Time passed with Sol exchanging strikes with the Princes. Another two months stretched by before the first major strike landed on the Reviarra household. Unlike other days, Duke Reviarra was late coming home and Duchess Reviarra started getting worried.

The Duke had a very transparent worklife and remained steadfast to his work schedule. Anytime he had to stay late, he ensured to notify his wife. The Duke was rather boring in life and his habits were like clockwork.

His typical return time lapsed and there was no letter. Sol immediately understood something was abnormal and kicked off the machine that was Iridescent. After the prolonged exchanges with Lunar Supply, Iridescent managers were already wired and trained to react to last minute notifications.

Birds with hidden messages reached various outlets spread across the Capital and the recipients launched into action immediately. Iridescent had little direct political power, however they were inseparable from the commoners.

Information that typically is restrained to the inner castle is known by the ministers who chat near maids and guards. While silence is a virtue in the hiring process, it’s rarely ever held to a strict standard. With enough shops actively engaging in conversation and including a bit of reward, information on the imperial happenings started to flow back towards Sol.

Each piece of the puzzle laid together into a weave, gradually forming the greater image. It only took Sol about 4 hours from start to finish. The completed puzzle drew a frown from her youthful face. Framing? How weak.

From what she pieced together, Sol understood her father was accused of accepting bribes. She found the situation odd as the accuser was never brought forward, and yet the judgment was pushed through anyhow. It was an obvious show, but why the show?

Her thoughts initially toyed with the idea that this was another attempt to bait her out, however she found it hard to reconcile the idea with Lunar Supply’s current capabilities. While not dead, Sol managed to remove Lunar Supply’s foothold in the Western territories.

Even if Sol left Arcgate to travel to the capital, who would ambush her? The means to relocate large forces was eliminated. While it was still possible for assassination attempts instead of outright slaughter, Prince Roland was well aware of An’s capability. In short, Sol marked Prince Roland off the list for most likely culprit.

By elimination, Prince Elric popped into mind. Rather than the physical and economic war Sol was pushing against Prince Roland with, she instead mixed character assassination and propoganda to strike against Prince Elric.

Between misrepresenting his actions, sabotaging his public events, and poisoning the well to help detract potential backers, it was safe to say Prince Elric might be in a worse situation than his brother. It still felt strange to Sol though.

While Prince Elric had motive and capability to attempt this, the question remained… “Why would he?” Despite Sol’s efforts, Prince Elric was still looked at favorably by his Father. It wasn’t a stretch to say the title of Crown Prince was still virtually attached to him.

Striking at her father by use of framing in such an overt manner would draw questions from all of father’s supporters. Few would accept the charges laid against the Duke. He remained in his position for nearly 40 years for a reason.

Sol suspected there were undercurrents she was unaware of and that a 3rd party was manipulating things behind the scenes. Perhaps a 3rd party was trying to force her hand? If not the Princes, who else was out for her?

She dismissed the 3rd party that worked with the Princes. The current scheme was far too different from their typical modus operandi. Aggression and combat was their forte up to this point and there was strong evidence that they were avoiding interaction with the Royals as much as possible.

Regardless of who it was, Sol knew her enemy succeeded. The sheer fact that King Blonsall restrained her father despite the shaky allegations was enough to prove a heavy hitter was becoming impatient.

Sol’s tiny fist crumpled the paper in her hand before snatching a few Temperamental Bettys from the shelf. These adjusted coins were practical implementations of Sir Leory’s recommendations. Though not field tested, Sol had used them enough in practice that her confidence was high in their versatility.

She left the office and picked An up from the training field. It was already dusk, however she was forced to move as soon as possible. Since the King was involved, things could potentially spiral out of control if left alone for too long. While snagging An from his training, Sol also grabbed up a regiment of Knights to follow along.

Performing her due diligence, Sol sent off a message to Christopher and left behind a notice for her mother. Should everything go well, her father will be released by the end of the week, however the unknown enemy kept giving Sol a foreboding feeling.

The Knights collected their gear and prepared for the trip. Less than 30 minutes later, Sol and company departed the Reviarra estate. They stuck to the paved roads in order to reach the Capital with haste. Throughout the journey, the Knights revealed the depth of their training.

Sol curiously watched their actions through her spiritual awareness. She was certain their actions were beyond her ability to detect as she only managed to pluck out a few more obvious ones. Unable to hold back, Sol questioned An.

“What did you teach them?”

“Didn’t you want well trained warriors? I taught them how to properly protect someone.”

“Huh… How good are they now?”

An only grinned before dodging the question. “What’s your plan? Are we breaking your old man out?” Sol’s fingers tapped against the armrest and her gaze drifted to the dark scenery outside the window. “I haven’t decided yet. We have to figure out who’s attacking father first. If it’s either of the Princes or the Queen, then Iridescent can leverage a few tricks to apply pressure and evidence. A Political end would suit this situation best.”

“Alright… What if it’s someone else?” An followed up after Sol remained silent. The girl only glanced at him before looking away once more. Her lazy tone soon followed up. “Then we do what we have to. Let me be clear though, we’re not ready for a frontal conflict yet. It has to be avoided if possible.”

“How ambiguous…” Sol chose to ignore his snarky remark. Her thoughts continued to spin on the situation. They really weren’t ready for a frontal conflict with the Royal family. Just because a frontal assault wasn’t possible though, doesn’t mean there were no options.

Sir Leory proved asymmetric combat was possible by taking down the giant that was Lunar Supply. Although he had plenty of backup from Sol, he and his subordinates were essentially a team of 30 men forcing back a force surpassing 13000.

Prince Roland’s counter attacks started slowing down two months ago and there was evidence to show it was a permanent recession. If asymmetric combat was the way forward, then Sol required strategies to push, goals to reach, and key metrics to measure progress by.

Machinations and designs flooded her mind, each with their own limitations and strengths. To her surprise, Sol realized her mental processes were faster than normal. Although she was always rather clever, the inhibitions and exhaustion that used to trail behind that cleverness seemed to be gone.

Even without asking An, Sol was confident it was due to her nearing her first refinement. An had already told her once in the past that the spiritual awareness housed the will and persona of an Assembler. The vast amounts of practice in the Divine Refining arts had benefits beyond an improved Temperamental Betty. Her spiritual awareness was also sharpened and with it, her thoughts and mind.

The clarity of her thoughts accelerated her planning process and Sol eventually lost herself to her thoughts. It wasn’t until she was shaken from those thoughts that Sol recovered herself. Glancing around, she found An gazing at her with a smile. “We’re here. What’s our first move?”

“Oh? No ambush this time? Am I not their target?”

“You’re not that interesting you know? Aside from some people who want you dead and the Royal family, I think you have a rather positive image from an outsider’s perspective.”

“This Lady will accept the praise after strangers halt their attempts to assassinate me.”

An smiled wryly at the remark. He knew such a thing would be impossible, however chose to keep the thought to himself. Despite doing so, Sol seemed to read his mind. She, too, left it at that. Sol’s lithe body stretched out and broke free any joints stiff from travel.

Alighting the carriage, her view flickered between her Knight’s and the surrounding guards. She made a point to wave to the guards managing the gate before taking strides towards her first stop. Despite her distancing figure, Sol’s spiritual awareness remained fixed on the gate guards.

Right after she left, the guards whispered to each other before one left his post and took off. A devilish grin lifted Sol’s lips, she suddenly had a thought at who might be behind this incident.