Sovereign

"You can place me in a kangaroo court, but I shall plead guilty immediately, and it will only be a pointless stunt. I am guilty, and I am proud of it. Call me a dirty rebel, and I shall wear it proudly in front of the firing squad. For that's just what I am."

- Jean Louverte, leader of the Lorathian Brotherhood Front, after he was arrested in the wake of the Redcastle Sarin Attacks.

---

Kingdom of Lorathia

City of Hollard

Countess Adelaide Wallenstein, Orland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, was quite a wholesome character, Amelie mused, after the 30-year-old woman bought flowers from a little shop. She had also been kind to her while they were on their way to Lorathia.

On her hands was a bunch of yellow flowers that smelt pleasantly even from a distance. Amelie also noted that it seemed quite familiar to her.

She looked away from the flowers on Adelaide's hands to view the scenery as they walked toward the entrance of Hollard's Palace of Peace. Around them, a line of guards was on both sides of the red carpet that kept the media and their cameras and microphones at bay.

Near the side of the grand Palace too was an elevated platform, where the flags of every nation of Pollos flew on the flagpoles. Amelie's eyes, which were locked on the Orlish flag for a few seconds, turned away as she looked back at her Minister when she heard her voice.

"Your Majesty, I told you so, Lorathian flowers are one of the finest varieties out there."

Amelie smiled in agreement.

"Yeah, I suppose it is."

The flight was a bit of a pain, Amelie thought, but it was needed. It was a part of being a monarch, regardless of how much she disliked it. To travel to other countries, for…well, diplomacy, which she knew nothing about, as usual.

Well, it is what it is.

While the Meintz Group and her band of ragtag reformists worked to fix Orland, she and Adelaide went to the Kingdom of Lorathia for now, and so did the other leaders of the Ivory Alliance.

But also here today were some of the leaders of the Order Pact. The enemy alliance that they had faced, and "defeated" in the Great War, which was led by the eastern superpower of Pollos - the Empire of Larissa.

The conference was called to address the dispute that was caused by the global recession - that being the failure of the Empire of Larissa and the Order Pact to pay the war reparations to Orland and the members of the Ivory Alliance as defined by the Treaty of Eutstadt. They had cited their failed economy as the reason for failed payments, but for the Ivory Alliance, that was simply unacceptable.

Mainly because the Ivory Alliance was just as close to bankruptcy and ruins as the Order Pact was.

The problem, however, was that the Empire was never truly militarily defeated. Sure the Empire was pushed, humiliated, and its allies' land fell under the occupation of the Ivory Alliance, but they still held a powerful military. They could not simply force them to pay when the Empire could very well still restart the war if it wished to.

That was why Amelie, Adelaide, and Orland's diplomatic officials were here.

Beside them too, however, was the Queen of Lorathia herself, who welcomed them back at the airport. For now, they were having a little conversation about the flowers her Minister bought.

"Indeed, those exquisite flowers are the pride of Lorathia." The older Queen said, quite pleasantly. "Did you know that those flowers are a part of our coat of arms and our flag?"

"The Yellet flower, yes. It's no wonder your nation uses it as your national symbol. It defines Lorathia well." She gave it a gentle whiff. "The fragrance of Lorathia's prosperity and noble gentleness."

That was when it clicked on Amelie's head. No wonder it was familiar, it was on their flag! And most importantly, Adelaide actually had a reason for acquiring it.

It's a part of diplomacy. To appreciate a local product that is a national symbol. How did I miss that?

Queen Eliette smiled at Adelaide's praise.

…

In a few hours, the conference was about to begin between the diplomats of the four nations.

Due to the instability faced by the members of the Order Pact, Empress Katerina Illyenov represented the pact alone in front of the three monarchs of the major member states of the Ivory Alliance: Queen Amelie Ludendorf of the Kingdom of Orland, Queen Eliette Alcaster of the Kingdom of Lorathia, and Queen Clericia Alois of the Kingdom of Gaul.

And they faced the young Empress, who, while alone in the room, grinned arrogantly down at them. Indeed, Katerina had a reputation for being childish, cocky, and aggressive, and as the Great War showed, she also had a great thirst for blood and conflict.

If Amelie wasn't a calm woman, her eyes would have been twitching in annoyance at the 17-year-old brat.

"So, we meet once again, leaders of the world!" The brat started. "Isn't it a fine day?"

No one from the side of the Ivory Alliance replied. Katerina looked around for a while before she covered her mouth and giggled loudly.

"Oh my, you three are so stiff again."

She looked at Amelie.

"And I see that the new Queen of Orland is here too, huh? You know, last time I met your mother, she was so furious at my behavior."

"I'm not here to look for a petty fight," Amelie replied as she glared at her. The way she glared at her would have made any being feel fear of her, yet the brat was nonchalant about it. "Your Empire violates the terms of the Eutstadt Treaty. Shall we please fix that today?"

Amelie smiled…"sweetly". The guard behind Katerina felt a chill on her spine as she watched Amelie. While Amelie was indeed quite an inexperienced monarch, Orland was still the superpower of the world, and she thus carried much prestige and reputation as a result of it. And the guard knew it.

For Orland was a nation that had just beaten her country and dealt tens of millions of casualties to the Order Pact.

Yet the brat laughed. "It was a stupid treaty anyways. Why should I be paying money just because I lost?"

Amelie really wanted to strangle the brat. Katerina oversaw the Empire during the Great War after all, and her childish and bloodthirsty tendencies were one of the reasons for its extreme brutality. Many of the Order Pact's botched offensives that led to millions of dead men were ordered and planned by her.

And unlike in Orland where the General Staff and the Admiralty operated independently, the Empress had direct control over her Armed Forces, and she would routinely execute her male generals if they refused to carry out her insane plans.

Ironically, it was widely known as the main reason that the larger Imperial Army lost to Orland and her allies.

Queen Eliette looked at Amelie and sighed. They already talked about it. All Amelie needed to do was restrain herself and not fall for Katerina's childish games.

Eliette looked back to Katerina and spoke.

"Empress, we understand that your economy tanked." Calm and gentle, the old Queen was the definition of refinement. Her expression betrayed any idea of her being affected by the child's inadequacy. "That's why, we would like to propose to amend the treaty, and lower down the reparations."

Clericia smiled beside Eliette and spoke too. The brat looked even more bored, however, as Gaul was the weakest of the three, and was almost defeated during the early days of the war.

Amelie knew that she held extreme bitterness and hostility against Katerina, as her Kingdom took the brunt of the Great War's brutal trench warfare, yet when she spoke, it was almost as if those emotions were hidden under layers of concrete.

"In order to preserve peace, it is of great importance that an agreement be made today by both of our parties." Amelie kept her mouth shut as the two spoke. It was clear that her older allies were more experienced, so she deduced it would be wiser to stay silent.

"In the name of peace and preventing further bloodshed, would you then agree to these amendments to the treaty?"

The Queen of Gaul handed the treaty with her gloved hands to the Empress, who gave her a wry smile as she took it in response.

For many minutes, Katerina read the treaty in silence, as she kept her arrogant expression up. As she read it, she made small snickers and almost looked down upon it. Amelie didn't like it, yet she didn't make any comments.

The Empress suddenly laughed as she finished, and she placed down the treaty papers as if it was a mere joke.

"I see, I see."

"So how was it?" Amelie asked, her face neutral, as she tried to hide the fact that she really wanted to strangle the devious warmongering brat in front of her.

Katerina smiled and looked at her as if she was judging her reaction. Amelie made the mistake to show a split-second scowl at her. Katerina's smile grew.

"I'll see what I can do. For now, my diplomats shall review the terms listed here. That's all." She stood up. "Farewell my friends, may the conference go smoothly."

…

"I'm sorry, but the Order Pact's delegate rejected our proposal," Adelaide reported to Amelie as she walked out of her room to find the Empress.

Amelie's face was flushed red as she left, as Adelaide trailed closely behind her.

Amelie needed that damned reparation money. She needed it to pay off some of Orland's high-interest loans and stave off bankruptcy. She needed it to pay for the bailouts. She needed it to stabilize Orland's reserves that were being eaten up to salvage the economy.

She needed it, desperately. And that brat dared to deny her?

"Your Majesty, what are you planning to do?"

Amelie stopped and looked back at her.

"I need to see that brat. Maybe I could slap some sense into her brain."

"Your Majesty, that would be as foolish as playing chess with a pigeon. It wouldn't work."

Amelie calmed down. She made a good point.

"Still, I want to talk with her. Where is she?"

Adelaide didn't like it, but she conceded.

"Alright, follow me please."

The two walked quickly through the Palace, and they passed through foreign delegates, nobles, and many of the press. Many of them asked to have a chat with Amelie, but Adelaide respectfully waved them off.

Soon, the two found the Empress sitting on a table on an isolated balcony with her personal guards, as she dined alone. Her bright pink hair made her a dead giveaway for Amelie to spot. One of the guards scowled at Amelie when they spotted her as she approached the balcony, but Katerina gestured for the guard to calm down.

"Worry not, she just wants a chat." Katerina turned to Amelie and gave her a smug grin. "So what do you want from me?"

Amelie's fist almost clenched, but she held it off. Instead, she calmly walked closer to Katerina.

"Why did you reject the treaty?"

"While I hate to deny it, my country can't pay for it." She quickly corrected it. "Actually, we could, with the lowered reparations. But I didn't want to."

"You're making a mistake." Amelie threatened. She didn't like this. She would be humiliated and her reputation would once again take a nosedive with this. Orland spent millions of bodies for this peace. She could not let this brat ruin the treaty.

"Am I?"

"If you do this, I will-"

I will send the entire Orlish Armed Forces to wipe that self-satisfied smugness off your face!

"You will what? Send me an angry letter?" Katerina laughed at her and took a quick drink of her wine. "You and I both know that you're barely in control of your Kingdom."

She made an irritating childish voice to mock Amelie.

"Your military isn't even loyal to you. What will you do then?"

Amelie clenched her fist as her lips tightened. She felt an overwhelming urge to pull her wand out and zap the hell out of the brat. Oh, she really needed some practice for her magic, she reminded herself. It would be really satisfying if she could try her offensive spells on this infuriating girl.

"I am warning you. If you don't reverse this mistake, you will regret it."

"I won't. I'm not accepting your stupid treaty. Now, leave! You are ruining my dinner."

Amelie scowled. The Empress guards tightened their hold on the wands on their sheats. Behind her, Adelaide paled a bit. She gave Amelie a tap from behind.

"Your Majesty, we should leave now."

Amelie gritted her teeth, while Katerina ignored her and nonchalantly returned to her food.

Amelie looked around at the hostile guards that almost surrounded her. Oh, William and the Captain of her security detail would be really furious at her for leaving without them.

"Fine, let's go."

As she turned around, however, she heard Katerina once again.

"Oh, and, before you go…condolences to you, by the way. Oh, your mother's fate was a sad tragedy." A devious giggle came from her as she continued to eat, as the sounds of her utensils filled Amelie's ears.

For seconds, Amelie's eyes were wide open, and the world seemed to slow down as she tried to make sense of her words, until Adelaide snapped her out of it.

"Your Majesty, we need to go." It was almost a whisper.

"I…alright. Let's go."

Dammit, was she just messing with me?