As the elections drew near, the nights of Orland grew more violent, as protests and counter-protests clashed with each other.

"Vote for the Front!" A man with a megaphone shouted over thousands of gathered crowds on Bolley Avenue near the currently closed Ducal Triumph Square.

"Take back your rights, brothers! Do not trust the Queen or the nobility. Only the front can deliver change!" He continued, as the crowd of men cheered in response.

"And most importantly, keep your rifles by your side! Do not let them trample over you!"

Queen Amelie exited an armored SUV to observe the ongoing protests in the capital. They were protected by rows upon rows of the Royal Guard riot police in the far distance, which kept the demonstrators away. But that wasn't just it.

Behind her was William, whom she had unofficially hired to protect herself. With him too were unmarked SUVs that were parked with her security convoy on the side of the road. It was a small contingent from the 16th, that had joined William on this occasion.

Sometimes I feel like I'm bringing a private army with me. She thought, but it didn't matter. What if a coup suddenly happened? If a battalion of army troopers tried rushing her when she was at home or Palace, she sure as hell would be thankful to have a personal battalion to shield herself.

Especially since I still do not know if the Halian Garrison isn't under Heindhöff's influence. While the Colonel of the small garrison of the city seemed amicable when she met him, she still would not be fully sure.

Since they were officially demobilized, Amelie decided to simply move them to her personal security detail instead to reinforce it, and also to test if Army units "loyal" to her would truly be loyal.

For the past weeks, she scanned each and every man of the 16th. Many were removed for their radical tendencies, but what remained satisfied her. While the 16th was now smaller than a full-strength Battalion, it still had well-trained mechanized troops that could directly escort and protect her during her "field expeditions."

They also kept their unit name - the "16th Armored Battalion", which was weird, since they now technically didn't belong with the Army. She supposed they would now be an unofficial unit of the Royal Guard.

Of course, she could not take their APCs and MBTs on the streets, that would be overkill, so most of them had to stay in a base near the capital. The rest today with them would have to contend with their armored SUVs instead to protect the Queen. So far, they have performed quite effectively.

But obviously, to ensure her safety, Royal Guard knights of her security detail still kept a close watch on her. While these men were checked, she still kept a cautious approach. The Royal Guard was just better for her security in general, the 16th was just a supplement.

It was a lesson she had learned from her mother's death. Knights with wands weren't always enough, and she wouldn't want to get caught unprepared without rifles and armor ready at her back.

Not especially now, that the political violence in the streets had intensified.

It had been days since the election campaign began. What took her attention, however, was the reports of violence on the streets. Most prominent especially was the nightly riots that occurred in the streets of the Capital.

Thus, she wanted to see the situation personally.

"Be careful, Your Majesty," William warned from behind. She nodded.

"No need to worry. We're just here to watch anyways."

"Still, look at them. The Civil Defense Militia is here."

He pointed at the masses of men that were lined up in formation. They faced the Royal Guards directly, but what was curious about them was the fact that they were armed. Most of them held makeshift steel shields or outdated riot shields.

They also wore a hodgepodge of helmets, mostly hard hats. Their faces were also obscured either by civilian gas masks or cloth masks. But more importantly, was that some held rifles.

They seemed to be protecting the crowds of protesters behind them. Almost as if they were their shields.

Amelie raised her eyebrows.

"Civil Defense Militia?"

"A catch-all term for armed, organized civilian men that appeared since last year. They would usually join male rights protests, and would cover the main body of protesters from riot police."

William scanned their formation. While they seemed well-armed, he internally sighed a breath of relief. These were the "fodder" variety common in major cities, where it was harder to buy firearms, and where the army had less presence to "lose" their firearm stockpiles. There weren't a lot of them that held rifles like the militiamen in the countryside or rural cities and towns. Those men were the real deal. Still, in major cities, this bunch was effective at causing chaos.

William looked back at her. "You could also say that they are the paramilitary arm of both the NRF and the ORP."

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"The ORP? I thought the Republican Party is the more moderate version of the Front?"

William sighed. It seemed that the Queen was still ignorant of how street politics happened nowadays.

"Your Majesty, political violence and intimidation have been common ever since the end of the Great War. Even the United Orland Party has an unofficial paramilitary unit. Everyone does."

"I see. That's a bit of a problem..."

"Understatement of the year, Your Majesty."

She frowned. He was still using the dreaded "Your Majesty" whenever he spoke. Sometimes, she would find the urge to bash the heads of the people close to her for how they would almost always insist on addressing her formally even when she would tell them not to.

"I still don't understand why all of you are so stiff around me..."

William's expression didn't change.

"You're the Queen. It's natural."

She huffed. At least little Alice existed. And Marie.

The two walked closer to observe, although they kept a good distance from both the Royal Guard line and the rioters. Amelie herself only wore clothes that wouldn't show that she was anything but another civilian spectator, and the guards and the convoy stayed back.

She joined the mass of young women who watched the ruckus, almost as if it was a spectacle to entertain themselves. Many of them would casually give negative remarks at the protesters, safe behind the Royal Guard.

But commotion began from the militia's line, as the Knights pulled out their wands. The officer in charge of the unit pulled out a megaphone.

"Attention! All men on the Avenue must disperse within five minutes! Failure to comply will lead to arrests!"

The crowd of protesters reacted angrily from behind, while the militiamen raised their shields. She could also see rifles being prepared, as the armed men turned off their safeties.

In response, the Knights began shimmering, a sign that they had casted ballistic shields on themselves.

It appeared that the riot was escalating. This naturally worried Amelie greatly.

"Hey...are they really going to start shooting each other?"

"I'm not sure. Usually, they would just aim their rifles and wands at each other before both sides, usually the militia disperses."

It was bad news. It appeared that this time, the militia wasn't interested in backing down. Behind them, many unarmed protesters began evacuating, but then the militiamen began backing off.

Amelie breathed out in relief.

"Oh, I thought it was going to get-"

The Knights began advancing, which led to frustrated shouts from the retreating militia. The men on the other side hurled insults, angry that the Royal Guard seemed dead set on catching them.

"Wait...they're making a mistake," Amelie said in distress. "They're antagonizing them! I need to talk to the officer in charge-"

But William stopped her. Amelie turned around, as she found William's hand gripping hers.

"No, you won't. Don't get involved, it's about to get nasty."

She pulled out her wand angrily.

"That's exactly why I have to intervene!"

"And what, let them know that the Queen is here?"

She stopped. He was right. Her face was too recognizable, after all. If she went close to the Royal Guard, even the militiamen would spot her. And it would only worsen the situation.

She pulled her arm off of William's grip. She looked back at the riot in vain, as now, the shouts grew louder. And then, a flash of light slammed on one of the shielded men.

His steel shield didn't even block it. Instead, the electricity from the attack was conducted from it to his body, which stunned and knocked him down.

Immediately, the anger turned to rage. Scattered gunshots rang out from their rifles, as the shielded men dashed forward to assault the knights in retaliation.

The wands responded, and a hail of electric spells slammed into the men's line, which stunned many. The shots also turned out useless, as the ballistic shields the Knights casted blocked it.

But the militiamen outnumbered the knights more than five to one. And the shots didn't go to waste. It wasn't really used to kill, as far as Amelie could tell, but to disable the casted shields.

And it brilliantly worked, as the shields were now gone. The Knights weren't allowed to use lethal force yet, which limited their options only to protective spells or spells that stunned.

The situation for the militia worsened, however, as tear gas canisters greeted their charge. They responded with Molotovs in vain.

The two sides soon smashed upon each other. They both bashed their shields at each other, as the Royal Guard pulled out their batons. However, those were no simple batons, for it was all enchanted. The slams of the batons from the Knights crumpled the shields of the front ranks of the militiamen, which forced them to fight with their clubs instead.

But again it proved futile, as the Knights simply bashed them and stunned them electrically with the batons. But the militia didn't falter. As the front ranks fell down and were detained, more would replace them. And sometimes, a lucky strike of a club or shield would hit a Knight in the face.

Amelie watched as young women with bruised faces and cracked visors were dragged away by their sisters, alongside the badly injured mass of men being detained face down by the regular police behind the line.

Her heart sank, and she almost felt the urge to vomit at the scene.

Why? Why is all of this happening under me?

All of it happened as Amelie watched at a distance, unable to do anything. After ten minutes of desperate melee and constant back and forths, the militia finally broke and routed. The Royal Guard formation chased them off from the Avenue, hot on their tails.

By the time it was done, Amelie could only see an Avenue with some half-burnt cars, abandoned weapons and shields, and masses of injured from both sides, although most of the injured were from the militia. Well, most was an understatement. Almost all of them were militiamen.

She watched as their blooded and injured young faces looked down listlessly as they were slowly processed, just as the media arrived, the reporters and their cameras being aimed at the arrested militiamen and the Royal Guard Knights with them.

She looked back to William, who had simply stood silently as the riot happened.

"Will they even get medical attention?"

"Probably not, not until they are taken to the nearby Police Station to be interrogated."

They're literally just boys! Most of them couldn't even be older than seventeen, she thought, as now, without their masks, she could view their faces. It was almost as if this militia was formed by teenage schoolboys. And yet they stood valiantly and faced extreme brutality before they cracked.

A Royal Guard Captain attached to her security detail ran towards Amelie. She stopped, and gave William a distrustful look, before looking at Amelie.

"Your Majesty, the riot has ended. Please, I advise that you return to the Palace now for your safety."

Amelie nodded. She was tired after all. She could not help but feel helpless. To read about it from the reports, or watch it on TV, was different.

She was indeed more sheltered than she expected.

But more importantly, she needed to talk with the Archduchess about this. Or the Minister of the Interior. Preferably both.

Inside her, she felt something change as she looked back at the scene. Her blood boiled. This...this went against all of her ideals. And they dared do this under her rule?

What blasted orders is that woman giving to the Royal Guard?