Northern Dioral. In front of Great wall of Hyuutia.

Four men are standing in the meadows; staring at the long wall that stretches from river and forest of Orlais until the lake of Korcari Wilds. 

The short guy with daggers all over his body, Atir speaks nonchalantly,

"We were not here for a month, and crazy things happened."

Atir, his eyes are keen and his scrawny face looks like some predator — a corpse-feeding scavenger, in fact. 

The large men beside him, with a large sword on his back, Almade digs the soils with his left foot. His pale, sallow skin looked like it had never seen the sun before. Almade barks at Atir,

"Crazy? That doesn't even explain how in the hell those giant walls could exist, within short time!" 

Another tall man with two swords at his hips, Almo sigh,

"I have never seen wall this long. There is even long moat along it."

The three men look brutal and dirty. Each of the brute radiates a scent of blood and malice.

The last man behind them looks very out of place. 

He is a fat middle aged man. The plump man is neatly attired, and he wears well-tailored clothing. He has a weighty badge on his chest which reflects a coppery light. His sweaty red face is also packed with fat and has an oily sheen to it, probably from too many luxurious meals.

"Shut up, you bandits!"

The fat man has to catch his breath after shouting.

"Huh. Huh."

"Those Hyuutia and Seraph. They dare to even steal my land!"

Atir teases the chubby man,

"Lord Stefan. By right, you can report this breach to the King or Marquis."

"That is useless. Royal families had exhausted their resources in the war against Tevinter remains. They will find excuse to avoid confrontation with the northwestern nobles!"

Almade laments, "Noble world is troublesome. But could it be Orlais? The had invaded after all."

Atir replies, "I don't think so. There are words 'Great Wall of Hyuutia' written everywhere on the wall. There are even flags with Hyuutia insignia. But I wonder what happened to the Seraph family?"

"Shut up, you guys. I am thinking." Stefan barks.

"We are just following your order as mercenaries and bandits. What is your next action, Lord Stefan?" Almo asks.

Stefan furrows his eyebrows while his forehead is sweating. 

After he a while, he finds an idea and smirk.

"I will need to dig who is really behind this. And then threaten the Hyuutia."

The three men also smirk.

***

Hyuutia mansion.

Lucy runs in small steps until she reaches Myla.

"My lady. The guards said the envoys are here."

Albert, still in his suit walks steadily along the corridor.

"Father. Are you really sure about this?"

"Don't worry, my daughter. I know many Dioral aristocrats. I can't simply ignore them."

He walks past his daughter and her maidservant, Lucy who was a former refugee. 

"Still, father. Should we not report this matter to His Majesty?"

Albert Hyuutia falls silent. After a few seconds, he answers:

“I think it will be fine. I am uneasy about wasting His Majesty’s time on an insignificant matter.”

“…Amber visits us. She is still here this morning. Why not bring it up while you are in contact with her? …Or is there something you wish to hide?”

“How could that be? I harbor no such thoughts. I would never dream of—”

“That would mean… everything you have done is not for your own personal gain… am I right?”

The air between them grow tense. Lucy feels suffocated.

Albert smiles.

As she sees that smile, Myla’s eyes are filled with surprise.

“…Of course. It was not for personal gain that I did not report this to His Majesty."

As his father descends from the staircase, "Lucy, please tells the guard to let them in."

"Understood." Lucy rushes downward.

The mansion is very big. It takes several minutes before Lucy could reach the main entrance.

The door is large. She lifts the cover of the door’s peephole.

She could see a fat man outside, and two soldiers waiting for orders behind him on either side.

Based on his attire, Lucy immediately recognises his status as a high class aristocrat. At the back of the procession is a tall, strange-looking man. His dark clothes hung loosely about him, and he must certainly have weapons about his person. While the fat man seems harmless, the tall man gives off dangerous vibe. Lucy dislikes these ragtag bunch of misfits an pray that they will go away as soon as possible.

"Please. Only two persons are allowed into the mansion." Lucy decides.

The the door is opened. The guards wait outside. 

She has the four soldiers wait outside, while she brings fat aristocrat and weird man inside.

She feels disgusted when the fat man leers at her chest while they walk towards the lobby.

Albert is standing alone in between the sofa and tea cups with tea have been prepared by the maids.

Lucy distants herself and stands at the corner of spacious guest room.

"It's been a while, Count Stefan. Have a sit."

"Indeed, Count Albert." 

They shake hands and sit at the opposite of each other, separated by the table with the tea set. The strange man stands behind Stefan.

Stefan smiles. There is no sign of humility in that smile. It conceals undertones of intimidation through the abuse of power.

“Before that, I would like to ask — who is that man behind you?”

“Hm? His name is Almo. He works with palace which reported this finding to me.”

“I’m Almo. Pleased to meet you.”

After seeing Almo’s cold smile, Albert’ feels a sense of defeat creeping up on him.

Almo's cold smile is like that of a cruel hunter mocking his prey as it steps into his trap. He must surely have made all the proper arrangements with all the appropriate parties before strutting up to him, bold as brass. That being the case, Stefan has most likely informed other affected noble heads. They would surely be prepared for any arguments on his part. That being the case, he ought to see what they have in store for him.

"Actually my daughter is in charge of the region's defence. Lucy, please calls Myla.  I hope you will be so kind as to wait here for a moment.”

“Very well, we’ll wait, we’ll wait.”

“However, please be swift about it. We do not have all day.”

Almo sneers at him, while Stefan shrugs.

“Understood. Then, please excuse me.”

Lucy slightly bows and run to get Myla.

Soon, Lucy arrives with Myla.

Myla quickly sits on the sofa between Albert and Stefan.

Almo and Stefan's look change as if being struck by lightning. Both of them are visibly shocked when they see Myla.

Their faces said that they had not expected to see such a beautiful woman.

Stefan leers from her side, glancing Myla's left side of body from head to toe.

Stefan’s expression slowly turns lewd, his eyes roving between her face and her ample bosom. There is a dark look of lust in his eyes. In contrast, Almo’s face gradually tightens up, unwilling to relax. Lucy notices his crotch bulges. 

"Is this hot...oh, no... beautiful woman, your daughter?" Stefan asks.

"Indeed. She decides on the defensive matter in the region."

"So, she is the one who is responsible for the illegal wall?" Almo rudely interrogates from his position.

Myla turns her eyes to him, after a while, her eyes widened. She recognizes this dangerous man. 

"Why, my lady? You looked like someone who sees ghost. Anything on my face?"

"Uh.. nothing. It's just that you don't seem to be trustworthy. Do you really work with the palace?" 

Myla quickly feigns ignorance. Almo responds with a grin.

"We don't do anything that warrants investigation. What is your real intention?"

Myla's question brings an exaggerated cough from Stefan, and he says:

"The Hyuutia walls you had constructed... they are far beyond your own region. The walls are even far beyond buffer zone between us. You are stealing our land. It's top class offense. doesn’t that sound like breaking the law to you?”

Stefan’s voice grew steadily more excited and harsher, but Myla’s response is a thoroughly disinterested:

“Oh, really?.”

Her tone nearly makes the two of them roll their eyes. They are clearly trying to intimidate the naive young woman, but they have not expected a response like that from her.

After exhaling, Myla feigns innocent again,

"The plain is empty with no one working on it since before I was even borne. It's only natural the first one who make use of it becomes the owner. Dioral laws are not clear, unlike Orlais and Ferelden."

Her sharp but calm demeanor makes the fan man gawking.

Almo takes a step forward, "Are you kidding? The land you built the walls is too far from any one your demesne under your influence!" 

"Indeed. We cannot condone such obvious breach of garrison law!”

Stefan slams the table.

“For that reason, sir Almo here has reported this case even at the risk of staining his reputation! What a model knight he is!”

Almo nods in thanks as Stefan splutters his incomprehensible lines.

What kind of farce is this,  Albert, Myla and Lucy  thought. Meanwhile, Myla's mind works. The two of them, despite claiming of different parties, are clearly in cahoots. That being the case, it is almost certain that they have taken ample precautions before launching their campaign. That being the case, Hyuutia's defeat is certain. Still, she has to minimize their losses, but how?

Turning that around, what were the conditions for Hyuutia’ victory?

The man who is standing is strong and dangerous. Now, he is behind the wall...he is even in her house. She must persuade them to get out  from the wall. 

Stefan grins evilly, as though to say, “You lost.”

Almo has the same sort of look as him.

“…Ah, I would like to wait for that, but the business has already filed a case, so I must arrest you and begin investigations. It’s out of my hands.”

"Given the situation and the circumstantial evidence, you’re clearly guilty, but the victim, Lord Stefan has said that they’re willing to go easy on you. Compensation will be needed to smooth things over." Almo speaks as he is an official from the palace.

Albert retorts seriously,

"What exactly do you mean by smoothing things over?”

“Well now. We’d like you to destroy the walls and bury the moat, and make up for the loss of income incurred while you were having the wall on his territory.”

“I see. And how much is that?”

“In gold coins… well. Ah, I’ll give you a discount. 100,000 gold coins. Compensation will run you another 30,000 gold coins, so a total of 130,000 seems fair, don’t you think?”

“…That is quite a sum. How did you arrive at that figure? How much does yields you make a day on that empty land and how exactly is it tallied up?” Albert retorts.

“Hang, hang on a bit,” Stefan interrupts. “That’s not all, sir Almo.”

“Ah, I almost forgot. Since I’ve already made a report, you’ll need to pay to destroy that as well, even if you settle the matter with us under the table.”

“That’s right. How could I have forgotten, sir Almo?”

"You must destroy the walls within a week. Failure to do so will incur you another 10,000 each day."

"It's impossible to destroy the long walls within a week, count Stefan." Albert stares sharply.

Almo smirks and asks, "Until you completely destroy the walls and bury the moats, how about letting us have some fun with your beautiful daughter?"

"Ohhh! That makes a lot of sense. If you make a hole, you have to fill it!”

There is visible lust in Stefan’s full-faced smile. He is surely imagining the act of stripping Myla naked.

The smile fades off Albert’ face, and it turns impassive.

"…Aren’t you afraid of your desires getting you in trouble?"

“How dare you talk to me like that?!”

Stefan’s face is bright red as he shouts.

Sounds like slaughtering a pig, Lucy thought. Meanwhile, Albert  stares at Stefan without a single word.

“What do you mean by my desires? All this is to uphold the law of Dioral! How dare you call it base desire! Show some respect!”

“Yes, yes, don’t get worked up, Lord Stefan.”

Once Almo cut in, Stefan calms down immediately. His anger has faded too soon, a sign that this is merely a scare tactic and not genuine anger.

What terrible acting, Lucy muses.

“But I say, sir Almo…”

“Lord Stefan, we’ve said everything we came here to say. I was thinking about coming back the day after to see what he thinks. Is that alright with you, Lord Albert?”

“Very well.”

With that, Albert brings everyone to the main door. As he send them off, Almo— who has stayed until the end — smiles to Myla who is glancing at him while sitting on her sofa, and left her with these words.

"I will teach that beautiful body of yours the joyful body of men."

Myla's fair face turn red in fury.

With that, the door closes with a thud.