“It is good to see you again.” I tell Leo as he enters into the room. It has been a while since I last saw him. 

“I’ve been looking into who could be hiring the assassins.” He begins without responding to my greetings. It is quite rude to ignore someone. 

“And?” 

“Unfortunately, I can’t find out any information. At this point you cannot trust anyone.” He responds. Well, I can take some people off the list. Elizabeth, Leo, Goldwell, and Whyte aren’t hiring the assassins. Of that I am certain. Though at this point Whyte probably would celebrate if they were to succeed.  

“I know that. However, if I sit around twiddling my thumbs paranoid my enemies will unite together. I need to find this ringleader quickly.” I respond. A civil war would be the worst-case scenario. “I’m more worried about the noble revolting.” 

“We still have the advantage. Those who oppose us are not strong enough.” He is correct. However, Reynard is cautious. While he supports the reform, I know that he would not join us in the case of a civil war. 

“Duke Whyte and Duke Browne were the ones most against the reform. Their influence will put us against a good part of our economic center.” I remind him. Sure, we will have the advantage in numbers, but we will have to protect a larger border while still finding a way to raise the troops necessary for this war. 

“They only have two ports and we can control the Tonsid River from the city of Tonsid.” He counters. That is true. There is also the fact that we can easily invade Widewich when the civil war begins. 

“Stopping the proposal from passing through is the only way I see us avoiding the civil war.” He responds. The situation as of now is fine. Our military can defend us, our enemies won’t be able to bring the empire down to its knees either. Having said that, the fact that the nobles can stop me from passing a reform even though it was voted on underlines a notable problem.  

“If we leave things as it is, our army will only fall behind the times. Furthermore, the advantage of an empire is its ability to pull resources from all over the empire. There is also the fact that without a central army structure we will not be able to issue commands with efficiency.”  I cannot leave the system as it is. We need to change it while we still can. I need to find a way to keep Allonia as the leading power of the continent. The war with Arria ended up as a disaster. If a civil war drags on there is the very real possibility that Felworth and Jinju will attack us. If that happens, the future of this country could be endangered. 

“Then do you have any plans on how to end this war quickly if it does happen?” He asks. Obviously concerned about the implications if the war would stall. What can counter the Knights of Allonia. Pike men or knights would do the trick. 

“Well, I have been trying the arquebus out. I have about three brigades of them. They are very devastating but sadly they are more of a one trick pony.” I mention. 

“So, they won’t be useful?” 

“No, they are extremely easy to use and the best part is the sound frightens horse. The bullets can also shoot through armor. Put them among some pike men and I think we have a deadly combination.” I give Leo a smile. He just shakes his head. There is also the advantage that they take less time to learn than bows. 

“Well, we finally created a cannon that can break through walls.” He responds. Well that is welcome news. To my knowledge we are the only power on the continent that uses Cannons. Although Arria, Felworth, and Yeon have begun arming their ships with cannons. I’m a bit sad to see them catching up with us. “Sadly, they weight a lot and are hard to transport. 

Well there goes any plans to use them against Arria. Having said that, I can still use them for other plans. 

“First thing first, have some of our ships outfitted with these new cannons. I want them to be sent to Buryeone as fast as possible.” 

“As you wish Your Majesty.” He says. I need to prepare for so many years. It will probably take a month or two for the final draft of the proposal to be written up. Another year before the meeting where it will be signed and finalized. Between then and now I need to prepare for the coming storm. I then look at a report on my desk. It is a census of the population of Allonia. 34 thousand people. More than the Yanzhou, less than Arria. Though, all of us are close. Hmm... It seems like Arria had a huge decrease in population due to the war. 

Plans, so many things to plan for. What should I work on next? Weapons, economy, politics, reforms. The navy is doing fine. I think I will need to find some allies. Felworth won’t help. Same with the Koryo. I don’t trust Hesterland and their democracy. The less I deal with them the better. Harold is not even worth thinking about. Linland and Birburia are the best choices. They might be on the smaller side but strengthening relations between us and them will also give us a buffer with Arria. 

“On less a serious note, how is your relationship with Elizabeth going?” He asks with an almost too innocent looking face. 

“Well, if you consider the fact that I haven’t seen her for the past three days good. Then I am doing fantastic.” I say. They have also been the most peaceful days I've had in a while.  

“I see...” I feel like he wants to say more but has decided that the better option is to retreat. Probably smart, I’m not in the mood to talk about my relationship problems. Even then, none of it is my fault. Why can’t she realize that I only want to help her? 

A/N: I'll be honest, I'm extremely tired today. So lets keep this short. The strongest nation on the continent is hard to say. In general I would say Arria is the strongest. However Allonia is a close second. Though just because one is the strongest it doesn't mean they can't be soundly beaten. William has shown that to be true.