He obeys.
The war with Nidal is winding down. The Black Triune fled, crippled but still dangerous, to parts unknown, and with them gone, that Pangolais hasn't fallen is said to be more a matter of military convenience as they clean up the rest of the country first.
Spellsilver prices are fluctuating insanely as old hoards and reserves around multiple countries are dumped into the market, and merchants try to guess what the final price will be when the dust has settled about Cheliax's Project Chemistry and Osirion's Scientific Revolution, it's rumored that Project Chemistry is far ahead of Osirion but that Osirion is rapidly catching up and nobody knows what to make of any of the weirder rumors about either. Osirion has warned the world that Cheliax has developed a method for manufacturing particular magical items more cheaply, and that it may take Osirion some time to catch up on that dimension especially; it's rumored that Osirion is developing a counter-method to have lesser magical items developed by people who aren't even wizards.
Everyone is expecting war to break out between Cheliax and Osirion, possibly Cheliax and the rest of the world, people don't understand why that war hasn't begun already. Finishing off Nidal doesn't seem like nearly reason enough to delay.
There's a vast struggle going on between all those trying to prove themselves worthy to be awarded a piece of Nidal; an opportunity like this comes along less often than once per lifetime. The Crown is said to be making it clear that territories will be awarded primarily on the basis of achievements in the struggles to come, and more ambitious nobles are frantically scouring their territories for outstanding wizards and alchemists, and trying with limited success to recruit them from abroad.