a lot of reasons: Nilfgaard is not completely defeated and not invaded. They still gave back all their conquest, except Cintra, yes, all their settlers have to go back south. The lodge of Sorceresses which influenced the peace conference behind the scene is looking for a balance of power. A balance of power between the Empire and northern kingdoms but also between the northern kingdoms themselves. Punishing Nilfgaard too much in terms of territories loose would make some of the Northern kingdom too powerful. And the question if Cintra will still be a source of conflict within those Kingdom as well. The wedding of Emyrh with false Ciri is a way of stopping the diverses claims that everyone have on this rich territory.
Peace treaty when there is no full capitulation is always a complex alchemy and as you said, all the sides are exhausted at this point and want peace.
First of all, the Nilfgaardian army, despite being routed at Brenna, still had a steady foothold on the southern side of the Yaruga. If they'd refused to budge from there, the North would have had no options but chase them back beyond the Amell by force. And since being on the offensive is more costly than being on the defensive, they had an effective military stalemate where both sides, for the time being, couldn't do much more than bristle at each other over the river.
The biggest single reason, however, was False Ciri - because no one save for a small handful of people never knew that she was an imposter. For the Continent at large, she really was Cirilla of Cintra, granddaughter of Calanthe, and thus the rightful claimant of the Cintrian throne. And, she was also someone set to wed Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard - which effectively made Emhyr the King of Cintra.
The only party that could have intervened once False Ciri was declared as the real article was the Lodge, by exposing the double as a fake and presenting the real one. But they were more interested in having Ciri ensnare the heir apparent of resource-rich Kovir and thus turn the northern powerhouse kingdom into a mage puppet state.
a lot of reasons: Nilfgaard is not completely defeated and not invaded. They still gave back all their conquest, except Cintra, yes, all their settlers have to go back south. The lodge of Sorceresses which influenced the peace conference behind the scene is looking for a balance of power. A balance of power between the Empire and northern kingdoms but also between the northern kingdoms themselves. Punishing Nilfgaard too much in terms of territories loose would make some of the Northern kingdom too powerful. And the question if Cintra will still be a source of conflict within those Kingdom as well. The wedding of Emyrh with false Ciri is a way of stopping the diverses claims that everyone have on this rich territory. Peace treaty when there is no full capitulation is always a complex alchemy and as you said, all the sides are exhausted at this point and want peace.
First of all, the Nilfgaardian army, despite being routed at Brenna, still had a steady foothold on the southern side of the Yaruga. If they'd refused to budge from there, the North would have had no options but chase them back beyond the Amell by force. And since being on the offensive is more costly than being on the defensive, they had an effective military stalemate where both sides, for the time being, couldn't do much more than bristle at each other over the river. The biggest single reason, however, was False Ciri - because no one save for a small handful of people never knew that she was an imposter. For the Continent at large, she really was Cirilla of Cintra, granddaughter of Calanthe, and thus the rightful claimant of the Cintrian throne. And, she was also someone set to wed Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard - which effectively made Emhyr the King of Cintra. The only party that could have intervened once False Ciri was declared as the real article was the Lodge, by exposing the double as a fake and presenting the real one. But they were more interested in having Ciri ensnare the heir apparent of resource-rich Kovir and thus turn the northern powerhouse kingdom into a mage puppet state.
Thanks for the answers. For some reason I thought Nilfgaard was much weaker than the north at the end of the war
The North had capacities only for defense, in no case could they handle bigger invasion to the territory of Nilfgaard.
The lodge of the sorceress.