"Watch the fires burning across the river."
Thirty-Six Strategems.
...
...
Louise, Cattleya, and Eleanor remained in shocked silence as Napoleon and Karin confronted one another. Karin, on one end, stood behind the doorway, her hands clasped behind her and assuming the pose of a proud and proper noble. Napoleon stood behind the sisters, keenly examining the Duchess. It was clear that as she was the host, she chose to wait for him to make the first move.
And so he did, by bowing to her.
"A pleasure, Duchess de la Valliere. I am Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation. It is an honor to meet the mother of my partner, Louise Francoise le Blance de la Valliere."
Now the sisters were surprised, with Louise being the most shocked of all. It was the first time ever since she had formed the contract with him that he had actually used his full title. Not even Henrietta had received that level of dignity. It was clear that Napoleon necessarily didn't like her mother, but he did view him as someone who was worthy of the highest respect.
The dignified and proper statement, however, seemed to make not even the slightest impression on Karin as she coldly responded.
"You call yourself an Emperor? A king? What kind of insane world would do something like that?"
"M-mother…"
Louise timidly attempted to speak up in Napoleon's defense, but it did nothing more than trigger her mother's wrath. Karin turned towards Louise, her one open eye fiercely gazing at her youngest daughter.
"As for you? Summoning someone like him is understandable. Even contracting him is something I can comprehend. But how could you stay loyal after-"
She abruptly stopped, as if there was something more she wanted to say. Closing her eye, she turned her back to the group.
"We will have dinner. Eleanor, Cattleya, you will return to your rooms after the meal. Understand?"
The two of them nodded, while Louise and Napoleon shot a quick glance at each other. The talk wasn't over. Karin no doubt had more things to say to them when there would be no one else to disturb them.
The dinner was in the best Helgekinian style, with fine chinaware and silverware being laid on the long table. But there was no conversation. Even though Karin had quieted down, her oppressive and proud air still lingered throughout the room, quelling even the most remote thoughts of the sisters to talk to one another.
As Louise looked up from her salad, she gave an "eep!" of surprise. Karin was at one end of the table, and her two sisters were directly to the left of her, giving furtive glances at one another. But Napoleon was sitting at the other end of the table across from Karin. There was no food in front of him, but he made no reaction about it, and neither did Karin about the place where he sat. The dinner continued in silence.
As the servants cleared the last of the dishes away, Eleanor and Cattleya stood up and bowed to their mother. Then, still not saying a word the entire time they were in there, the two of them left the room and closed the door behind them. Louise could hear their footsteps fading into the distance before her mother spoke up.
"I had intended to discuss things when father returned, but I honestly had expected Eleanor to return with only you, Louise. The fact that you brought your familiar along changes things."
"Mother, he is not my familiar, he is my-"
"What? Are you saying you did not summon him? Then what is he to you?"
"I-I mean-"
Louise stammered in response to this line of questioning, even though it was something she had gone over many times before. Facing Eleanor was one thing, but her mother, this icy duchess, was a hundred times worse. There was nothing in Helgekinia, even after seeing a battlefield and a burning city, which terrified her this badly.
Fortunately, Napoleon broke in. Somehow over the course of this conversation, he had managed to get one of the servants to bring him a cup of coffee. Even though he put nothing in it, he stirred it idly as he responded in Louise's place.
"She did summon me, and I accepted her contract. But as much respect as I hold for Louise, an Emperor does not work under anyone. I have consented to be her partner, equal with her. The fact that I even acknowledged that we should be equals should be something which you should be proud of, Duchess. I would not have done that with just any mage."
"And why did you do that? Why did an Emperor consent to be the equal of a girl who has had great difficulties with the simplest spells?"
Louise blushed in shame with that, and while she wanted to tell her mother about how she had accomplished, she remained silent about the Void like she knew she had to. In the meantime, Napoleon continued.
"Your daughter is not someone without significant magical potential. As my titles should have made clear, I am not part of this world, and that world did not possess magic. But I did not become Emperor without being able to discern hidden talent."
"Hidden talent? Like what she and you did at La Rochelle?"
Napoleon raised an eyebrow at Karin's question.
"Come again?"
"Don't play games with me!"
The oppressive air coming from Karin grew even stronger in response to his deflection. But even then, the primary emotion that came from Louise was not fear, but rather confusion. How did she - ?
"I know what happened there! I know what both of you did in the name of my country as you burned down one of the greatest cities of Tristain! So tell me, Napoleon, what are you after, and how far do you intend to drag my daughter into your plans?"
Silence followed that question, but it was then followed by a low sound which only Louise could hear. Napoleon was grinding his teeth and the next words were spoken slowly.
"I see. It appears I underestimated him. How much did De Poitiers tell you?"
"What?"
Louise gave a gasp at those words, though Napoleon did not even look at her while he responded.
"Your mother seems to know quite a bit more about what happened on this battlefield compared to most nobles. After all, most of them at the ball didn't recognize me in the slightest, while the Duchess has even though we have never met before. Someone told her about me, someone high up who would know everything about what happened at La Rochelle."
While those words were said lightly, Napoleon was highly irritated. Even with his propaganda campaign beginning among the commoners, his base of support was currently incredibly shaky. As Agnes had told him before the battle, Henrietta was the main if not only thing keeping him from digging ditches for the noble military leadership. He had guessed that eventually the old generals would start to work together with the nobility as a way of limiting him, but he hadn't thought they would move until Albion was completely invaded. Furthermore, even though he didn't think Karin was lying when she said she hadn't expected him, it was a boon for De Poitiers, as Napoleon was stuck quite a distance away from the command.
If there was anything to be positive about, it was just that Napoleon had to be thankful towards Eleanor and the scene she caused when she dragged Louise out of the ball. All the nobles, and especially Henrietta, no doubt knew where the Valliere daughter and his partner were right now. If they hadn't, then De Poitiers would have had an easier time separating Napoleon from the leadership. For now, he listened for Karin to confirm his deduction.
"The general and I are acquaintances from my days in the military, and he is a loyal friend of the Valliere family. He's written me a lot about what has been occurring in the battlefield over the past few days."
"So you know what element Louise is?"
For the first time in their conversation, Karin seemed to hesitate before responding.
"Yes."
"Then you should be aware of why Tristain and the crown will demand her service."
"The crown or you? And I'll ask again, Emperor. What are you after? Don't tell me that your only interest in this world is developing my daughter's magic."
"What does it matter? I've had plenty of time to look at your military and compare it to Albion's, Karin. Without Louise or me, Tristain has no hope of victory. Albion will just retreat to their continent, regroup, and then either launch another invasion or pillage the countryside. And I'm sure you know this already."
There was a long silence that followed his words. Napoleon took a sip of coffee while Karin leaned back in her chair, as if she was making a decision.
"Louise!"
"Yes?"
The girl jumped to attention upon hearing her mother's words.
"Go to your room. Alone. Father will be returning from his business tomorrow. We can talk about what to do with you then."
She stammered once again, but Napoleon gave her a reassuring smile.
"There's nothing to worry about, Louise. We'll just be continuing our discussion."
While she hesitated a bit, this time she accepted. Bowing one more time at her mother, she quickly left the room, leaving the two of them alone. Napoleon sank back into his chair, taking another drink from his cup before speaking.
"You really are more formidable than Henrietta, Duchess. I'm genuinely impressed."
"So you really are manipulating her Majesty, are you?"
Napoleon gave a snort of disbelief at those words.
"Of course not! Henrietta is a monarch, a legitimate one who truly has the support of her people. She is someone who deserves the utmost respect. She is, however, a young girl, and whoever her tutors were, if they had any intention of letting her rule, they did a horrendous job at teaching her how. La Rochelle was just as much for her sake as Tristain's. She clearly never understood that rulers like her and I must be willing to sacrifice if we are to keep our power. Even now, I don't know if she does as I was interrupted by your eldest daughter before I could properly assess how Henrietta's developed.
But let me ask you, Duchess. Are you really intending that the Valliere family, one of the most powerful houses in Tristain, will stay out of this war altogether? And that you will disobey your princess?"
Karin waved a hand as she responded.
"I will deal with what Louise's role in this war will be when father returns tomorrow. But are you telling me you plan to stay loyal to her Majesty?"
"A family whose heads do not seem to have an interest in a war in the defense of their nation chooses to lecture me about loyalty? Duchess, for as much as you're concerned about the possibility of Henrietta being manipulated by me, you sure seem interested in using her goodwill to conserve your own strength."
"What are you saying, Emperor?"
The Duchess's voice grew a little lower at the potential insinuations Napoleon was making, but he simply looked down at his coffee and smiled.
"Why, nothing at all. I'm simply taking a stock of political realities, which state that one of the most powerful families in Tristain seems to be utterly uninterested in the defense of Tristain. I've heard about your Rule of Steel, Duchess, which believes in obeying the authority of the monarch. Perhaps it becomes a little more flexible when you have your own interests?"
"Why you!"
Karin forcefully stood up to those goading words, and some dishes clattered and smashed to the ground in her fury. The oppressive air around her now became hostile, with a clear target in mind.
"Do you have any idea who you are, Emperor? You're just nothing than a particularly skilled courtier who has fallen in favor with her Majesty, and who has somehow still retained it even after you destroyed one of her cities. I have no idea how you do it, or what clever words you use to keep her around. But if you keep acting like this, I will, the nobility will, we will cut you down if you go too far. Do you know what one of the basic elements of the Rule of Steel is?"
"What?"
"Know. Your. Place."
Silence followed her authoritative words. Karin began to walk out of the room, this time not even looking at Napoleon as she spoke.
"Now, if you'll excuse, I have an actual guest of value to deal with in the library. I and the Duke will be seeing you in the morning with my daughter, Emperor."
The doors closed behind her and Napoleon was left alone. He sighed the moment the Duchess left. He had succeeded in his objective. By goading and lightly mocking Karin, he had provoked her enough to forget her line of questioning about his own goals, but not so much as to get his head ripped off. But it had been a delicate balancing game. Tomorrow, with the Duke appearing would be the main discussion. He needed to get Louise and himself out of this castle and into the battlefield, whether through talking, violence, or deception. To him, it really didn't matter how.
A servant appeared to sweep up the broken dishes, and Napoleon called her over and asked for some wine. He would leave Louise alone with her sisters for the night. However useful she was, his partner did deserve a break.
…
Tristain Academy had been a bustling place ever since the outbreak of the war. The Valliere girl had vanished from the minute the news of the war appeared, and everyone of prominence in the castle had heard that she had participated in the battle, only to be accosted by her family afterwards. No one paid much attention to it. After all, aside from her familiar and that maid, most people observed that she had never really made any new friends even when she was there.
In the meantime, even a place consisting of schoolchildren geared up for war. As the members of the Tristain Academy were all nobles, many of them were called up to prepare to enter the camps, whether to the Sky Navy or National Army alongside their parents. In past wars, most of them would have been called into the Royal Army, but Henrietta had temporarily ordered a freeze on any new recruits in the Royal Army for some reason. There were also objections from some noble parents who declared that their precious sons or daughters were too young to enter a war, but their ruler had also issued a declaration that this was to be an all-out war, and she remained firm about it. As a result, every room within the castle had some symbol that the war was occurring, whether from the people who had departed for the war or from the magic training that became even more dedicated to the art of combat.
Every room but one. From this one room only a strange noise could be heard.
"Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow."
For Derflinger was being driven out of its mind. It was used to being abandoned. For about the 6000 years of its existence, it guessed that it had only been wield by a true swordsmen for less than two hundred of those years. The rest of that time had consisted of lying around, whether in dusty sword shops, on travelling caravans, or out on some battlefield.
But he had thought the minute that man picked up with the runes picked him up that this was it, the big moment, the chance he had been waiting for. And his partner, girlfriend, whatever, was likely a Void Mage! It would have been just like the good old days with Brimir and Sasha! Perhaps the three would have engaged on thrilling adventures where the man would protect the girl, the two would fall in love, and meanwhile the man and he, Derflinger, could engage in all sorts of perverted shenanigans.
Nope.
"Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
Glory, hallelujah!"
So, lacking anything better to do, he sang. He actually didn't know how he knew this song, but he did somehow. Maybe the guy who had taught him this song had wielded him at one point. He didn't remember. So many things, so many faces he had forgotten over the course of his 6000 year life.
Then as he continued to sing, the door opened. Assuming that Louise and Napoleon had come home, he began to think of yelling at them for abandoning them like that, only to stop. It wasn't the two. A blue-haired girl stood in their place. She had managed to open it somehow even with one hand holding a giant staff and the other carrying a book. She looked around for the moment, as if she was trying to figure out the location of the sound.
"Oi, oi, I'm over here!"
Derflinger jumped up and down as well as a sword could, and the girl looked at her. She didn't emit any surprise, which from Derflinger's point of view, was pretty impressive.
"Loud."
Now she said something, which the sword could barely hear even in its quiet room.
"Oh, right. I guess that happened. Hey, do you know where Louise and her partner are?"
"Partner?"
Derflinger jumped up and down some at that inquiry.
"Fine, her familiar. Man who wears some military uniform. You're a student here, I'm sure you've seen him before?"
The girl nodded in response.
"Valliere home."
Well, that sucked, Derflinger thought. He had heard through conversations past the door that a war had occurred between Tristain and Albion, but he should have known they would do something about it. Especially his partner, the one who was supposed to use him but never did. Well, if the alternative was to sit around unused again for whoever knew how long…
As he was no longer singing, the girl made to leave, but then was stopped by a shout by Derflinger.
"Hey, girl! What's your name?"
"Tabitha."
Without even turning around, she once again made to leave before being interrupted.
"No, what's your real name?"
She turned around, her face only barely concealing her surprise.
"Hah, it doesn't matter. But hey, girl, you're a pretty skilled fighter, aren't you? I can tell."
"Chevalier."
Derflinger inwardly cackled with glee at those words. A Chevalier? Those were knights who could only earn their title through some great and brave service towards Tristain. It was one of the few ranks in the country that could not be brought or inherited, only earned. If she truly possessed that rank, then this young girl was definitely talented.
"Well, I don't know where my partner is, so why don't you take me along? It's sure better than being stuck in this empty room. Sure, you may not know much about swords, but I can teach you! If you see Louise again, you can simply give me back. How about it?"
Tabitha said nothing for a bit, though she hadn't been paying attention to her book for a while. After thinking for a long while about something, she slowly moved forward, drew Derflinger, and looked at the blade. Then resting her staff against her shoulder, she picked up the sheath and put the blade back in, somehow carrying the staff, the book, and what appeared to be a new weapon for her.
"Alright, thanks a lot, new partner! So where are we going? Is there anyone else there?"
"Roommate left. Germania."
"Ah well. Glad to be working with you, miss…"
He stopped as if he had forgotten her name, but both the sword and the girl knew that he hadn't. He was waiting. Tabitha stopped, lowered the book, and then looked all over the place to see if anyone else was else around. She then spoke her real name, the name which had been stolen from her and which no one within this Academy knew about.
"Charlotte Helene Orleans De Gallia."
…
Both of the moons were clear tonight in the night sky. Napoleon looked out on them as he stood in one of the gardens of the Valliere family. It truly was an impressive sight, a garden that would have been worthy of perhaps his own palaces, or that of the king Louis XIV at Versailles. This well-trimmed, well-manicured garden with a stone fountain drizzling water in the distance had caused him for the first time to actually think about his own world, his France, his Empire, and his defeat. Or perhaps it was just the coffee that was preventing him from properly sleeping in the garden like had originally been his intention. Still, even though he obviously had zero intention of returning back to his world, he wondered if he did miss certain elements of it besides simply being an Emperor. In this world where no one knew exactly everything he had accomplished, what did it even mean to be Napoleon Bonaparte?
It was a foolish question. He knew the answer. He had always known the answer. It was to seek his absolute destiny among the stars, to pursue a dream of power and conquest. It was for the betterment of the people, of course. They would know true liberty under his rule, a perfect balance of the conflicting ideas of liberty and order. That was what he had to do while he was in this land.
A footstep sunk down in the gravel behind him, and Napoleon guessed from the general lack of daintiness in the step who it was behind him. Without bothering to look at her, he gave a greeting.
"Good evening, Eleanor."
The blonde-haired woman walked up beside him.
"Good evening, Napoleon."
"You've had enough of my partner?"
She stiffened up at those words, though remained silent. What was she doing here anyways, Napoleon wondered?
"Louise is with Cattleya. I'm sure you know she enjoys her more anyways."
"What a surprise."
"I appreciate the sarcasm, Napoleon, but I have something I want to talk to you about. You will be talking to mother about taking Louise to the war?"
"Of course."
"Why? Why do you need her?"
He turned to her. Eleanor was looking up at the moon, visibly determined not to look at him. It didn't keep out how she was wavering.
"I may treat her rough, but I know she's changed. I can tell she's stronger, Napoleon. She's no longer truly afraid of me."
"I beg to differ."
"You don't understand!"
She shouted those words and then wheeled on Napoleon, with the two facing each other in the moonlight.
"I pulled all sorts of ridiculous things on her the entire way there, a trip of over three days. And she never gave in. She kept resisting me, whether it was just tugging at my own hair somehow or screaming when I pulled her. She never did that before. In the past, she would stop doing anything. She would just accept her cheeks being pulled without saying a word after a while. But she's changed, almost if she's no longer my little sister."
"So you do love her after all."
"I have every right to be concerned about her if you're going to drag her off to a war."
"I'm not."
"What?"
He sighed in response, turning away from Henrietta as he walked down to the garden.
"Your sister always had that will, Eleanor. She just never showed it to you. If she didn't want to go to this war, even I wouldn't be able to persuade her. But if she was the kind who wouldn't be willing to fight for her country, I never would have accepted her as a partner to begin with.
She will go out of her own free will, out of her desire to serve her friend and her country. We will attempt to persuade her parents tomorrow, but even if she doesn't, we'll still go. It will be Louise's wish if she fights in this war, not mine."
He finished his talk and looked at Eleanor. The blonde-haired girl looked at him and nodded her head vigorously several times.
"I see. You pass."
He tilted his head in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
Eleanor looked at the castle.
"I don't know how Cattleya found out, but mother has no intention of having a conversation with you and Louise. Apparently she told one of the servants that you are to be trapped in the tower."
Napoleon gave no reaction to those words, only asking one question.
"Does Cattleya know if this was her idea?"
"She apparently received a letter last night, but I don't know from whom."
Further silence. Eleanor wondered if he was all right. To hear that the Duchess, someone whom he did appear to respect, was intending to make such a move surely must be a great shock to him. But he spoke after a while, though Eleanor was unsure whom he was addressing.
"It doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things. All it changes is the priority."
Then he turned towards Eleanor.
"Why are you helping? You don't trust me."
"I don't. But like I said, you passed. If you had told me that Louise was so important that she had to go for the sake of Tristain or something like that, I wouldn't have helped you. It would have shown that you valued Tristain over Louise, and I would never trust my sister with someone like that.
You believe that Louise's decision to fight must come from her. I'm scared, Napoleon. I'm scared for what will happen to my sister. But it's her decision. If she wants to fight in Tristain, I believe she can."
There was someone running in the courtyard. Napoleon looked back, and recognized it as Cattleya. She was carrying a sleeping Louise in her arms and ran up to the two before stopping.
"Good to see you Napoleon. I believe that Eleanor's told you about the plan?"
Napoleon moved forward and took the sleeping girl in his grasp before he shook his head.
"No, not yet. So the two of us are escaping the manor?"
Cattleya smiled and attempted to answer, only to be interrupted by a hacking cough. She lurched forward and continued while Eleanor ran up to her sister, steadying her. Napoleon observed that a few spots of blood came out during the attack, and a small grimace ran through him.
Louise, however, barely stirred from the noise, only giving a small mumble. Cattleya eventually recovered and moved upright, her older sister nervously watching her.
"Are you alright, Cattleya? You really should rest."
The younger sister brushed herself off with an "I'm fine" and addressed Napoleon.
"Head through those bushes. You can reach the main gate through there. There'll be a carriage waiting for you there for your escape. But Napoleon?"
Not being able to grasp his hands which were holding Louise, Cattleya instead grabbed his cheeks. Even someone like him couldn't help but blush slightly at her action, but the serious expression on Cattleya's face belied any frivolous intentions.
"Promise me, Napoleon. Promise me that you will fight for Louise to the very end."
The Emperor blinked in surprise, and then gave a soft laugh.
"I promise. I will serve Louise to the very end and as for long as I can, Cattleya."
Breaking himself out of the girl's grasp, he shifted Louise onto her back and made for the bushes. As he began to struggle, he heard the voices of both sisters cry out.
"May the Founder's Divine Protection be with you and Louise!"
Napoleon gave no verbal response to their farewells as he kicked his way through, grateful of what a deep sleeper Louise was. He knew that when he got to that carriage and then to Tristania, that the wrath of a thousand suns would fall upon all of those incompetent buffoons in their military. De Poitiers wanted a war with him? He would get one he would never believe that humans could wage.
…
As the carriage flew off, Karin watched through the window, her hand clutching a recently arrived letter. She had known, of course. Cattleya, as weak and frail as she liked to portray herself, was way too sly for her own good. Did she seriously think that Karin couldn't tell that an owl had been watching the Duchess in the study for the past few minutes?
Jerome, the proud butler of the Valliere family, stood waiting in attention. But he couldn't help but ask a question.
"Was it really for the best to let them escape?"
"De Poitiers may be a friend, but he should know that friendship has its limits. His hatred for the Emperor, as merited as it is, has completely blinded him. He dared to tell me that I should imprison my daughter and her familiar and also chose to tell me that it was for the good of Tristain while acting like I'm too stupid to realize that it's nothing more than an obvious political ploy. Honestly, he will never acknowledge it, but aside from his family pedigree, he's no better than the Emperor, and he is worse in many ways."
There was a lot more than that to Karin's decision, and Jerome knew it. But there was nothing more to be said about that topic.
"Anyways, Jerome, don't you have a guest to show in for me?"
The butler bowed respectfully and left the library for a moment. Karin looked at a bottle that stood on a nearby desk. It was a bottle which she had imported from Rub al Khail. Even for a noble of high rank as herself, this was a luxury; a new product which had only came into the finest merchants about three years ago. The foreigners called it absinthe.
Pouring a small glass, she downed it in a gulp and felt herself warm up. A tinkling of a bell indicated that Jerome had returned, as he escorted the guest along. He seemed nervous and awed, not even attempting to even hide his wonder at the wonder as he looked up at the piles of books. As he continued to look, Karin decided to welcome his guest.
"Welcome. I'm sure you have travelled a long way, little boy. Now ... Pierre was your name, was it not?"