“Back when the Al-Shan Emperor had his first wedding, not many important people from other lands attended the ceremony. Sure, they sent their ambassadors and dignitaries as was appropriate, but at the time, with the Civil War still being fresh in recent memory, paired with the youth of the new emperor, most people were still uncertain about the future of the Empire.

Cut to the Emperor’s controversial second wedding four years later, where he chose to take in a lowly peasant with dubious past who had fought her way to a high military position by merits and courageous deeds as his second Empress, with the approval of his first Empress, no less!

I was present there as the ambassador from Jonkver, and was surprised to see at least half a dozen leaders from the City-States present in person, matched and exceeded only in number by those who came from the Union. Many other monarchs had also been present on that day, up to and including the dreaded Bone Lord of the Lichdom.

To say that the youthful Emperor of Al-Shan had made his mark in the world and demonstrated his capabilities in the four years that passed between his wedding was no exaggeration. When I was there during the first ceremony, I saw an innocent young man put into a position few would be prepared for.

On my second visit, all I saw was a Monarch who reigned over his land and people with the confidence that his will shall be done, one with a firm grip on the power he possessed, rather than letting the power control him.” - Leandra Voss-Nunez, Jonkver Ambassador to the Al-Shan Empire, Circa 682 FP.

After three days of rest in Port Serda, Arquivaldo had finished his business, and the ship left once more, this time taking the route back to the Al-Shan Empire, straight towards the northwest, towards the port at Shan-Hu on the Empire’s southeastern end. It was the reverse of the journey Cal had taken on Silas’ ship back then, from the other direction.

Unlike the previous trip she took, there was no interlude that involved massive ancient sea monsters in the middle of the journey. Instead, they ran across many other ships on their journey, ships that traveled the sea lanes from the other direction, merchant ships that were traveling from Al-Shan to the mainlands for trade and profit.

Cal had played a small part in the increase of trade between her homeland and the mainlands. Amongst the things that contributed to the trade was when Xain had offered the recipe of the traditional remedy - On Cal’s suggestion - the Empire used to deal with rabid beasts’ bite, which was researched further in Paradise. Some of the ingredients of the remedy turned out to be irreplaceable, but the alternatives were found for the rarest of them, which allowed for mass production of the remedy.

Exporting the herbs needed for that remedy became a profitable trade opportunity, though the price was kept low at Xain’s orders, not so low that the ones involved would make a loss, but enough that it would not turn the remedy’s cost exorbitant. Many praised the move as a show of benevolence on his part, which helped the Empire’s reputation.

That, paired with his show of ruthlessness when he utterly eradicated the Traditionalist faction’s uprising, made the leaders of the current world sit up and take notice of the young Emperor as a potential rival or ally, where before they were still at most uncertain on whether the Empire would do well under his inexperienced hand. Contrary to their expectations, however, Xain proved his mettle, as well as his capability for both benevolence and ruthlessness, all within a few short years.

A chance meeting with Silas and the Kraken’s Bounty around midway through their journey to Shan-Hu had given Cal more insight on the current situation on Al-Shan. Silas told Cal that many dignitaries had arrived early, and rumors stated that many heads of state would attend personally, even. Silas himself was on one last trading run before he had to return to his tribe as well, as he was made to attend the ceremony as a representative like the last time.

The journey to Shan-Hu was uneventful, and they reached the island’s port exactly a week after their departure from Serda. It was still over a month away from Xain’s planned wedding ceremony, so when the captain took a few days to offload goods and load new merchandise at the port, Cal and the rest were completely fine with it.

After the short stopover at Shan-Hu, they took the ship on a shorter trek, as it only took two days to reach Al-Shan itself from the island. It was late autumn still, yet the weather already showed signs of the incoming winter, with some light snowfall on the day they landed on Al-Shan proper.

Some of the members of the group bundled themselves up in thicker clothes - which they had fortunately prepared as they knew Cal’s planned itinerary - as the weather turned cold enough their breath turned to fog as they exhaled. Of the entire group, though, Tal seemed to be the most bothered by the cold, as he shivered despite wearing layers of thick fur jackets.

Cal had not blamed him. The Elmaiya Empire was mostly tropical in weather, and even in the more temperate regions like Verozgrad, it was still much warmer than most other places. In Verozgrad, people might only see snow in the deepest winters, and often had no snowfall at all during their cold season. Compared to the far colder climate of Al-Shan, it was no surprise that Tal was shivering in the cold breeze of that late autumn day.

As for Cal herself, she inhaled and took a deep lungful of the bitingly cold, fresh air of her homeland. The feeling of returning home filled her heart with unexpected nostalgia, despite her regular visits. She led the group down from the ship, and invited Arquivaldo and his crew along.

After all, years ago she had promised to treat him to the best restaurant in the Empire when he happened to visit there, so it was good time to make do on her promise.