"Queen Wesley von Reintz has now officially abdicated the Lieplatzan throne in a ceremony in Redcastle City, as she apologized for her 'failures as the Queen'. The crown of the Lieplatzan throne is now expected to pass on to Princess Celeste von Reintz, but the Lieplatzan Royal Government-in-exile has still issued zero statements regarding this matter."

- Redcastle Post

+++

West Orland

City of Eustadt

January 28, 2025

"General, what are you even talking about?"

General Albrecht and the group of OAF officers that met her seemed enthusiastic about their proposal. Amelie, flanked by Nia and William, merely crossed her arms, still unamused by the General's previous act of keeping her out of the loop about what happened in her northern border.

"Well, since Princess Celeste is around here, I'm just saying, why don't the two of you have a good chat now that her mother is out of the picture?" General Albrecht said. "It's a prime opportunity. The Lieplatzan Government-in-exile would soon have her as Queen. And we need a good collaborator in West Lieplatz once our operation is over."

"That's just…that sounds like coercion!" Amelie didn't really want to just gang up on the Lieplatzan Princess who was, at the moment, spending her time in Orland after she was rescued by the RIU. She was probably still winded after the fact.

And now, the Armed Forces wanted to drag her, have a talk with her, and force her into an agreement about the fate of the Kingdom she was about to inherit? It was scarily cruel for Amelie, especially since the woman still harbored resentment after she was forced into hiding when the RIU botched the first rescue attempt that only managed to save the rest of the Lieplatzan Royal Family…except for her

I bet she still feels abandoned. Amelie knew that being stuck in a country that literally hunted for her head for a few weeks alone would be bound to beyond just shake her. She didn't want to just barge in now and go "Hey! So your mother abdicated, and you're soon about to become Queen, and we're about to liberate half of your Kingdom! But here's a list of the terms first!"

That would definitely spook Princess Celeste.

"To be fair, she's like, six years older than you, Amelie," Nia lightly shoved her elbow at Amelie's side to catch her attention. "Come on, if you managed to deal with our country's burning trash bin so suddenly, I'm sure she's capable of it."

"What does age even have to do with it?!"

"Just think about it. Plus, we're in a time crunch with the 'liberation' soon to commence. I think this Albrecht guy has a point."

General Albrecht frowned. "It's General Albrecht, young miss." He facepalmed. "I swear, female aristocrats."

"Sure…old man." Nia quipped. It seemed that Miss von Wittelstein was already starting to get bored by the meeting as it dragged on. Especially when it was outside the November Palace, since General Albrecht and his staff wanted to meet outside of that, and instead in a private hotel.

William took a shot of the wine in front of the table. So far, he had just been listening to the discussion between Amelie and General Albrecht, merely keeping to himself, similar to Nia and the General's two officers that accompanied him.

"I think Nia has a point regardless, Amelie," William said, and now Amelie felt that she was truly ganged up, three versus one—and her alone. "We gotta talk to her regardless. Get her firmly to our side and our strings right now. We don't want her going off the rails once we give her West Lieplatz back, especially when our troops would be taking it and defending it for her and her government."

"Are we even sure that she's going to accept the throne?" Amelie asked. "Quite frankly, Adelaide is still in talks with the Lieplatzan Government-in-exile. While they agreed to our plans, we're not sure if they're in on everything."

"It's not like she'll have a choice," General Albrecht chuckled. "Who are they going to place on the throne? Princess Celine? She's the age of your little sister, Princess Alice. She's not going to rule Lieplatz."

"That's…a good point…" Amelie sighed. She had run out of good excuses not to ambush the still-shaken Princess of Lieplatz about Orland's terms and conditions right now. That sucked. She really didn't want to send the poor woman into a hotel room, face to face with herself, General Albrecht, probably the Prime Minister, possibly William and Nia, all while surrounded by OAF troops outside, just to give her a nice surprise agreement before she even turned into a proper Queen.

Ugh, if I put it that way it even sounds like I'm a tyrant or something. Well, technically, she'd essentially going to turn them into a temporary satellite state anyway. After all, if it would be Orlish troops that would soon occupy and defend West Lieplatz from the revolutionaries in the east—well, who exactly would be in charge then?

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Amelie didn't want to blunder her way into the Lieplatzan Crisis at all, and damage Orland's reputation on the international stage. She didn't want anyone to look at her upcoming special armed operation in West Lieplatz as anything but a liberation war for Orland's sisterly Kingdom.

"But still…do we really have no time left?" Amelie asked. "Do we really have to rush headfirst and just jump her right now, exactly when she just went through something awful?"

"Better to let her know our terms first before the Lieplatzan Government-in-exile gets to her. They might start stuffing her with some ideas," General Albrecht said. "We need her to agree on each and every one of our demands. The OAF must have full control of West Lieplatz once it's liberated. Having a hole in our defenses is unacceptable."

"You also plan to institute a mass conscription in Lieplatz, right?" Amelie asked, and General Albrecht nodded in confirmation. The attack on West Lieplatz would be done by the OAF, yes, but the General made it clear that while the OAF must be in charge, a reinstituted Lieplatzan Kingdom must be able to defend itself, lest Orland waste too much resources defending its northern front.

"West Lieplatz may not be numerous in population, but if we can arm the young men and women of it, we would be able to field a hundred thousand or so. Just give them rifles, artillery, tanks, and more. Then train them. We provide the training, equipment, and even leadership. They provide the manpower. Before you know it, our eventual northern frontline would be secure."

Amelie sighed. That was a lot of demands on a country that didn't even exist yet. It was almost predatory even. But I guess her Kingdom would have to fight the fight eventually anyway. She nodded at the group of officers.

"Fine. Let's go meet her."

+++

November Palace

The Princess of Lieplatz bowed respectfully upon entering the Queen's office. Flanked by William, General Albrecht, and Nia, Queen Amelie was sitting behind her desk, before she stood up to receive her current guest.

"Be at ease, Princess von Reintz. I assure you, this will just be a little chat," Amelie's reassurances went out awkwardly, as the presence of the uniformed General Albrecht clearly showed that a "casual chat" wasn't on the table today. Were there nobody around, Amelie would have slapped herself for her sloppy, sloppy blunder.

Goddess, I bet even Pristina would do better. The Princess remained silent, merely standing like a scared little girl in front of Amelie and her little gang. Her red-colored eyes subtly darted around, almost as if she was looking at them cautiously, especially at General Albrecht.

The silence dragged on until General Albrecht cleared his throat and crossed her arms. "Welcome to Her Majesty's office. We have a business to do."

Amelie sighed, before smiling at the Princess. "I apologize for that. This entire thing was just too rushed that we didn't properly prepare for it," Amelie glanced at William subtly, in order to gain his approval, which only came in a tiny nod. "I'm gonna be blunt. We'll be discussing the fate of your Kingdom and how you would rule it. And what your role would be."

"But the Kingdom is gone," the Princess almost sneaked out. Realizing her embarrassing tone, she almost turned red as she tried to compose herself. "I…the rebels, those men, they have long taken over. There's no Kingdom for me to rule, Your Majesty."

"That's subject to change," General Albrecht said. "Ever been to West Lieplatz? Pre-revolution?"

The Princess shook her head. "No, sir. I have always lived a…slightly isolated life in the capital. But I did go there."

"Yes, because we rescued you there," General Albrecht said. "Or at least, the RIU did. In any case, we're going to need your cooperation from now on."

Amelie nodded. "Again, I apologize for the abruptness, but I assume that you know of the crisis regarding the Junta in your country, and the situation regarding your mother's abdication?"

She gulped and nodded. "Yes. It's shocking news, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. Many from the former government are already contacting me to go to Lorathia to crown myself as the next Queen, but I find it ridiculous when I have no country to rule."

She looked down. "Not that…I would even want to rule something that nearly killed me."

"You'll be crowned in Nordia," Amelie declared. "We're planning to liberate your nation. We are sending the OAF to liquidate the Junta's grip at least on West Lieplatz. And we need someone who would rule it. And rule it as we deem necessary. Under our guidance."

"I…" the Princess fell silent. "You're all going to invade Lieplatz? You'll bring war to my country."

"Liberate," General Albrecht clarified. "You know the brutality and excesses of General Richstoff's Junta. Orland seeks to end it. Even when we're fighting a civil war. It will be ended."

"My country…my people…they'll be caught in the crossfire. You'll invade. You'll take our cities and land by force. Kill our troops and hit the homes and industries of my people," she shook her head. "I…"

"Would you let General Richstoff remain in power, Princess Celeste?" Amelie narrowed her eyes, her voice turning cold. "Would you, or would you allow us to instead liberate your people? General Richstoff's Junta is murdering women by the hundreds. He's assassinating and disappearing his opponents. He's dragging Lieplatz into a new dark age. You've seen it yourself. Your people live in darkness. Would you let that continue any further?"

Amelie took a set of documents from her desk and presented it to the Princess. "Take it, and have a good read about its details, Princess Celeste," Amelie said, the document raised in her direction on Amelie's gloved hand. "Take it."

The Princess moved forward, and almost cautiously, took the set of documents for herself. Her eyes merely stared at the main detail of its cover. The title of it.

Plan North.

She began flipping through the contents, as Amelie fell silent. She waited for the Princess to finish skimming at each page. The terms that the government she would find herself in would abide by. Military agreements. Mass conscription. Construction of Orlish military assets on Lieplatzan soil. And a complete subordination of the Kingdom of Lieplatz to the Orlish Armed Forces "until the conflict ends," even when the Princess scarcely had any idea when it would end.

The Princess looked back to Amelie, who seemed to be watching her with pure calmness.

"Read it well, Princess Celeste. We have much to discuss, as allies."