“The New Union Act is facing stiff opposition from conservative noblewomen decrying the ‘unjust’ seizure of their ‘rightful fiefdoms’. Prime Minister Heiss however condemned the bubbling ‘Arcane Legion’ organization. She has threatened any nobles who resist the new changes with possible renunciation of their titles. Heiss also pointed out that many of these nobles are currently dodging the draft, warning that ‘they better do their part first instead of complaining’, further citing that draft dodgers, nobles or not, will be punished severely.”

- ROCN News

+++

Duchy of Oldrach

Raswurst City

July 16, 2025

Amelie sighed as she settled on her seat. She soon felt her hair being gently combed by Nia. A soft breath came from Amelie as she relaxed further.

The previous days had been quite a blur to her. She had left Jacqueline temporarily to manage the war and country in Eutstadt. She had begun her campaign across Orland to enforce the New Union Act and the State Protection Act after all. One by one, she visited principalities after principalities to officially transfer official powers to her appointed and elected officials.

Then, she had to observe drills after drills in major cities. That, and the ongoing roll-out of protection equipment to Orland’s civilian populations. Earlier, she even distributed gas masks herself on lines of civilians in downtown Raswurst, as a part of a brief photo-op.

“Being present to everyone really can be quite tiring, no?” Nia said as she continued combing Amelie’s hair. “You look really tired today.”

Amelie stared at the mirror in front of her. Indeed, she looked a little bit disheveled, even when she had just returned from a bath. Behind her, Nia seemed more fine, her hair tied into a neat bun. Both however wore simple pink night dresses.

“Well, you know how it is,” Amelie replied tiredly. “Seeing the people under me struggling, and at threat from certain death…”

“Yeah, it always bears down on you, doesn’t it?”

Amelie remained silent at Nia’s comment.

“...It reminds me of how much I disappointed Alice by pursuing this war.”

A war I failed to avoid. Amelie frowned. Not that I ever had the right or chance to avoid it. Sometimes, I wonder why. If I am meant to be a Queen, why is it that what I like can never happen?

She looked back at how the previous monarchs of Orland acted. All those paintings of her mother and grandmothers looking down at her in the halls of her palaces. All of them, many said, were great rulers. Powerful women who drove the Orlish state to their will, to their desire, to their image…for centuries.

“But they created this mess…” Amelie blurted out a bit. “Apologies, I was just deep in thought.”

“No worries,” Nia said, as she continued gently combing Amelie. “Just keep speaking your mind. I’m all ears. Though, if the Queen shall order, I can easily delete my memories if need be!”

“There’s no need for any of that,” Amelie gave a weak laugh.

“Well, I’m just giving you options. After all, my job is to serve and follow you. If you ask me not to remember what you said, then it shall be my command. Just as if you ask me to remember all those convoluted, messy, and frankly ridiculous schedules and arrangements you have…”

Amelie noticed her voice turning a bit more frustrated as she sped up brushing Amelie’s hair, before Nia smiled gently again.

“I’ll remember it.”

“You’ve been doing well in your job,” Amelie said. “Want a ministerial position one day?”

Nia’s face turned aghast.

“Your Majesty! Please do not jest about nepotism. You threaten to shatter my illusions of you!”

“Pfft, I was just joking,” Amelie said, then Nia pouted.

“Never turn away from your ideals, okay?” Nia said. “It’s your most vibrant part. I think the people listen and love you because of your convictions to follow your promises no matter what. Even if you fail.”

“You say that, but our reforms are too little, too late. Something we only managed to do because of our emergency powers. It’s like…”

“Don’t say that. What matters is we’re moving towards the goal you promised. You said change and hope, right? Well, isn’t Orland changing, and hope is growing?”

“Hope is growing? Pfft…we’re closer than ever to annihilation,” Amelie said. Her eyes settled on the golden armband on the side of the table. It had the royal coat of arms of Orland on it. Reformists in the UOP had begun using it to identify themselves from the conservatives.

And so, she began wearing it. And so did much of the female staff and officials of her government. When she appeared in public for the past few days, she proudly wore it at last. Nia wore it too. All of her women ministers like Jacqueline and Allison also wore it during their press conferences. But that was just nothing but appearances. A symbol for women said to be attempting reforms.

And probably, just another vain way for them to distance themselves from the conservative “traitors” who obstructed change. Ultimately, until the Orlish State was fully reformed, the armband of the UOP’s reformist wing rang hollow.

“Perhaps that’s why we’re closer to annihilation than ever,” Nia reasoned. “Change causes chaos. The faster we change, the more the forces that oppose it will turn desperate.”

“Simplistic explanation. The revolutionaries don’t even care about what we do.”

“Do they now?” Nia asked curiously. “But isn’t their entire revolution built on the promise that, ‘we are the only side who can liberate men’? Won’t their entire movement become shakier and shakier the more we disprove that notion?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“So what? They’re already mostly fanatics.”

“But fanatics can still see things. And if they see the Royalist side becoming better and better…they’ll try their best to sabotage it. So they’ll attack more. More ruthlessly. Or even defend places harder just to make us bleed.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“Just my few cents on the matter!” Nia cheerfully said as she finished combing Amelie’s hair. “There, now it’s all straight and shiny. Mhm…you look more Queenly now.”

Amelie looked at the mirror, then groaned.

“I’m just going to bed, dumbass.”

“Hey! A Queen must always be regal even when in her sleepwear. It is paramount for the Kingdom’s—”

Amelie stood up and elbowed Nia’s side a bit.

“Shush, shush. Go to bed now. I’m going to sleep too.”

“I’m not a child!”

“But you’re going to be up awake again doomscrolling on your phone till midnight,” Amelie shook her head. “Tsk, haven’t you learned yet that it’s bad for your eyesight? I heard the radiation and everything can harm you.”

“Huh? I didn’t know you lived under a rock that bad. That’s something only someone as old as my mother would say.”

“Okay, it still causes you to sleep less. So it’s bad. Go to sleep now. Remember, we’re not vacationing, we’re conducting an expedition.”

Nia pouted a bit.

“Fine…”

“Goodnight, Nia.”

“Goodnight too,” Nia beamed enthusiastically. “I hope your pillows are cold on both ends!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amelie waved her away. “I’m going now.”

+++

“Smile everyone!”

Amelie’s face beamed with the most radiant she could give as she stood behind a bunch of orphaned boys. The camera from the photographer flashed, and before she knew it, she was giving the boys candies and chocolates. The day wore on hard in the school as she inspected it.

It wasn’t like the schools she studied in. The architecture of the three buildings was brutalist in design. It was the norm in the rundown industrial district of the city. That, and Amelie saw very little maintenance on the school. Cracks on the walls were sporadic. From the outside, some vines were growing on the cold cement. There were barely any gardens, greens, or trees around too.

And the interior wasn’t much better.

The classrooms had broken chairs. Equipment was minimal. Books and materials seemed old and outdated. The only promising part she saw was the workshops. There, engines, tools, and other heavy machines were common and seemed to be at least maintained by some standard. But everything else was lamentable.

Even the dorms where the sizable orphaned students lived resembled more of a military-styled accommodation. Nothing but bunks and cramped rooms. It was worse when she checked the restrooms…it was, quite frankly, barbaric, not including the doodles she had seen on the wall. It was enough to make Nia blush in outrage.

By the time they exited the school, Nia and Amelie were both tired.

“That was awful…” Amelie muttered. “I’ll talk to the city council to get this fixed. And for the Governor to remove stupid policies that harm those kids.”

William, who walked beside them, just shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like we’ll ever have the budget to get that part of the problem fixed, and this is a nationwide problem.”

“That’s why I’m knocking on the doors of each Principality,” Amelie replied as she huffed. “I’m not letting any local official get away from my reforms.”

“Well, technically, the government hasn’t passed legislation yet that outlaws discriminatory practices,” Nia said. “So, like…talking to the new ladies in power is probably not going to change much.”

“Regardless, having the Queen directly tell you to autonomously reverse stupid policies, and fall in line, is something that might work. After all, if they don’t do it, guess who’s fallen out of favor? Them. I’ll remember their faces.”

The two behind her just chuckled.

“What?”

“Nothing,” William said. “And we should cut to the next district.”

“Yeah, we still have to commence the local recruitment drive,” Nia said. “Then…after that, we’ll have to leave this city and go to the next one, which is—”

“I get it,” Amelie cut off. “More long, busy days ahead. Ugh…”

She turned back on the road. Looking around the slightly silent streets as they walked, she blurted out something.

“This place feels cold,” Amelie said. “It’s like it’s not alive.”

“It’s working hours, Your Majesty,” William pointed out.

Amelie turned back to him, frowning.

“Yeah, but Eutstadt, or Thein, or Halia back then was never like this.”

“You’re in an industrial district. Most people here are employed by the three plants out there. One employs eight thousand people. Another fifteen thousand. The third one has twelve thousand. Of course, no one’s going to be here.”

“What does this place produce again?”

“Heavy machinery, explosives, and artillery shells.”

“Ah,” Amelie nodded. “I didn’t know it requires almost everyone in one district to be employed. Like, I’d imagine some people here would at least have families around…”

She looked at the apartments and housing blocks. They looked…well, sad. It was more like massive boxes that had rooms in them. And they were also designed coldly, definitely utilitarian.

“Most of the people in this district are unmarried men,” William said. “So when the factory shifts are on, everyone’s at work. The only ones roaming around are the few civilians not on the three major plants. That’s how it works.”

“That’s kinda sad,” Nia pointed out.

“It’s whatever, really,” William replied in a jaded manner.

The trio soon reached their waiting convoy. Members of William’s “Effect Platoon”, Amelie’s designated close escort team from the Salvo Company, began surrounding the trio. Like the trio too, the members of Effect Platoon wore civilian clothing, standard black suits, and shades. They wore vests though, but otherwise, they could stand out as normal civilians.

There was also Charlie Squad from Theresa’s HMSD (Her Majesty’s Security Detail), eight Royal Guard Knights who wore their signature white uniforms, very similar to Amelie’s and Nia’s clothing. They formed the rearmost part of the convoy, two armored cars respectively.

They exited the school that Amelie had just visited, carrying a bunch of boxes and whatnot that they unloaded on their vehicles. Amelie talked a bit with the head of the squad, telling her to keep the letters from the students secured because she’d read them later before Amelie went toward William’s vehicle, which was second in the convoy.

The five SUVs soon drove forward, as Amelie settled in her seat, chitchatting with Nia about the rest of their schedule. Suddenly, however, Amelie noticed William’s face turning into a subdued frown.

“Hey,” Amelie called out, frowning herself. “What’s the problem?”

“Lady Lubaine reported that something’s amiss,” William said. “I’m contacting Order Platoon. I told them to keep watch of the district’s entry routes.”

“Hmm?” Nia curiously tilted her head from behind, as she leaned forward. “What’s happening—?”

Her question was abruptly halted, when suddenly, a hail of bullets stopped the SUV ahead of them, manned by William’s men. William pulled the wheel hard to the right, as Nia screamed from behind.

Then, bullet cracks appeared on their windshield, as Amelie turned frozen in her seat.

“Get down!”