"Listen well, son. At her request, you will accompany Her Majesty to this meeting on the southern borders hosted by the Kingdom of Roblesia, acting as a natural ground for the peace talks."
"Tell me about it; I can feel my legs shaking just by thinking about it!" Milan moaned and couldn't tell who was more shocked by the news. He or all the other dukes? Why did the Empress announce that he would accompany her to this meeting and not Duke Kustov, the head of the family? They were already thinking about millions of ploys going in the background, but they were unable to make sense of the sudden turn of events. Who would dare to question the Empress or try and spy on her?
"Stop." His father said calmly, looking into his son's eyes. "What you need to do is to remain silent and agree with the Empress and with her decisions. That is all. If she puts you on the spot, asks your opinion, and tells you to speak your thoughts, ensure you end your speech in a way that still supports her decisions or Ishillia as a whole. The other dukes going on this trip with you will try to give you a hard time, but you don't need to play their games. You just have to tell them you are supported by the crown! She is your shield and your sword; use her name well."
"Use the Empress... That is a tall order."
"One that is naturally achievable. But, there is something even more important."
"I'm listening." He whispered, leaning forward, knowing that his father was dead serious.
"Exactly. Do. That. Listen to everything they say and everything they do, memorize it, write it down, word by word, and if someone asks, tell them you are documenting the meeting so your Empress can review it afterward! Whatever it takes, memorize it all and bring it back home. Understood?"
"I will do my best. I managed the Academy well, didn't I? Sis always told me I have the butt to memorize anything."
"Yes, but this is more important than school."
"I know, Dad!" He sighed again, feeling the pressure, rubbing his temple and thinking about how he envied his sister at the moment. At least she had a calm life, far away from the circus that his life was right now.
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"Listen well, Mirian." Pascal opened, using the same tone as Duke Kustov, who spoke with his son in a different part of the city at the exact same moment. "This meeting will be akin to walking through the Beastlands and making it back. If you manage to handle it well, you will be able to handle everything."
"Shouldn't you do it then?" Mirian asked calmly and respectfully, but Pascal shook his old head, standing before her in his library under the castle.
"I can't leave the city. Don't forget, you are an Empress now; you are Ishillia. Don't let anybody forget that!"
"I know. I also understand that the Geth and Sar empires will try to pressure me, threatening us with another war. I won't give them ground and will use my predecessor's failure as a weapon."
"Good. Even if the three lowly bastards unite and form a federation, they would still be an exhausted puppet for the others. Their armies suffered great casualties, so don't let their fake bravado fool you. They will be brave because of the two empires backing them!"
"What about the Kingdom of Roblesia?"
"So far, they remained quiet." Pascal hummed, leaning on his staff, showing his age, but his eyes remained bright and full of vigor. "They like to do that, sneaky bastards. They are not on good terms with the Sar Empire, but as direct neighbors of the three idiots and one of their secret supporters, they will stand up for them."
"On paper." Mirian nodded, making the old Ishillian smile, "They will act as their supervisor... I would do it. Now that they are in a pinch and because of our history with the two empires, they will try to be the guarantor in this meeting. I already predict that they will speak up when we have argued long enough and step forward to be one who will ensure that there won't be any misgivings and problems arising in the future."
"And then try and gobble them up, leaving them to exist only in name. As I said, they are snakes in human form." Pascal agreed, happy that his chosen Empress showed her talent once again.
"I can allow that." She shrugged, stretching, surprising Pascal, but he waited patiently for her explanation before asking any questions. "We need to avoid a new war for the foreseeable 10 years or more. Absorbing the Scorc's territory is a pain and strain on us; it is like the war didn't even stop there. Then, there is the blunder Kathrien made... We lost too many top-level mages; the upcoming generation needs time to fill their shoes. We are in no place for another war, not on the scale that would be like going up against the two Empires."
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"Kathrien was similar at first... just don't fall into the same obsessions as she did, and you will do fine. That throne you sit on corrupts the senses; you need to stay clear-headed."
"Don't worry, Ancestor, I have only one obsession, and he is coming with me." She smiled at him, slowly licking her upper lips. "I know how to play my cards and will surprise them. My appearance as a young girl and the fact that I am relatively unknown will all be to my advantage. We will settle the issue, and I will let Roblesia come out with the most at the end of it. Let them be strengthened, and let the Sar Empire worry about them!"
"Good... I expect nothing less of you."
"I will secure peace on the southern borders so I can focus on the north."
"The north?" Pascal asked, furrowing his brows.
"If anything, the late Empress did one thing right. The idea was to gain influence over the Atuvians, which was truly a profitable step before her death. They are already heavily indebted to us, and I don't only mean money."
"A loose covenant of rich, merchant families. Their territory may be vast, but it is void of actual blessings that would make it worthwhile to be conquered."
"That is it, Ancestor. They are merchants. Their value lies not in their land but in their field of work. I will continue what Kathrien has started. I plan to open up the borders and strike a bountiful trade agreement with them. We will be the sweet-tasting poison, slowly infecting them, making it so that their ruling families will become ever so dependent on us. If they become our puppets, we can reach farther than we could do so with our military strength. Not to mention... mages."
"Mages... I see." He nodded, catching onto her idea.
"We need to replenish our talents. A country of merchants... Who else would be better off discovering untapped talents for us? They can be our ears and eyes, collecting rough diamonds from around us and probably from any faraway land they reach. They just need one motivation to do so: gold."
"And we have a lot of that." He smiled, making his old, rigid skin crack.
"Yes..." Mirian chuckled, fluttering her eyelashes, "We got a lot of that!"
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A few days later, Milan was standing on the luxurious balcony of the Empress, overlooking the golden deck of the royal bloodline's flying ship, the Judgement. Boarding it, he was the first noble to be invited onto it in a century, an occasion that many other noble families looked on with envy. Yet he didn't feel the same giddiness at first, quickly forgetting when he came across the first batch of ship slaves, the magically lobotomized automatons working to maintain the ship's functions. Even if they once were humans, mages at that, now they lost all qualities that would make them into one, and instead, they became part of the ship. They were its living, fleshy, moving parts that made the whole machine possible in the first place.
"The Emperor of Magic." Mirian murmured, walking next to him, leaning against the beautifully carved, solid-gold railing, enjoying the cold wind and the bright sunlight hitting them from behind as they slowly headed towards the south, flying above the thick clouds. "He made this possible. He was a genius in his own right, as I don't think anyone could manage to merge magic and humans like he did."
"You mean... those..." Milan asked, gulping, pulling his clothes closer together. Even if it was the end of winter and the place they were heading to would be snow-free and warm, it was still cold this high up in the air.
"Ship slaves. Yes. They are failed mages, a merger between magic and artifacts. Their bodies and minds have been modified and unified; they are living embodiments of the magic engine that makes flying possible. Everything you see here was developed by him separately; we just later found the use of his tests and inventions and applied them appropriately."
"Why did he make them if he wasn't building airships?" Milan asked by reflex, not expecting an answer, but Mirian only smiled, leaning against him with a satisfied smile.
"He was studying beasts and the Vasas."
"The who?"
"Doesn't matter. Old, forgotten history and a dead bloodline! The Emperor had led multiple skirmishes into the Beastlands, sacrificing countless lives to capture and bring back beasts for study. Very little of his work from that period is written down. It seems he was guarding that knowledge very closely to his heart and wasn't keen on sharing or recording it. What we know is that he was studying beasts and using mages to experiment on them, trying to merge our powers with theirs. Or... something like that. He had to succeed because, at one point, we know he stopped and started looking into something else."
"What was it?"
"I don't know, honest, my love! It is something that the old, goofy Pascal holds under millions of locks. I guess it relates to the fact he is still alive even if he looks like a raisin left out in the Khulman desert!"
"I never dared look at him directly..."
"Good decision, he is dangerous." She nodded, kissing his face. "You must act subservient before him, or he may eliminate you. Don't worry; I learned to play the obedient girl, fufufufu; you would be surprised! Come, let us go in! I want to massage you; you look tired!"
"Um..."
"Ahaha, don't be shy!" She moaned, rubbing herself against his body, "I need you to be relaxed and pleased so you won't be nervous! Just follow my lead and be my beautiful pair in this outing. Leave everything to Mommy here, and I will deal with it, my love~!"
"Y-yeaaah?!" He yelped as Mirian pulled her into the cabin, laughing, soon pushing him down on her giant and incredibly soft bed, starting to strip him, intending to give him a real, relaxing massage... with a happy finish.