“... It pains me to say this, but the prime minister will try to dispose of me in all ways possible. The direct means like assassins are probably out of the question while Huxi is around, but he leaves pretty often. Still, me dying when he isn’t here would be suspicious. So, he will use indirect means, like sending me to my death. Recently, I have heard that things in the South are becoming quite heated, so he will probably send me there to rally the troops, since we have been losing a lot there. Naturally, the order will come from the council, in the form of a gentle plea, but they are in the prime minister’s hands.”

Zelos studied the princess… She was pretty well informed. She had a lot of time to consider many things, but it looked like she was still in a bind. Sending her to a war zone that was on the losing end would be truly bad news. Even if she doesn’t die, she will lose support if she doesn’t show her worth and change the tide of the battle. On the other hand, if she pulls that off…

“Do you think that you can turn this around and gain the upper hand? If you do it, you will be fine in the capital alone for a while?”

“It will be hard… Considering what I know, the two sides are equal in terms of power, but we don’t have good strategies. I might be able to even the field, but that won’t be enough. I will need an extra card, but I believe that I will recover some support if I succeed.”

“Or some extra cards in this case.”

“... I can’t ask you to do this. From what I can tell, Reina didn’t give you the order to help me to this extent.”

“Indeed, she didn’t… still, it might be useful to have you owe us some favors.”

“You mean…”

“What Zelos means is that we are glad to help a friend, that is all. We are gaining a lot of information already, so it is time to repay the favor and keep doing it. Besides, Reina said that she will give us some extra if we decide to help you for a bit longer. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

“You guys… to think that my friends after Reina would be this nice…”

The depression party started, and Zelos couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. It was a talent in itself to be able to say that kind of stuff without hesitation. Regardless, that mood was too annoying, so Zelos decided to return to business.

“If you are certain that this will happen, then you should make the whole thing happen in the way that is convenient for you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Declare to the council that you are going to the front lines to rally the troops in the south and then declare that we will go with you as escorts. To make sure that this will happen, we have to spread the rumor that you are going and the council will feel even more pressured to let you go. At the same time, you won’t have to wait for the situation in the south to become worse.”

Liry nodded after hearing that… it made sense. In fact, it was a pretty obvious choice… she never thought of that because she never had the chance to take control of things.

“Yes, we can do that… and I know I can spread this rumor and make it very reliable to make it happen in one week or so. Let’s finish the sweets and then we will start with that plan.”

Her priorities were interesting, if anything. Still, it was better to take a bit slowly instead of moving suspiciously for now. One hour later, they decided to put the plan into action and then they walked to another large building in the city. It was half of the size of the palace, but it could house up to five thousand warriors… It was Huxi clan.

Even from a distance, one could tell that the place was filled with this aura that was hard to describe… all the warriors around looked like they were ready for war, even though they were very far away from any real battlefield. Maybe they kept their fangs sharp in order to defend the capital in case something happened.

“Your Highness, how can we help you?”

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One of the guards at the entrance of the base tried to soften his expression a bit, but that barely made any difference. Still, that didn’t scare Liry at all.

“I need to talk with Huxi for a bit. Is he around?”

“No, your highness. He disappears from time to time, but he should be around and should return soon.”

“In that case, pass the message to him that I am planning to head south and help the troops there for a while, and I want his opinion. When he is ready, please tell him to come to the palace.”

“... Understood.”

Liry didn’t try to hide that, so the guards looked confused. For that kind of thing, it was better to let as few people as possible from learning of that in order to avoid trouble. Soon enough, they left, and the word began to spread. The only thing that the group didn’t consider was the fact that the guards thought that she decided that, thanks to them.

In the end, Hus showed up at the palace very flustered three days later and it looked like he came in a hurry.

“Your Majesty… did I hear that right? I heard that you guys were with her as well, but…”

As one would expect, Huxi was very suspicious of the group, but Liry had three days to consider that kind of possibility, so she was ready for it.

“Huxi, I have thought this through and I have been considering this for a while. Father is still sick, and I need to do something to ease his burden. There are others supporting him, but I can’t sit on my butt the whole day. I didn’t think that I would be able to do this alone, but now I found some people who want to help me.”

Before coming, Huxi had done some research and learned that Heirina’s group had come to deliver a gift to Liry, but it looked like they had another mission as well. He had no idea who sent them, though. He heard that it had been a merchant, but that was probably false information.

“His Majesty needs you here… once he hears about this, he will probably get worse.”

“He has plenty of reasons to worry about me already. Nothing will change that or make it worse… perhaps he won’t even hear about this at all.”

The mood grew heavy after those words… Considering what Liry said, it was safe to say that the emperor was unconscious and had been like that for a while. Since Huxi didn’t deny that, then it was a fact, and since Liry had come to terms with it, it was safe to say that her mother also experienced that and didn’t survive it. Everyone knows that the body becomes much weaker and faster when a disease makes them lose consciousness for long periods of time.

At the same time, Huxi felt even worse because of these words and because he couldn’t mobilize the clan to act in place of Liry. He didn’t have the authority for that. No one had… only the prime minister and the council had that now that the kind was unconscious. They couldn’t join some battle out of goodwill only or protect someone without being paid for it.

“The damage is already done. Plenty of people have heard about this now, and trying to deny it would damage your reputation and the imperial family as well. I will pass the message to some friends that I have there to help you. Just make sure to stay away from the battles. Your presence alone will be enough to boost their morale.”

“Understood.”

After that, Huxi left while considering some things. By the look of things, he was an ally, but one that couldn’t do much. Reina probably knew that, or perhaps she didn’t trust him fully, so she decided to use Heirina’s group as a final resort… come to think of it, what she did six months ago was probably some sort of test to see if they were up to the task.

Regardless, the group just acted like usual and spent most of the time talking about random things while they waited for the results. Before long, Liry’s birthday had arrived, and the mood got a bit weird since only a handful of people had come to congratulate her in the castle. They didn’t stay for the feast, though. They felt that Liry deserved that much, at least, but they didn’t want to get on the nerves of those who opposed her.

“Don’t worry about it. Things have been like that for a while already.”

Zelos was starting to respect Liry for her uncanny ability to smile so brightly while saying those types of sad things. In the end, only the group stayed for the feast… not even the servants of the palace stayed once the food was ready. The idea of spending one’s birthday alone was quite depressing, but it looked like Liry was used to that.

Zelos didn’t care much about that since it meant that there was more food for him, so he ate like there was no tomorrow. He didn’t know if Reina’s payment would be worth the hassle of the job, so he decided to enjoy the food at least.

“... They should send the message today, and then we will depart tomorrow.”

While Zelos was enjoying the food, Liry suddenly said that… it would make sense, even though it was a pretty nasty thing to do. In order to get at her, the prime minister would find a way to spoil her birthday party, which was already plenty sad. Heirina didn’t know what to say, but she tried anyway.

“That is…”

“It is fine, I already prepared mentally for this. Regardless, I want to say bye to Dad before this and also talk with him for a bit today.”

The group nodded… the talk was probably going to be one-sided, but the feeling was what was important. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to enter the emperor’s bedroom since it was supposed to be heavily guarded, but that was for the best.