Author Notes:

This took a while. What can I say, I've been busy, and I'm lazy. An awful combination. So this is a pretty short chapter that serves as a prologue to the Germania arc. As such, I have very little to say about it. I hope you enjoy the chapter, I plan to hopefully get future chapters out more quickly.

Chapter 6

It had been two days since Kirche had made her request, and Louise was currently sitting in a carriage, opposite the aforementioned redhead and her quiet companion.

"Is the explanation I was promised coming at any point?" Louise asks.

"Yes," Tabitha says.

A silence ruled the carriage for a bit. Tabitha read her book, Kirche looked at the scenery outside the window and Louise glared at her two friends.

"Ahem," Louise clears her throat.

"Oh! You wanted that explanation now," Kirche realizes. "A question first, if you don't mind."

"Sure, why not," Louise says. "Might as well make sure someone gets the answers they're looking for."

"So what's going on with Tristain?" Kirche asks. "I hear a lot of the stuff coming down the academy's grapevine. Seems like you've been keeping busy."

"I do what I can," Louise says. "Corrupt nobles are kind of a problem, so me and Henrietta are working on fixing it."

"You're pretty successful from what I've been hearing," Kirche says. "Great job, Queenie!"

"Good job," Tabitha says as well.

"It's mostly Henrietta," Louise says. "She's the one playing the games and everything."

"If you say so," Kirche responds. "So who's taking care of Tristain while you're on vacation here?"

"Henrietta," Tabitha answers before Louise can open her mouth.

"Yep, she'll be holding down the fort," Louise continues. "She's the royal advisor, so it's her job to keep things together while the queen is away dealing with foreign issues."

"I don't remember there ever being a royal advisory position," Kirche says.

"Neither do I, but I'm not going to complain," Louise says. "Anymore questions?"

"So, did you ever manage to buy the underwear after our poker game, or did you get too caught up with the crown to do anything about it?" Kirche asks.

"I lost my shopping bag when they dragged me to the castle so for the first few days- Wait, I don't need to tell you that!" Louise exclaims.

Kirche laughs at Louise's remark, while Tabitha continues reading her book. Louise sighs deeply and starts looking out the window.

"Good to see that becoming queen hasn't made you any less fun to tease," Kirche says with a thin smile. "I'd have been so disappointed if the crown made you less cute, Queenie."

"I-I'm not cute!" Louise denies.

"Disagree."

"Huh? Did you say something Tabitha?" Louise asks.

"No."

"Anyway, I'm the queen so that means I'm way above you," Louise says to Kirche. "That means you can't make fun of me anymore. Got it?"

"Understood, Darling," Kirche says with a smile. "Anyway, so I'm engaged to crown prince of Germania, Prince Elden."

"Wait, we're moving on to that?!" Louise asks.

"You were asking about it, weren't you?" Kirche asks. "Weren't you curious about that?"

"I expected a little build up or something more, instead of just dropping into it like that!" Louise says.

"You wanted the information and now you're telling me how to give it to you?" Kirche asks. "I never would have suspected you of being the tyrannical type of queen. I'm so disappointed in you."

"How unexpected," Tabitha says.

"I'm not a tyrant!" Louise complains. "Aagh. Why'd I agree to help you out with this?"

"Perhaps because I won the favor off of you and you can't ever go back on a bet?" Kirche posits.

"Sounds likely," Tabitha says.

"And I already regret making that bet so much," Louise says. "Anyway, you can continue talking about your husband if you want."

"He's not my husband," Kirche says. "Not if you have anything to say about, that is. Anyway, me and Elden. Yeah, he's an annoying little kid. I can't be too harsh on him I suppose, we grew up together. Our dads knew each other so we saw a lot of each other, and he just kept following me around."

"Your dad knew the Germanian king?" Louise asks.

"They were buddies or something, I never asked for the details," Kirche waves the question away. "So the old king's getting old and thinking of passing down the crown, because Germanian monarchy is nothing like Tristainian monarchy."

"And don't I wish it was," Louise says. "It'd make my problems a lot easier if I could just give the crown away."

"Looks like you did," Kirche says. "Or has Tristain run into a few budget problems and had to downgrade?"

"The beret's more comfortable," Louise says. "Henrietta's looking after the crown back at the castle."

"Fair enough," Kirche concedes. "Where was I?"

"Stupid prince," Tabitha helps out.

"Right! The idiot getting the crown. Thanks Tabby," Kirche says as she pats Tabitha on the head. "So the old king steps down, and the crown obviously has to go to his son, right? Well, a king needs a queen, I guess."

"You guess?" Louise asks.

"Well you're doing pretty good without a husband," Kirche says with a shrug.

"Tristain doesn't need a King, and I don't plan on marrying any time soon.," Louise announces.

"Don't swing that way?" Kirche asks.

"Don't see how it's any of your business," Louise responds.

"Ouch, that one stung a bit," Kirche says with a wry smile. "Well, Germanian monarchs need a significant other, so who's little Elden going to pick to be his queen?"

"Well it can't be you, you're human," Louise says. "Only a member of that race can rule their kingdom. A human couldn't be a ruler of the fairies, could they?"

"Eeeh, half and half, I suppose," Kirche says, sounding a little unsure. "I mean, yes that's how it works, but I guess half-breeds are okay."

"Half-breed?" Louise is confused.

"I never brought it up?" Kirche is equally confused. "I transferred to the academy from Germania, remember? Dad's a fairy, mom's a human. I'm living proof of it and I'm confused as to how cross breeding is supposed to work."

"… Sorry, you lost me."

"Dad's a fairy, mom's a human, thus I'm half and half," Kirche sums it up. "Couldn't you tell from my inhumanly good looks?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Louise says, returning her attention to outside her window.

"You still manage to suck the fun out of everything," Kirche notes. "Some things just don't change, I suppose."

"So since you're partially fairy, no one minds that you'll be ascending to the throne?" Louise asks.

"Well I mind, hence me calling in the favor."

"I mind too," Tabitha says.

"Why do you mind, Tabitha?" Louise asks. "Why's it matter to you if Kirche becomes queen of Germania."

"I'd see her less," Tabitha says.

"Excuse me?" Louise asks another question.

"Not many friends," Tabitha says. "Just two."

"Oh," Louise says. "I suppose I get it. If Kirche was queen she'd be stuck in Germania and she'd be far too busy to see you all that often."

"Yes," Tabitha answers.

"So Kirche's your friend, but you said you have two. Who's the second one?"

Tabitha chooses not to answer, instead turning her attention back to her book. Louise patiently waits for Tabitha to answer the question, before eventually realizing that the blue-haired girl had exceeded the amount of words she was allowed to use in one day.

"Why so shy, Tabby?" Kirche wonders as she ruffles Tabitha's hair. "You can tell her."

Tabitha buries her face as far into her book as she can, causing Kirche to roll her eyes.

"Can't help you when you're like this," Kirche mumbles to herself before turning back to Louise. "Well, whether or not you feel the same way, Tabby does fell like you're her only other friend."

"… We're friends?" Louise has once again been lost.

"Are you saying you aren't?" Kirche responds. "You two have spent enough time together, I think you qualify."

"… Oh," Louise slowly starts to piece it together. "Huh. Well then. I'm honored to be your friend Tabitha."

"… Likewise," Tabitha eventually says. "Back to topic."

"Oh, right!" Kirche decides to get back on topic. "So little boy Elden gets it in his head that he can make me his queen. He can't exactly force me to do it, that's not how that works, so he asked his Pop about it. His dad talked to my dad, who talked to and ignored my input on the mater, and suddenly I'm engaged."

"So, forgive me for asking, but what's so bad about it?" Louise wonders aloud. "You're going to become queen of an entire nation. Most people would love to have that kind of power?"

"Ah, politics bore me," Kirche scoffs at the idea. "You're queen, you know who it is. It's a lot of very unfun politics and unfun games against unfun people."

"I'm starting to kind of like the games," Louise mumbles.

"What's that Darling?" Kirche asks.

"Nothing," Louise waves it away. "It's not like you'd be doing that much, right? Wouldn't the king actually do most of the work?"

"Ha!" Kirche laughs. "That little guy? He couldn't do anything without me. Homework, essays, chores, he just pushed it all on to me. He's completely unreliable. Unless someone's around to kick him in the butt every few minutes he's going to be an awful king. Talks a huge game and has someone else back it up for him. I don't even know why his dad thinks he could ever be a good king."

"Rambling," Tabitha says.

"Hmm? Oh, right. Thanks Tabby. So yeah, he's that annoying little guy that never leaves you alone."

"Don't you have impossibly low standards for the boys you'll get together with?" Louise wonders aloud. "Is all that really enough for him to not even meet those standards?"

"I'm insulted," Kirche says.

"What, don't like having your night life brought into question?" Louise asks.

"If you're going to bring it up, at least put some thought into why I bother going through with all of it."

"Huh?"

"Forget it," Kirche waves the topic away. "Just forget about it. Or perhaps, don't knock it until you try it. Does that sound better?"

"Shut up now," Louise hisses at Kirche.

"Okay, that doesn't sound any better," Kirche abandons the topic. "Not interested in dating, I understand. I for one am not interested in marrying that guy. No interest what so ever. But of course Dad isn't going to listen to me, I'm his way into the royal family so he's not going to give that up. Mom's like me, in that she's so disinterested in politics that she doesn't want to step anywhere near this situation. Elden's not going to call it off, he's the one who came up with it in the first place. The king isn't going to call it off, he wants a proper successor. I didn't exactly have a lot of options."

"Only one," Tabitha adds.

"Only the one," Kirche confirms. "Tabby reminded me that you owed me some favors, so I thought I'd call one in and see if you could pull anything off. You're royalty now, so I figured that you'd be able to negotiate with the Germanian royalty."

"It's not something I've wanted to do, but I suppose it's something I have to try," Louise says.

"That's all I'm asking, Darling," Kirche says. "As much as I'd love it if you got me out of this little annoyance, I suppose I can't ask for you to perform a miracle."

"I'm not so incompetent that asking a young man to call off a marriage can be considered a miracle," Louise argues.

"Well, everyone in this carriage knows your win ratio," Kirche shrugs.

"I-I'll have you know that I'm not a zero anymore!" Louise declares. "I've won three games and tied on another. My win ration is well above zero percent now!"

"Congratulations," Tabitha says.

"Seriously impressive, Darling," Kirche says, even adding some applause.

"Do you want my help or not?" Louise asks. "Is yes, I'll ask that you please not make fun of me."

"I make no promises," Kirche says with a wide grin.

"How much longer until we reach the Germanian capital?" Louise asks.

"Another two days," Tabitha answers.

"Can we make it go faster?"

"No," Tabitha crushes Louise's dreams.

"Don't worry Queenie, we'll be in and out of Germania before you know it," Kirche assures Louise.

"I feel so much better," Louise remarks dryly. "I just want this to be over with already."