RULES OF THE EMPIRE

Bit by bit, the Grand Hall was slowly being filled up. Lights from above lit up every corner of the majestic opening, people streaming in, gathering in small and large circles, chattering away in peace. It would be hard to claim a certain sense of uniformity within, as styles of clothing varied from the grand-standing, layered dresses full of fluff and decorations to seemingly low-brow, leather-capped vests, pants, and boots dyed in a dull brown. Hairstyles as convoluted as sculptures themselves, all the way to the bald heads, calm and exaggerated demeanors, it seemed more like a political gathering of dozens of different Kingdoms than an internal ball.

Yet, even with the surface-level differences, the distinctions themselves seemed to stop at that point; people, regardless of their appearance, mingled with others, with the same language echoing in and out, and a sense of belonging present in the s.h.i.+mmering eyes.

Rio and Xia, alongside Namia, Yun and numerous other, young Generals, mingled toward the leftmost corner, sporting their military garb and proudly displaying their ranks, the highest of which belonged to Xia, having been promoted to the Lieutenant-General, the second highest being Rio, Yun and Namia, Major Generals, with the rest being Brigadier Generals. The latter, especially, often glanced enviously at Xia's insignia strapped to her shoulder-pad, as she was now on par with some of the Empire's legendary figures in terms of rank, like Y'vol and Y'elleve.

Xia hardly minded their gazes, most of the attention drawn to Rio who was unashamedly sharing his 'heroics' with the young generals, his ego no doubt soaring at the moment.

"So, how does it work between you two?" Namia asked her suddenly.

"What?" Xia asked back.

"Does he have to greet you as a superior each time you guys draw the curtains over the bed? Like, saluting you each time he reaches for one or the other piece of clothing?"

"… no?" Xia tilted her head in confusion as Rio's eyebrows twitched.

"Jealousy is really an ugly b.i.t.c.h, huh?" he commented from the side, causing Namia to s.h.i.+ft her gaze over to him and smirk.

"Aren't you embarra.s.sed your girlfriend is a higher rank than you?"

"Why would I be?" Rio shrugged. "If they ask me, I'd promote her to the General of the Army. That's how good she is."

"… aah, don't even bother," Yun sighed. "These two are a weirdly odd specimen."

"It's not that," Rio chuckled. "But, once you've experienced the disaster called the Emperor and his vile tongue, most others become… somewhat meek. Anyway, what about you guys? Will you retire or continue?"

"Continue," Yun replied. "If I retire, won't you shoot past me? That'd be enough shame to send me to an early grave."

"What he said." Namia nodded.

"—what happened then, General Rio?" one of the youngsters prompted Rio to abandon Yun and Namia and turn his attention toward the thirsty-eyed newcomers.

"Ha ha, let me tell you – I charged straight through the tunnel! Unleas.h.i.+ng blasts of fire and ice, killing hundreds with each move! And then I…"

"… aren't you embarra.s.sed by him?" Namia asked Xia who smiled contently.

"Let him have it," she replied instead. "He's deserved it."

"Attention!!" a serious voice suddenly burned throughout the entire hall, causing all chatter to cease instantaneously. "d.u.c.h.ess Alison and d.u.c.h.ess Lucky Olltor are entering!"

Eyes of those present quickly s.h.i.+fted over to the grand entrance to the hall where two women were currently entering; both, by now, were very familiar faces to everyone here as their portraits have long since been distributed throughout the localities. The former sported a sun-gilded hair let loose freely down her back, her glistening, sky-dyed eyes s.h.i.+ning more brightly than the chandeliers above, entrancing all those who met them. She wore a bright-dyed dress, a mixture of silver and light-emerald, strapped loosely to her shoulders, arms exposed. Her appearance sent quick tremors, though everyone quickly swallowed them; nary a soul hadn't already learned of her actions during the Battle for the City of Sun which earned her the nickname of the 'Blade of the Thousand Suns'.

Lucky, on the other hand, lived up to her extensive rumors – even for the ball she dressed up in tightly-bound leather armor, several daggers strapped neatly to her belt, her black hair cut somewhat short, the piercing black eyes seemingly capable of draining life from those who dared stare at the for a second too long. Though far less was known of her than Alison, her name rang far more terror across the vast plane of the world, dubbed 'Death' herself, the silent, invisible sword of the Empire sharp enough to pierce the world.

"… tsk, these polar reactions really are grating," Lucky clicked her tongue and commented, causing Alison to nearly burst out into laughter. "Dudes look at you, their eyes light up as do their d.i.c.ks, no doubt. Me? They look like they aged a century at that moment."

"Maybe if you didn't choose to proudly display weapons on a ball, people's opinions might change." Alison kept her smile as she waved to the now-applauding audience. Their seats were placed on the highest table, one that rose even above the dancing platform, where the Empire's top figures would be seated, beneath a ma.s.sive, crimson-dyed banner.

"Who knows if there might be opportunistic lurkers. I can't loosen my guard so easily."

"Aye, there are sure to be a whole heap of dissidents in a hall filled with the world's most powerful people." Alison said. "Because anyone clever enough to have hidden themselves from us so far, certainly is dumb enough to try something today."

"… oh shut it and keep walking." Lucky rolled her eyes, taking out one of her daggers, beginning to twirl it through her fingers, causing many in the audience to swallow with a loud gulp.

The two quickly s.h.i.+fted past the dancing platform and onto their seats from which they could easily see the entire hall. The room stayed silent for but a moment before it was filled with chatter once more, only an occasional glance flas.h.i.+ng their way.

"I told you we were early…" Lucky sighed, shaking her head. "We're the only ones here."

"Ah, remember that weird guy I was telling you about?" Alison asked suddenly.

"What weird guy?"

"The Vampire one."

"Oh, yeah, the one who surrendered after you told him you had a wife?"

"That one."

"Yeah, what about him?" Lucky asked.

"He's coming up." Lucky s.h.i.+fted her gaze and spotted a well-dressed, rather handsome man walking up to the table, courteously bowing toward them, looking upward.

"This lowly one greets d.u.c.h.esses and begs a minute of your time." Jonttar said, barely managing to hide the excitement in his heart.

"Ha ha, what are you doing Jonttar? Come on up," Alison chuckled and invited him. "You always clamored about how much you wanted to meet my wife, no? Here she is, in all her glory."

"Could you not treat me as a gla.s.sed display?" Lucky rolled her eyes, uncapping a bottle of wine and taking a gulp directly from it. Jonttar quickly, yet still elegantly, climbed the invisible stairs toward the platform and reached the two, though didn't dare sit down. His eyes veered past Alison and onto the black-haired figure seated next to her, his eyes lighting up.

"… it really is true…" he mumbled.

"It's one Legendary-tier weapon for a preview." Lucky met his gaze and smirked.

"Hm? What preview?" Alison asked innocently while Jonttar coughed, trying to hide his awkwardness.

"You jest, d.u.c.h.ess – I wouldn't dare," he said quickly. "Besides, Legendary-tier weapon is too cheap—I mean, I've no such motives."

"…" Lucky grinned, shaking her head. "Sit down." She pointed at the chair next to Alison's. "How are you finding our little lovely planet?"

"Immeasurably pleasing," Jonttar said, sitting down. "Br.i.m.m.i.n.g with life in all corners. You all have done a fantastic job."

"… you sound like someone who's experienced the court before," Lucky said. "No?"

"Ha ha, numerous times, I'm afraid," Jonttar smiled sheepishly. "It's simply the most widespread system in the universe."

"What do you think about ours, then?" Lucky asked as Jonttar winced.

"Don't worry about it," Alison said, sighing faintly and shooting an angry glare at Lucky. "She's only mean on the surface. I'm also curious about what you think of it."

"… h-honestly?" Jonttar mumbled.

"Hm." Alison nodded while Lucky shrugged, turning her attention to the bottle of wine.

"It's, uh… a bit too… loose? I'm sorry – I can't think of a better word at the moment."

"Loose?" Alison pushed.

"For instance, right now," Jonttar continued. "Everyone on the hall resumed talking without you two having never given them a signal."

"… eeeh… we were supposed to do something like that?"

"Ah, no, no, I don't know. I'm just spouting nonsense…"

"He's right," Lucky chimed in from the side. "It's the basis of instating hierarchy, especially now that we're entering a peaceful period. Ranks need to be established and rules of the court followed."

"… why?" Alison asked curiously.

"…" Lucky glanced at Jonttar and smiled mysteriously, causing him to shudder for a moment. He naturally wasn't the one to pa.s.s on a handed opportunity.

"Because of power," Jonttar said. "The message that is being sent is that the d.u.c.h.ess themselves, people just beneath the King and the Queen, can only be greeted and entirely ignored right after. Though it may seem minuscule and even oppressive otherwise, it is important in establis.h.i.+ng a clear structure."

"Part of it stems from the fact that the two idiots who founded the Empire," Lucky chimed in once again. "Don't really give all that much s.h.i.+t about ruling it. Well, no, Hannah does; she's perhaps the only person those loafers down below wouldn't disrespect even if eighteen generations of their ancestors arose from their graves and ordered them to. However, the Court itself is still too young and none of the lands are distributed. Nearly all members of higher royalty reside here, in the fortress, while the rest of the Empire is largely left to the locals to administer."

"…" Alison blanked for a moment, though her expression quickly grew serious as she began processing everything.

"… the d.u.c.h.ess seems to know more than enough," Jonttar smiled bitterly. "If I may ask, why you haven't tried changing anything?"

"… eh, waste of effort," Lucky shrugged. "You can't douse the ambitions. Almost every single person in this room has a precise reason as to why they decided to come to this ball. I can't be bothered to try and reign them all in, so I may as well let them give it a shot and kill the few that step out first as a lesson."

"… ha ha, ha ha…" Jonttar laughed weakly, cold sweat dripping down his back.

"I'll just ask Hannah to put Jonttar in charge of it," Alison said after a brief silence. "That way, you can stop scaring people and always threatening you will kill them. Seriously, that joke has gotten old long before even we did."

"Don't worry about it," Lucky chuckled, glancing at the now-stunned Vampire who couldn't quite follow the logical stream of thinking of people on this planet. "If I were you, I'd grab onto this opportunity, you know?"

"Huh? Ah, yes…"

"Political power right now in the Empire is really volatile," Lucky said. "And only a few positions are really secure. Without having divided the land, established the chain of command, or even properly distributed the t.i.tles, the virtual majority of the active power exists in the vacuum right now. That's why they're here tonight, a lot of them," she added, pointing at the chattering audience. "Right now, they're merely chatting about coins and trade deals; however, once those with t.i.tles start showing up, you'll start seeing just how good we are at kissing a.s.s and licking boots. The only truth, and the one they all realize, is that the central figures cannot be replaced – that is Lino and Hannah. The rest of us, to them, are just a temporary patch, the lucky few who latched onto those two's t.i.ts early enough to now enjoy the fruits of success. I'm a d.u.c.h.ess, but I may as well be a swollen c.o.c.k, seeing as I've no army, no land, and no coffers. Rather, well over half of people here have bigger armies, more land, and most certainly much fatter coffers."

"… that still doesn't matter," Jonttar sighed, smiling bitterly and glancing at the audience down below with an empathetic smile. "What you have cannot be bought with deep coffers, or won by a large army."

"…" Alison and Lucky remained silent, knowing full-well what he was talking about.

"But, you are right in that establishment of a proper governing body is necessary, even if for nothing but for the billions of people to whom those two are just figures of the stories. Besides, in a properly ran Empire, the Emperor and the Empress usually only need to show up ever so often to remind people they're still there and not much else."

"Attention!!" the announcing voice once again quickly drowned out the chatter as everyone focused on the arched entrance upfront. "Her Majesty, Princess Aaria Qa'yi, Grand Duke Eggor Qe'll and his son, Duke Criador Qe'll, and Earl Ivon the Eternal are entering! Please arise!"

With another announcement, four figures slowly walked through the archway, the leading one a young girl draped in a rather flamboyant dress, walking straight with her head held up high, followed shortly after by two awkward-looking men dressed uncomfortably in formal clothes, and lastly by a relaxed-looking middle-aged man greeting everyone with a faint smile on his face.

"… if I were you," noticing Jonttar's dubious gaze, Lucky chuckled from the side. "I'd worry more about our haughty Princess than the rest of 'em. That little chick doesn't listen to anyone except a select few."

"Select few?" Jonttar mumbled, glancing at Lucky who grinned.

"Where are you watching, little princess?" Lucky's voice suddenly drowned the applause as the eyes of the audience s.h.i.+fted onto her angry face. Aaria stumbled and barely stopped, fearfully looking up. "Is there something interesting on the ceiling the rest of us are missing?"

"… uh, no… no, Aunt Lucky…"

"Is there something wrong with your neck so you have to keep staring up?"

"… n-no…"

"Then why the f.u.c.k are you looking up?"

"… uh…"

"Hush," Alison slapped the back of Lucky's head with a pout and turned toward Aaria, smiling apologetically. "Come here, Aaria. Ignore her."

"…" This Empire is f.u.c.ked from top to bottom! That was the solitary conclusion Jonttar made after his brief exposure to the reality of things. Who embarra.s.ses the sole heir to the throne so openly and publicly?! And why is the Princess herself so fearful of a mere d.u.c.h.ess?! Just what the h.e.l.l is wrong with these people?!