Mid Evening - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Oliver Kaelallan ~

*Groan*

I slowly sat up in bed holding my head.

"Why do you keep trying to sit up when you know it hurts.." Helen gave me a sad look as she tried to help me lay back down.

-Wait.. it.. doesn't hurt..- I had a light headache but that was it. "Im.. better.. I think.." I said that with reluctance as I didn't really believe it myself.

Lucy's eyes lit up. "He really did heal you!"

"He?"

“Vasilias!” Lucy looked at me with a childish smile.

"Martha told me Vasilias was in here for several hours doing something." Helen wore a comforting warm smile seeing that I was alright.

"Hehe, I'm not sure what he did but I'm happy you're better!" Lucy came over and gave me a hug.

"Haah.. I'm sorry for making you two worry.." I looked around to make sure no maids were in ear shot. "So you said Vasilias came back?"

Helen’s smile disappeared. "Haah.. yeah, he came by my office earlier and gave us both problems and opportunities."

My face filled with confusion, "And what does that mean?"

"He destroyed my office and nearly killed the Grandmaster, she's still unconscious in the medical ward, but he also gave some pretty.. important information."

Ignoring the note about the Grandmaster, I looked at her body language and figured the information was something serious. -Is it about the war? I think it's too early for Lucy to hear about that..- "Lucy, could you step out for a moment? Your mother and I have so-"

"It's fine, she's going to be the Queen eventually so she should start learning now. This will be a good lesson for her." Helen interrupted before I could finish.

Lucy, who was in between us, gave a confused smile.

"Haah.. at least hit the silencing artifact.." I looked over at the small artifact on the table by the door.

Helen walked over and tapped it as an uneasy silence filled the room. "Now.. where do I start.." She walked back over and sat down on the bed.

"What happened that I’ve been left in the dark about?" Lucy jumped up on the bed as well.

"Well, I guess I should start with a little catch up for you Lucy.." She took a deep breath before continuing. "There have been several assassination attempts on us recently as you know, but we never mentioned that the Tower was the one behind it. To go along with that hostility, as of a few weeks ago, the Tower created a massive alliance involving most of the nations on the western half of the continent. Vasilias recently left to intercept 12 Nation rank adventurers that the Tower's alliance gathered to destroy Kaelallan."

Lucy paused for a moment as she tried to absorb the information. “Wait, they can't attack without declaring war though!”

“War is war sweetie.. The rules are.. optional.”

Letting Lucy have a moment to think about the harsh reality of war, I asked. "So what happened to the Nation ranks? Knowing Vasilias is back is a good sign."

"Yes, he killed them all, but along with that, there was a much bigger problem that was found."

"And that would be?" I figured, -it couldn't be that bad.. right?-

"There is something happening in the 'dragon community' that ties into all of this. I think it's the halfie rebellion Osto mentioned a while ago but I may be wrong."

I looked at her with wide eyes, "So are the dragons going to interfere."

"M..most likely. Vasilias said that they were likely going to completely destroy the tower."

"And what about the opportunity he gave us?"

"Well, since Vasilias killed the nation ranks of several nations, if the tower falls, their alliance will fall apart too, leaving those nations as free pickings."

I suddenly remembered that I had already thought about this before my nap. -Right.. this is a massive opportunity.. but..- "But it would start another war.."

"Correct.."

We both looked at Lucy.

She stiffened up under the pressure.

"So, what do you think we should do Lucy?"

"Uhm.." Her voice was shaky since she was nervous.

Although we didn't really care what she chose as her answer, we were more interested in her reasoning.

"Well.. I think it's worth the risk.."

"And why is that?"

"Well, Kaelallan has been building its military since the war 6 years ago so we are at our peak strength. To go along with that, we could seriously use the extra cities and land, especially to further increase our military strength and collect more taxes while lowering the tax rate. This would not only attract more people from outside, but would give citizens more headroom in status, allowing them to be able to climb in status easier. The biggest issue I see is that once we take one of the nations, the others might group together and form a quick alliance to stop us.. if that happens, it will become a large-scale war, which is bad for us."

Lucy looked around nervously, hoping for a good reaction but Helen and I just sat there stunned.

-To think she's come so far!-

Although we were both stunned, above all we were impressed.

We always knew she was talented when it came to political affairs, but we didn't think she’d come this far yet.

"You truly do have my blood, to think you'd be able to make such a well thought decision so quickly!" Helen put on an excited smile and gave Lucy a big hug.

I put on a warm smile seeing them smiling together.

After enjoying the moment for a bit, Lucy dropped a bombshell. "So what did you have to pay Vasilias to clean up the Nation ranks?"

She seemed genuinely curious but it was a topic I didn't want to get on with her.

"Well, I just let him have whatever he wanted from the vault.." Helen figured this would be the best approach.

"So what did he end up taking?"

Lucy’s face was filled with curiosity but it got shot down by Helen. "How about dinner? It should be ready soon."

I decided to bounce off of her to change the subject as well. "Right, I'm feeling much better now. How about we eat at the table tonight?" I looked over at Lucy to see her face filled with joyful confusion.

I quickly swung my legs out from under the sheets as Helen got up. "Sure, I will notify Martha!" She reached over and tapped the silencing artifact before disappearing out the door.

-Lucy cant find out about the heirloom until she is much older..-

The heirloom was something that caught Lucy's eye when she was young.

When the shelter first finished, we needed to move everything from the treasury to the new vault, and in the process, Lucy saw the heirloom.

She was immediately entranced by it and spent the whole day just mindlessly staring at it until we needed to close up the vault.

It was something that made an extremely lasting impression on her since whenever we brought up the vault or went down into the shelter, she would bring it up and ask if she could go see it.

-Helen and I think she likes it so much because of her ability to see aura but we still aren't sure ourselves..-

Helen and I believed that if Lucy heard that Vasilias took it, she might get overly sad or angry, like taking the favorite toy away from a toddler.

I looked back at Lucy as we were leaving the room, her face was happy, but one of confusion. -She must not suspect anything! Success!-