"A matter of state, you can call it," said Li as he crossed his legs.

Alexei raised a brow. "You wish to dabble into this world's politics? I did not believe your interests to lie beyond your land."

"Part of my interests lie in protecting my land, so when politics has the potential to harm it, you can see how my interests would get piqued."

Alexei put his hands together, his stick like fingers interlocking as he leaned forwards a little, his attention sharpening.

"Did something occur?" He paused to think. "It is quite hard to believe. None would be foolish enough to challenge you. To even disturb your land by a hair would be an infinitely monumental risk to undertake."

"Nobody has taken any actions against me yet. You can call this more a preventative measure." Li verbalized what was on his mind without dancing around it. "What do you think about deposing the duchess?"

Alexei, for the first time, had his steely, calm exterior shattered with shock. "I must ask first, what pushes you towards this course of action? Has she moved against you?" To himself, he muttered, as if to convince himself more so than anyone else, "My spies have not reported to me anything, and I did not believe her so foolish to wrong you."

"Like I said, a preventative measure." Li felt he owed Alexei more of an explanation considering how much the vampire had helped him out. "Spurred on because of the fact that I've heard a concerning report that the duchess is performing cloning experiments."

"Ah, that is what has gripped your concern." Alexei took in a relieved breath. "There is no reason to worry yourself over such a matter, a matter I had deemed trivial enough that it was unworthy of mention to you.

I understand she has some means to replicate her heroes, but the capacities are extremely limited. She has yet to replicate anyone of notable strength, let alone Sunstar himself.

Nor does she seem to have the ability to clone any being other than heroes whose numbers are already few. And it would seem that she has already abandoned such experiments many years ago, for my spies have not reported any activity in that area in five years at the least."

"It's not so much the idea of cloning that gets to me. I understand she must have limitations on it considering she hasn't used it to do something outrageous like clone me or anything of that sort, but it's the idea that there's far too many secrets that make her too unpredictable a variable to consider."

"And that is why I am here." Alexei put a hand over his heart, just as his subordinate had done so before to Li. "I am your eyes and ears beyond this little town, and I consider myself a watchman of all that is to come, of all that may bring forth chaos. The duchess is most certainly my foremost target with the Praetor to the north being secondary, and I can guarantee you that I have a tight surveillance network around her. Any secrets I perceive that are of merit, you will know.

The moment she oversteps her boundaries and positions herself as one who cannot uphold order, then I will strike, but before then, I simply cannot."

"Is that so? Why not?" Li did not ask to accuse, merely to get an explanation.

"Vivienne has been a master of statesmanship. To the people, at the least, she has been a paragon of hope and generosity, a means to stand tall against the tyranny of elves, beastmen, orcs, goblins, and dragons to the north.

And though her mind may be focused almost solely upon maintaining her power, she yet still understands the responsibility that comes with it. She will never forego the good of her people, not simply out of the goodness of her heart, but because to do so would mean to forego her power.

That is why she does not make a single move against you, even, as I hear, accommodating your needs, letting you circumvent laws and live freely. She understands more so than anyone that to draw your ire is to threaten the entirety of her reign, and that is why I have faith that she will not make a move against you, for she is no errant jester to throw away her life and rule."

Three solid knocks echoed from the doors, and Alexei waved his hand, temporarily undoing the magical seals riddling them. The vampire maids came in. One of them brought in a tray of tea while the other two took away all the alchemical vials and gadgets laid upon the table. When they left, closing the doors behind them, the smell of acrid chemicals was replaced with the deeply natural and herbal scent of jasmine.

Alexei did not touch his tea and instead bowed his head to Li. "I implore you to have faith upon me. I guarantee the safety of your farm from the duchess, and the moment she oversteps her boundaries, I shall be there to end her so that you will never have to drench your hands in blood.

You came from a different world. I cannot have you bear the responsibility of this one."

Li took a sip of tea and said, "I'll keep you to your word because I know you haven't broken it a single time since I've gotten to know you. Plus, it does make my life easier. But before I can accept this, I need to know you can back up your words. Say she does make an errant move. What are your plans for taking her down?"

"Assassination, of course, though that is not the primary issue we grapple with. For adept creatures of the night such as ourselves, a simple assassination is a guarantee." Alexei shook his head. "It is the matter of upholding the order that she has created. Removing her would break the order of this world, already tenuous, apart entirely.

She is a peaceful buffer between the northern Republic's ambitions of conquest as well as one who has united all four great cities, cities that were once large enough to be kingdoms themselves with their own histories and rulerships.

She is like a dam that holds back a raging torrent of political and civil instability. The amount of chaos involved in ridding of her will not only throw this world into untold levels of bloodshed, but it will also cause immense problems for your own farm that, though I am certain you can deal with through might, will be infinitely more troublesome than the current peace you enjoy."

"Hm." Li thought for a few seconds. "Then you just need to have someone that can plug up the hole her absence will leave quickly enough."

"Ah, but therein lies the difficulty. There must be a peaceful transition to a capable ruler after her disposal, and the duchess has been exceptionally good in removing any and all challenges to herself or assimilating talent underneath her. With blood magic to enhance her longevity, she has truly entrenched her position."

Li nodded to Alexei. "Why couldn't you do it? You can change your form already and you're well versed in rulership to the point of having once been a royal advisor. Why not just take her place?"

"Unfortunately, vampiric shapeshifting cannot completely replicate a body already inhabited by an unique soul. That is left to the domain of Doppelgangers."

"You could recruit one, no?"

"The duchess has made countermeasures against it. The Elves have, like with many other monsters, hunted down the doppelgangers in the north to extinction, and in the south, one of the first things the duchess did upon taking power and forming her Ascendant Order of heroes was to engage in a doppelganger hunt."

"It sounds as if you've allowed her to grow into a problem."

"That, I can admit to, and yet, her capable rule is satisfactory to me such that I cannot say I made a mistake.

At that time, though, during her rise when I yet knew not whether she was maniac or capable ruler, my power was yet middling. I had control of only a small horde, but now I possess dominion over all the hordes in the north and half in the south. There is only one other higher vampire besides me still alive, and the duchess is currently fighting against her. When she falls, I will have control over her hordes too as the only remaining higher vampire to heed to."

"You won't help her against the duchess?"

"As I have said before, my kind are brutish, selfish, and prideful, and my fellow kin is no exception. Should she seize power, her rule will be chaotic and destructive, likely inciting war with the north. She is not worthy of power, of her hordes.

But I am."

"And the other big question: can you kill Sunstar? I'm assuming if you get rid of her, he'll make a move, and he's not only revered as the avatar of a god, but he's also quite strong compared to the rest of you. You'll have to get rid of him just as smoothly."

Alexei smiled. "You are correct. He is her superweapon rivaling Daedalus, the peerless flying fortress of the Elves, but I have developed a countermeasure against him that I am absolutely certain of, and ruining his reputation is easy enough once the duchess herself is eliminated."

"So long as you have confidence in it," said Li. "I was about to say that if ever there comes a time you need him out of the way, then I'd be generous enough to take a break from farming to get some exercise in."