"Oh, come on, tell me you don't want those riches. " he said, still too close.

"Not particularly, no, '' Antasia said, pushing him with a finger while trying very hard to not break him in two. Oh, it would be so easy to do so here… But the Emperor would teleport in too fast. And the rebellion would collapse without her.

"Do you see this party? " the lieutenant said, "I can throw you a much bigger one. In fact, I can throw you one here in a few days., "

The idiot leaned in, whispering, "The Marchioness irritates me, she's going to have to go. "

"Oh? And how do you plan to remove her? "Antasia said, now a bit curious, and a bit too disgusted.

" I am a Xnarthan, I can do as I wish. " he said. Just how much potion had he drunk?

"Just a few more hours, then the bloody woman will be gone. " he said. In fact, it could be just a few more minutes, look, my men are already starting it.“

The lieutenant pointed towards the window, dragging her towards it. Antasia let him, for once. Ariana caught her eyes gesturing toward the lieutenant. Antasia told her to let it be. A kind woman, stopping the lieutenant would have made her situation worse, yet she was willing to do it.

The lieutenant led her to a window, and pointed down at the Commoners district. The view was beautiful, she could see the entire city from here.

“Do you see that, the mana reaching for the district? " he said. Antasia could see it, though she doubted he could. Seeing mana took a certain amount of mana affinity that she doubted he had.

"Yes, what about it? " she said, acting uninterested.

"The mana is a truth spell, Ariana's husband leaked the fact that we were going to cast it a few hours ago. Now, when the Rebel Queen blocks it, we'll have proof. " he said. Why did she even bother to think of his plans? The idiot was just telling them to her. But, to be fair, it was too late for her to do anything now.

Elder Rakta of the Elves would act any minute and stop the attack. The leak would be revealed to be from the Xnarthan, not Trevor. Antasia smiled, waiting to see the idiot’s face when it happened.

And then something strange happened. A wave of light yellow mana emerged from behind her, destroying the spell.

"Oh, I am sorry, Mr. Xnarthan, I am just a bit too clumsy with my mana. " Baroness' Miranda said. Antasia knew of her, she was the leader of the Feminist movement on the continent. A known hater of men and enemy of the Empire. Well, known to her anyway, to the Emperor she was simply ‘W’. The higher ladders of the Empire were full of men, Dukes outnumber Duchesses ten to one. Miranda wanted to change that.

Why was she here? An alliance? How nice, Antasia was always happy for more allies.

The Xnarthan lieutenant, though, didn't seem particularly pleased by her 'clumsiness'.

" I hope you know that this was a mistake that you will pay dearly for. " he said, strutting off, no longer in the mood.

"I do hope you don't mind me stealing your new paramour, I just have to talk to her. " Miranda said, making Antasia shake her head at her antics. “Oh, and your wife is here, and so are your mistresses.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A group of angry looking women in fancy dresses stood behind her, looking like they wanted to extract a pound of flesh from the man. Antasia hadn’t missed the bigoted nature of the Human continent, that’s for sure. The Elven continent was so different that she sometimes forgot that the nobles here were still better than the ones on the Human continent.

“I hope you’re not too cross with me stealing you from your suitor.”

'Not at all, Baroness. " Antasia said, letting some of her power seep through.

" Tell me, would you like to have dinner any time soon? I could arrange something even today. " Antasia said.

"I fear that the day has yet to come, your majesty, but thank you for sending that Scholar of yours our way, she is quite helpful. Miranda said, throwing Antasia for a loop.

Matilda had met with them? And had used her name? Matilda knowing her wasn't a surprise, but her joining Malinda was one. Not to mention using Antasia’s name to get in. What was she up to?

" I do like this side of the Empire, so. malleable, as if it is about to fall. A lot of women, too. Did you know that the Elven continent has seventy-three percent of the women in power within the Empire?" Malinda said, looking around,

"Not to mention your friends. I wonder how many of them are women. Yes, we'll meet. But not yet, I have too much to do. Matilda is keeping me quite busy, bloody heck, that woman's a monster. " Malinda said, shaking her head. " "But you must know that already''.

Antasia didn't know that. What was happening in the Empire? How had Matilda taken over what was the Human continent version of her rebellion in less than a week? And even more importantly, why had she done so?

Anita felt like something was coming, and she couldn't see it. The events were just rolling in, they were handling it, but she would be lying if she said it was easy, or even doable. The only reason they were even surviving was because the Satyrs help.

The peaceful people might not have much of a combat power, but they were very good at moving things around, attacking sneakily and making things disappear. Antasia worried about what would happen if they ever worked with a proper army.

The Elven one? Hmm, it had been a while since she had gone there, but in her memory the place wasn't the most militarized. Not even after the war. The Elves were just too peace loving. The Elven Elders had to provide special training to children so that they would be able to kill.

A Human needed little, it came naturally to her species. A rarity among the species of this world she had found. Perhaps that was why they had grown so powerful so fast. And so bigoted to boot,

Miranda disappeared, leaving Antasia with much to think about. The clouds were gathering l and a mist was spreading across the city. Antasia wondered if it wasn't a sign of things to come. The future was coming, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it.

sc

In a remote corner of the hall, one that was actually quiet, a certain Dean was eating popcorn while trying to ignore the frown on his brother’s face.

“Are you really going to sit here eating popcorn? Do you have any idea how rude this is?” the Dean’s irritating brother said, appearing uninvited.

“No, I am just a random person off the street watching a hundred people try very hard to act like they’re important. Now, can you leave me alone to eat in peace?” Ronne replied.

“What do you find so entertaining here?” Rassi said, looking at the celebration with a disapproving frown on his face.

“The decay of the Empire.” Ronne replied, his eyes sparkling as he focused on one particular part of the hall.

“Would you look at that! The Xnarthan lieutenant has taken to harassing yet another woman!” Ronne exclaimed as he stuffed popcorn into his face.

Rassi made a disgusted sound as he watched a Tier 25 man invade a woman’s personal space.

“And you don’t feel the need to stop such distasteful acts?’ Rassi said, his staff appearing beside him.

Ronne just stuffed more popcorn into his face. “I plud inteplere plip ki”

“Just eat it first, your mouth’s too full for the words to get out.” Rassi said, shaking his head in disgust.

“I would interfere if it was any other woman, but that one…she’s no damsel in distress. The Emperor’s pet idiot has no idea who he’s dealing with.’ Ronne said after chewing for a few minutes.

“The Emperor’s pet is actually quite intelligent.”

“Hmm, if you say so. I am just watching him try to show off with a spell that’s going to fail.”

“Not that.” Rassi said, clucking his tongue. “I don’t know what’s come across him now, he was quite sharp a few hours ago”

“Ok then, we can agree to add to our long list of disagreements. Now, do you want to see why that ferret is approaching Ray?” Ronne said, turning his attention to the bar.

Rassi began shaking his head in disapproval, but stopped mid-shake as he stared at the kid. “Why does his face look like a blob of pink mana?”