I just wanted to spend a little time with Lucretia. Was that so bad?

"A wealth tax?!" Antoine's shouting again, I'll never get used to the sound. "How are we supposed to attract foreign investment into our new Republic if we're going to be eroding the capital of investors? It's absurd!"

"A stable government is how we'll attract them, Antoine!" Lucretia's shouting too, despite how absurd it looks seeing such roughness come from her soft, delicate features. "I don't know if you've noticed but half of La'an is currently on fire! War isn't good for business, stability is. The New Samnian Republic has an opportunity to offer that kind of confidence so long as we can quickly establish a functioning, safe state, and that takes money. Hence, the wealth tax!"

"Surely there are better sources of acquiring the necessary wealth beyond taking from the owning classes-"

"There might have been if you hadn't charged an army all over our country! Looting or no, lots of people are dead now! Medhelanon is still rebuilding, Ravenna is still scarred, and we're currently burdened with an army too large for us to sustain after mobilizing against the Magyars!" Lucretia's eyes catch me again, and she rather sheepishly lowers her voice. "That's... That's not to say your liberation of our nation was a bad thing, Signora Pollineux-"

"Serena, please." I'm smiling, but I wish my one-twelfth wife wasn't so formal with me. "And I marched an army all over your country too. You have every right to criticize my actions."

"... Yes, of course... Serena." Lucretia is struggling not to grin madly, has she never called anyone by their first name before?

I'll need to fix that while I'm still here. "Good girl, Lucretia."

Lucretia doesn't pass out, she's getting better at this whole 'wife' thing... I wonder what makes a person like Lucretia. Someone so strong and so reliable, except when things are trying to be good to her. Then again, I don't know what makes a person like me either, easily brainwashed and happy to kill others for my loved ones. She's a mystery, but that just means we're the same thing.

Though she can hold her own when Antoine is shouting right at her, something I have difficulty even witnessing. "Three thousand men is not a particularly burdensome army!"

"When we add the Tuscan Garrisons who decided to join us it becomes seven thousand. Seven thousand salaries, seven thousand uniforms, about a thousand horses and many thousands of muskets. Bullets, rations, powder, cannons. All of which is doing nothing for our recovering economy. How else are we supposed to pay for all that other than taking from the people who have the most to give, and exploit the benefits of it the most?!"

Antoine thinks for a moment, before giving Lucretia a smile. "I knew I made the right choice making you the new president... Fine, institute your taxes. I think I have an idea on how to make the army useful."

Somehow he's almost scarier smiling than he is shouting. Lucretia meanwhile gets to writing something down, jotting little notes on a pad. She's fast, and soon she's looking at Antoine again with confident yet businesslike eyes. "Now, regarding the judiciary-"

A messenger, an oddly familiar messenger, bursts through the door to our dining room turned conference room. Upon seeing me she immediately takes one of the open seats, resting her poor feet, getting her breathing back under control. Antoine looks at her with confusion, but I speak before he can question this poor messenger discipline.

"Hello again, mademoiselle messenger... You didn't run all the way from Alesia, did you?"

She shakes her head, and barely manages to suppress a smile. "Rode from Alesia, sprinted from the gates of the city... The Convention requires General Pollineux to return to Avernia immediately, there are rumors of a possible royalist uprising and they request generals loyal to The Convention assemble to protect the homeland."

Antoine looks at the messenger, and then at me, then back to the messenger. "... Which General Pollineux were they asking for?"

The messenger looks confused, scratching the back of her head. "They didn't specify. I assume they thought it would be obvious what they meant."

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"... Serena." Antoine looks my way rather sheepishly. "... Maybe they assume it's obvious they meant you?"

I blink, Antoine's clearly being sneaky here. "Antoine, I've been to Alesia. Even if my profile in the media has improved somewhat, I know full well that it's your name on everyone's lips when they say 'General Pollineux'. They don't want me-"

"But they need you, sis!" And here comes the theatrics, standard Antoine playbook. "Look at how much you've grown since we started this campaign. I read Theophania's report about your daring escape from the Icenians, I would never have been capable of such a brilliant-"

He sees my grimace, and remembers in real time that he should not remind me of Lazierte's death. That I still don't forgive him and I still far from forgive myself.

"... I still couldn't beat the Magyars, Antoine. That was your doing."

"We beat them together, sis! And these will just be rural militias, Royalist holdouts. Heck, it might be a good opportunity for you to shed any association with the monarchy-"

He sees my clenched fist, and learns in real time that the monarchy of Alesia is something of a sore spot for me. He's sending me to kill the followers of Her Majesty, and while he doesn't know the full extent of what happened there, he's picking up on the fact that it is still a raw wound.

"I am not a servant of The Convention, Antoine. I am a servant of Alesia, and nothing more."

He's run out of rhetoric to fumble with me, so he resorts to getting on his knees, much to the shock of Lucretia and the messenger. "Please? ... Sis, this place still needs me. The Republic is incomplete, and I have big plans for this place. Plans that will make it one of the greatest states on the face of La'an. But I can't be sent away in this critical moment. Please, sis. For me?"

Lucretia looks utterly baffled, apparently grand plans to become the greatest nation in La'an weren't precisely on her agenda... I was hoping to get more time with Lucretia, to get to know her better, to get her more used to me.

But... "... Okay. Okay, fine. Keep Lucretia safe and I will return to Avernia in your stead."

He quickly gets off the floor and throws his arms around me, he didn't doubt that I would say yes for even a second. "Thank you, sis! I promise, only good things will come to your wife, and her nation!"

"They damn well better..." I grumble under my breath... I wish I could return Antoine's hug, but part of me still can't quite forgive him. "I'll let everyone know we're moving out, we should be able to get back to Avernia before winter... Hopefully."

"Heh, I'm sure The Convention is good for a few winter coats if you need them." Antoine withdraws from me, he can sense the awkwardness. "... I believe in you. I know you can do this."

"Yeah yeah... I'll figure it out." I slip away from Antoine, and cast my eyes towards a conflicted looking Lucretia. "I umm... I'd take you with me if I could."

"I'd come with you if I wasn't stuck being the president." She's still standing in place, but I swear I can see her twitching.

I decide to play a hunch, and walk over to her to embrace her, holding her tightly. "I'll see you again. In a few months, after I've saved the world and you've built a new one. I look forward to seeing the country you build."

She quickly hugs back, tightly at first but slowly becoming more cautious. "I'll build you something beautiful. Something worthy of you. I promise."

"I believe you." She's shaking, I can feel it. "Hehe, Serena Romulus Pollineux has a fun ring to it, doesn't it?"

Lucretia's entire body is wracked by her blush. It's adorable, she clearly never thought this would work. I can't help but kiss her, and I only wish I wasn't kissing her goodbye…

She passes out again, and I barely manage to pull her body over to one of the conference room's chairs before she can slump to the floor... She's going to have one hell of a month next year. I just hope I don't kill this woman. The messenger in her chair is staring at me, herself blushing. Oh right, she needs to take a General Pollineux back to Avernia. I shouldn't keep her waiting.

"Mademoiselle messenger, are your feet properly rested?"

She nods, words seem beyond her at this moment. Which is odd, since her entire job is to give people words, but I get the message either way.

"Then I guess we're returning to Avernia, aren't we?"

She nods again, and gets up. What is she so worked up about? Is it Antoine? It must be Antoine.

Speaking of Antoine... "Make sure my wife is okay when she wakes up, okay brother?"

"Not a problem, sis. We still have a lot to discuss about that shiny new republic she's going to give you as a wedding band. You really are going to rule the world, one twelfth-wife at a time."

"Ugh, don't remind me." I chuckle, and leave with the flustered messenger in tow. I have to give everyone the bad news, that our little vacation in Samnia is over.

It's time to go home.