Deep in the heart of Central, the Cervil Empire’s capital, sat three men...
“This is ridiculous!” The Emperor, to the surprise of everyone in the room, roared furiously.
“Vika, calm down. It should’ve been expected in the first place.” Lucius Silverbow of the Gallian District to the north groaned, palming his forehead. “Those bastards were going to do it sooner or later. Honestly, after that travesty of a war five years ago, the south’s condition had only gotten worse.” He sat straight, his long and thin, blond hair falling gracefully. “I told you he was a problem. I only hope his idiocy doesn’t affect business.”
“Outrageous or not, we need to be prepared.” Lupin Greatsword said sternly. He crossed his firm muscles, his chiseled face painted with anger.
These three men sat in a tight, sealed room around a large circular table. The floors and walls were all a similar drab, dark gray, and the singular light source came from a large rod jutting out of the ceiling. It was cold and chilling, and not a sound could be heard from the outside. The scent of the room itself was cold as well, as one could only smell the chilling, hard stone. The air itself tasted filthy and metallic, and there was so much dust in the room that one couldn’t help but inhale it. The three all had despairing, angry looks on their faces. All except for one.
“Father, Lucius is right. You shouldn’t be screaming. It’s bad for your heart.” A girl with brown flowing, curled hair reaching her hips said patting his back. “Plus, it’s annoying. This room’s too small for loudiness,” She pouted.
“Cyrilia, you best shut your mouth,” Vika growled.
“I’ll shut mine when you shut yours. You’re too old to be yelling like that.” She said, kneeling down and wiping the sweat off his brow, but she quickly stopped when he swatted her away.
“You weren’t allowed to be present today. What’re you doing here? Get out.”
“Uh-uh, I’m not gonna. If this is talk concerning the Empire, I’m going to stay.”
“This is confidential business. You can’t just sit here and-”
“Vika, honestly, you need to relax,” Lucius said. “Princess Cyrilia has more than proven herself in our prior meetings. Who’s to say she can’t be here for this one?”
“Because Dall will be involved.” Lupin sighed. He eyed the girl, and she instantly backed down, redness filling her cheeks. “Anything involving that boy will force our dear Princess to be rash. We cannot have someone like that in our meeting.”
“We have Vika here,” Lucius responded with a smirk.
“An emperor is still an emperor despite his idiocy.”
“I could have you both beheaded right now.” Vika barked. He caressed his dark and full beard, quizzically thinking to himself, “Cyrilia, I’m ordering you to leave. You won’t like what we’re going to be talking about.”
“I don’t care. As the heiress to the throne, I have a right to stay here and listen.” She stood firm.
“’Heiress to the throne’ you say?" Vika Scoffed, "When did you get that idiotic idea in your head?"
“You know that’s what you want, Father.” She smiled.
Vika’s face reddened as well, and said, “Leave. Now.”
She pursed her lips and cursed to herself. “Fine.” She briskly walked to the metallic door and left without a sound. The three men sighed in unison, both Lucius and Lupin glancing at Vika with tired and sympathetic eyes.
“I am glad I gave you the girl.” Lupin chuckled.
Vika shot him a threatening gaze, and everyone closed their mouths. “The Eldreds have finally made their move and are going through with their coup. That war fiasco you were talking about, Lucius, should never have started in the first place.” He sighed and leaned back in his rackety chair. “Pravo’s lost his fucking mind. We aren’t ready to go against the Militaristic Eldreds yet. Even with my personal army, the army of Central, and Gallia’s army… we wouldn’t stand a chance. Their magic is too powerful.” He scratched his beard, “Before we do anything, we need to know what we would be dealing with.”
“There is no point in preparing for a war that might not happen.” Lupin said. “We need inside information. The letter my son sent me gives me the impression that the Eldreds are using Transfer magic.” The atmosphere dimmed further. “The Eldreds are crafty, but I know them. When one of them discovers a new technique, that technique is designed for that Eldred and that alone.”
“Are you implying we send an assassin?” Lucius questioned. “That would only spark further controversy. Not to mention how big this could get. We’re still forgetting about the other countries. They could take advantage and trample us.”
“Yes but that is not all. I propose we send a spy and an assassin. I will send my son to their capital, Natale. It would be helpful for our assassin to have a point of reference for who he is attacking.”
“Wait, wait. We have to be cautious here. What if the Eldreds have grown and are sharing their techniques with each other now? An assassination of one of them could be turned on us. Badly. How could you be so sure?” Lucius said.
“I know. That is how they are. Believe me.”
“They’ve already made their move by violating one of our rules.” Vika said. “Retaliation is one of the Empire’s longest traditions.” He nodded. “We’ll go through with this. We’ll have to pick someone capable enough to do it. There are five Eldred sons that could be the transfer-user. We also need our spy to retrieve information regarding military strength, state affairs, and anything else important. But the most important objective is the identification and extermination of that transfer user.”
Lucius’s eyes widened and he groaned. “I don’t want that monster roaming around anymore, but I guess this is important.”
“I concur.” Lupin nodded.
“If we all agree, then it will be so. Veral Altrix will-”
A loud, powerful knock came from the door. Without waiting for a response, it burst open and a girl stumbled in, an exasperated look on her face. “Y-Your Majesty!”
“What is it?” He stood, his fists clenched.
“The Union has just announced an alliance through marriage with the Eldreds!”
“Viri, I don’t want to hear another word from you.” Cyrilia growled and paced around her room.
“I would stay quiet if you didn’t make so much fucking noise. Tell me what’s pissing you off already so I can deal with it.” Veral pounded his fist against the small coffee table. “Your yapping’s pissing me off.”
“Is that any way to talk to your master?” She glared at him.
“Oh, we’re back to the ‘Master’ shit now, huh? Listen here, Princess, I thought we were done with that.”
“We’d be done with it if you stopped acting like a fucking animal! Sit down!” She yelled at him. “Release.” She sneered.
He scowled, but did as he was told. Veral’s piercing, light gray eyes retained its fire, and he released the tie from his jet-black hair, forcing his ponytail to collapse and his hair to rest gently above his shoulders.
“I’ll tell you since you’re sooo desperate to know.” She sat down in front of him her face flushed with anger. “Those old uncles and Father of mine think that since Dall’s part of the picture, I’ll lose my focus and panic like the ‘delicate little-princess’ people think I am. I can pay attention. I can focus. I was on the front-lines five years ago during the war, leading our armies! Little fifteen year-old me doing that! Dall and I, together, on that battlefield… And I can’t partake in a meeting just because my beloved Dall’s in it?! Dall… ha… ha…” Her rant quickly dissipated and she ended with a smile on her face.
“Who the fuck thinks you’re delicate?” Veral said. “Besides, you’re already losing focus. Hey!” He snapped his fingers as Cyrilia, who appeared like she’d forgotten everything in the world, stared into empty space. “Dall, Dall, Dall. Seriously. Get your head out of the gutter.”
“It is not in the gutter. I’m just worried about him…” She sighed. “But still, I’m the heiress to this country. I should participate in as many meetings as I can. Considering Father’s condition, he should be letting me do this more.”
A knock on her door interrupted their conversation.
“Who is it?” Cyrilia called out.
“Alylah.”
Cyrilia smiled as she opened the door to see a girl with short, blond hair adorned in maid attire curtsying. “Okay, come in.”
Alylah awkwardly stepped into the room, as her gaze fell upon the disgruntled and frowning Veral. As usual, she had a difficult time looking at him. It was rather a country-wide fact that women have a hard time keeping eye contact with him. Without even speaking or doing anything, the sheer air and atmosphere that surrounded Veral was akin to being face to face with a wolf. It would be terrifying, but because of his incredibly handsome features, most women found him unbelievably attractive. “Greetings, Viri.”
He glared at her. “I’ll cut you the next time you call me that.” He growled.
“And my brother will get back at you and beat you down again.” She scowled at him. Veral laid back and kept quiet.
“So, so? Any news about Dall?” Cyrilia giddily sat Alylah down and spoke with her.
Alylah sighed and said, “He’s safe. My brother was indeed out there during the Black Forest Fire…” Veral cocked his head to their conversation and Cyrilia sulked. “But yes… he’s safe.” She sent Cyrilia a calming smile. “But that’s not why I’m here.” She turned to Veral. “Father calls for you, Veral. Another mission.”
“Understood.” He rose quickly and exited the room.
"Ah, hey wait." Cyrilia stopped him.
"What?" He turned to her.
"You've got the thing, right?" She asked.
"Shut up about it, I've got it." He rolled his eyes and exited the room.
“Hah… as diligent as ever.” Cyrilia smiled as she stared at his leaving figure. “If only he could be like that everyday.” The air around her chilled suddenly, and she glanced at Alylah. She was shivering, and her eyes appeared empty. “Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
“I’m just worried…”
Cyrilia sighed and sat face to face with her. This again? She thought to herself. “Listen, Alylah.”
“It’s my fault…”
“Stop it. Hey.” She slapped her lightly. Alylah shook her head and looked at Cyrilia. “Don’t worry. They would’ve done this sooner or later even if that thing never happened.” Alylah nodded. “Back then and even now we can rely on Dall. Just believe in him, okay?”
Cyrilia flashed a brilliant smile.
“This is… unsettling.” Lupin groomed his beard, a conflicted expression on his face.
“Not unsettling! Outrageous! There’s no way we should send in an assassin now!” Lucius, in contrast, was red and spewing his words like poison. “Those fucking bastards. The entirety of the country? There’s no way we can win a war against demi-humans, Vika!”
“I know... What can we do? If we even touch the Eldreds, we go to war against not only them, but the Wood Walkers…” Vika had his face planted in his hands. “But they’ve already declared war…”
“We should still send them.” Lupin said. Lucius turned to him. “As Vika says, everything is already in motion. We need to act.”
“How about no! It’ll take more than half of our armies to at the very least hold the Eldreds back. To hold off the demi-humans at the Wall… It’s impossible.”
“Have faith in the Icalians, Lucius.” Lupin said.
Lucius scoffed. “Do you honestly believe those greedy fucks would remain neutral in this state? I bet they’re thinking that now would be the perfect time to strike!”
“The Angels reside there. You must understand that a hostile entrance through Icalia would end in bloodshed.”
“We have done so much shit to the other countries. I wouldn’t doubt that they’d like a piece of us too…”
“Lucius. Silence.” Vika growled. Lucius backed down. “What Lupin said is possible. They are proud individuals. If we take out that magician, then we can focus on all of our efforts to take down the Eldreds first, then the Union.”
“Outrageous…” Lucius said again.
“We’ll go through with it…” Vika nodded. As soon as he came to his decision, someone knocked on the door. Veral entered. “Perfect timing.” The three men stood. Lucius glared, Lupin stood firmly, and Vika sighed. “Veral Altrix - Tenth Nightblade… Here is your mission.”
