“CFN forces are being routed en-masse by MN forces. Tens of thousands of kilometers of Gallian territory are now liberated, with heavy armored losses for the Larissan Confederation and the Pozneki Republic being reported by both sides. The estimated death tallies have now also risen to at least fifty-thousand mostly on the CFN side in just a few days.”

- Geopol Press

+++

Empire of Larissa

Grand Duchy of Theresa

St. Theresa City

Ah, the capital of my Archrival’s Empire.

Amelie felt the cold wind when she stepped out of her royal airliner. At last, she arrived in the capital of the Larissan Empire. The city seemed…well, it looked peaceful, Amelie thought. And there was no such thing as destroyed buildings or whatnot. It looked untouched by the ravages of war, which was quite something.

Hmm…would it be nice if I one day took over Larissa economically?

Amelie almost laughed like an evil woman. Here she was, at last! At the fated evil land that all Queens of Orland before her wanted to be crushed. She, the most recent one, out of her skill and administrative capabilities, had managed to beat the Empire to all odds and find herself being invited on friendly terms by Orland’s weakened rival superpower. Oh, the splendor when she looked down at their soldiers, Larissan soldiers, all lining up for the path she would take once she went down the staircase. She relished it with satisfaction. Oh, really, she’d really finally beaten that twin-tailed prick—

“Move along now, Amelie,” William bluntly pushed her a bit down the stairs, pulling her hand to the side as he moved down. Amelie turned to him in surprise, giving a little ‘eep’ before chastising him.

“Hey! I was still sightseeing—”

“Shh, smile and wave Amelie, smile and wave.”

“What?”

And so, realizing her PR blunder, Amelie did smile and wave as she looked at the gathered Larissan soldiers, military officers, diplomatic officials, ministerial heads, and other bureaucrats and nobles of the rump Empire that was left in the wake of the Larissan Revolution.

Once she was down on the ground, she realized there was even a red carpet for her, which was quite ridiculous, but she went along with it. Flowers and whatnot, it was like she was a goddess-damned celebrity down here, being fawned over by the highest government officials of the former enemy Empire.

When she reached the end of her walk, there, awaiting her, was the smiling Princess of the Empire—Anastasia Illyenov. The pink-haired woman smiled widely upon sighting Amelie, and Amelie almost felt herself backtracking to not be blinded by the wholesome energy practically emanating from the Princess.

Suddenly, she was however tackled by her, and hugged, to the surprise of everyone around them. Amelie, somehow, also hugged the younger woman, even though William and the other Royal Guard and OPM security guards behind her were visibly horrified by the possibility of their Queen being blown open…in their hypothetical minds of course.

“Amelie! You’re here! Welcome to my country. I hope it will be good for the duration of your stay. I’ve been waiting for you!”

“Hold on, hold on…geez, goddess you’re way too…” Amelie tried to weasel out, but, well, she finally gave in. “Damn, quite the warm welcome.”

She now felt ashamed again due to her previous internal monologue of dominating Larissa. How could she think that way of her good new ally? This isn’t Katerina, okay? This is Anastasia. My good friend. Goddess…she charmed me. This woman definitely charmed me!

But she couldn’t have resisted the bubbly Larissan Princess anyway. Soon, Anastasia pulled away, looking up at Amelie with that dazzling smile of hers. Amelie just smiled awkwardly.

“Anyway, Your Majesty,” Anastasia respectfully stepped back with a graceful half-bow. “I apologize. It’s just that emotions are running high. The fact is, my Empire is facing a dire crisis and we’re barely holding on to our lives down here. To have our ally finally come here…”

Goddess she even pulled out the handkerchief!

“It really touches my heart,” Anastasia finished as she half-cried.

“Okay! Okay! No need to cry. We’re gonna do everything to fight the Confederacy. Mark my words, Princess. Orland will be with you.”

Flash.

Amelie turned around and saw the cameras aimed at her.

That, and the wide-eyed Larissan nobles and bureaucrats with them, alongside even a few officials sent by other MN member states to observe the official detente and ‘pact of friendship’ between the two previously mortal rival nations.

Did…did I just say that out loud in front of the global press?

Amelie turned a bit red, but she held it off.

Whatever, that’s my intention anyway.

She turned to Anastasia with a determined expression.

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“Your Highness, the Empire may have been the enemy once of the Orlish State, but now, we are friends fighting the same enemy, and we are friends with the same goal of changing this world for the better with our reforms,” Amelie then extended her hand as more of the cameras flashed. “I reiterate—Orland will defend all free nations under the MN banner, Larissa included.”

+++

I’ve been baited.

Amelie felt herself shivering on her side of the stateroom as the delegates and officials from both Orland and Larissa dined and talked. She looked down at her wine and the fancy steak in front of her. She then looked at the other tables as the household staff served everyone fancy meals of all kinds, which kinda reminded her of the opulence that lost its luster in Orland ever since she was in charge.

Still, her diplomatic staff, mainly female nobles of Orland, were very much at home with these conditions, talking and giggling with their Larissan counterparts as the night went on. In comparison, in the November Palace, Amelie had long since refused any outward show of excess.

Not only for the symbolic purpose but also, because genuinely, Orland was in a state of wartime rationing. She briefly wondered how Anastasia could allow this, as Larissa too was in a state of wartime rationing.

This would just look disgusting if the common people saw this. Amelie took a taste of the red wine that she was given, taking a delicate sip. Hmm…that seems nice…

“Is it up to your fancy, Your Majesty?” Anastasia curiously asked with a smile beside her. “That’s been taken from the Imperial Cellars. The particular one we were both served has been aged for twenty-eight years. Definitely older than both of us.”

“Hmm…it tastes quite strong, compared to Orlish wine,” Amelie commented. “But it does taste nice.”

“Ahaha, yeah, I picked that because I thought you wouldn’t have been interested in Larissan Vodka.”

“Well, I’m not really a wine lady,” Amelie said.

“I am.”

“At that age?”

Anastasia chuckled.

“It’s just…well, ever since I took charge, I sometimes like to go lights out, so to speak,” Anastasia said with a tinge of embarrassment, before whispering to Amelie. “Keep it a secret please.”

Amelie laughed lightly.

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

“So…” Amelie slowly sliced her steak. “Do you guys do these things a lot?”

“Nope. This is a special occasion. You see, this is actually…not something I allow here. I like having my staff work at all times in important wartime activities. Unfortunately, my Minister of Foreign Affairs advised me to do this.”

Amelie sighed, reminding herself of the background of her diplomats, that, and even the practices of the previous Orlish government.

“Well, I can’t blame you for that.”

“Still,” Anastasia leaned forward. “I must say, I’d…like to really know more about the lend-lease deal we’re working on.”

“Heh…well, you know, it’s quite surprising. Your Empress is still in my hands.”

“Keep her there,” Anastasia said in a hushed tone. “Just…just treat my big sister well, okay? I trust you.”

“What?”

Anastasia frowned a bit.

“I love Katerina, but she…she dragged the Empire to this mess,” Anastasia said. “Almost no one in my government wants to serve under her in any official capacity. They’ll literally resign if Katerina comes back. Even the old guards. She was…she wasn’t exactly a fan of dissent, even in the ranks of blueblood.”

“Yeah…” Amelie said. “Then why not remove her title as Empress? Then take the throne.”

“Well…we’re still organizing that…but legally it’s difficult. She technically never did anything illegal. Her actions were in line with the laws that governed the land, set up by our mothers and grandmothers. Really, her only crime was losing to Orland and being captured. There are not many grounds yet. Yet.”

“You’re changing it?”

“I’m trying, but I can’t yet,” Anastasia smiled bitterly. “I don’t wanna look like I stole my sister’s throne out of nowhere. It’d set a bad precedent. Forever. Think about it. Would you ever want any of your daughters to have a tradition of stealing the throne from each other? We made specific rules and laws to prevent that because it causes chaos. Wars. Bad things.”

“You place a lot of faith in laws, huh?”

“I am an advocate for the rule of law,” Anastasia said. “And while I dismantled the excessive laws set up by my predecessors under wartime reforms, some rules are too sensible to be removed willy-nilly.”

“I can understand that.”

Amelie took the slice of steak to her mouth, chewing it lightly to taste it well. Certainly, her cooks must be quite good. Amelie could taste that it was different from the usual style of her household’s cooking, but it was on par in terms of quality.

“Now, about the lend-lease,” Anastasia smiled. “Are we getting those Phantoms?”

Amelie chuckled.

“Everyone and their mothers seem to want those planes nowadays, huh?”

“Well, it is a highly capable platform that destroyed so much of my country’s designs,” Anastasia explained. “My generals say that it’s very good and that if I somehow weasel the design from you, alongside a few units and their weapons, they’d very much kneel to me until they die.”

“They said that?”

“They’re weirdoes.”

Amelie laughed.

“Okay, okay,” Amelie shook her head. “The problem is, we still don’t have a surplus of those planes. That, and its top Orlish technology…so giving it up is actually quite the political issue on my government’s part…”

“But? There’s a but right?”

“Yeah…maybe one day,” Amelie said, smiling a bit. “But I'm not sure. What is sure is that Orland is interested in sending two squadrons from the Air Force here. We expect Larissa of course to provide much of the necessary logistical assistance and basing, but otherwise, they’d be operated by Orlish pilots, under the Orlish Air Force—what?”

Amelie looked at Anastasia’s hand. It was already raised in her direction. She then looked at her face. There was nothing but dead conviction in her eyes.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Is the deal for real? When are they arriving? Please shake my hand.”

The way she said it so fast made Amelie laugh a bit.

“They’ll arrive when the rest of our aircraft aid arrives. Alongside the seventy-two LF-12s we promised, and the missiles necessary to operate them. And the technical guidance we’d be sending as a part of the first wave of aid to Larissa,” Amelie smiled as she shook Anastasia’s hand. “Sure, we’d get there quite fast. Give us two to three months. Maybe four if things go down.”

“I don’t care, as long as we get those stealth planes. We need them to augment our squadrons in the air, and I’ll give you my left kidney if that’s what you want. Or do you want my right kidney?”

Amelie chuckled awkwardly as Anastasia shook her hand with way too much enthusiasm.

“I’d very much not need you to go that far.”