I stand in the middle of my room. I probably shouldn’t be doing this. But, for the sake of the empire I do need an heir. Also, I would rather it be with someone I can trust. All I need is one child. Female, male it does not matter. The empire can still be inherited as long as they were sire by me. I then notice Elizabeth enter the room. She is wearing a red nightgown. 

“You called for me.” She says her face not changing. She knows why she was called here. She’s too smart not to have deduced it. 

“Yes, as you know I need an heir. I have chosen you to be my partner for tonight.” I say. Perhaps I could have worded that better. I sit down on the bed. She waits for a moment then walks to the bed and sits next to me. 

“I see, then I guess it is better for us to begin.” She acknowledges me. I see this is just another part of your duty. I guess it doesn’t make a difference to you. I turn and push her down on the bed. 

“I’ll ask this now, if you do not desire this just tell me.” I’ll stop if you want me too. She just stares at me her lips parted. 

“Will you pick someone else?” Such a weird question. I don’t see how that will matter. 

“Yes.” I lie. 

“I’m fine with this.” I don’t see how that last question would factor into her decision.  

“If you ever want to stop just tell me.” I don’t know if I could stop but I'll try. She just nods her face the same as always. I place my lips on her neck. Then I kiss her lips. I lift my head up. 

“I’ll make you scream.” I’ll break that mask. I want to see what you are truly thinking about. 

“I doubt it.” She says not giving even the slightest smile in return. I see how this is going to go. 

… 

… 

Why did I do that? This probably just hurt my case. She probably hates me more now. She left soon after I was done. I should have been kinder.  

I get up from the bed. I probably should have picked someone else. It would be safer for my relationship. I lay down on the couch. This castle has too many security problems. Assassins seem to be able to stroll on in whenever they want. I’ve spotted 43 different assassins. 29 of which are pretending to be new servants and 11 pretending to be guards. Three didn’t even bother to disguise themselves. Then again, they were Koryo so I doubt that they could have blended in. 

I might not be good at sensing other emotions like Victoria but even I can still feel the murderous intent dripping off of them. It almost makes them too easy the spot. I guess emotions are strange. Perhaps life would be easier without such things. I think I should focus on the trade. The Allonian sea is an important part of our empire. It truly is our sea. The heart of our empire. I guess that’s why I have the greatest navy in the world. 

I should start preparing for my journey. The question is who should I bring. Reynard will definitely be there. I guess I should bring Elizabeth, she is well versed in Arrian culture. I would like to bring Vicky but it is probably safer to keep her here.  I’ll keep Baldwin back to protect her as well. Nick should be able to keep the paperwork handled as well. I can’t bring my marshal to a peace talk either. Ah, I'll make a pit stop at Merey. Leo can come with me. He has the rank and position to be involved. Even better I trust him completely. I should also bring some diplomats with me. I’ll even get Baldwin to assign guards as well.  

A/N: Can't say much for this chapter. It is mostly an in-between chapter but it is the start of the plot. From here on out nothing will be the same.

P.S. The continent is 5.2 million square miles big. It also has a population of 183 million at the time of this book. Just to put into perspective how strong these empires are, each of them hold at least 30 million people. Together Arria, Allonia, and the Yanzhou make up about half the population of the continent.