"...The introduction of Dina Jaeger née Fritz to the 47th Ballroom Dance sent shockwaves rippling across the political landscape like no introduction ever had before. The implications of the Eldian delegation's arrival alongside that of Hizuru's also heralded an even more foreboding connotation- the two nations had made common cause once more, and had renewed their old alliance, now proudly displaying it for all the world to see…"

- New Eldia and the Geopolitics Of The Modern Era (c.912), by Prof. Edmund Fauvry
Published by the University of Dùthaich

Tenth Day of the Six Month, Jahr Unseres Gründers c.854

Bormu Estate, Klakkin, Thule

"Guten abend, everyone. I hope I haven't interrupted anything."

The woman's words were met with dead silence. When she received no answer, the woman, the Fritz, simply shrugged, before turning away from the majority of the room and back to her companions. It was only when the eyes of the Fritz turned away from them did the room burst into hushed whispers and frantic footsteps as friends, associates, allies, and the works all hurried to converse with each other. In mere moments, the Ballroom had gone from a deathly still to a panicked livelihood.

And, amidst the chaos, Wilhelm did naught but stare, a thousand thoughts crashing about his mind before coalescing into a single one.

How?

HOW?!

For her to be a Fritz was one thing, Wilhelm knew. For her to claim the title of Despot, one which had been vacant since the remnants of the Royal Family had burned after the end of the Charred War and the Morean Eldians under Basil Fritz's banner brought low, was another. For her to be here, having entered with the Hizurese was yet one more, and the implications were horrifyingly clear.

They have been planning this for a very long time, he realized. Something of this magnitude could not have taken place over night- not the re-mending of the Eldian-Hizurese alliance, not the secreting of the islanders' delegation to Thule, not the fact that the invasion of Marley happened to start when the Grand Army was on the other end of the continent and after a war that had left said army weary. Not the planting of Shifter spies amidst the ranks of the army, either.

In mere moments, everything else at the Ballroom became secondary priorities.

He-

He needed to telegraph his sister.

He needed to send word back to his subordinates in Marley, to his allies abroad. He needed to begin to cash in the favours his family had accumulated throughout the last century. He needed to find a safe nation far away enough from the fighting, a place where his children could stay. He needed to-

"-ilhelm. Wilhelm!"

Suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings again, Wilhelm emerged from his inner turmoil to find his wife gently shaking his shoulder.

"Marissa?" he blinked. "I thought you were with the children."

"I arranged for them to be looked after," his wife said, pulling him close, and Wilhelm took comfort from it. "I just arrived- I wanted to surprise you, but… well, this happened. Willy, is she really- are they really-?"

Wilhelm nodded, a sinking feeling forming in his gut. "They can be no one else," he replied darkly. What else was there to say? There were so many things they didn't know, and for once, Wilhelm found himself on the backfoot. It was an unwelcome feeling, to say the least.

Once more aware of his surroundings, though never taking his peripheral vision of the Eldian delegation and their Hizurese counterparts, Wilhelm knew immediately that whatever conversations had been taking place before… Dina Fritz's arrival had forced them to the backseat in light of the confrontation the Tybur patriarch knew had to happen. There was no choice, now- he, and undoubtedly everyone present, knew it. To leave now in a panic would only cede ground to his enemies, and to leave without confronting them would be seen as cowardice, as if Wilhelm was scared of them. Of her.

Wilhelm Tybur was not scared of Dina Fritz, no.

He was terrified.

The sheer amount of implications that her survival meant terrified him, for it forced him to ponder what might happen if, Gott forbid, the Eldians won. Wilhelm knew his histories. He knew the fate of traitors to the Old Empire, and he knew that, to the Eldians of Paradis, there were no greater traitors than his family.

Fina, Alois, Bruno, Rico, Emilie… His five, beautiful children, his greatest source of pride and joy in the world. What fates would await them, if this resurgent Eldia somehow managed to win?

There were two things that had kept him from bolting to check on his children, political reasonings aside; the first was the fact that the Founder could do no harm to any of his blood, thanks to the precautions his predecessors had taken when they and Karl Fritz had enacted The Plan all those decades ago.

And the second? The second was the need for information. Wilhelm, and Marley, was blinder than they had ever been, and that could not be allowed to continue. Eldia was willing to play the Game on a global stage, and he had no desire to be the one dancing to their tune.

There's an irony to be found here, somewhere, Wilhelm almost chuckled to himself. I came all the way here to see the end of one war, only to have to fight one of my own.

Then the Tybur steeled himself, and turned to face in the direction of the Eldian delegation. His own delegation, and various acquaintances of his like Nambia and Ogweno, who had gathered around him in the time he'd been lost in his spiraling thoughts, startled at that.

"L-lord Tybur," one started, aghast, "surely- surely you don't mean to parley with them?! Those devils?!"

"Bonnifer has the right of it," another grunted. "Where the hell are the Bormus? This is their estate, have their guard kick the devils out of here!"

All around him, words of agreement to the sentiment sprang up, and Wilhelm suppressed the desire to punch the bridge of his nose. Oh, if only he could make the Bormus do such a thing.

If only.

The Tybur shook his head. "But alas, the Bormus cannot. To do so without reasonable provocation would go against Thule's spirit of international neutrality, which the Eldians no doubt know." Simply put, the Bormus won't put their country's reputation on the line. "That aside," Wilhelm continued, "it'd be folly not to go and talk to them. Perhaps they'll be reasonable and surrender. Founding Titan or not, Marley holds seven of the Nine, and the last time a Fritz King faced those odds, he lost."

His lie was met with approving looks and words that would have encouraged him had Wilhelm not known what he was about to walk into.

"Wish me luck," Wilhelm said, his suave façade returning, and he was met with wine glasses raised in salute- and then, as he took a step forward, with Marissa walking step in step with him.

"I- Marissa," he started, only for the woman to give him a think before you speak look, and Wilhelm, wisely, heeded it. "...You don't have to come with me," Wilhelm told his wife. This blood feud between the Fritz woman and himself- for it was a blood feud now, there was no doubt about it- did not have to be one Marissa had to partake in. He was of half a mind to have her sent back to their residence back in Klakkin proper, and hoped she picked up on his words. And, of course, Marissa being Marissa, she did.

Only, instead of agreeing with him, she simply locked arms with him and gave Wilhelm a determined look. "I knew what I married into, Willy. I won't back down now, not without you. If you're going into the lion's den, then I'll follow. I know you'd do the same for me."

And he would, if it came to it. There were frighteningly few things he would not do for this wife, or their children.

Wilhelm sighed again, though this time out of a weary relief. At the very least, he would have his wife besides him, and that made all the difference.

"Thank you, my lady," he murmured, bringing her hand up for him to press a kiss against, receiving a pick on the cheek in return. With that, the two Tyburs moved forward to meet their enemy- and, across the room, said enemy did just the same, Dina Friz being accompanied by the same black-haired woman who'd heralded their arrival.

The four met in the middle.

Neither side spoke, at first, each surveying the other. For the most part, Wilhelm stared down the Fritz, who seemed to do the same. There was a cold hatred in her eyes, he noted, and knew it was directed at him. Her lady companion, however, Wilhelm could get little out of. Black hair, hazel eyes. Slightly shorter than the blonde Fritz beside her. Bearing the same uniform, save the white jacket-cloak, though not excluding the black-gold brooch of the Nine-Pointed Star. An angry glare instead of a hateful one.

…I'm not sure which one I prefer.

Then, the Despot of the Morean at last broke the tense silence.

"I would say "guten abend" to you, Tybur," she started, "but that would be a lie. I wish anything but good things for you."

"Allow me to assure you, Fritz," Wilhelm sneered back, "the feeling is mutual. Were we anywhere but Thule, you wouldn't leave this room alive."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? If we all just dropped dead. Ymir be praised that a good person now wields the Founder."

"Obviously not at its full power, or else you would have made good on your ancestor's 'threat.' We know of the Vow."

The Fritz woman scoffed. "What you think you know far outweighs what you do. For example- me."

And here, Wilhelm drew up blanks. "...And why, pray tell," he queried, "would you be an example of our lack of knowledge?"

The Despot of the Morean smiled, then, a soft, cold thing. "I'm Basil's daughter," she replied, and Wilhelm nearly froze. "Your predecessor didn't do as good of a job as he thought he did, when your family burned mine alive. You missed one."

Before Wilhelm could even have a moment to begin to process the woman's words (Good Gott, she's Basil's girl?! I- I'd heard rumours, hearsay, but I never thought-)

Then, a tidbit of information from years ago moved to the forefront of his mind.

Dina. Dina.

I've heard that name before.

"Oh. It's you," he says abruptly, eyes widened. "Dina Jaeger. The Restorationist. I thought you looked familiar." He'd read the reports when they had come in. It had been a long time since a pro-Eldian conspiracy had been found, and the discovery of eradication of the Eldian Restorationist Movement had made headlines in the country. The faces of the perpetrators had been plastered on every newspaper for a week, and the Fritz looked near-identical to the mugshot he remembered seeing, save an unbruised face and a longer hair.

The unexpected revelation also confirmed what he and his family had already suspected about her son as well, the one who had turned the Restoratinists over. One less mystery.

"Tell me, Dina Jaeger of House Fritz," Wilhelm went on, a smirk appearing on lips. "How's your son?"

Evidently, it had been the right thing to day, for the cold hatred in the Fritz's eyes transformed into burning rage, and had the other woman not held her back, Wilhelm had no doubt he would've been sporting a broken nose or worse, as well as a reason to bar the Eldian delegation from any-and-all future Ballrooms in-perpetuity.

But, well, the consolation prize would have to do- for, after an intensified staredown between the two parties, and a silent conversation between the two Eldian women, the turned and made to return to their delegation, ceding their first political battlefield.

Nodding once to himself, Wilhelm wheeled himself and his wife around and led her back to their own group, where he retook his glass of wine and raised it with a smile.

"First blood goes to us, ladies and gentlemen."

"I-I'm sorry. I messed up, didn't I?"

Her voice was low, and ashamed. Dina hadn't meant to snap like that, but at the mention of her son from the lips of a Tybur-

There was a calming hand rubbing on her back, now. "It's alright," came the reply. "I think I would've done the same, if I were in your shoes. And you would've stopped me if you were in my shoes. It happens."

Letting the tension fall away from her with a sigh as they walked away, Dina turned to the woman beside her. "But still... that doesn't excuse me," she sighed., before turning to face her friend. "You didn't have to be here, you know," she started, only for said woman to scoff. "Of course I did, Dina. Did you think I'd let you deal with them alone? It's the least I can do."

"You've done so much for me already. I can never repay you enough, truly."

It was the woman's turn to sigh, this time, and she stopped walking, turning to face Dina with tender eyes. "You don't owe me anything, Dina," she said softly. "We're family, and family takes care of each other."

"I… I know, I know" Dina replied abashed, a small smile growing on her face. "But still…

Thank you, Carla."

A/N: My first time writing actual politiking. I wonder if I got the feel down correctly. I might come back and edit the Dina-Wilhelm conversation.

For those of you who caught it earlier on, good on you! But for those who missed the hints, SUPRISE! CARLA'S ALIVE AS WELL!

There's a surprising lack of works where Dina and Carla get to know one another that aren't modern "Grisha divorced Dina" AUs. I wanna change that, so here. There's a LOT of backstory for how this scenario happened, which probably will never be explained in this story. A prequel, though, is definitely a possibility...

I know I said Bertholdt would get his time to shine this chapter, but alas, I got sidetracked, so he gets the next chapter.

And the reason I got sidetracked for the past few months (besides school and irl stuff) is because I was making a map of the world.

maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1kg3hR2zkLceqnfbAjSqQHFoSjKg6sW6X&ll=29.423196715244757&z=2

Because y'all need to know where things are happening. It isn't anywhere close to being done, and the borders can and will change until I get them solid, but this'll do for now.

Until next time!