She had heard about the call to action, and despite her desire to go along with their mission, the young royal ultimately donned her hood and took to the streets. Killing that infidel and vanguard of the idols would definitely be a huge blow against the traitorous aristocrats, but carried the risk being seen in cahoots with the heretics. And that would give due reason for all the Kingdom’s aggressive wayward neighbours to just put aside the pretenses and just team up against her poor little Astra Kingdom.

The heretics, as always, were much more civil than what everyone made them out to be. It was unfortunate that the powers leading this Realm were adverse to their values. They were fun characters, much more vibrant than any of her siblings or her noble playmates, each time she visited they always presented her yet another surprise.

There was no end to their skittish characters, for even within the heretics, there was a heretic, though of another nature. A heretic to the heretics. Though judging by his ridicule of the that lackey, it didn't seem like he was a faithful to the gods either…

A strange fellow. Not that she was adverse to such outré, in the end, the heretics weren’t enemies to neither the Seasons, Spring, nor the Stars. Which was probably why they all congregated here.

Wading through the throngs of people, there was no safer place to be than the clamor of a crowd. In a matter of minutes, the storefront was left behind her as she moved along the grain of the populace.

Hawkers were everywhere in the Capital and their voices made up most of the clamour around.

“And it even works underwater!”

She heard a bright voice peal, before the speaker slapped a sheet of black film on the inside of a barrel, instantly plugging the leak.

“With the powerful adhesive of Fleck’s Tape, anything is possible!” The rotund salesman exclaimed at the wide crowds.

And despite being the fourth princess, Kana Ast had never heard of this little invention.

What was an adhesive? What’s tape?

And most importantly, why does the salesman have a full smile despite having only finished half the job?

There was still another leak there! You can’t just do half the job and call it a done deal!

Sigh, who cares, the people in this Realm are weird.

Soon arriving at a ramshackle house, her hood was pulled lower, running a thick ochre paste through her hair as she swapped her face for a magenta mask. It bore no features, just a smooth surface. It wouldn’t bode well to have any vassals recognise her attendance here.

Taking measured steps she walked to the door, her hand poised in prime knocking position, as befitting a person of her stature.

Only to notice something from the corner of her eye.

“Did you follow me here?”

She immediately shot her gaze at the offender. Hidden in the nearby shrubbery, they couldn’t cover the eerie glow of their red eyes. Red eyes met purple pupils. Kana already had her hand over her hand rifle, prepared to strike the moment she won the staring contest.

“Mmmm, yes.”

And… No, she wasn’t going to pull out her firearm anymore. It was the strange little child that arrived with the equally perplexing heretic.

“Go back, I’m doing…” She tried to think up an excuse for the little, but in the end she opted for a simple excuse her father often told her, “I’m doing grown up things, now leave.”

But then, Lazari just didn’t leave…

“Okay, why are you following me? Were you ordered to?”

Kana recived a negative on that query.

“Then can you just leave?”

Lazari didn’t respond, but we all knew she wasn’t gonna leave. And that was for a very simple reason. For Lazari who quite liked pretty little things, Kana, the pretty princess very much rubbed off on Lazari.

In fact, Kana was the one that helped Lazari find the pink rose from three chapters ago, so that was enough to say that they were friends. And friends always stuck to eachother!

At least, that was what friends should do, according to Jeffrey. The most credible source Lazari could find. And without Little Miss Shiv and Jeffrey to keep her company, it was only natural to stick to the pretty princess.

Being cramped in that flower shop with all the little boys and girls was… Unnerving. She didn’t like it. And it was at this point that Kana just gave up on trying to rid of Lazari.

“Fine,” The poor princess relented, “Take this mask, and do not do anything stupid.”

She sighed but comforted herself in knowing that she was probably the most manageable person she could bring with her. So bringing herself back into her calm, she straightened her back, as she poised her hand poised once more in prime knocking position.

Three thumps echoed on the iron braces of the door. Two in quick succession and the last after a brief moment.

Immediately, a click sounded as an peep hole openned up.

“Magenta is the colour of wild curiosity,” She intoned in a perfect flat pitch. It was masterfully done. If one didn’t know about her beforehand, it’d be difficult to even guess her gender.

“Welcome, Magenta, the rest are waiting,” The doorkeeper nodded as they cracked open the door, inviting the little princess in as well as the +1.

…

Dim lights and a caliginous mood to match.

Eight sat at the trapiziumesque table, not counting those that stood around.

“It seems we’re all gathered…”

“Indeed, sistaaa~!”

One commented as another replied, counting those assembled. It was dark, and all were masked. Who knows who these people were?

“Is the task completed yet?”

Moving straight into business, a masked figure seated at the longer parallel of the table enquired

“It is done my lady, the ‘package’ has been sent, it is certain to arrive by noon,”

“Excellent, excellent, hehehe. He’ll see,” The slim lady leaned back, steepling her fingers together, content with the answer, “On another note, where in the seven shining stars are the lights?”

“Forsooth! We can’t have a proper tea party, masquerade or not if the illumination isn't in order!” Another added.

Mhmm, truly! A masquerade tea party can’t go on without proper lighting! That’s simply a breach of conduct. Only then could it truly be a REAL TEA PARTY!

And in short order, the lights were fixed, properly displaying the gorgeous merriments as well as the elegant noble ladies and their similarly lavished add ons.

The congregation was complete and this was a chance to make small talk, gossip about the latest fads or talk shit behind others backs, nothing was off bounds.

Yes, of the many noble circles in the Astra Kingdom, this was the neutral Mirth of Magenta, hosted by noble houses with strong ties to the royal family. They were known for hosting only the most exquisite and superb tea parties, and it could be understood that they were a subsidiary of the Royal Faction, despite their neutrality.

Though on that line of thought, it wasn’t as if all the royals were in the Royal Faction per se. For example…

“I heard that a member of the royal family is directing the Opposition.”

“Really?”

“Yas! Did you hear about that summon that the Opposition is droning oh so dearly on? Apparently, the materials consumed are ones that can only be gotten from within the treasury you know? Only royal members can grant access there…”

Indeed, the royal family wasn’t always a unified faction. There were many conflicts of interest and secret vies for power. And well, Kana wasn’t too different. Being the youngest child, she was often overlooked when power disputes rose. Though such feuds were often the Royals against the Opposition. Who, lo and behold, opposed the Royals.

At most, many would consider Kana a decent pawn for her mature nous.

But granted, many didn’t know her relation with the heretics. Even if the heretics weren’t explicitly persecuted in the Kingdom, it’d make for bad publicity if the neighbours found out. Truly, the royal family was full of damn snakes. Though a snake Kana may be, her loyalty to this Kingdom had never once wavered. The priority had always been the sovereignty of the Kingdom and she wouldn’t stand for those that compromised it.

And this was a place where she could touch the sensitive information required to weed out the wheat from the tares. The King’s loyalty need not be said, but she could not say the same about her siblings and even her cousins.

"To think someone dared to bring a foreign being of an enemy state into this Kingdom…" She mumbled as she took a sip of find tea, exported from the great oriental valleys. Her appearance was dignified even when matched against the many noble ladies in the room, and the addition of Lazari made her seem like an important dignitary. Well, she is an important dignitary but she looked like she came from another background.

Kana was silent, simply offering some rumours she made up by distorting random facts Jeffrey told her. One that got many listening was about how undead differed from natural and artificial and how 'her father met and killed a necromancer' to find this information. An interesting tidbit, but the next comment after was the main course amidst the appetisers.

“Ah, I think I remember seeing the first princess having outings with a rather dashing gentleman.” This got all the ladies in the room listening.

Gossip was always the best discourse for exchanging sensitive intelligence. Whether it was true or not, there was always fire if a smoke was seen.

“He wore the special armband for a distinguished guest despite the edict that locks out all foreign nobility, so do you think that perhaps…” It was enough for the other ladies to get their imagination going.

The same was true for Kana, though her imagination was shifted in another direction.

She had a target. And her sidearm was loaded. You needed to to eliminate the malady first before worrying about the blights. She would take good care of Lazari in place of Jeffrey. That was the least the poor fellow deserved. And that my friends, is how one comes to the prospect of sororicide. Mmm, yeah, politics is really messy. That’s why it’s so fun to watch! Wouldn’t you agree?