“The best way to subjugate people is to make them want it.” - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.

As years quickly passed after the Antemeian conflict, Aideen’s expectation pretty much came true.

Antemeia – the land and the people, but not the nation – recovered swiftly with the support that the Lichdom gave them, which naturally garnered a lot of positive sentiment amongst the populace. Even the captive Vitalicans couldn’t help but marvel at how much more convenient life was under the Lichdom’s standard of living.

Some of them had even petitioned to have their families “rescued” from Vitalica to join them already, an undertaking the bored Death’s Hand operatives were all too happy to accommodate. That led to some spats and minor conflicts as not every family had been elated to be reunited with their lost loved ones, with some being deeper into their belief of the propaganda Vitalica fed its citizens, but even then, after some time passed most of them learned to accept the sight around them as what it was.

Namely the truth that had been hidden from them by their own leaders.

It turned out that despite the clamoring of the more fanatical officers about the “cleansing” purpose of their so-called crusade, at its core, the offensive was mostly intended to act as a land grab. The current Vitalica was far from prosperous. Many of its poorer citizens could barely make ends meet after they paid the rather high taxes demanded by their state.

The attempt to conquer and cleanse Antemeia had been to incorporate their lands and divide them amongst their own people, with the fertile soil of western and southern Antemeia being particularly desirable areas. Instead of success, however, the Vitalicans had gone for wool and come home shorn. All they had to show for their efforts – and losses – were parts of north-eastern Antemeia which were mostly arid wastelands.

After Antemeia had agreed to become a protectorate under the Lichdom, the Bone Lord had sent out the army once more to push the Vitalicans out of most of the land they conquered during the war, though the army stopped after they drove the enemy off strategic areas. As for the wastelands, neither the Antemeians nor the Ptolodeccans cared much for it to begin with, so they didn’t mind leaving it under enemy occupation.

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Aideen herself had met with First Elder Hasen – First Elder Adela had retired from her position months after the war – and discussed the potential future of the two nations several times. The Antemeian people seemed to integrate well to the Lichdom’s way of life, which was no real surprise. Convenience and prosperity would do a lot to win over people used to living in hardship.

From what the remaining Elders of the Flesh Artisan Council – probably the last who would bear such titles – could tell, after another decade or two, the populace likely wouldn’t care one bit if they were suddenly told that the Lichdom was taking over as their ruler. They were already aware that the newfound comfort they lived in was brought by the Lichdom.

Even the Vitalican captives were won over by simple amenities and comforts that people in the Lichdom took for granted.

As for Vitalica itself, the leaders there probably seethed at the failure of the invasion due to unexpected interference, but they could do nothing about it. Not even they were insane enough to start hostilities with the Lichdom, even if one ignored the fighting their crusading forces did against the relief force sent to Antemeia.

The Vitalicans knew that should such hostilities be opened, the war that followed would be brief and wouldn’t end in any way other than their own humiliating defeat, and that was assuming that the Bone Lord didn’t simply eradicate them from existence instead. They were not foolish enough to wager their lives that way, much less in a situation where they saw no hope of victory.

In contrast, once it became clear that the Lichdom was stepping in and had taken control of the Antemeian situation, Luca sent a goodwill delegation through the mountain pass. The delegation brought large amounts of relief supplies with them, things the Antemeians would need to tide them over while they rebuilt their homes, and were much appreciated.

Naturally the Elmaiyan Empress was clever enough to know that since the Bone Lord chose to step in, there would be no room for her Empire to do so. Instead she chose to display friendliness and made a friendly gesture, as she knew that the Bone Lord knew that she had her eyes on Antemeia as well. It was a gesture of reconciliation and a declaration that all was fine between the Empire and the Lichdom, in a sense.

In the five years that had passed since the war, Mimia and Èirynn were often tasked to oversee various rebuilding projects in Antemeia. Their children naturally came along when they had work there, while Kino and Celia often tagged along as well since Aideen usually accompanied the couple. In many ways, to help with the rebuilding of a nation was a very satisfying task as well.

What some of them had feared – that the Antemeians might turn on the Vitalican captives out of a desire for vengeance – had not taken place either, as the locals mellowed a bit to the captives after the latter had been made to do most of the backbreaking labor of the rebuilding as their punishment. There remained some distance between the locals and the captives, but most would at least be cordial towards them.

Aideen thought that at the pace things were going, if the captives were to assimilate into the Antemeian population and later lure in more of their friends from Vitalica, it might well be the case that Vitalica would collapse on itself. Since the living conditions in Vitalica were notably worse than in the Lichdom, and now even compared to the Antemeians, there would be quite a few incentives to migrate and change their allegiances.

As long as they were not too deep into their belief of the propaganda their own state had fed its citizens for centuries, that was.