his fist in annoyance.

Pedro Santiago, who was suddenly being cursed out loud by the fellow nobles, immediately understood the blunder he had committed. He wanted to explain himself, but he did not get the chance, as no matter what he said, the result was only curses and abuse. As a last resort, he looked toward the chief advisor with a pleading expression on his face.

Alvaro, seeing Pedro like this, even though he was angry, couldn’t help but let out a huge sigh. "I guess I’ll have to do it myself."

"Your Majesty, may I have a word with you?" There was helplessness in Alvaro’s eyes.

Charles, who was about to dish out punishment for treason, was suddenly taken aback by the request of his chief assistant, who had been helping him throughout his reign since he took over power from his father.

"What is it, Mendoza? Is it something important? Can’t it wait?"

"I am sorry for interrupting your words, Your Majesty, but the information I have is related to the response of the Bharatiya Empire."

"Could you please step aside for a moment?"

Charles was stunned, as he could even see a hint of panic in the eyes of his main advisor. But given that Mendoza would not act like this if the matter were not important, he chose to cooperate in order to see what was going on.

*phew!*

Alvaro was relieved that his suggestion worked.

The ministers and nobles in the courtroom were surprised to find out that His Majesty the Emperor and His Excellency the Chief Advisor had left their seats and gone to a corner of the room where no one could hear anything.

Eventually, Pedro Santiago let out a sigh of relief as his legs became weak; he felt like he couldn’t walk anymore. Fortunately, the ministers and nobles stopped abusing him when His Majesty left; instead, they all kept staring at the discussion between His Majesty the Emperor and His Excellency the Chief Advisor.

Twenty minutes passed, and the discussion was still going on. The only thing the nobles and ministers could possibly conclude was that Charles was getting more and more excited as time passed. By the end of the conversation, which lasted over an hour,

Charles finally returned to the throne and announced something that left all the nobles and courtiers dumbfounded; they all had unbelievable expressions on their faces.

"The Spanish Empire will not have any conflicts with the Bharatiya Empire. Instead, regarding the issue of the Philippine colony, the Spanish Empire will sell the Philippine colony to the Bharatiya Empire ." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"My Chief Advisor, Don Alvaro de Mendoza, will personally lead a delegation to discuss the compensation for our empire for the island of the Philippines."

The nobles and courtiers were clueless as to why His Majesty changed his opinion so quickly, and they quickly mobilized their resources to find out why.

On the other hand, Alvaro was quite happy about how things turned out, with the only hiccup being Pedro Santiago choking and almost ruining the perfect opportunity for the Spanish Empire to recover from the Thirty Years’ War and the Portuguese Independence War due to a misunderstanding that could have been caused by his words.

Fortunately, everything was made clear after he privately discussed it with His Majesty.

As for why Alvaro had to discuss it secretly with His Majesty, it was because the benefits proposed by the Bharatiya Empire went against some of the interests of the nobles present, so Alvaro did his best to keep things under wraps.

P.S. Don Álvaro de Mendoza is replaced for Gaspar de Bracamonte, Gaspar was the rebel sorry, I forgot.