Prince Elric gave a threatening glance at his mother. She immediately understood the situation and removed the servants from the hall. The two remained silent for a while until Queen Blonsall finally worked up the courage. She hesitated somewhat, but still asked,

“Is… Are you…”. Her voice faltered everytime the implications of the situation came to mind. Despite her hesitation, Prince Elric was enraged enough to dismiss the humiliation. He immediately followed her broken question with an answer.

“This Prince had his root taken!” His anger flared at the statement. His memories gave out when he left his office and started once more after waking up in pain and covered in blood behind his estate. As if to rub in the insult, he found both his root and jewels ‘neatly’ placed in a box filled with manure next to him.

Whoever attacked him wanted to send a message and he already had his suspicions. He immediately followed up his outburst and questioned, “Is Duke Reviarra still imprisoned!?” Queen Blonsall also suspected the same and had already sent someone to verify. Her answer only solidified Prince Elric’s guess.

“That bitch! What ‘Lady’?! That whore touched this Prince’s root and expects this Prince to leave her alone?!” Prince Elric was no longer as refined as before. A sense of mania whipped about him as he realized his suspicions. Queen Blonsall could only watch her son descend into madness.

Shattered pots followed the Prince’s trail as he paced the Queen’s room and released his anger. He tore a steel brazer from the wall and smashed it repeatedly across a granite column until his emotions finally exhausted him. The steel mesh fell from his bloodied hand while his chest heaved up and down.

Inside him, the rage wouldn’t back off at all. He felt as if it consumed him and moments later, he felt the need to vomit and coughed up chunks of blood. An instant later, Prince Elric collapsed in the blood catching the sight of his mother rushing towards him in tears followed by a dense blackness.

Although Sol was absent from the scene, it wasn’t hard for her to receive reports from servants and guards who gossiped about it. The Prince’s rampage was so violent that it drew the guards and servants closer just in case Queen Blonsall required their help.

It was impossible for them to not hear his screams and actions. Sol allowed herself to take pleasure in the Prince’s pain, but she never let herself think her actions to be good. At some point, Sol became aware that there was a part of her that craved a certain degree of chaos.

As it wasn’t much of a problem, she accepted that new found aspect of herself and moved on. The Prince’s news was only an extra anyway. Her main concern revolved around King Blonsall’s collapse. The King had yet to awake after being unconscious for nearly 16 hours.

Sol’s brows furrowed at the information. She wanted to strike the family, but King Blonsall shouldn’t have been so mentally weak as to completely collapse from her letter. With no ideas popping up, her gaze drifted to the young boy and older gentlemen sitting across from her.

“Any ideas what’s going on with the Royals? This Lady finds it hard to believe King Blonsall would remain incapacitated this long.”

Her question was immediately followed up by her father. “I agree. King Blonsall was in good health when he imprisoned me. At his age, it wouldn’t be surprising for the shock to take him out for a few hours, but this is certainly too long…” His eyes reflected Sol’s gaze as if in understanding with each other.

Neither appeared to want to bring up the scenario, but they had to start considering it. As if hoping for a secondary opinion, the two turned their attention to An. They boy only smiled back while answering. “Sounds like a revolution to me.”

Both Duke Reviarra and Sol’s expressions darkened hearing that idea. Sol followed up a moment later. “If that’s true, then we’ve lost a year of planning. Who do you think is making the move?” As if to answer her question, a series of knocks disrupted their meeting.

Sol allowed the servant in and was somewhat surprised to recognize the face of the servant as the woman from the rebellion. “This Lady is rather surprised to see you here Miss Terry. Do you need something from this Lady?”

Her appearance was just too coincidental and all members in the room were aware of it. Terry genuflected then delivered her news. “Lady Reviarra, this servant was tasked to deliver information from the Palace. Second Prince Theodore and Third Prince Louis were assassinated. Queen Blonsall has taken control of the cabinet until King Blonsall recovers. Prince Elric was positioned as the provisional King.”

Although she expected something along those lines, to actually hear the situation devolve so quickly, she somehow felt a bit guilty. A small act of revenge somehow turned into a full blown conspiracy and crown takeover. Though feeling a bit guilty, she didn’t regret her actions.

If she could kill the Prince, she would have. Sadly, the repercussions of killing Prince Elric was something the Reviarra family would struggle to withstand. In truth, her plans covered the death of the entire Royal family, however it required a step by step approach.

“What of Prince Roland? Has there been any news on him?” Duke Reviarra asked the woman. He was aware of Sol’s strategy and knew the 4th Prince had a role to play. If he was also assassinated, then their plan would require restructuring.

“There’s no news of the 4th Prince as of now. Master believes the Prince is waiting for a chance to strike”, replied the woman. It was clear she had already expected such a question. To her surprise though, Sol dismissed her a moment later without any attempts to gather more information.

The group watched Terry exit before continuing their discussion. “What do you think?” Sol asked the group. “Sounds like we’re being set up. The timely news feels more like a warning than anything else.” Duke Reviarra answered.

Although An remained silent, his gaze seemed to convey the same message. Queen Blonsall was determined to use Duke Reviarra’s escape and the assault on Prince Elric as a means to take down the Reviarra household and create a common enemy.

Should Prince Elric prove his capability in taking this new ‘common enemy’ down, it would solidify his qualifications as a King. As he was the favored child prior to King Blonsall’s collapse, the odds were rather good that the ministers would acquiesce to him inheriting the title.

“How clever… We need to move our plans up again…” Sol muttered to herself. Her mind was taking stock of Iridescent’s current strength and the Reviarra household’s preparations. Her conclusion? Not enough.

“We’re lacking power. If the Imperial army is sent into the Reviarra territory by the end of the month, our best outcome is mutual destruction…” Sol concluded her thoughts out loud. She thought about Prince Roland once again. Although the Prince missed his chance with her offer earlier, Queen Blonsall managed to flip the table.

It was no longer Sol against the two Princes, but rather the Reviarra household and Prince Roland trying to survive Prince Elric and Queen Blonsall. Now that their positions have been altered, Sol no longer required such a strict agreement with Prince Roland. She clicked her tongue at the thought.

As if catching her thoughts, An chuckled. “Prince Roland got quite lucky in a way.” Despite saying so, he knew the end goal was still to remove the Prince. Only the intermediate goal should have changed. Sol had little choice but to agree with his statement. She knocked against the table and called a servant into the office.

“Deliver a message to Lunar Supply’s manager for this Lady. Tell him Iridescent discovered a pesticide for infectious growths. If he’s willing to purchase, send a representative to Iridescent’s Arcgate headquarters”, stated Sol before sending the servant away.

She then stood up and addressed the group. “Father, it appears we need to evacuate Blonsall capital and prepare for war.” Rather than a question, it was more a statement, yet neither of the men disagreed. The group moved to prepare their luggage and leave within the next few hours.

Not long after Sol’s group exited the capital on carriage, a thunderstorm consumed the territory of Arcgate. Bolts of lightning tore through the air, smashing into the ground. Pits of charged debris littered the territory, however there was a particularly energetic discharge just a few kilometers from the Reviarra estate.

Bolts of lightning trailed one after another with hardly a second delay only to smash into the ground. Crackling strands of electricity leaped from node to node as the surrounding fauna and terrain became more and more energetic. A short break followed the rapid discharge before a solid lightning strike thicker than a tree’s trunk blasted a molten crater into slag. The excess electricity seemed to be attracted by the event and converged on the crater.

Space itself became unstable and appeared to fracture. As if being slammed into by a foreign object, the fractures expanded into an area large enough to fit a human. Collisions resounded and then settled as if in rhythm. Silence pervaded the area for a moment before a thunderous noise exploded from the fractured space.

Tumbling from the tear in space, a woman with slitted eyes and faint scale outlines coughed up blood while trying to regain her senses. Though dizzy, she ensured to send a message back through the tunnel. “Master, I’ve made it to the other side.” She spit more blood out after regaining her balance to observe her surroundings. ‘So the Missus is here?’ She thought as the tear restored itself behind her.