"General Albrecht launched the grand offensive against the Order Pact today! Penal Units suffered 89% casualties in the first 14 hours, but victory would be close, as our honorable Queen declared this night. It is a great day for all of Orland and the Ivory Alliance today."

- The Arcane Updates, January 18, 2023

---

When was the last time that Albert ate with his family? Oh, it was already a distant memory for him. It was years ago, before the war, before the crisis that led to the war, before he even joined the Navy.

He didn't speak much as the trio ate. It was a fancy dinner prepared by the Palace staff for them, and while he would indeed eat everything on his plate, he again didn't really speak much.

He couldn't.

Alice.

She grew up already. He wondered what she thought of him now. He wore an eyepatch. He had ugly scars on his face. And, well, he promised something to her before he went to war.

It was why he could not go home and face her.

To face her was too hard, to say the least. It was better to simply run, and face his duties.

I'm such a pathetic loser.

"Albert, you've been poking your peas for a while now." Amelie's voice pulled him out of his musings. His little sister, now a Queen, seemed to now have tiny eye bags. Yet she laughed at him loudly. "Don't tell me you don't like vegetables now!"

He chose to laugh in response, as he took some of the peas to his mouth.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something. Whoever cooked this needs a raise. It's good."

"Hmm…something? What exactly?" Amelie curiously asked as she lazily waved a cut of roasted chicken on her fork.

He looked at Amelie, a little bit miffed at her jabs. He just wanted some peace.

"Navy stuff."

Alice huffed, which caught his attention.

"There he goes again, getting all serious about ships." She crossed her arms and spoke, food still in her mouth. "Is that ship your new girlfriend now?"

He never had a girlfriend, but well, he chuckled at the brat. To be fair, to witness her as she spoke like that, was quite cute for him.

"Alice, you know, you should not speak when food is in your mouth. You're the Princess, you have to keep that table etiquette that Mother drilled on you."

She swallowed it quickly. Almost as if she really wanted to speak quickly. Her little attempt was again, too cute. She once again crossed her arms and held her head high, and almost looked down at him.

"There, now I can speak. Is it your girlfriend?"

And while he would have wanted it to go the other way, somehow, he was laughing as he spoke with her.

"I wish she was. Rebenslof, oh, she's a majestic piece of art."

"Eww, you boys really are disgusting."

"Yeah, they are, aren't they." Amelie joined her, which completely outnumbered Albert. He merely shrugged.

"Well, I won't deny that."

The dinner proceeded much more lightly.

…

Albert walked briskly through the Palace halls, with no particular direction in mind. It was already dark, as the night fell, and the lights closed.

He passed through room after room, sometimes meeting an occasional staff or two. Truthfully, he just wanted to delay it a bit. A bit to recollect his thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, he could still come up with a-

"Albert, why don't you just visit her in her room?"

Amelie's voice was soft and calm. When he looked back at her, she held that same concerned expression she always gave him.

It irritated him. Being pitied, he never was a fan of it. No man was. Their pride, and his pride was too high for that.

Sure, they were a wounded, broken bunch, who went through hell. But, none of them, Albert included, did it to gain pity.

He went there to serve, for they were called for it. While the bad blood between men and women was high, it didn't change the fact that they fought hard so they wouldn't be looked down upon.

It just happened…that it was a lie. And that regardless of what they did, either women looked down on them like they were rats or looked down at them with pity.

But how petty. It felt stupid, it sounded stupid, even to him, but that was what he felt inside. He hated it.

No matter. He buried those stupid thoughts down quickly. Instead, he came up with a quick excuse.

"I was just searching for the bathroom. It's been 3 years-"

"Albert, I know you when you lie." She smiled a bit. "Remember when we would always 'play' in these halls? You were better than Adam, weren't you? At hiding when I wanted to play with my magic?"

He hated her for that. She was an absolute monster back in the day, who loved to annoy and torment the two with her games and magic.

She only grew out of it when that Marie girl became her friend, still, some bad blood remained between the two.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

But, Albert didn't really feel any of that anymore. It was in the past, and he had seen much worse. It was but a tiny, petty scuffle between siblings for him now.

But she was indeed right. He was good at hiding and avoiding her. He still knew a lot about the Palace.

"...Alright, where is her room?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Look, I know you know where her room is, but…fine. Follow me."

She turned around and began walking forward, and he followed closely behind, before she stopped, took a deep breath, and spoke to him.

"I…I never properly apologized for all I did to you. But…I'm so sorry. I know it's nothing but-"

"Look, I don't see anything you should be sorry about. Children are just natural demon spawns." He even chuckled. "Look, it's alright-"

"That's not what I'm…" She was now looking at him, but then she turned away just as quickly. She breathed out. "Nevermind…you don't remember, don't you?"

Remember what?

He stood there, confused. Amelie, for her part, wanted to continue, but she realized, it was for naught.

"You know what? Let's just go."

…

A lot of things were easy for Albert. He did mountains of paperwork, paperwork that officers always did. He worked with brain-dead sailors, airmen, and marines alike. And he saw battles of the most complicated kinds on the high seas. But now, he faced an even more dreadful situation. He needed to talk to Alice.

He'd rather be back to the Liebnich Peninsular Campaign.

He sat beside Alice's bed. It was the same chair he would use in the past when he would read her bedtime stories. Alice loved it back then, because their mother could not be bothered to do it, and their father was dead.

And Alice didn't like Amelie when she narrated for her.

So it was Albert's tiny occasional job whenever he finished his daily studies. As such, it was no surprise to him when he felt a pang of nostalgia when he sat on that same chair.

In many ways, Alice was the one person he was truly close with.

Yet he lost that.

He looked around her room. Many things had changed. She now had a study desk, filled with textbooks. The old dolls were gone, replaced mostly by new plushies.

Actually, there were a lot of plushies in the room, he noted. Perhaps the brat liked to hug things now. Especially that fat bunny that he once bought for her, which was still there on the table with the rest of her collection of plushies.

Then on the bookshelves, he noticed a book.

The Gallant Horse Soldier.

It was still in the same place that he left it, 3 years ago, the last time that he was in her room. The last time he read her a story as she slept.

He finally looked at her.

She was facing away from him on her bed, curled up. He didn't know how to start.

"Brother…why?" She asked, her voice tiny. Almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say.

What a failure he was. He should have been better. He should have been faster at evacuating them. He should have bombed them faster. He… failed. He failed, what kind of…

"Adam…he was a good brother. Why did he have to go? You both promised me that you would both come home." She pulled her knees closer.

"Please forgive me, it was my fault."

Alice shed tears, and while he didn't see it. He knew it from behind her. He knew from her tiny movements that she was sobbing.

"Father is gone, Adam is gone…now mother is gone." She looked back at him, as tears pooled in her emerald-green eyes. Albert almost wanted to hug and soothe her, but he stayed in his seat. Shame prevented him from any attempts to get closer. He was unworthy.

"Brother, I'm scared." He wanted to avert her eyes. But, he couldn't.

She wiped off her tears. "W-what about you? What about Amelie? You both, you're both in danger, right? Don't lie, I read the news."

I…dammit. What do I even say?

"Brother, please don't go. Please don't. You and Amelie, please." Tears were reaching her cheeks, no matter how much she wiped it off. "I don't want to be alone!"

He noticed a tiny whimper from outside, likely Amelie, before he heard her faint footsteps, as she seemed to run away.

He sighed and buried his face in his hands.

Dammit, what am I supposed to do?

Truly, what a failure of a brother he was, he thought. Unable to even comfort her. Unable to even help Amelie rule. And he failed Adam. He failed them all. He should have done better. Why didn't he reach Adam? Why didn't they rescue them from the encirclement? Why? Why? Why?

Why?

I should have been…a better son.

…

November 22, 2020

Liebnich Peninsula

The Great War

The ONS Rebenslof and her three escorts slipped through the stormy seas in the dead of the night. They were running out of time.

"How fast can we get there?" Albert asked the navigator, who replied grimly.

"8 hours, sir. We can't go faster than this."

He almost wanted to slam his fist on the screens. It was so bad, so, so bad. They were now down to 3 escorts, after the engagement earlier as the rest were damaged or sunk. Their missiles were also nearly depleted, and his air squadrons were unavailable due to the weather and lack of supplies.

And the siege. The damned siege. It was all going to hell.

He felt his hands shake. No, that was unacceptable. 8 hours, they didn't have that much time left. They would…no, they would be overrun by then. The port city was already on its last legs 12 hours ago.

Dammit, Adam. Why didn't you just evacuate with them? That goddamned-

His brother refused to board the ships on their last run. He never was that kind of a General. He refused to lead from behind, and he refused to leave until the last men of his division were out of the besieged city.

His blood was running cold. He looked at the map. It would be risky, but…

No choice. All he could hope for now was that the goddess was on their side today.

"Helm, plot course-"

"Alert! Hostile contacts detected at…"

The time almost slowed down for him as those dreaded words entered his ears.

No! No! Not now! Dammit, not now! Why?! Why?!

She wasn't.

She never was.

…

Albert woke up, not on his bed, but on the chair, beside Alice's bed. The rays of the sun shone gently through the windows, which illuminated her sleeping form.

She let off soft, tiny breaths. While her eyes were puffy, she held a relaxed expression.

He sighed.

Eventually, Alice stopped crying last night. Albert, who ran out of options, simply opted to read her a story as she slowly stopped crying on the bed. Eventually, she was asleep.

The whole debacle drained him greatly.

Hah…I need breakfast or something. I'm starving.

He looked at Alice, as his heart grew heavy once more, which froze him in place. Eventually, he decided, the time was over for stupid ruminations.

He gave her one final check, before he stood up, and fixed his uniform.

Cautiously, he left her room.

On Alice's study desk, a tiny letter was left.

I promise you. Everything will be alright.