"I wonder if she will agree to it." Elliot asked while we were in my room. Oleg stood next to the door while Pion was on the outside, the two of them guarding us without pausing since we had arrived.

"Most likely. Tomorrow, we will read through the draft she presents us with and sign it after we confirm everything is in order. Let's get it done without much fuss and be on our merry way if it is satisfactory to our demands! The steel deal will have to wait until the Countess gets back to me."

"I wonder if the barons would truly stop bothering us. You were aggressive and most likely racked up some animosity with the Black Lands. I won't be surprised if they find any little reason to annoy us with, even if they are forced to sign the treaty."

"Uncle, if you show only kindness, they perceive it as weakness and will try to step on you, push you around, and use you at every possible turn. Just because you are nice. They are going to take it for granted and think nothing of it. You open by showing you are not to be fucked with but then demonstrate that you can be reasoned with. You must establish that you can be an animal, but you can also control it. That will beget respect. When they realize you can be friendly, but the moment they try to use that against you, you will turn into someone who is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with them, then they won't try pushing you around all the time."

"Hmmm… I am curious if Baron Tobrok understood that."

"Probably not because he didn't witness his soldiers' demise. From what the reports detailed, his son should have survived the battle; his position was not bombarded because Pion made the right decision. His injuries, if I have to guess, are not physical but akin to PTSD."

"Peter, what?"

"Nothing." I waved a hand, continuing and ignoring his question. "If he died, this would have turned into a blood feud, and the negotiations, no matter their end result, would have been an abject failure. They would not have stopped just because the Zimmermann family said so."

"If they would have continued, we could have marched in and done what you declared." My Uncle answered with a smile, going to the cabinet and opening a bottle of wine in the meantime.

"True, but that would have posed different issues before us. I am happy with how it turned out because it was still only a scuffle that could be contained locally."

"There will be more… You can't hide forever."

"I know. That is why I want to show my friendly behavior next." I nodded, taking the cup from him and sipping on the mild-tasting red wine.

"Hmmm… Really now?"

"We can start working with them. I am already sending delegations to the Eastern Gate to make it fully official. This time, we are about to get into an agreement and start trading with the Atuvian League with proper permits."

"What about Seedbed?"

"From what I hear, they are in a similar relationship with the Black Lands, like you have with me, no?"

"Not as tightly tied together, but yes."

"We, I mean, you, my dear Uncle, will try and trade with them."

"Good." He nodded, smiling and surprising me. "I was about to suggest that."

"Really now? Did something happen?"

"Population boom." He explained, refilling his cup, "I implemented multiple new edicts that support the families. The more kids there are, the more food the households get from me without the need to pay for it. You wanted an army, didn't you? I am working on it."

"Will we be able to feed them already?"

"The tractors work wonderfully, along with the rotations and knowledge you lent me. So yes, we can afford it, but still, if we can trade for more, that would be even better. Not to mention, I can also trade away some of the knowledge if they get curious. Of course, I am not talking about the tractors! I can also play the good neighbor. I am well aware that if we secede, it is better to have friendly relations with others than the opposite."

"You really are my mother's brother." I chuckled, clanking my glass with his as we awaited the next day.

…

….

…..

"Milly, my love, how was it? It had to be boring to go away!"

"Ah, um, Emp–, khm, Miri, it wasn't that big of a deal!" Milan answered, watching his Empress's gaze shift as he almost called her the wrong 'title,' changing at the last moment.

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"Come, come, I'll massage you, and you can tell me everything!" She giggled, pulling him into her chambers in the castle without waiting for any excuses.

There was no chance to resist her, and soon, Milan was lying on his stomach, naked while enjoying a truly relaxing massage from Mirian, who sat on his back, wearing just the same… nothing. Accompanied by his own honest moans, Milan explained everything that happened and why, telling her that his father was adamant about protecting the Frontier, citing the previous, unusual winter as the leading cause. They couldn't afford to relax and must be prepared for a beast tide at any moment.

"That is true. Hmmm… I looked up the earldom and Duke Jauwn. He won't take it easily if you try and sway the Zimmermann family to your side. Stil… Stealing an old and established family's subordinates is ballsy, I like it! I can't support you openly, not until it turns into something serious, so I will leave it to your dad."

"Thank you, Miri."

"Ahaha, everything for you!" She giggled, leaning in, kissing his neck, using her shiny, oily body to rub against him. "By the way, I became curious. There are a lot of movements happening within the Frontier. I reviewed a lot of the news, and… it became really lively there. I may visit it one day."

"You… will?" Milan asked, but he wasn't as afraid as his father would have been when he heard her words.

"Yeah, as soon as things settle a bit in the east and south. I finally officially renamed the Scorc Kingdom into the Eastward Region as we began to integrate them forcefully. One of my eyes is focused there... The other is glued to the south and watching the two Empires. There is a conflict brewing; I can smell it!"

"Already?" Milan asked back after hearing her whispers next to his ears while Mirian continued to rub herself against his body, masturbating.

"Uhum. We are staying out of it for now, and it is Roblesia and their ally who is being a bit more cocky. Because of our depleted mage reserves, I must be passive in this conflict, but not too much; I can't push too aggressively and reveal our issue. That is why you also did a good job; I can't have my people fighting against each other right now."

"How's the mage finding going?"

"Mhhhm… it's fine…" she moaned, enjoying herself, sliding all over his back. "We have trinkets to use and find young talents with, so we are collecting them within the central region. After we test them all, we are going to move on to another province. I may give you one and send you up north; see if you can find some for me!"

"R-really?"

"Yep! Give you command over some Imperial Mages and Church members, and then gather me all the talents you can find. Mhhhm… Yeah… I may just do that next! Turn around!"

"You really need that much?" Milan asked, gulping as he turned to his back, watching her sit down on him, continuing sliding her waist up and down, enjoying him without genuinely becoming one.

"Yeah… that's the spot!" She smiled, pulling Milan's hand up to her torso, enjoying his touch, "Squeeze them harder! Mhm… harder! Pinch… nyah! That's it… Stronger!"

“…”

"I need strong ones…" She gasped for air after her body shivered, collapsing onto Milan's chest a few minutes later, drawing circles with her fingers, "You wouldn't betray me, would you?"

"What? No, why would I?" Milan asked, surprised. As weird as Mirian was, when she was like this, he couldn't help but find her really adorable.

"Can I trust you?" she asked again, looking up at him, her eyes pure and filled with love.

"I won't betray you, Miri." He answered, making her beam and smile again, leaning up and kissing him passionately.

"Be it the Frontier, which enjoys its freedom and being unsupervised," She began, smiling while leaning back onto his chest, "or the rebellious new region… Or the southern Empries. None are as dangerous as the monster that lies right here."

"Here? You mean, in the capital?"

"Yeah. I need to build a strong army, not one made up of regular men and women. I need wizards and witches, my love. Otherwise, I won't live long enough to see our children prosper."

"Can I… do anything?"

"Yeah." She sat up on him, holding his hands, "You can marry me and continue as you were with your family. I do not intend to go down like my predecessor. I survived everything in my family, where I was just a token doll, marked to be my father's next wife after he ascended the throne. Little did he know, I was already ready."

"Miri…"

"It's alright. I chose whose I will be! Hehehe~ And I chose when I will die, and I put my trust into you and your family. I have this feeling you were sent to meet me and be my knight in shining armor! While you are with me, I know I will defeat the evil lurking under this castle! Call it… foresight!"

…

….

……

The rest of the meeting went well in the end, with the treaties signed under the watchful eye of Matilda Zimmerman before we were escorted back to Elliot's territory. In a month, we would get ourselves the first coal shipment, and because of it, I was already thinking of designing new machines that would take advantage of it.

"Magic? Weren't we bringing coal in to replace it?" Elliot asked, seeing me sketch a formation while sitting inside our carriage, heading towards Avalon as he was coming with me, wanting to see the work with the so-called 'Avalonian Moat' that we were building.

"This is a purifying one." I nodded, "The same idea we use for the sewage. It is a very low-energy requiring one, so installing it into a machine could be easily afforded. It would keep working for years before needing a replacement CC."

"Purifying? Is it the smoke?" He asked, thinking back how the Black Lands and their chimneys were.

"Yep. Burning coal is not clean and not healthy. I won't turn my pretty Frontier into a dystopia."

"Bless you."

"Ha-ha. Anyway, this will work nicely and clean the smoke so that only water vapor escapes from the chimneys."

"And… what is that?" He asked, pointing at some sketches I doodled down, "A new mech? On wheels?"

"A train."

I answered with a smile, imagining it already traveling back and forth between our cities. If we can build railways, then transporting our soldiers would be faster than having them march inside our territories, making us able to respond to our neighbors causing trouble. But, there was something else on the paper that I was looking at, chuckling to myself.

It was a wild idea; it wasn't something I 'stole' from my memories, nor was it something that was built in my times. I let my fantasy run wild a little, thinking of making a flying ship reminiscent of a zeppelin, turning my little balloon trip into a steam-punk-inspired machine. Would it work? Damn if I know, but I for sure would try and make it function. How hard would it be compared to designing a mech? Well, I will soon see because I could feel the idea stuck in my mind, refusing to leave.