Humans, Dia reflected, were capable of immense things when they truly desired something. It was something she had long known, based on not just the stories that she had read and the epics that she’d come across, but also on a personal basis, when she stood up to the crushing might of the Red God himself. She, together with the others, stopped the Red God from doing whatever he was intending to do to the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny and probably saved her life too.

Farah was another such person, a person who had contended against the ill lot that her irresponsible parents left her too.

People were truly capable of anything if their desires were on the line.

So it was then, and so it was now.

In the sense that Emperor Grandis himself looked really impressed at how the Epiekeia couple had discarded their sense of shame. Dia could safely say that her eyes had been opened today; this was the first time that she’d seen someone stoop so low in the presence of the Emperor himself. Of course, the earlier spiel of them being immature and that they knew they were in the wrong couldn’t be forgotten either…

“…the children! We cannot possibly provide for all of them without your aid!” The woman that Farah forced herself to call her mother, Pleoa Epiekeia, continued to ramble on and on about the people that her family was supposed to support.

Aplis Epiekeia was no slouch either in that regard, with his attempts to reconcile so…stomach-churning that Dia was surprised that Farah, who was receiving the main bulk of it, hadn’t thrown up yet.

It was probably close, though.

“So, you want me to provide some money to these poor kids, then.” Farah paused. “Sure. But I cannot allow you to even go close to my territory. Nothing’s changed about that. You two are not part of my territory anymore. Accept that, and we can move on to talk about money.”

The couple exchanged gazes, and then glanced at their legal counsel, who was doing a damn good job of not showing his emotions. With a straight face, he replied in a whisper, and the duo’s expressions turned into one of wistful conflict.

“So?” Farah asked, pressing the advantage. “I’m simply treating this as my debt for…bringing me here over a painful nine months. That’s what I owe you, after all.”

“Well…”

The couple exchanged glances again.

“If not, we can move back to court,” Farah continued. “Emperor Grandis’ time is precious. We should not waste too much of his time on our banal affairs that you two caused to begin with.”

“You have a good heart, little Farah.” Emperor Grandis chuckled. “I am indeed busy. The Moons and the Dark have restarted their war, and your friends are clearly very integral to the safety of my people.”

Another shudder ran through Farah’s parents, and Dia turned away to hide a smile. As planned, everyone had introduced themselves shortly after Emperor Grandis had given them the go-ahead. The looks of fear on their faces when they realised that the Seekers of Life were made up of rather important people was one to behold.

Of course, that didn’t stop them from being slick and shady. After all, if they could directly ignore the Emperor in their attempts to wring out cash and maybe even some concessions, a Holy Son and the scions of other important personages wasn’t going to stop them either.

“For the sake of the family,” Aplis Epiekeia began, “I suppose we can move to that instead. We would like to ask for a monthly stipend that will allow us to live a dignified life.”

“And the children too!” His wife added. “A baron’s stipend would be a good place to start with.”

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“A baron’s stipend?” Farah laughed. “Father, mother, you two must be aware of the sorry state in which you left the territory to me. It is still struggling to rebuild, and you ask me to support a baron in terms of funding? You two aren’t good for anything, but you sure dream big!”

Emperor Grandis covered his mouth, and Farah seemed to take that as encouragement. Without showing any mercy whatsoever, Farah said, “I will treat you as an upper-class household in my county and provide a monthly stipend of their expenses. We’ve already conducted a study; the average upper-class spends three gold every month. Considering that you two are bankrupt, this is already a lot of money.”

Dia glanced at the others, who were fighting to keep their faces straight. Considering the fact that everyone in the Seekers of Life had used oodles of lifestones, three gold was…seriously a bit too low. Of course, for the normal people whose imagination had been limited by their lack of funds, this was a lot of money…

“Three gold is too less,” Pleoa Epiekeia replied. “How are we supposed to maintain our…scions’ schooling?”

“The average school fee costs a silver every year, thanks to His Majesty’s wisdom,” Farah replied. “I see no reason for non-nobles to go to a noble’s school or a top-class one.”

Dia glanced at the people that the Epiekeia couple had brought in. None of them looked like they had been living the lifestyle Farah’s parents had been living so far; they were probably here because of those two paying them or something. Dia wasn’t going to fault them; the temptation of money or a better life was hard to overcome, as a rule of thumb.

“Preposterous! The only way out for them is through quality schooling!”

Farah snorted. “Touch your conscience and repeat that one more time. I’ll have you know that I brought back the county without noble schooling. I don’t see the problem.”

“You are…a genius,” her father admitted begrudgingly.

“And you two are spendthrifts. But fine. I’ll raise the stipend,” Farah replied. “Hmm. Nine gold a month. It’s three times the original offer.”

“Nine gold…”

Emperor Grandis cleared his throat again. “My former subordinates. You two are no longer nobles. I hope you two do not carry any expectation of living the life that you two discarded with your own two hands.”

Farah nodded. “You two absconded with a lot of money. It’s your problem if you two somehow bankrupted yourself. Commonfolk live with sums far, far lower than a piece of gold. Outside the capital, food is very affordable, and three gold is enough for a low-class family to live on for potentially five years.”

“Face reality, indeed,” Dia chimed in.

“You punks wasted your money. If Farah gives you anymore, you two will never learn.”

Farah let out a long — fake — sigh, and then said, “Alright. Let’s round it up a bit. Twenty gold a month. That’s definitely more than enough. And you two still have a house, yes? Albeit a barren one. There’s one less expense. No, don’t bother trying to lie. You can sell that house and move to other territories, where housing isn’t at a premium. Or you can do something else. You guys figure it out.”

She closed her eyes. “That’s it. If you two don’t accept this final offer, we shall return to the courtroom. I have been sufficiently generous, considering that you two didn’t raise me much. Or at all, for that matter.”

“Countess Farah has issued an ultimatum,” Emperor Grandis announced. “How do you two wish to respond?”

“Can we have some time to ourselves?” Farah’s father replied.

“Go ahead. You have five minutes.”

At those words, everyone on the other side hurried out, and the door closed. Emperor Grandis let out a hearty laugh a moment later, and then looked at Farah.

“Well done. It was not for nothing that I sent Overseer Agni to support you.” Emperor Grandis reclined on his chair.

Dia, however, was fixated on the fact that he was still in his full battle regalia…a fact that Emperor Grandis didn’t miss at all.

“Interesting,” he murmured. “Princess Dia of the Lustre Dukedom, yes? You seem enthralled by my clothes. Are they pretty? Do they suit your aesthetic? Or…do you know that this is my combat apparel?”

Dia jumped.

“Ah, you know. Intriguing.” The Emperor looked at Dia. “Worry not, however. And it is nice to see that you have returned to public life, in a sense. More importantly, though, I would like to apologise. The Istrels…were particularly insistent that I issue a bounty on you.”

“Right. I was wanted, after all, Your Majesty.”

“Do not worry. The Shadows that attacked you…were acting of their own accord. And the ignorant cannot be guilty. Even if you killed them, those deaths were never laid on you,” the Emperor continued.

“T-thank you, Your Majesty,” Dia replied.

“No. It’s the least I can do. The Thief of Time, one must admit, is a most formidable opponent. Although I do have my own suspicions, the Fourth Bearer of Destiny almost certainly exists, and was indeed the person behind the heist at Duke Istrel’s treasury.”

“Your Majesty. Why are you telling us this?” Farah asked.

“Who knows?” Emperor Grandis chuckled. “Now, then. I suppose the Seekers of Life will be staying here for some time, yes? I wonder what you people think of joining up with my forces.”

“Well…”