Port of Esthirant, 11:37 AM

The sounds of seagulls were evident around the Victoria yacht and on the deck stood Remille. She gripped the railings of the ship as she looked ahead and watched the city of Esthirant get closer as the yacht continued on. With a smile, she sighed, "There it is, home..."

"Home indeed Miss Remille," Jana said with a smile as she was setting the last of Remille's luggage down on the deck for easy retrieval later. "It's nice to finally see Esthirant after a while."

"Agreed," Remille sighed. "No place like home after all..."

Soon the yacht stopped as close as they could to the port which really wasn't fit for ships of that size. Remille was the first along with the delegation to be brought back to shore. She sighed in relief as finally she felt dry land under her and with that she looked ahead to see a crowd greeting her for her return. Remille simply waved at them. Whether the crowd was natural or arranged was a matter of debate.

Kaios meanwhile adjusted his hold on a device the Italians called a laptop before he looked to Antonio as he smiled. "Ambassador Antonio, that trip to Italy was one of the most captivating and amazing experiences I've ever had in my life," he said. "I'll see to it that Italy will have an embassy right here in Esthirant."

Antonio then smiled. "Same to you, Director Kaios. We'll have an embassy arranged for Parpaldia as soon as possible," he said as the two men shook each other's hands. "This is a bright new start for Italy. Thank you for assisting our nation in our stabilisation."

"Not a problem at all, ambassador," Kaios said with a nod. "I look forward to our cooperation. Well, perhaps I'll see you later then? I will be discussing with the Emperor about the trip soon."

"Of course. I'll see you then," Antonio nodded before he walked off with Mario to head to the inn they stayed at.

As their staff handled their luggage, Kaios then approached Remille as he looked to her, "His majesty is expecting our presence, yes?"

"As soon as we get back. I think he's in his study waiting for us," Remille said. Soon the imperial carriage then arrived and as the door was opened for the two, Remille and Kaios hopped in.

With that Kaios couldn't help but look out the window. Esthirant was very similar to Rome in many ways from the buildings to the winding roads and yet Kaios could not help but think that the city seemed... a lower level than Italy's capital. He'll have to keep that thought to himself for now.

As for Remille, she slightly frowned. With the trip to Rome, she had forgotten how bumpy it was while being on a carriage. She only realised now how spoiled she was during that trip because she disliked the ride on her own carriage. Which gave her a cause of concern. She can only hope Italy would be willing to give them cars.

Soon the carriage arrived at the Imperial Palace. A servant arrived and opened the door for the two as he bowed at Remille. "Good afternoon, Miss Remille. His majesty has been expecting you in his study."

"I know that," Remille said as she rolled her eyes. "Go on now, do what you must." She said. The servant bowed again before he started to guide Remille and Kaios to Ludius's study. Even though she already knew the way, but that's just how royalty is.

As Remille entered the palace, she sighed with a little smile. It was nice to be back home now, and the first thing she'd probably do after discussing with Ludius would be to continue the book she was reading.

Remille and Kaios went up the grand staircase as they followed the servant. Soon they reached a grandeur set of double doors before the servant knocked.

"Come in!"

The doors were then opened by the servant. He bowed to Ludius. "Your majesty, Mistress Remille and Director Kaios." He said.

"Thank you. You're dismissed," Ludius said as soon the servant bowed and walked off once he shuts the door. "Good to finally see you Remille, sit down you two." He said with his usual sly smile.

Remille had her own smile for Ludius while Kaios remained neutral. They both sat across Ludius as Remille then sighed. "It's so good to finally be back. I missed Esthirant dearly..."

Ludius then reached his hand to the side of the table. A box of Italian chocolates laid open as he grabbed a piece. "And Esthirant missed you dearly, Remille," he said before he ate the piece of chocolate and swallowed. "So then, how was the trip?"

Kaios looked to Remille to see if she wanted to speak first and with a simple wave of her hand, the man spoke, "It was... something else. Italy as far as I'm concerned is not a barbaric nation at all. It's cultured, advanced, and... well... powerful."

Ludius looked to Remille next and with that she took that as a queue to speak, "Indeed. It was... it was like being in the Holy Mirishial Empire. No... more than that. Italy is... I don't want to say this but it's... not a country to pick a fight with."

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Kaios nodded grimly as soon Ludius lost his smile. The director then set the laptop down on the desk as he opened it up. "On this technology they call a laptop, Ambassador Antonio procured footage of our trip. You may judge it for yourself, your majesty."

Ludius then eyed the screen as Kaios directed it to the emperor. He stayed quiet as the only sounds heard in the room were from the laptop. Remille couldn't see it, but she could hear the noises of cars, the city, the meeting with the president, the air show, and the train. Despite their laughter from their dinner in Naples, Ludius remained quiet as he let the video run its course.

Once Kaios could hear that the video ended, he took the laptop and shut it. Ludius took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he spoke. "I see..." He then looked up to the two. "And what of the trade deals?"

"Uh well..." Kaios stammered for a moment. "All Italy asks for is food, a right to mine for special minerals, and a substance known as oil with them in charge of building the infrastructure for it. In exchange they are willing to send luxury goods such as chocolates, wines... aside from that they're also willing to send a few civilian machines and technology such as cars which are these metal horseless carriages," He explained, "They're also willing to build the infrastructure needed for the food. The umm... the train you saw, the long red one, they're willing to have it be built in Parpaldia for cargo purposes."

"Mhm," Ludius then nodded. "And that is all they want?"

"Yes, your majesty."

Ludius closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before he looked to Kaios. "You're dismissed, director Kaios."

Kaios nodded. "Yes, your majesty. And, later on I will have you sign a few documents for approval about the trade deals." He stood up, bowed, and took the laptop before he walked out of the study.

Now it was only Remille and Ludius in the study. Ludius then looked to Remille. "Is what everything he said true...?"

Remille sighed, "Yes, Ludius... He's correct. Italy is... Italy is not a nation to trifle with." She said with a frown.

Ludius took a moment to ponder that statement. He soon stood up as he looked outside the window behind his chair, hands behind his back. Remille frowned and stood up as well before she followed him to the window. He took a moment to speak. "Hm, tell me," he then looked to Remille "what are the politics of Italy like?"

"Well... as far as I'm concerned they're a peaceful nation. They have all this strong military equipment but they've talked about some sort of union... they called it the European Union. Essentially they used to work together with their old neighbours." Remille said. "And something about a NATO. A defensive pact of some sort..."

"Strong military wise but weak in spirit," Ludius said with a scoff. "All that power and yet no desire to take over."

"They weren't always like that," Remille said. Ludius then looked to her in confusion.

"What do you mean, Remille?" He said as he turned to face her.

Remille then sighed, "We went to this museum in their capital... Italy was once an empire. The Roman Empire," she began. Ludius perked an eyebrow up in interest. "It really was like Parpaldia. Started small and weak before they conquered their neighbours... They were as big as Parpaldia in their old world. But then... barbarians took them down and they fell. They lasted over a thousand years only to fall..."

Remille gripped Ludius's hand tightly, "Ludius, we cannot see Italy as just another country to take over! They- they can burn Esthirant down to the ground without even having soldiers stepping foot on our territory. Please... I know we both dreamed of world conquest but... Italy is not an option."

Ludius frowned even more. The last thing he wanted was his late father's wish to fall in the gutter. If he didn't take over the world, he'd surely disappoint him. But... the fall of Parpaldia is troublesome. The emperor sighed before he gripped Remille's hand back. "Alright, Remille. I'll see to it that the war council would rethink our doctrine... it'd be troublesome if Italy were to establish diplomatic ties with the southern barbarians."

Remille then sighed in relief, "Thank you, Ludius. There's always our northern neighbours anyway... if we play our cards correctly and isolate Italy from them diplomatically, we will be alright. Soon we'll have the whole Philadean continent in our grasp."

Ludius smiled at that. "Very well then," he said before he frowned as he looked out the window again. "If only this didn't happen. If the rest of the world were to see Italy, our superpower status would be challenged."

Remille followed Ludius's sight out the window as the view of Esthirant seemed to calm her. "The status quo is gone now. We can only rebuild it from the ground up."

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"Five months on, Italy cements itself in Elysia"

It has been five months since the fateful day the Italian peninsula was swiped away from our home planet and as our tears dried and our worries dissipated, Italy found a miracle up north with the Parpaldian Empire as we didn't need to worry about high gas prices and empty grocery shelves.

The early days of the transfer sent shockwaves throughout the nation and with most thinking that the country would fall into a state of anarchy, President Roberto Sotto and Prime Minister Giovanni Canessa could only be commended for their efforts to house the stranded and displaced while ensuring our people that all will return to normal.

Italy has found itself in a familiar yet all too different status quo: in place of Earthling tourists came Elysian ones, as the citizens of Italy took notice the flocking of visitors coming from Parpaldia and even beyond.

From the middle class to the riches of the rich, the streets from Milan to Naples seemed to have traveled back in time to the 1850s as this cultural exchange between Italy and Parpaldia was returned in the form of local residents travelling to capital city Esthirant to enjoy a day only found in history books.

Parpaldia in itself felt a difference as well as modern infrastructure from roads to bridges and train tracks to new seaports certainly looked out of place with the architecture of the empire.

Italians found a new fascination with magical products while Parpaldia seemed to obsess over luxuries of the peninsula as Fiat cars driven by nobility who enjoyed a coat from Gucci and a wheel of parmesan were becoming very popular among the higher ups of the country.

President Sotto vowed that once Italy became stable, they were to venture out further in the world to see to it that more trade deals could be done with other still unfamiliar nations that remained to be discovered.

It will remain a question if Italy will enjoy this new status quo or hit a bump in the road once more.

-Excerpt from Il Foglio newspaper