In the royal room, there are six people gathered around a round table.

Three of them are dressed with expensive and luxurious clothes, while the other three are more casually dressed. The former three are the rulers of their own countries while the other three are their respective Servants.

One of them is the queen Aldorah VII. Her dress is pure white, just like the flag behind her. Coeburg’s flag is white with a golden shield in the middle.

“Gentleman,” The queen breaks the silence. “I believe we should start.”

“Certainly.” Replies the man on her left.

He’s Cyrus III, king of Gastein.

He’s a young red mage. Although he’s 33 years old, he looks younger than that. He’s certainly someone who would attract a lot of people.

His hair is neatly combed, his red attire fits perfectly with him. Every move he makes are gracious and none of them feel unnecessary. He never speaks words without thinking first. It’s like he calculates everything.

It’s like that because it’s exactly what he does.

From a very young age, Cyrus had a very firm and rigorous education. Most children would be unhappy about it, but not him.

He wanted to learn. It didn’t matter what. As long he could learn something, he would read any book in his free time, no matter how little it was. In fact, even today he’s hungry for knowledge.

And it payed off. Today, he’s not someone to be underestimated. In only 12 years, he managed to save his country from a century old economic crisis by reforming the production of farm goods and investing on mines exploration. And if things keep going his way, Gastein will become the new trade powerhouse of the continent.

But nothing is perfect, not even him. When it comes to physical department, Cyrus leaves a lot to be desired. Just holding a sword is a challenge for him, nevermind using it.

That’s why he has a Servant with him. A blue haired woman in her 30’s stands behind him.

Just like the other two Servants, she’s unarmed.

Behind her stands a red flag with a white bird in the middle.

“Such lack of respect from those Deaestein northlings is hardly surprising.”

The one who spoke was Brocton I, king of Deobourhiel.

He’s an 88 years old man with greenish hair. His attire is also green.

He’s called a tyrant by many, even by his own nobles. It’s been rumored by many years that there would be a revolution to get him out of the throne, but it never happened.

Behind him stands a big red haired Servant. His physical abilities are just like his physical build implies, he’s not someone to meet in head-to-head combat. Nevermind his mana output.

Behind him stands a green flag with a yellow arrow in the middle.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to miss this reunion, Brocton.”

The man raises an eyebrow to Aldorah. Although they are in equal footing, it’s not normal for Aldorah to treat the others by their first names.

“Oh suuuure.” He replies with sarcasm. “If he really didn’t want to, ‘I am sure’ he could bear with his ‘headache’.” He makes quotes with his hands.

The queen sighs. ‘This is going to be tough’, she thinks.

Aldorah had many opportunities to talk with Brocton. All of them were unpleasant.

“Regardless of his reasons, we are here now. We should take care of the matter at hand.” Cyrus interjects.

“Oh yes, let’s do this so I can go about my business.” Brocton leans back on his chair and puts his foot on top of the table.

Aldorah shows repulsiveness in her face, while Cyrus expression remains unchanged.

“Before that,” Cyrus turns to Aldorah. “I already said it in the letter but, allow me to express my sympathies.”

“Thank you.”

“The brat died, who cares? Just pass the crown to someone else and be done with it. He was going to mess up everything anyway. Good riddance I say.”

She closes her eyes and tries to hide her rage. That man was always like that, but today he was crossing the line.

Aldorah’s Servant is also biting his lip. He wants to tear that man apart for being so disrespectful to his master, but he knows better.

“Moving on,” Cyrus says while adjusting his right sleeve. “Lady Nora is the prime suspect of the prince’s murder, and she’s a fugitive that has yet to be caught. Are these facts correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then these facts dictate that we must invoke the Unity Treaty. Since lady Nora’s family is not officially part of any of our countries, she is for all intents and purposes, a foreigne—.”

“Speaking of which,” Brocton interrupts. “What’s the deal again? You are not going to execute her?”

“... Yes, that is correct.” Aldorah reluctantly replies.

“Uh. I was dumbfounded when I heard about it, but now that you confirmed it… Indeed, Coeburg has grown weak.”

“I’m sorry?” Aldorah spoke without thinking. She regrets it the moments she finished.

“So your dear son is murdered, and you are not going to punish the killer?”

“She is the prime suspect. It’s not confirmed if—”

“Who cares? Even if she is proven to be innocent, you still should cut off her head. We must impose respect and make the people fear us. Do you think anyone will try to defy me or my family? Ha! I’ll flay the son of bitch alive! Anyone who thinks anything funny will forget about it the moment they remember my punishments. Now you… You might as well go to the streets and ask someone to cut your throat.”

“...”

Aldorah keeps silent, but if looks could kill, Brocton would be dead by now.

“If I may,” Cyrus speaks up. “I don’t fully agree with Lord Brocton, but he has a point. My lady, you are aware that sparing lady Nora’s life will make you look weak, correct?”

“Gentlemen,” She speaks up. “I made my decision and I will not take it back. I will not tolerate any more comments on this subject.”

“As you wish.” Cyrus replies.

“Heh.” Brocton shrugs.

“I also expect you to respect my wish and capture her alive, if you so happen to find her.”

“I will. I’ll inform my soldiers patrolling the country as soon we are done.”

“I refuse. If I find her, I’ll give her my own justice. Be a weakling if you wish, but I’ll show her and everyone what it means defying a king.”

Aldorah clenches her hand. She tries to maintain her composure, but it’s proving to be more and more difficult.

“Back to the topic. Coeburg is currently being searched by every country of Crirone. As Unity Treaty states, if a foreign identity attacks any member of the Treaty, all must help said member. Failing to do so will be considered a breach of agreement.”

“And everyone brought to this sorry excuse for a country their spare troops and yada yada yada. And they are all searching for two criminals—, oh, I’m sorry, ‘prime suspects’.”

Aldorah ignores his sarcasm.

“And as Coeburg ruler, I’m grateful for the assistance. However, this is a case that can be solved without your help. I believe that your assistance is unnecessary.”

“What do you mean?”

“I would like to request that you retreat your soldiers.”

“No can do.” Brotcon replies.

“...”

“Unlike you, and that bastard that has a ‘headache’, I still respect traditions and treaties. If my ancestor agreed to this treaty, then I shall respect his wishes and help the others in need. Even though you are not worthy of my help.”

“...”

“I intend to respect the treaty and do whatever it takes to capture those fugitives. Unless, of course, you are willing to stop me by force and break the treaty?”

“... No, I am not.”

“Good.”

Cyrus takes a moment to himself.

“Alas, I also have to refuse such request. I believe it’s in our best interest to capture those two as soon as possible.”

Aldorah closes her eyes.

Their responses are not unexpected, but she’s still disappointed. She knew that it would be useless to make such request.

“Bah, we already gave our greetings and talked about the fundamental right? Then I’m done here.” Brocton gets up from his seat.

“Lord Brocton, we still—”

“Save it for tomorrow youngster. There’s nothing more to talk about unless that bastard is present.”

He walks away and signals his Servant to follow him.

“... As you wish, Lord Brocton.”

Both the king and his Servant exit through one of the doors. The door closing echoed through the throne room.

“I guess that’s that.” Aldorah gets up with a tired expression.

“My lady, a word, if you please.”

She looks at him getting up from his seat.

“What is it?”

He approaches her.

“I know it must be difficult, but try to bear with Brocton behavior. He wants you to attack him.” He speaks in a low voice, so that no one can hear him besides the queen.

“I know, lord Cyrus.”

“He’s trying to find an excuse to declare war. It’s not the first time he tried, and now it’s a perfect opportunity to make Coeburg an easy target.”

“I know, lord Cyrus.”

This time her tone was a little hostile. She didn’t mean it, but it’s insulting how he thinks she doesn’t know such basic facts.

“I’m sorry. Just making sure we can avoid meaningless wars.”

“No, *sigh*, I’m sorry for my rudeness.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. Also, I would like to say that I am on your side.”

“...”

“The other two are just trying to get the Servant. I, to be honest, don’t care much for him. I don’t believe that war and conquest is the answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our countries are too accustomed to be four different countries. There’s nothing but trouble if one of us managed to conquer all the rest. Riots, internal fights between nobles, unrest…”

“...”

“There’s also the possibility that empire will take advantage. Even if we have that Servant, I doubt he will make any difference if we weaken each other and the Empire attacks us in full force.”

“That’s a fair assumption. But what is your point?”

“I am here to make sure the other two don’t try anything and invade Coeburg. I also want to avoid that they find them before us. I am certain that they will wage war as soon they get their hands on that Servant. That Servant must die if we want to avoid war.”

“I see. But how can I know that you are not like them?”

“You can’t. You just have to believe me.” He smiles.

But she doesn’t.

“I guess we’ll see. If there’s nothing else…?”

“No, there’s not.”

“Then excuse me, I must rest.”

She walks away and her Servant follows her.

“If you think that your charms work on me boy, you are mistaken.” She murmurs.

…

As Aldorah is walking down the corridor, a maid stops her.

“Your majesty, excuse me, Lord Ordnurm requested your presence in the crystal room. There’s an important call, he said.”

“Thank you, I’ll go right now.”

“Excuse me.” The maid walks away.

“Who might it be...?”

…

Minutes later, Aldorah enters a small room with some desks and shelves.

“Lord Ordnurm, what is it?”

“Your majesty, a call just came in and I believe it’s very important. I didn’t dare to answer it.”

“Why?”

“The other end of the signal… It’s from the other continent, Terand.”

“... What...?”

She can't believe it.

Even though Coeburg and other countries trade with the Empire, they never contacted each other. Their relationship is hostile at best.

Why would they contact her now?

“Let’s hear it. Let me in.”

The man opens a door on the opposite side from where she came in.

She enters alone and the door closes behind her.

The small room is completely dark. She can’t even see her hand in front of her.

She extracts mana and powers up a small crystal on the floor in the middle in the room. Moments later, a real-size hologram appears on top of the crystal.

“Greetings. I assume you are Coeburg ruler?” A young blonde woman asks Aldorah.

She’s dressed in black. Her dress is so extravagant that puts Aldorah’s to shame.

“Yes I am. You are the empress?”

“Indeed I am.”

“What do you want from me? This is highly unusual.”

“Indeed it is. If things turned out different, we wouldn’t be speaking right now.”

“...”

“I’ll get straight to the point, since this conversation is consuming too much of my precious mana. I want to offer help to capture that Servant of yours.”

“Why would I want that?”

“Because it’s in your best interest, for obvious reasons.”

“...” Aldorah manages to hide her confusion.

“Let us help you. We keep the Servant for ourselves, we avoid crisis, and on top of that, we can become allies.”

“Allies?”

“Yes. It’s no secret that we wish to conquer Crirone, and now it’s only a matter of time until we move in. If you become our ally, we’ll allow you to conquer the South region while we keep the North.”

“... Don’t you think that you shouldn’t tell me that you are almost ready to attack us?”

“It doesn’t matter if you know or not. We are going to win, with or without you. The difference lies in how many soldiers we’ll lose, and who’s going to be on our side in the end.”

“...”

The woman spoke with confidence. There’s no doubt in her mind that when the Empire attacks Crirone, only the Empire will come out victorious.

“I have a fleet ready and moving to surround Qahs Holm as we speak. When we are done here, I’ll have some men to land in your country and help you to find him—”

Aldorah raises her eyebrow.

“—You just have to provide my men with your military uniforms, in order to let them to search more efficiently.”

“Qahs Holm? Why do you want to surround Qahs Holm?”

“Huh?” The woman is surprised by that sudden question. “Wait a minute, you do know who that Servant is, right?”

“...”

Knowing Alddan true identity never crossed Aldorah’s mind as being important after the murder. She was curious before, but after, she didn't care.

“Ph… Hehe…” The woman starts to laugh with a mocking tone. “Hahahaha! Priceless! Simply amazing!”

Aldorah is now even more irritated than before. If her doubts and confusion weren’t enough, now she’s being mocked.

“Hahaha…. Oh dear, forgive me. I knew you Crirone nobles were proudfull but this… I can understand the common folk not knowing who that Servant is, but you? Even the royal family doesn’t know?”

“No, I do not. Stop with your mocking and tell me who that Servant is then! What does Qahs Holm have anything to do with this?”

“Hmph,” She shrugs. “I won’t tell who he is, but I can tell you this much,” she answers with a smirk. “if he puts his foot on Qahs Holm, we will have a dangerous foe on our hands, even to the empire.”

“... Who is he?”

“Just a white haired guy.”

“...”

Aldorah is irritated by her response.

“I’ll call again tomorrow. I would like your response by then. We will still surround Qahs Holm regardless of your answer, but it’s in our best interest that you do not disturb our fleet.”

The hologram disappears as soon she finished her piece. Aldorah is left full of questions.

“What the hell is going on? I didn’t need this. I really didn’t need this... Kuu...”

She puts her hands on her head. Her headache starts to get worse and moments later, she falls on the ground, unconscious.

Damn you exams.... Well, at least I got one out of the way today.

I have chapter 27 in the oven. I'll either upload it in a few hours or tomorrow. (I was going to upload that chapter last week, but then I figured out that I should make a 26-I before 27. Thus why I didn't upload it)