Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

A week after they had finished their tour of Radensburg, the duo monarchs were once again inside their office within the Raven's Rock. Both of them were sitting side by side and sharing a large hardwood desk that was filled with papers, the two of them scanning each document before placing them aside or affixing their signature if it was a clearance form. The bureaucratic system Ophelia had placed was an efficient one albeit a bit taxing for those not used to it. She designed it in such a way that she and her beloved had the final say in almost everything, meaning that Irly, Iris, Udaria, and Simonse send the duo monarchs reports from the various town mayors and village chiefs on different subjects with all the information given plus their own thoughts. 

The structure of the government was pretty simple, there was a pseudo-parliamentary system in place. It was called the "Imperial Council" and it had three distinct levels that placed the duo monarchs at the top. The first level was that of the numerous town mayors and city governors they would usually represent the people living across the empire, then there was the second level which was made up entirely of the Clan Elders led by the Clan Leader and the four appointed advisors to the monarchs. Since the empire was relatively new, Ophelia had to make a noble class who would oversee the regions where the towns and cities resided. The Clan Elders would act as coordinators and representatives of the clans who lived in the same region as a city or town and would cooperate with the local mayor or governor, the Clan Elders also served the purpose of being advisors to the Clan Leaders who would represent the entire clan during the meetings inside the Imperial Council before the duo monarchs themselves alongside the current four advisors being Irly, Iris, Udaria and Simonse. 

The Imperial Council would give reports and also propose things such as new laws, discuss the budget of the empire, and other things essential for running a growing empire, Clan Leaders along with the mayors and governors would do their best to pitch their ideas and their thoughts, but ultimately the final say rested with Ophelia and Amelia as they held most of the power and it helped that if there were arguments springing up, it was good that all the power was kept consolidated in a centralized system, meaning there would be no breakdown in the bureaucracy of the Halkare Empire and stall important things that needed to be done, something that Ophelia was very much keen to ensure never happened. 

"Hmmm...I do believe we have another meeting with the Imperial Council later at three in the afternoon" Ophelia remarked as she looked at the clock hanging on the wall nearby 

"Oh yeah, we do. I totally forgot to be honest Ophie, all of these reports are currently occupying my mind" Amelia replied as she looked at her beloved wife 

"Yeah, me too. But it is good as it shows me that our beloved empire is growing and steadily at that. Soon we will have enough strength to push further south and bring more tribes into the fold" Ophelia said as she also looked at her beloved 

"Hmmm true. But I do not believe it will be so easy. Despite us having a literal Divine Beast in our service, I have no doubt that at least one or even two tribes will refuse to join us because of their stubborn leaders" Amelia stated as she moved her chair closer to Ophelia's and leaned on her 

"You are right about that...although I believe that showing them what will happen if they do not side with us will be more than enough to coax their loyalty to our crown" Ophelia replied as she placed her chin on Amelia's head, 

"Its a damned if they will or damned if they won't type of situation isn't it?" Amelia asked with a hint of sadness 

"Not necessarily, they won't be damned for joining us, we have a ton of benefits such as greater security, an actual functioning economy and a very accepting society plus more opportunities, we just have to make them see that, or if we are lucky, they will just submit after seeing Spithe. It is much better than damning them to be captured and enslaved by those damned slavers" Ophelia answered with a resolute tone 

"sigh...I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there no?" Amelia asked 

"Mhmm, we surely will" Ophelia replied as she kissed her on the head again before nuzzling her chin on it 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK 

"It's open" Amelia replied as she and Ophelia's gazes turned towards the large double doors of the office 

"Good Morning Your Majesties" Mercy greeted as she and Percy entered the room, bowing their heads as they locked eyes with the duo monarchs 

"Good Morning" Amelia replied cheerfully 

"Mhmm, Good Morning, so why have you disturbed our relaxing fun time?" Ophelia asked with a deadpan delivery as she looked at both headmaids 

"It is because we have come to inform you both that the Imperial Council is starting to arrive" Percy answered her with an equally deadpan delivery 

"Alright then, we will be ready in twenty, tell them that" Ophelia stated 

"Understood Your Majesties" Mercy nodded as she and Percy exited the room, leaving the duo alone 

"sigh....time to get to work" Ophelia remarked, with Amelia smiling and kissing her on the cheek 

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

In the governmental sector of Olertin City sat a large rectangular building with an internal garden near the center of it. The building was made of polished concrete and wood just like the buildings around it and had very regal designs in the architecture which made it stand out amongst the other buildings nearby. It was a four-story building that housed a lot of government offices and was the main hub in which the reports from across the empire would be delivered to before being delivered either on foot or by air to the imperial palace for the duo monarchs to check. This building was known as the Governmental Palace

Inside the Governmental Palace was a large chamber that had a lot of seats in two sets of rafters on either side of the room which was currently seating the governors and mayors of the empire, then there was a large semi-circle desk in the center currently sitting the numerous clan elders and clan leaders of the empire and the four advisors of the duo monarchs. Speaking of the duo monarchs, there was a pair of tall podiums at the open end of the semi-circle that had two large seats that were above all in the semi-circle which housed Amelia and Ophelia who were looking around the room. 

"Alright. Since we are all here, let us begin the meeting. Irly, what have you got for us today?" Ophelia asked as her gaze turned to the beautiful green-haired elven woman wearing a white robe. 

"Your Majesties" Irly began with a nod 

"To start off this meeting, I would like to inform everyone that the relations we have with the Demon Kingdom of Amma have changed recently. The envoy from their kingdom has inquired about their ships recently going down on their way to our port, they have lost three ships so far and are asking us for assistance as they believe the Leviathan Clan is behind their sinking" Irly added as she looked at the duo monarchs 

"Hmmm, Percy?" Ophelia asked as she turned her head to her right, seeing her head maid appear before them from the shadows 

Almost everyone in the room except for the duo monarchs and their four advisors and a few clan leaders were surprised to see the kitsune arrive without much notice, they all saw her walk towards the center table with a handful of folders filled with some papers that she soon handed over to Ophelia and Amelia respectively before handing them over to the advisors and clan leaders. 

"Although they are asking us for assistance, we are very much responsible for their sinking as they were carrying spies and infiltrators" Percy stated as she looked at the council 

{!} 

The room suddenly became louder as the governors and mayors murmured to one another while most of the clan leaders and clan elders also began to talk amongst themselves, all of them surprised at the information given. Meanwhile, the duo monarchs, their four advisors and a few of the clan leaders, which were Wilcor, Yamato, Python and Tarantina were not so surprised as they knew that besides being one of the two headmaids of the Imperial Palace, Percy was also the head of the Halkare Intelligence and Secret Service or H.I.S.S, the main intelligence gathering and espionage arm of the empire, and it was a successor to the initial intelligence arm Ophelia had setup before Amelia had arrived. 

"If you would all open the folders I have handed you and breezed through their contents, the ships we sank were the ANS Mighty, ANS Gertrude, and the ANS Skipper. All of these ships were merchantmen and were all carrying spies besides their usual cargo of raw materials they would give us for trade. Our informant in their kingdom tipped us off and then our agents intercepted these vessels, sank the ships and their crews and retrieved not only the numerous raw materials but also their written orders they were to burn if they were ever captured" Percy stated as she looked at everyone in the room, seeing their gazes of mixed emotions as they flipped through the folder and its contents

"These conniving bastards! We should stop trade with them at once!" The current clan leader for the Dragonkin tribe shouted, the wife of the now deceased and disgraced Valantros and the woman who had been given back the title by Mercy, Clan Leader Fafnir 

"I agree with Fafnir, these bastards dare encroach on our land?! We must stop trade with them immediately!" Clan Leader Hannover, the daughter of the deceased and disgraced Lowe of the wolf beastkin tribe added with fervor,

With the two clan leaders in uproar, it caused the rest as well to erupt into shouts of support and similar calls to end the trading relationship the two nations were sharing. 

"Calm down, calm down" Ophelia said as she waved her hand 

"We understand your rage, but you must understand that our economy is currently reliant on their purchases of our magic monster crystals, to cut it off now would be a poor choice, sure, we now know they are bastards who are trying to discover our secrets, but we also have our own spies in their nation, but unlike theirs, ours have not been exposed yet. But the basic premise is there, we are both spying on one another, its just that one of us is doing better" Amelia stated as she looked at the room, her words bringing the noise down a bit 

"So what do you wish for us to do Your Majesty?" Yamato asked as she locked eyes with her 

"Well, the only thing we can do for the moment. Continue the trade, but prevent their spies from gaining anything. We can continue to sink their ships that house spies, but only every other ship in an irregular pattern so as to deceive them. As far as I can tell, they have only asked us for assistance as they believe that the Leviathan Clan is the one responsible, not realizing that they are actually under our banner" Amelia replied 

{!} 

Her response made the room drop into dead silence as they tried to process what she just stated. Everyone in the room except, Ophelia, Udaria and her family, and Percy were nodding to what was said but the rest were all wide-eyed and slack-jawed. 

"Err...excuse me what Your Majesty?" The dwarven clan leader named Rummok Ghasbane asked as he was looking up at her 

"I said the Leviathan Clan is under our banner. We will leave it at that for now" Amelia replied to him, with Rummok left dumbfounded 

"Amelia is right, we can tackle this topic another time. Anything else Irly?" Ophelia chimed in as she looked back at her elven advisor 

"Right...ummm, oh! The plan of Her Majesty Amelia to create something called the "Adventurer's Guild" has been forwarded to everyone present and I believe they have their questions ready to be answered" Irly stated as she pulled up a piece of paper from the pile on the table before her 

"Alright then, please. Ask away" Amelia stated as she looked around the room 

The room was silent for a few minutes as heads looked around too see if there was anyone willing to be the first one to ask, with only the noise of shifting clothes and bodies periodically breaking the silence as everyone kept looking at one another. 

" I have one concern Your Majesty" A voice rang out, with all eyes focusing on it, the voice coming from Yamato

"Mhmm, what is the question?" Amelia replied 

"It says in the plan that this "Adventurer's Guild" will be open to all regardless of power rank and strength, may I ask why?" The kitsune clan leader asked with a stoic expression 

"Well, the answer for that is in the plan itself. I'm allowing people who have little to no strength to sign up in order for them to get stronger, which in the long run will ensure that our population's power level is higher going forward. This also allows us to have capable fighters on hand if it is an issue the Black Guard is not needed for, whether it be routinely culling dungeons or even extermination. Sure we can rely on the military to handle the stronger ones for now but the basic premise is there, in order for our people to get stronger, they have to fight opponents their size for now, and when they are ready they can move on to much more dangerous creatures" Amelia answered Yamato with a small smile, with the kitsune clan leader nodding 

"Hmm, that is all from me. Thank you" Yamato stated with a nod 

"I have another question" The centaur clan leader named Orpheus stated as he looked at his monarch and a hand raised

"Mhmm, what is it?" Amelia replied with a nod 

"The funding for this plan, will not be too much for us to handle?" Orpheus asked with a hint of concern 

"Hmm, I do see your fears but I know that our economy can handle it, right Simonse?" Amelia said as she looked at the duo monarch's economics advisor 

"Her Majesty is right. We have more than enough funds to ensure that the plan is fully implemented. Besides, from the monster crystal sales to the taxes we have been collecting, our economy right now is doing great so far, so it should be more than enough. " Simonse added as he looked at Orpheus 

"Hmmm, alright then. Thank you for answering" Orpheus said as he lowered his hand 

"No problem. Anyone else" The blonde empress asked as she scanned the room, with many of them shaking their heads 

After a few more minutes to let anyone else speak, Ophelia stood up and locked eyes with everyone seated behind the semi-circle and in the rafters, 

"Alright. since there is nothing else to be discussed for today, unless" She stated as she looked at Irly who shook her head 

"Right. Since there is nothing else for today, you are all dismissed. The planned date for Amelia's plan to begin will be about a few weeks from now so get your things in order. Dismissed. Oh, but clan leaders and elders stay" She finished, with the people before her standing up as well and bowing their heads in respect before slipping out of the chamber through the main double doors. 

As the governors and the mayors began filtering out of the chamber, the clan elders and clan leaders adjusted their sitting posture and watched with following eyes at the people leaving, until the last governor was out the door and the double doors once again closed. After a few minutes of silence and fixing themselves up a bit more, all of the gazes shifted over to the duo monarchs before them.

"So you told us to stay behind Your Majesty Ophelia...it must be important then" Yamato remarked as she leaned into her chair 

"It is. Percy, would you be so kind as to tell them?" Ophelia stated as she looked at her head of intelligence 

"Of course Your Majesty" Percy replied with a nod 

"From the reports we gathered from the written orders we captured and from the spies we tortured, we have learned that the Demon Kingdom of Amma had planned to infiltrate lands to learn our secrets to our bustling growth, that in of itself is a problem since it basically means they will learn the magic we are currently guarding with as much as we can to ensure our strength for the future" Percy began as she looked the assembled clan leaders and elders before her. 

"But that is not all there is to it right?" Tarantina asked with a concerned expression 

"Yes, besides trying to learn our industrial secrets, they also planned to kidnap one of our citizens, preferably one that is close to you, and use them as blackmail to influence our internal politics to -" 

Suddenly, the sound of wood cracking filled the air, prompting everyone to shift their gazes towards the originator of the sound. They saw Amelia had broken off a piece of her podium, her hand shaking with fury as she crushed the wooden slab in her hand, her expression going dark and a noticeable bloodlust filling the air. She then tossed the broken pieces aside before using her healing magic to quickly remove any of the splinters inside her hand, after this, she then turned her gaze back to the kitsune and gave her a small smile with a nod to continue. 

"Ahem...like I was saying, they also planned to blackmail us by kidnapping someone close to you, although most of the spies did not know this as they assumed that they were only going to kidnap industrial and dockyard workers who knew the craft, this was only known to the head agent in charge of the group, we have three of them in custody in the dungeons under the palace so it checks out" Percy finished with a grim expression 

"So, now that you have heard it. I wish to hear your responses, we still obviously cannot remove our trade relations with them, at least not yet" Ophelia chimed in as she placed her hands together and then plopped her elbows down on the podium, her expression also equally dark as she stared off into the distance

The assembly gathered before the duo monarchs were silent as they looked at one another, although their expressions were unreadable, there was a noticeable aura of fury and anger, and hatred that could be felt as everyone was silent and just looking around. They each wanted to scream and shout but did not do so as they were afraid of looking unprofessional in front of their monarchs. 

"If you wish to scream or shout in anger, I permit it" Ophelia suddenly added after glancing down at them

Following her words, some of the clan leaders and elders shouted in rage as they paced the room. The feeling of anger and hate was shared amongst all of them as they repeated the information given by Percy over and over and over again. Being a relatively new nation made up of clans that cooperated with one another, this behavior of an entity outside of their nation was seen as maddening, to try and discover their secrets by trying to steal them and then planning to blackmail them by kidnapping one of their own, it was not only maddening, it was downright despicable and dishonorable to them. And it was a behavior that they all wanted to punish with extreme prejudice, but none of them knew how as the Demon Kingdom of Amma was a place neither of them had been to as they were all busy with their own territories and day-to-day runnings. 

After a few minutes of justifiable rage and fury, the clan elders and leaders all turned their gazes towards Amelia and Ophelia, their duo monarchs who both had dark expressions on their faces, their eyes saying everything as they could feel and see the unrelenting fury and anger the more they stared at them. 

"Do you have a plan for this offense Your Majesties?" Wilcor asked as he looked up at them 

"We do" Amelia answered without looking at him 

"But it is one you wouldn't consider a normal response" Ophelia added 

"Oh? May we hear what it is then?" Fafnir added 

"Hmmm, Percy. How would you describe the Demon Kingdom of Amma compared to our empire?" Ophelia asked as she looked at her 

"Well, on a strength scale, despite our obvious superiority in numbers and growing industry, we are still behind them strength-wise, the power ranking of their people is from the C-Rank to B which is stronger than our population's own D-Rank to C-Rank. Then there is also the problem of them being Demonkin, known for having immense physical strength, better endurance and more magical potency and affinity. Plus, as Demonkin, their race has a specialty in Domination Magic, allowing them powerful mind manipulation magic" Percy answered as she gazed back towards her monarch 

"But, despite their superior strength compared to our populace, as stated before, we have the larger industry that is building up faster than theirs, we also have the numbers compared to their island chain, we are also their main source of monster crystals and most importantly, our technology is much, much more impressive than theirs by a good margin, and I would like to mention that their population is currently falling on hard times" Percy finished as she turned her gaze towards the assembled clan leaders and elders of the semi-circle table 

"Now, with all of that in mind. The plan we have come up with is simple. Annexation" Ophelia stated as she glanced at her beloved who gave her a nod in reply 

{!} 

The people of the semi-circle were confused and shocked at that statement, their expressions of confusion and bewilderment filling their faces as their gazes shifted between both monarchs who were both in agreement that this was the course of action to take. 

"But why Your Majesties?!" Python asked as she looked at them 

"Well it is simple really. Their people would be a nice addition to our ranks as it would give us access to more powerful soldiers who can help train the adventurers and our own soldiers of the Black Guard, plus it will be a good test for our military, to see if they are prepared to fight foes stronger than them. And finally, since their people are falling on hard times and their ruler is not doing much to internally solve it, why not show them what true rulers are and give them a better life" Amelia answered her with a small smirk 

"Indeed. And since we cannot use espionage as our own reasoning to do so, we have to wait for an opening, one I believe they will give us. And I do believe we do not need to wait long as a letter arrived yesterday from one of the ships, a letter directed straight to us, calling for a banquet in their territory to try and "improve relations" although I imagine it will be much more than that" Ophelia added, a hint of amusement in her voice 

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Sitting on a chair near the window of her tower, Princess Toria stares out into the vast and expansive sea before her, her thoughts filling her mind as she stares out into the vast azure-colored expanse. 

'This kingdom is going to shit' She thought as she rested her arm on the windowsill 

Although she loved her father and her brother immensely, she was secretly frustrated at their inability to actually fix the situation at home. Her father spent countless days bickering and arguing with his advisors on quick fixes that would have stabilized everything for the short term until they could figure out a much more solid solution. Meanwhile, her brother was too busy flirting and courting the ladies of the noble houses and pushed a lot of his work to her, work that he would then steal and propose to their father, although others would be understandably angry, she loved them too much to hate them. The current situation before them was concerning as the orders of her father had caused them to hunt and destroy the numerous dungeons and monster habitats that were dotted around the island chain, relentlessly harvesting their magic crystals to power their technology but mostly to wear as trinkets and trophies of their triumphs. 

{!} 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door for only a moment, and when her head turned, she saw a letter being slipped underneath. Walking over to it, she picked it up and read the contents of the letter, a small wry smile on her face as she burnt the letter in her hands and threw the ashes out the window. 

"So they have finally decided on an action...I wish to see you both soon, My Empresses" 

A/N: And here we go. The start of a new arc! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, the ships will be shown in the next chapter so look forward to that, and if you got any reactions or comments just leave em down below for me to read! And as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!