Natalya was writing a letter on her desk. Behind her was the view of the clouds. There was something cold and apathetic about her face. Cecilia entered without minding her manners. She was beyond asking for permission right now.

“It looks like you’ve made the right choice,” Natalya remarked. Her voice was apathetic. Her tone somewhat mocks Cecilia for thinking that they had a choice in the first place.

“Do not condone me for this. We were nice about this, nicer than Holmia could ever be,”

“I know. Doesn’t make this better.”

“I like this tone of yours now. I like it when you are fiercer, Cecilia. It makes you much more charming to me than the pretense of aged-wisdom that you carry yourself now.”

“And you have become looser… almost vicious.”

Natalya laughed at that. She thumbed the papers and then traced a finger on the table. Cecilia moved in front of her desk and crossed her arms. Eyes on Natalya who was eager to speak out her grievances.

“The things I do for my family aren't always nice. Then again, you must understand that you are also our enemy if you had decided to choose to stand against our way. Honestly, you should have decided this immediately when even the government of Hith allowed us in the airspace. I mean truthfully, did it come to your mind that we might have been allowed to do this?”

This brought shock to Cecilia whose glare became stronger. Natalya looked at her as if she truly was clueless about their arrangements with the government of Hith. She leaned forward with a disappointed air.

“Cecil… think about it. We have a giant flying fortress with payloads that could wipe out the entirety of this nation on our backs. We carry about fifty aircrafts of different types and we have battalions of our best ready to drop down. Do you not see the ramifications of moving an entire air fortress? Do you not understand that ANY sane country with love for their borders would panic? Tell me, have you seen any panics?”

“That is… there was no warning.”

Natalya looked amused. “How could there be? Holmia, and the Confederacy is the leading manufacturer of these weapons and technology. Our Webman Company OWNS the software used in the military hardware that we exported and truthfully they are inferior to the ones we have right now. You see, a smart man once told me that we must leave the backdoors on their software. We have permission and the ability to tamper on any air-defense system. I thought it would be obvious. If anything that should be the tell-tale sign that even the government of Haymouth is willing to sack rid this place.”

“How much did you pay?”

Cecilia breathed in and out. There was toxicity in her tone. Natalya smiled dutifully.

“Forty-seven million thesians. We also gave Haymouth and the surrounding regions a discount on our products. Really, have you forgotten that Lazon has been exporting globally? Cecil, you and your people should know that we’ve been trading far more than ever. We hold supply lines and trade lines that even some countries are willing to spend 5 or ten percent of their GDP on us. I am not some amateur who would come here knowing that we are violating borders. I compensated the entirety of the government here while also stating the reason. It might be surprising, but they take my word seriously, after all, why wouldn’t they invite me to the League of Nations in Holmia conference if they didn’t have trust in me?”

“And the money to spend.”

“The money to spend as well. You shouldn’t be surprised about this. This isn’t my first rodeo and have you looked at this place? The basin itself is economically poor. Look down and there is no community that close. The soil here is average and since the basin takes most of the vitality. The rest of the area is poorly developed. Not to mention that beyond this there are small mountains and rough hills that makes traveling here bothersome. Yes, there is a railroad station, but truthfully there are many reasons why this place has remained in the basin. No sane business man would expand here. You are in the middle of the land and you don’t have the spending power of Lazon to make things easier for this area.”

“You’ve considered a lot. I should have known this.”

“Hah, there are only a few who would know my thoughts. Besides, do you tell your enemies everything as well? Bare your plans out in the open? Not everyone has the eyes to tell and no one in this world has the ability to see what is happening unless one has eyes on it. I am somewhat disappointed in you actually. That you didn’t ask this in the first place.”

Her tone made it sound like it was truly obvious. Sadly, Cecilia thought that they were only here for the visit. She had forgotten about matters such as the borders and the airspace laws that she felt quite lacking how they were able to enter Hith without them. The worst part of it was that Natalya said it casually.

From the very start they were already cornered. They weren’t prepared and even the very government that would bow their heads had been paid to shut their mouths about what would happen here in Haymouth. Cecilia could also guess that there were many schemes from the very government of their nation. She could not blame them. The spending power and the military of Lazon alone was like finding a treasure chest filled with gold. Who wouldn’t want to appease them? It was better to deal with them than fight them. She understood this. But it felt so awful that it made her feel that their esoteric ways were still dragging them down. No wonder Minerva left them. And no wonder that some of their allies had decided to separate from their old ways.

“Let’s sign this. Your husband told me that we need to be confidential. I thought he was going too far but it seemed like there were others than us…who have already agreed for this.”

“It’s nothing personal, truly. Money is meant to be spent. It isn’t a violation of their national sovereignty if they agreed to it. It wouldn’t take long for conspiracies and discussions on what happened to appear. There is always a leak and before that happens. I wish to conclude this. All the Old Magi have to do is stay out of our way.”

Cecilia sagged her shoulders. She took the pen offered by Natalya and took a look at the contract. There was binding power in the piece of parcel. Not hesitating, she signed the parcel and took the rest with them.

The paper she signed went back to Natalya’s desk.

Thank you for reading this far!