Saint Patricio, the capital of the Kingdom of Castilla, was currently in full uproar.

  The past eight weeks had been a state of high unrest in the kingdom. The countryside was filled with massive peasant uprisings that the royal army couldn’t respond to, due to orders originating from the Monile Palace declaring it illegal for Lotharingia’s vassal states to violently suppress their people. Meanwhile, the cities became breeding grounds for radicals who wanted to overthrow the kingdom. Castilian nobles and leaders, with their hands tied, had no choice but to bow to the pressure and demands of their rebellious people.

  And today, at last, the king of Castilla, an old man named Victor Antonio de la Capiz, arrived today at Saint Patricio. Presenting himself in front of the newly made ‘Grand Council of the Republic,’ Victor Antonio kneels in front of the gathered officials in its chamber, removing his crown at last as the sound of victorious cheers tore through the council.

  It was only the first domino. One after the other, inspired by the events in Castilla, Lotharingia’s vassal states were struck by intensifying waves of unrest they were unable to deal with. Bicolors and tricolors, their varieties so dazzling and new, were flown throughout southern Ouria. There was not a single nation that wasn’t hit by the wave.

  While it took more than two years since Henry’s revolution to take root in the south, once it did, as if the match of a powder keg was lit, all of it exploded at once. But, in the middle of the euphoria and unending wave of change and victories, the air of uneasiness continued to fill the streets of the capitals of Ouria’s southern nations. They were all vassals of Lotharingia, whether they were republics or constitutional monarchies.

  Most of all, the nobles they had sidelined and overthrown were now beginning to sharpen their swords. The counter-revolution was just around the corner, and everyone was now anxiously waiting to see how it would happen. In just a few weeks, the peoples of Ouria would meet in a conference that would decide the fate of the continent.

  An agreement had to be struck, no matter what, or the most powerful army in the continent, many feared, would march down and bring Lotharingia’s subjects back to the fold. After all, even a merciful empress was still an empress, no?

  +++

  “Four of them already collapsed completely?” Alexa murmured as she read the morning newspaper calmly. “At the very least, the violence remains miniscule.”

  “Are you not going to reconsider your orders about prohibiting suppression and crackdowns?”

  “No, of course not. Perish the thought! I will just be playing into the hands of the people accusing me that I’m considering that.”

  “Hmm, but those people are our enemies, though.”

  “Haven’t I told you enough? I have no enemies, Adele. Hmph.”

  Alexa crossed her arms and pouted as Adele shook her head. Her servant decided to simply continue pouring tea into Alexa’s cup as Alexa returned to reading the newspapers on her desk. Truly, she was running out of time, but Alexa remained adamant that she would not consider the violent path unless it was truly the only option.

  So far, even the vassal states that fully collapsed to revolution had refrained from conducting any direct violence to their nobles and royalty. In fact, right now, not a single noble in Ouria had been arrested or killed by many of the new authorities in their countries. It was a sign that Alexa’s levelheaded and calm response was winning over the trust of the new governments over there.

  As long as they didn’t go too far, and as long as they only focused on securing rights for their people instead of revenge and violence, Alexa made it clear that Lotharingia would not intervene. In fact, she even invited their new leaders to the continental conference, instead of only inviting the nobles and royalty of the continent.

  “Our goal remains the same,” Alexa explained to Adele. “Those who wish to join the federation shall join. Those who wish to become independent can go independent. Of course, that means they’ll have less access to our markets and resources, but that's a choice they can freely take. As long as they vow not to try funding rebels in our borders or attempting to retake their territories we annexed, we can be good friends after this.”

  “It’s just…it’s a naive idea, Alexa. Have you not considered that? These people, they don’t just want to kick out their kings and queens, which have been appointed by the goddess herself, mind you! They also wish to liberate their lands! They’re just lying if they say they’re not so we’ll leave them alone.”

  “Adele, you have way too little faith in your fellow man.”

  “I remain firm in my views that rabble shouldn’t have this much control over the fate of nations. We’ve already seen how much violence they are capable of.”

  Adele huffed, standing straight on the side of Alexa’s table as she looked to the side. Alexa ignored her good friend. It was nice to hear her counsel anyway in times like these. It made sure that Alexa wouldn’t be too swayed by her more idealistic desires. Still though, Alexa couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

  Adele was always quite the strict and stiff aristocrat. In their team, she and Alfred were the voice of the old order, always cautioning Alexa about being too eager at changing things and always arguing about the merits of keeping things as is. Wilhelm, on the other hand, seemed like someone who had no beliefs of his own, because he would literally do anything as long as Alexa ordered it.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Only Phoebe was somewhat of a true believer of the projects Alexa was making, and Alexa knew that Phoebe had absolutely no idea what they were doing outside of vaguely knowing that it would ‘help the people,' which was enough to win her over ten times out of ten. To be fair, even Alexa was somewhat the same.

  The idea she was pursuing was something that she took from Max Clausewitz, refined by Wilhelm and his team, and largely executed by Wilhelm and his team.

  “You know, Wilhelm is already laying the groundwork for this,” Alexa said to Adele. “We shouldn’t worry that much.”

  And Alexa didn’t.

  As the following days passed, Alexa remained calm. She made a few proclamations and speeches using [Rose Eyes] to calm the public, and she routinely kept herself in contact with the revolving amount of new contacts and characters that reached her desk or those that requested her audience. Two weeks before the continental conference, the newly established Republic of Castilla sent a delegation to Lotharingia.

  It was the first time that commoners from a foreign nation were received as proper leaders in the Imperium’s history. Currently, Castilla was ruled by a grand council of men and had no formal leader, so they were only represented by two bankers and a military officer. Alexa had a good dinner with them, where she listened to their grievances and demands, before they met with Jonathan’s government in Perlenstadt.

  About a week before the continental conference, Wilhelm finally managed to find a compromise between him and the leaders of Lotharingia. Should they enter a federation, the Imperial Core, where ethnic Lotharingians held a majority, would have four states—namely the Archduchies of Kronstadt, Altdorf, Rosenfeld, and Sonnenburg—avoiding the proposed eight-state division that would be unacceptable to their peripheries and the empire’s vassals. It came with a caveat, though, as both Jonathan and Wenzel would only accept a federation agreement where there were only eight states for the vassal states and peripheries combined.

  In other words, Alexa would have to either convince her vassals to consolidate to enter or to simply let them go.

  Soon though, it was finally April 1844. Nearly four years had already passed since Alexa entered the world, and she was now roughly halfway through the original novel’s timeline. Much has changed; the revolution happened much, much earlier, and now, events that had never even happened in the original story were unfolding.

  With Phoebe, Wilhelm, Alfred, and Adele, Alexa travelled through southern Lotharingia, then through the Galenian countryside. The king of Galen, unlike in other nations, still hadn’t fallen. He had mobilized the country’s army to intimidate and disperse his people just a week ago, preventing him from falling to the same fate as the kings of the other vassal nations.

  The only thing that stopped violence was Alexa’s speeches, where she urged the people of Galen to back off and let ‘diplomacy and talk’ have their way first. It luckily worked, but tensions still remained high.

  When Alexa arrived at Lauris at last, where the continental conference was set to take place, instead of tricolors and bicolors, which had dominated the landscape and streets of southern Ouria, Lauris still flew the old royal standard of the kingdom. The conference was to be held in the Palais de Lunebelle, which was on the eastern end of Lauris.

  Wilhelm took her hand as she exited her fancy carriage, which was pulled this time again by powerful unicorns. Lauris was warm this time of the year, and with the sweltering heat of the sun, Alexa had to wear a fine lady's hat to shield herself. Still, she squinted after she thanked Wilhelm as she finally laid her eyes on Palais de Lunebelle.

  “...My, it looks so pretty,” Alexa said, a smile on her face as she looked at the imposing structure. “Reminds me of the Monile Palace.”

  “It was made by the same engineer four hundred years ago,” Wilhelm explained. Behind her, Phoebe and Adele exited the carriage, both of them immediately looking up and gawking at the Palais de Lunebelle. It was currently still only seven in the morning, yet the entrance of the palace was already filled with dozens of carriages.

  Alexa could also already see dozens of nobles, diplomats, and representatives walking toward the palace. Some of them were gazing and gawking at the palace a bit too much, though, mostly the ones who were plainly dressed. Most likely, they came from the new republics established during the revolutionary wave. The wealthier nobles mostly walked toward the palace while leisurely chatting with each other.

  Like Phoebe and Adele.

  “I hope the food is good inside!” Phoebe said on the side. “I haven’t had the chance to try food from here yet.”

  “This place is famous for seafood. Mostly shellfish and lobsters,” Adele said, seemingly bored after seeing the palace for the first time.

  “I’ve only ever tried fish so far. Are shellfish really that different?”

  “The only one I ever tried back then was shrimp…”

  Watching the two placed another smile on Alexa’s face, and she gently shoved her elbow on Wilhelm’s side to get his attention smugly. “I want fresh seafood too. It’s quite rare in the palace.”

  “We’re not here for the food.”

  “Pfft, shut it. Of course the first thing we’ll do here is have a ball, socialize with each other, and make friends. Food and drinks are the easiest way to make everyone at ease for that. Then we can talk business.”

  Wilhelm laughed.

  “Maybe you’re right, but I haven’t contacted the palace for this. The organization for this event is handled by Sir Wenzel, so you should ask him for that later if you want to.”

  “Wait, what the hell’s a guy in the Home Office doing here?”

  “He has deep connections in the Galenian nobility.”

  Alexa groaned. “Figured as much. I don’t like how that guy has tentacles everywhere. Don’t let him ruin our plans, okay?”

  “Of course not. We already have an agreement. A gentleman’s agreement.”

  Alexa found it quite hard to trust royalists, because they were the most hardline when it came to this specific subject. They wanted as many privileges and as much power for Lotharingia as possible and wanted nothing for their vassals and peripheries. They were quite a hard bunch to deal with, and Metternich’s faction was the worst.

  “Alright. I’ll take your word for it.”

  Alexa finally plastered a confident smile on her face after a deep breath and exhale, pointing straight at the palace.

  “Let’s go. I want this continent united under me!”