Imperial City of Archades, 697 (o. V.)

Lightly did I take Judge Drace's words, and faulty I was.

It is better for you to spend as much time as you can here.

I initially thought she expected me to hide in the little Twenty-Sixth's room when I had a break, I had something to ask, or to prepare whatever words I had for Lord Larsa that day, all of this occasionally. But no, she demanded my presence much more often, which upset me as I wasn't serene leaving Mother alone. Most of those times were to recover from night shifts, as a dömavän hadn't a privileged role when it came to watching over the division's material in the Military Akademy, and was expected to fill that duty like any other Judge or soldier. After such nights, or in the afternoons, I was invited to nap in the antechamber's bed. Having me nearby visibly meant as much to her as she had expressed it.

Lord Vayne was still absent from the Thirteenth. According to Zargabaath during the strange visit, he didn't use his apartments as a child, and that did not seem to have changed at present. What was their purpose then? It was as if the place assigned to him had been a curse that he wanted to avoid as much as he could.

When I had seen him in the Second's library, he seemed quite curious, and less extrovert than he tried to appear. Surely there was a heavy matter in his mind that he wasn't close to sort out. On the contrary, Larsa was always cheerful and genuine – which is no surprise when you are a child from the nobility.

I also met other Solidors at times, who were living in the two floors below Drace's. They were relatives of the Emperor, his cousins and their descendants. The Palace personnel were constantly switching floors, moving all sorts of food, fabric and potions, so they were the link between the imperial clan and me. However, I never met Emperor Gramis himself. And from what I understood, Larsa met him very little. The boy's whole environment revolved around Drace, myself, and the numerous maids at his service – Nastia included.

I had not seen Nastia a lot between the brief library encounter and the… also brief discovery in the laundry closet. Nor did I see her after that event. Nevertheless, I met her companion: Vitu Palnissen. At the beginning, I doubted he would talk on the matter – despite his openness –, with me in particular. But after a few weeks he confessed his meeting, with the shyness specific to the people who fell to the sparks of love. And of course, I had to fake both my unawareness of the relationship and my distance to Anastasia.

'I never knew I could find such a sweet soul here in the Palace! Did you know she was working in the Thirteenth?'

'N… No, not at all.'

'Only the most trusted servants of House Solidor are appointed to that floor. Moreover, she is in charge of Lord Larsa, no less! Along with Mother Orla, her actual mother, who has been there since the times of Empress Sentia. And you, Gabranth, are also allowed at Lord Larsa's side. How lucky! Can we exchange positions?'

'I'm not sure you would like to deal with Lord Larsa's temper', I said with a smile.

'Ah!' he added with the dreamy face he would have from that point onwards. 'I really wish to propose to her today, but I perfectly know my parents won't let me do as I please. In one way or another, my brother is also involved, and that is getting complicated…'

Unlike me, Judge Palnissen was very often sent for military trainings at the country's borders. His headship abilities grew with each second, and he seemed to form an ideal duet with Judge Zargabaath. Judge Drace naturally preferred to see me in a classic "bringer of order" role across Argyllshire and Offaly. The two provinces (along with Staffordshire) were connected by the most famous invention of Archadia: the Sky Train. It had more than thirty stops from Argyll to Stafford, south of the Empire, and was very popular among citizens. It was the perfect opportunity to witness the (too scarce) diversity of Archadians: Seeqs and Bangaas were more or less blended with Humes, although there was a plethora of jobs they were not allowed to hold. The extremely rare Vieras that I saw in the train were all tourist guides, obviously overworked and frowned upon by the respectable gentry. Radnorshire, Bò, and Cowichan were the three other Archadian provinces, all of them regarded as loathsome because of the amount of poverty – almost as much as Old Archades, the lower suburbs of the Imperial Town that were basically considered as the capital's trash. Lastly, the area around the Port City of Balfonheim had a specific status. It wasn't strictly attached to the Empire, but had to pay quite a lot of taxes to keep that freedom. It was by far the most opaque place of Archadia, said to host hordes of burglars and pirates disguised as fishermen.

As for Landis… From what I understood, Landis's status was much closer to Balfonheim's than it was to Bò's, for instance – bar the taxes. Landisites hadn't been supposed to turn into Archadians overnight. No imperial propaganda was taught in schools, and a majority of local regulations had been kept, to the extent the elections for big cities' mayors hadn't changed a tiny bit. Waldgott and Kalthof had continued their "normal" life as soon as the reconstruction had ended. Unlike Cirla's and Margit's business town of Waldgott that had been utterly destroyed, the capital city had much less material damage due to the siege laid on it to provoke the institutions' fall. From what I could read on Landis newspapers, Kalthof hadn't changed at all. Only the president had been replaced by a province governor, appointed by Archades. Despite this surprising news, I didn't have what it took to return there a single time. I didn't feel comfortable, I didn't feel worthy of treading my homeland after all I had done, and would still do, for the Empire. Moreover, what would I go there for? Everyone had died. My friends, my comrades, my coworkers at the farms… moreover, seeing an imperial in Landis would likely trigger a burning anger that wasn't the same as in Archadia.

But was I a bad Landisite? Was I still a Landisite at all? Someone who hadn't been able to fight for his country didn't deserve being a citizen. In this context, was I any different from Basch? That thought alone was poisoning my brain. Staying in the nation Landis had become was certainly better than fleeing in… Dalmasca. If he ever reached his destination, that is, and was still in that kingdom. However, serving the criminal state was certainly worse than… serving anything else.

Therefore, Archadia's Sky Train was, in its turn, serving, serving about half of the Empire's provinces. And even if the distance between Archades and Argyll was the same as between Archades and Balfonheim, the former journey lasted less time with the train. However, it was longer by airship, because Balfonheim's weather is much less stormy than Argyllshire's, a continental region that was also home to devastating hurricanes in the dry season. An aerodrome for – at least – internal flights had been built in each province capital. Landis already had an international airport, between Waldgott and Kalthof, where most inhabitants live. Each time I had gone there had been an ecstatic experience. I got used to the little waiting area with comfortable benches, the graze of the pastel-stained wood counters, the smell of the flowers surrounding the boarding tracks, the taste of the snacks and beverages sold in the food corner, and the heart-warming sunlight blessing all travelers from the high roof of reinforced glass. The aerodrome personnel, as well as the airship crew, were known to be among the most welcoming Landisite work teams. Some people entered the peculiar building by its architecture, solely for a talk with fellow regular visitors and the merchants. I still remembered my air trips as a child, with my father, as well as vacation ones later, with my mother. All the time, Basch had been present. We really were inseparable twins, despite everything… And of course, the most memorable one was the trip to Nabradia, because my dear Naria was among us. Despite her grief, she had enlightened the wonderful days we spent there with her constant smile, her puckish jokes and her funny ideas. The mind-blowing beauty of the Nabreus Shimmering Gardens, the friendly inn with the rare Zecht painting, the good restaurants and the laughs at the amusement park were still vivid in my mind. Thirteen years had passed since. Thirteen. I was now twenty-six and considered a full Archadian.

Maybe I was the traitor instead of Basch.