Location: Velstand Grand Hotel: Penthouse Restaurant
Time: 8:30 PM, 02/18/2108
For someone who can’t eat any of the food they serve, I’ve become pretty familiar with the penthouse restaurant at the Velstand Grand Hotel. It seems like this is becoming the default location for me to have any important, non-official, meetings.
Although I will say, I am starting to feel a little guilty about monopolizing this place for myself. I’d rather not think about how many reservations have been canceled because I continually force this place to cater to my whims.
It’s safe to say I’m also burning through the budget I laid out for this operation.
This time, I’m not meeting with Eren. I still have things to discuss with him, but they can wait until I’ve been granted control of this city.
I’m here to meet the Security General, Karver Kaldsen. A man second in power only to the Prime Minister himself. I’m sure in the past, plenty would have said their influence was equal, but not anymore. The media as of late would have you believe he’s fallen on rather hard times.
One of his daughters and her accomplice were responsible for a mass killing at an idol concert, killing hundreds before being stopped by Henry and Olivia Oldridge.
And a group of senators he was secretly bribing have been captured and detained by Oliver Oldridge.
Of course, I was responsible for both of those things. His daughter was already a corpse, being controlled by my subordinate. And the only thing all of those senators I had Oliver capture had in common was the fact that they were likely to speak out against supporting me.
But Karver Kaldsen will accept responsibility for both of those things.
Why?
Because he cared about the future of Velstand, and both of those things were his idea in the first place. Initially, he gave tacit support for the BAAs attempt to work with Eren, but after their string of failures, he joined my camp.
He’s also the kind of guy to eat his dinner really slowly. Even though he got here an hour early, he just managed to finish his meal.
Typically I’d suggest something from the desert menu, but based on how long his dinner took, I really don’t think we have time for that.
“Well, a fine meal. If there was any point to it, I’d have my chefs learn the recipe. A shame you couldn’t have any.”
“I’m sure. I will simply have to accept your praise and mirror it as my own should I get the chance to speak to the chef here.”
“Ha, that would hardly be necessary. The head chef here is an ornery one. He has little interest outside of his own passion. I don’t recall him ever being interested in customer feedback.”
Despite the fact that I was the one to invite him here, he seemed to be far more familiar with the establishment than myself. Well, that’s only to be expected. I’m sure someone in his position has eaten here countless times over the years.
“Well then, perhaps we leave that idea behind and move on to more productive topics of conversation.”
I felt like I was rushing things, but again, we were already running late.
“Of course. Are things moving smoothly?”
“Yes. At your news conference tomorrow you need to admit that the rumors surrounding the senators you had been bribing are true.”
“Effectively ruining my career, as well as theirs.”
He was discussing ruining his legacy with a surprisingly jovial tone.
“Yes. Given enough time I’m sure one of them would be able to prove their innocence, but with your admission public opinion will be on my side. They won’t have the power to do anything.”
“I imagine the smartest among them will join your side once they realize you are the future.”
“Like you did?”
“Of course. The Free Cities have no future. I’d rather join the Empire as a territory than a spoil of war. Sacrificing myself is a small price to secure Velstand’s future.”
“Sacrificing your daughters as well?”
I wasn’t asking a sensitive question like that for no reason. I wanted to see how far Karver’s devotion to the plan went. I rather him curse me out now than do it when dozens of cameras were pointing at him.
“What happened with Karen was unfortunate. She would have never understood that bowing down to the Empire was the only way to save this city. She never would have been able to accept these underhanded tactics to sway public opinion. Just look at how her and her subordinates ruined your brother's first attempt. But she would have gladly given her life for this city, so she met the end she would have wanted.”
“And the other one?”
“That was no daughter of mine. To be so easily manipulated and used by not only you, but your brother as well. Kathrin only received what she earned. At least she was useful in the end.”
His opinions mirrored my own. I had no sympathy for those who were tricked into working for Eren before he submitted to me, but Karen’s death was one I’d have liked to avoid if I could. The idea of letting an innocent person die is disgusting.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
It was my only real choice. Karen, with the ARA behind her, wouldn’t have conformed. She would have stuck her nose where it didn’t belong and uncovered something I’d have liked to keep hidden. Honestly, with her alive, the massacre at the idol show probably would have never succeeded. Kill one to save a city. Not something I personally wanted to agree with, but as a ruler, I had to make an unpleasant choice. The words I spoke to James weren’t quite as true as I’d have liked. Karen Kaldsen would be the only victim of my conquest. Hardly bloodless, but I’m the Sanguine Princess after all.
Perhaps I should feel more guilty about Grant Glaif as well. Despite how I framed it to everyone else, I knew for a fact that Grant never once betrayed anyone; he was only trying to help the city he belonged to. I don’t fully understand it, but it would seem that all of his actions were nothing more than the result of my Henry’s original augmentation.
That being said, after all of the horrible things I’d let happen, I could hardly feel sad for using someone who tried to kill my Henry, even if his mind was being pulled in that direction by an unknown ability. At the end of the day, he was the one without the mental fortitude to keep his wits about him.
I’d also like it noted that I specifically told Kalder not to order the Numbers to kill him. They were just supposed to knock him out, and I’d have had a fake corpse take his place. But that little psycho Hana went out of her way to kill him herself. How was I supposed to predict that Oakley would give such an order?
“Karver Kaldsen, you truly are an interesting person. I can’t imagine anyone else purposefully destroying the reputation they’ve spent decades crafting with a smile on their face.”
“A reputation is worthless. As long as I remained in power the people would never accept the reality of our situation. I would always be treated as a beacon of hope. They certainly wouldn’t have accepted a vampire overlord. I’m sure you could have settled things with the state, but the people wouldn’t have supported you. This way, you can be a hero, rather than a usurper.”
Could I ever say the things Karver was?
Obviously not. I wouldn’t go as far as to ridicule him the way most people from the Empire would have, but I’d never understand him. The ruling class shouldn’t sacrifice themselves for the masses.
“And how are you so certain that I’m the right person for the job? Once I’m in power I could become the monster people think I am.”
“A ruined city won’t give your claim to the throne any merit. I’m sure that’s the only reason you’re interested in Velstand in the first place.” He wasn’t wrong. I needed Velstand to remain a profitable city. “Besides, I’m sure you’d be assassinated before you could do too much damage.”
I could tell Karver wasn’t trying to threaten me, he was just stating a simple fact.
“And who do you think would be doing the assassinating?”
“We both know the answer to that. Vier.”
Ah, I really didn’t want to think about him. One of the more annoying pieces left on the board. I specifically had Seven summoned to this city to deal with him, but that was an absolute failure. Rather than fight to the death, the two of them seemed to get along like old friends. I knew they were both Numbers, but they shouldn’t have met before. And it’s not like Numbers never fight.
At least Seven planned on staying here for a while. He might not fight Vier, but perhaps he’ll serve as a deterrent.
“Ah, yes. Would you have any advice on dealing with him?”
“Now that Karen is dead and his seal is permanently inactive, there’s nothing anyone can do to control him. You’ll just have to cater to his whims. I believe I warned you about that when we first discussed the possibility of Karen’s death. I can’t imagine he’ll cause you too many problems though. As long as you don’t step on the tiger’s tail, he won’t attack.”
“You don’t think he’ll want revenge?”
“Against who? That fool Kathrin is the one who killed Karen. Vier isn’t so spiteful to come after you merely for not saving Karen.”
It was upsetting, but trusting his words was my only choice. Reaching a more permanent solution with Vier would require more resources than I had on hand. That was the genius part of Karver’s plan. He managed to leave behind a fail-safe that I couldn’t disarm. I wasn't fully convinced that he actually cared about Velstand's future, but again, I wasn't going to test it.
“If that is what you believe, I’ve no reason to doubt your insight.”
“Your trust is appreciated, but let's end things there. It’s getting late, and I’d like to move on to the reason I wished to speak to you.”
Everything up to this point was nothing but the preamble. Considering that Karver was the one who suggested this whole plan to me, there was no reason for us to discuss it this late in the game. He really wanted to discuss something more pressing.
“Then you won’t be held up for much longer. I’ve considered your request, but I won’t support it. We will move forward as I initially suggested.”
In reality, I hadn’t even considered his request. It was one that I’d never support, no matter how long I thought about it.
He wanted to die. Even worse, he wanted to have Kalder be the one to do it. Despite how easily he managed to throw away two of his children, he wanted to protect Kalder’s career. He was worried that with all of the damage he was doing to the Kaldsen name, Kalder’s only chance to escape unscathed was to kill his own father.
I disagreed. Once I was in power, I could guarantee Kalder would keep his position as director of the MID, and over time he would prove his allegiance. There was no reason for Karver to pointlessly throw his life away.
“I see. Then I suppose that is that.”
Considering how persistent he has been about it, Karver conceded far too easily. He was clearly planning on following through with it, even without my support.
Could I stop him?
Probably, but keeping someone alive was a losing battle. I made my stance known. If he was willing to disregard my order, then that was that. His death wouldn’t be on my hands.
“Then we have nothing less to discuss. If you would excuse me.”
For obvious reasons, I wasn’t hoping to get a good night’s sleep, but I have a mountain of things that I needed to prep for.
On Monday, the Prime Minister would call for a special session of the Senate. There, he will instigate a vote on requesting admittance into the Pacific Empire. Any Senators that would have voted against it will remain under custody for the crime of accepting bribes from Karver Kaldsen. The vote will pass without issue.
On Tuesday, I’ll have any of Eren’s remaining pawns cause some kind of trouble; killing the rest of those homunculuses that weren’t killed at the concert. Karver will make a mess of things, leaving me to once again save the day.
On Wednesday, the vote will pass, and I will accept on behalf of the Empire. The people might be hesitant, but after all of my recent heroics, the people will accept me.
On Thursday, I will promise to bring an end to the senseless violence that has been plaguing this city.
From that point on, I’ll just put the Prime Minister back in charge and I’ll be able to mostly ignore Velstand, considering most of the problems here were the result of my brother and I in the first place.
Then I’ll finally be able to move on to planning which of the Free Cities to annex next.
It might seem a little rushed, but most of the people here have been made aware of the likelihood of joining the Empire, especially after Eren’s dramatic arrival at the beginning of the year.