"Are you challenging me?" Cassandra's cute and friendly demeanor changed into what was a stern and cold smile

"And what if I was, princess?" Vera smirked back with a condescending tone

Valamar was visibly worried at the tension between the two. "Cassandra, kakak, I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Of course not, my lord." Cassandra said as her friendly smile returned "I was just getting friendly with my soon-to-be big sister-in-law."

"Likewise, Valamar." Vera answered whilst at the same time provoking Cassandra with a smirk "I wouldn't want to beat on my eda (sister-in-law) now do I? What would mom and dad think of me if they found out I beat a defenseless girl half to death?"

All of a sudden, Valamar could feel the tension in the room rising up again as he only glared at Vera who gave a taunting smile, sticking her tongue out at him. But when he turned towards Cassandra, he could see her turn ice cold with an expressionless face as she walked towards Vera.

"Cassandra, calm down... She meant it as a joke..." Valamar said as he came towards Cassandra trying to calm her down

"Hold still, my lord." Cassandra said she put her hands in her dress "I'm merely going to show to my eda what this 'defenseless girl' can do."

"Oho... Those are fighting words there..." Vera grinned as she unsheathed her sword "I like it..."

"Honestly you two shouldn't be doing this!" Valamar said as his worry just continued to increase but it was as if it fell on deaf ears as the two women in front of him had a murderous aura around them "You two, if you don't stop, I'll-..."

As if it were in a flash, Cassandra lounged herself at Vera with two daggers she had hid in her dress. Vera was caught by surprise, but managed to deflect the attack. She laughed at Cassandra who had pulled back.

"Is that all you've got?" She taunted "You're going to have at me with those butter knives? Pfft, I thought you were going to take me seriously."

All of a sudden, Cassandra was in front of her again, launching a relentless onslaught of strikes and swipes with her daggers. She was surprisingly agile and nimble, moving about like liquid water. Vera was put on the edge of her defense.

This time it was Cassandra's turn to laugh.

"Ahahahaha!!" Cassandra sneered "Is this really all the capabilities of a daughter of Ruma? If so, you're order must accept anyone into its ranks."

"Oh, it's on, sister." Vera said. All of a sudden, her playful demeanor was gone as her face became stone cold and her movements more precise. She was far different from before and each strike grew stronger and stronger. Cassandra was forced to only dodge and evade. Cassandra immediately noticed her disadvantage with her dress and ripped it's lower half apart, revealing her legs.

"That's much better." Cassandra said as her movements got more agile

As the two women were fiercely battling each other, slowly showing different colours to their personality than before, Valamar couldn't help but notice the other guardswomen only standing there watching them, not wanting to intervene in the battle. Valamar only grit his teeth and prepared to intervene before all of a sudden,

"Vera Dinauli Valamen!! You irresponsible and rebellious young lady!" A voice shouted

"Cassandra Lucia de Castelli, I raised you better than this!" Another voice exclaimed

All of a sudden the fight stopped as the two girls looked towards the direction of the new voices in the room.

It was none other than their mothers, Lady Avenne and Queen Alessa.

"Mama!" Cassandra said

"Mom!" Vera said simultaneously

Valamar saw that behind the two women was his grandmother shaking her head in disappointment at the two girls. Valamar's view then returned to the scene at hand. The two girls were being scolded.

"Picking another fight again are we?" Alessa said with a stern and commanding voice towards Vera

"It's not what it looks like, mom, honestly-OW!!!" Vera's words were cut short as her ears were being pulled by Alessa

"What do I always say to you about excuses, young lady? You're coming with me."

As she said that, she pulled the embarrassed Vera away by her arms, seemingly dragging her. Valamar could see the guards doing their best to hold back their laughter. Not like he was doing any better himself at the sight of his elder sister being dragged away like a child. However, his joy was cut short when Alessa turned to him with an equally stern face

"Don't think you're getting off Scot-free either, Valamar. You're coming with me."

"What the hell did I do?!" Valamar started to protest but when his mother glared at him he immediately shut up and listened, although with a scowl on his face to which Vera only stuck her tongue out. Andronika looked at her grandchildren with disappointment, The night would be a real long one for them.

***

"So I heard your niece picked a fight with my daughter." Antonio said to Valasaire who was sat facing him with Valaron being seated next to him.

"My daughter." Valasaire said correcting Antonio "And I believe it was your daughter who struck first."

"Ahahaha, I guess you're right. But in her defense, she was being provoked." Antonio answered back "Si, si. Your eldest daughter is quite the headstrong one."

"Both my daughters are. It runs in the family."

The three men were sitting at the table of the palace war room. The table had a huge map of Terra on it with all the important cities, forts, sites, and geography on it. There were also model soldiers and ships representing each nation's power. Valaron was playing with a model Provarian soldier.

"Now that I think about it your daughter reminds me a lot of her actual father." Antonio said

"I am her father." Valasaire answered again, this time more sternly.

"Yes, yes. I know of your Rumasilian traditions and I know you’ve officially adopted her and raised her as your own. I meant her biological father, your late cousin, Valarian. A brave one, he was. He sure showed the Lothirians his bravery on the battlefield years ago... when he pissed in front of their army in broad daylight. God was he drunk." Antonio reminisced as he chuckled to himself "I had to admit, I wasn't sure of his abilities when your father sent him as a dignitary to Florentia. But by God was the man legendary. It was a shame how he went out. A stray bullet from a Provarian arquebus that caught his chest."

"As if that was enough to take on Bang Rian." Valaron spoke up "I'll tell you what really happened. I was right there next to him. We were fighting on the frontlines on the docks. We were fending off wave after wave of those Provarian asses when he noticed some children hiding from the fighting not too far off. They were the people who didn't make it in time to escape. The madman rushed to aid them, shrugging off three bullets aimed at him. It was a sight to behold."

"What happened to the children?"

"They made it safely away and I took care of the shooters. I saw the bastard was already bleeding badly and I told him to pull back but he just said 'piss off’ and proceeded to take another dozen men down."

"By the time I got there, the man was already sitting down with a large bloody hole in his chest." Valasaire chimed in the story "Our brother's last words to me was 'take care of our daughter'. And so from then on Vera is my daughter. My eldest child and my blood. And besides, you should know a thing or too about adoption considering you married your father's 'mother'."

"Alright, alright. I never said I didn't understand." Antonio said "Anyways, back to the matter at hand. The wedding will be held in three days. Are the preparations ready?"

"Of course they are. They've been ready for a while. Only a few minor tweaks here and there. A good deal of our guests have already arrived."

"Si, I could tell. Can we have another run down of all important people coming? Besides the ones from Rumasil and Florentia, I mean."

"Let's see here..." Valaron said as he took out a parchment with a list of names on it and started reading it "Uncle Alexios and cousin Manuel are coming along with a good portion of the Imperial family."

"Oh, the emperor himself is coming?" Antonio said with interest

"Yeah. He did say he wanted a break from the current war against the Razyan." Valaron answered

"Mmmm. I'm amazed that Razyan has held out for this long."

"It may be because my mother-in-law continues to try and search for a peaceful way to end the conflict. Because shockingly their marriage wasn't enough to stop the war from happening." Valasaire said "Then again, it isn't really so surprising. I'm shocked that the Razyan even consented in the first place for their princess to marry 'a lowly human' like us. Those pompous, arrogant, bastards."

"They are an immortal race of angelic beings with a history stretching back to the beginning of time itself. Our first records came from them."

"They are a glorified collection of walking feathered old farts."

"Your wife is half-Razyan."

"So? I'm only stating the facts. The Royal family in Razatnar doesn't even recognise her as such. She's probably classified as 'half-blood trash' by them."

"But when I think about it, it must be real weird like to have a wife born during the Great War."

"Need I remind you your wife's an elf?" Valasaire asked sarcastically "There were plans for her to marry my great-grandfather.

"Alright, alright. Lay off, man. And my wife has human blood somewhere up there, you know. She is a descendant of the Great Apostle Martin himself."

"Soon, the King of Rumasil will have that pedigree as well. So tell your wife I said thank you." Valasaire joked

"Anyways, who's next on the list?" Antonio asked for Valaron to continue

"His Majesty King John of Aerland."

"With our sister?" Valasaire asked

"Yes, it seems Valasya will come along too." Valaron answered with a soft smile

"It's been more than a decade..." Valasaire said

"I look forward to it as well." Antonio chimed in "Next?"

"The King of Germania along with his retinue." Valaron continued

"Really, now? I wonder what the German King would want with us to come over here personally..." Valasaire said

"I'm gonna guess you didn't read his letter that I gave you?"

"I was... busy. I had other more pressing matters to attend to and the letter simply got misplaced."

"Sure..."

"Anyways, I assume you've read it already considering it came through you."

"It was a letter stamped by the very seal of the German King to be read by your eyes only. I'm offended you would assume as such of me."

Valasaire and Antonio only stared at him with a doubtful look.

"The German King would like for your youngest daughter's hand in marriage to his son." Valaron answered

"Really now?" Valasaire said with amusement "Good luck trying to convince her. I can't use the same tactics for this wedding for her. Totally out of the question. Let the Crown Prince offer it himself."

"It's going to end with another duel isn't it?"

"How many suitors has it been?" Antonio asked

"For Valerie?" Valasaire asked again

"For both your daughters."

"Let's see, counting the ones last week, I'd say twenty for Vera and thirteen for Valerie. Well, at least those were the ones they deemed worthy enough to challenge to a duel." Valasaire only let out a sigh "Those girls are difficult."

"Not like mine, eh?" Antonio said with a grin

"That's funny, considering she's only ever had eyes for my son. Let's see what would happen if you all of a sudden canceled their wedding and decided to offer her off to, I don't know, the Vasilians!"

"That's totally not a fair argument. There are a lot of factors contributing to-..."

"Point is you don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to, right?"

"The thing she wants to do is the most beneficial one to the country and so-..."

"Piss off." Antonio said while Valasaire laughed "Anyways, Valaron, who's next?"

"Barring any difficulties, this next one should be the last monarch to grace our Kingdom." Valaron said as his eyes were glued to the list and he started to chuckle

"What's the matter?" Valasaire asked in confusion "Why are you laughing... who's the last one? I thought those three were only three monarchs who're going to come."

"Antonio you sly bastard." Valaron said

"What?! What did he do?!" Valasaire was starting to worry

"You're not gonna like this one, Valasaire."

"What are you talking about? Who could he possibly invite to-..." all of a sudden, as Valasaire was skimming through his brain for a name and a guess to who it could possibly be, it donned on him as he gasped "Antonio, you wouldn't... don't tell me..."

"His Majesty King Jan III of Slavsnik and his family." After saying that, Valaron broke into laughter along with Antonio who was trying to hold it back

"No no no no no. No. NO!" Valasaire was frustrated "What are you trying to do? Just what were you thinking?!"

"What did I do wrong?" Antonio asked with confusion "You told me I can bring my family. My mother is from Slavsnik and Jan is my cousin. They're family."

"What part of 'no members of the House Wladwiqi' do you not understand."

"I'm sorry, I believe you said something in Rumasilian sounding like, 'blah blah blah Wladwiqi bleh'. Forgive me, my knowledge of Halak is very limited. I thought you mean't 'please invite my relatives the Wladwiqis, I miss them so much'."

"That family hates my ass!"

"And for good reason." Valaron chimed in with a smile "Poor girl having her fiance break their betrothal... on the night before the wedding. Honestly, I felt bad for Agnes."

"I heard she almost killed herself that night." Antonio said "Tried to drop herself off the palace deck."

"And she would've if Valarian wasn't there to grab her. But can you blame her? Seeing her fiancee in bed with another girl... honestly, only a savage could do such a thing."

"Nobody asked her to come into my room at night." Valasaire scoffed

"And who the hell asked you to sleep with another girl at night?" Antonio retorted

"That... I... I couldn't marry her! I just can't with somebody I didn't love. You know I have only ever loved one woman, and that is my wife, Alessa."

"Good way to show it is to wait till the last minute." Valaron said while his eyes were on the list he was holding "Very gentlemanly of you."

"I was torn apart between my love for Alessa and my obedience to my father. I'm so sorry true love won out."

"And you're saying Agnes didn't love you?" Antonio asked "I'm sorry, because to my knowledge, you were the only man on her mind."

"I never said that. It wasn't her, it was me. I did not love her"

"Didn't have the balls to say it to her face, now did you?" Antonio said "In what world is leading her on a good plan of showing her you don't love her?"

"It's just, I-..."

"Oh dear me..." Valaron said while whistling

"What is it now?!" Valasaire was starting to be annoyed

"It seems her majesty Princess Agnes would be coming to the wedding as well." Valaron said while shaking his head at his older brother

"Oh dear me, indeed." Antonio said with a fake gasp “Whatever shall we do…?”

"That's it. Screw you both! I'm outta here." Valasaire said in frustration as he slammed the table and got up to leave the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Valaron asked

"Back to my room to make sweet love to my wife. You two can go piss off."

As he said that, Valasaire left the room, leaving behind the two men who laughed and eventually decided to leave as well.