Eris looked out of her carriage. She had been traveling down the road for a while, and now a group of hussars stood before her. The girl's own hussars had their hands on their lands and pistols. Still, no hostility came from the other group.

Lucia was riding on a horse among them. She was clad head to toe in armor, a dent on the breastplate serving as proof that it could withstand gunfire. Eris forced a smile. If Lucia was here to fight, then she might not be able to spare her.

"Why, hello, Lucia. What brings you here today?" Eris asked. "Did you get my letter?"

"I did, and I'm here to encourage you to not go to the festival," the Concord girl answered.

"Ah, yes. You're here to threaten me," Eris thought.

"Tell me what your reasoning is, Lucia," she said.

The Concord girl looked at the carriage.

"Can we talk in there? It is more private," Lucia stated.

"Of course," Eris spoke before thinking. "Good. If you try to assassinate me there, I can take you, armor or not. I'll even be able to disarm you."

Lucia dismounted her horse and walked over to the carriage. Eris made sure there was enough space for her to sit inside while keeping a hand close to her dagger.

Sitting down, Lucia made herself comfortable. Eris closed the door, never keeping her eye off the other girl.

"Tell me, why do you not want me to go to the festival?" Eris asked.

Lucia hesitated a moment before speaking.

"I know better than to trust you, Eris, but I trust Charles even less. If you both do what's in your most selfish interest, Charles will go against Armand while you will not," the Concord said.

"That is true," Eris nodded.

"Which is why you can't leave the Concord estate," Lucia explained. "Charles already is trying to scheme against Armand behind your back. Things will get worse if you're leagues away from here."

That's when Eris gave Lucia a genuine, warm smile. The Concord found it incredibly creepy because she knew that Eris wasn't faking it.

"Charles won't be at the Concord estate," the Hapsburg said.

Suspicion flowed through Lucia.

"Why won't he?" she asked. "He isn't going to follow you to the festival if that's what you're thinking."

"He won't go there. Charles will try to scheme behind my back by going on a trip to Castle Barboa," Eris answered.

Lucia was confused.

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"What does Castle Barboa have to do with anything?" she wondered.

"I sent a letter, a letter that I arranged to get intercepted by Charles' men. It will make him want to go to Castle Barboa," Eris spoke before thinking.

"And what happened to the messenger carrying the letter?" Lucia questioned.

"He's most likely dead. Charles' men probably killed him," the Hapsburg shrugged.

A look of disgust crossed Lucia's face.

"This is exactly why I can't trust you. You just threw away that man's life, and you don't even care," she said.

"Why should I care about the life of a subhuman?" Eris asked.

Lucia glared at Eris. When the Hapsburg didn't react, Lucia shook her head.

"Never mind that. Why do you want Charles to go to Castle Barboa?"

"Marquis Felix Barboa is a paranoid man. He isn't paranoid enough to harm Charles, but he will keep him under close observation for a very long time before even thinking about talking to him. At least, if Charles wants to speak inside his castle," Eris said.

"And Charles will want to," Lucia's eyes widened in revelation.

"Yes. And while Charles might think Marquis Barboa will be willing to make a deal with him, Marquis Barboa isn't. He's too paranoid for most forms of scheming. Marquis Barboa only gets involved in political matters if he has to or if something incredibly important is at stake," the Hapsburg stated.

"Important by your standards or his?"

Eris shrugged.

"Important by his and everyone's standards. I suspect that it would take the fate of Foldzar being on the line to get Marquis Barboa to act," she spoke before thinking. "Like that subhuman almost destroying the kingdom or his actions in the later disasters."

"How do you know so much about Marquis Barboa?" Lucia narrowed her eyes.

"I studied him, along with a number of other nobles," Eris said.

"Well, I never studied Marquis Barboa. But I studied other nobles," she thought.

The Concord girl tried to see through Eris' words, to see if she was lying. But while she could tell Eris' smiling was true before...now, it was impossible for Lucia to tell.

"You're even smarter than I thought," Lucia said.

"Thank you," Eris replied.

Still, Lucia avoided smiling. She narrowed her eyes.

"And how do I know that you're telling the truth, that Marquis Barboa really won't harm Charles?" Lucia asked.

"Because Armand will figure out that I'm the one responsible for Charles going to Castle Barboa. And if Marquis Barboa kills Charles, he'll blame me," Eris answered.

"Armand will hold out hope that Charles can be reasoned with for some time. But it's a futile hope. The only way this can end is with one of them dead. The moment Armand realizes that too, I will kill that little shit," the Hapsburg thought. "I wish I could have sent him to someone who'd have tortured him for information before releasing him. But Armand would hate that, and it might make him hate me."

Conflicted feelings flowed through Lucia.

"Eris, if you're so smart, you should focus on finding some way to reconcile Armand and Charles," the Concord stated.

"Even if it was possible to, I wouldn't. I hate that little shit," Eris thought.

"It would take the gods to do that. Even if Armand gave up his inheritance, Charles would still want revenge," she said.

Lucia clenched her fists so hard they turned white.

"Why can't Charles see that Armand's the best leader for House Concord? He should think about the family, not himself," Lucia muttered.

Eris sighed.

"Armand's sister is still naive. Well, as long as it can be turned to my benefit, I don't have a problem with it," she thought before speaking. "In any case, I can assure you that Charles will be at Castle Barboa longer than I will be at the festival."

"I don't trust you, Eris," Lucia said.

Then, she let out a deep sigh.

"But I believe you. It is in your best interest that you get back before he does. And I know I can trust your selfishness," the Concord girl stated.

She then stood up.

"I'll let you continue on your journey," Lucia left the carriage.