Megumi, Lola and Kay were the first to arrive at their middle school counterparts and they decided to settle down. Lola's appearance was kept hidden to avoid any attention with Kay whom Megumi was still suspicious about. Pyotr would arrive a couple hours later as he was busy doing the finances. Tatiana and Olga were waiting with Alexei and their father while Megumi walked up to them, and the father began to speak.
"Welcome back Megumi. I sensed you were gone for a couple days. It felt like a millennia to us." Nicholas began. He shook Megumi's hand.
"It will be another millennia more before we can say that we will be united in God's arms." Megumi told him. Mika and Jajka were watching in the background as they had invited themselves over. "So, anything new?" Megumi would ask Nicholas if he had any news.
"Nothing much other than the fact that you got a new accountant." Megumi began. Nicholas remembered and he began to laugh.
"He's done our budget and reforms so he's doing your school good. What's his name?" Nicholas would ask before he looked at Megumi.
"Pyotr." Megumi replied.
"Okay where is he? I want to see him." Nicholas asked. Megumi began to think as if he wasn't with them.
"He said he was running late. He's doing the budget." Megumi answered. Kay was watching in the background before Nicholas turned his head to her and he began speaking to Megumi again.
"At work I see. I'll be speaking to Kay to see how things are going for Saunders. I will be back later when we get the statue shown to the people." Nicholas told Megumi before he began to walk away to Kay. Megumi walked up to Olga and Tatiana while Alexei went to go chat with other people.
"Hey Megumi, I haven't seen you in a few days. We heard about the robbery that was pulled off and we wanted to make sure you were okay." Olga [R] Began speaking as she wondered what exactly was going on. Megumi began to think as she began speaking again.
"I wasn't in the area where the robbery had taken place, much of Baku had been obliterated and we're still rebuilding that." Megumi explained that she knew nothing about the robbery due to the fact that she hadn't been a witness to it.
"At least you're safe. I think our cousin still has Alexandra and she says she misses you and wants to see you again." Olga [R] also added that her friend wishes to see Megumi again and figure out what exactly was going on.
"I think Alexandra would have my best wishes and I wish she will be safe." Megumi began. "Plus, we had figured out that we can bring some things back in secret which included restarting the cavalry classes and group, though we're beginning to purchase armored cars and putting Maxim guns inside. The Nakashidze-Charron Armored cars we got from BC Freedom are a good way to branch out and test more mobile uses other than horses. I'm only doing this so Kay doesn't stop nagging me. We're also getting more tanks as we have to update the arsenal." Megumi explained what exactly had been happening and how their armory was getting an upgrade.
"That's cool. What Maxim guns are you using?" Tatiana [R] asked Megumi. Megumi began to think about it before she began to speak.
"M1910 Maxims, we decided that we needed a ton of those as they come low with a wheeled mount, and they come with a shield. Some protection for the shooter I suppose." Megumi explained what kind of weapons they were using. Tatiana nodded before she began to speak again.
"Nice. I bet we got plenty of those with us. It's good you're still continuing the partnership with us. If you need anything else, call me and I will be able to talk to you about it." Tatiana [R] told Megumi about it. Megumi began to think as if this chatting wasn't the reason why she came to their school in the first place.
"So is the statue just about ready to be shown?" Megumi asked if they were going to be looking at the statue that she had been invited over to see.
"Just about." Tatiana [R] replied. "We had to get a picture of you to see what you looked like, and the statue is made out of pure brass. It was harder to get the mold to be correct than pouring the molten brass into the mold and getting it to cool down. Once that was done, we found a pedestal made out of marble that we decided to stand it up on with a plaque to go along with it. We were never told about what the plaque said but we tried to merge it with Nicholas' grandfather and you as you two seem to have a lot in common." Megumi was listening in on the conversation, she found it to be an interesting one to say the least.
"I can't wait to see what I look like." Megumi told them. Tatiana laughed as Alexei was still chatting with Jajka and Mika.
"In a few, they're still getting everything ready." Tatiana [R] told Megumi. Megumi looked at Alexei before she looked back at Tatiana. She was beginning to speak again. "I've also begun to intercept a series of letters from Alexei just recently and it looks like he was chatting with some kind of girl." Tatiana [R] began to explain to Megumi that she began to get something peculiar from her younger brother and this made Megumi curious.
"What were the letters?" Megumi would ask curiously.
"These letters were from Count High School. It was from a girl named Ileana. We saw her when we had a war for Count's independence." Tatiana [R] explained who this girl was. Megumi began to think as the name came across her mind.
"Ileana, I think it's been a while since we last saw them. Should we try talking to them to find out what was new?" Megumi asked as they didn't seem to remember that school so often. Tatiana began to think as if she decided to become somber for the moment.
"Mahou gave out the news of something terrible happening in her school. They had a peasant revolt." Tatiana [R] began. Megumi was shocked, what exactly happened for something like this to ever happen.
"What happened?" Megumi asked.
"This all started when Count High School introduced new taxes, and this had a negative effect on the people as they had no way to pay those taxes off plus most of the land was held by just a few people and they weren't happy about it. They revolted and at first, according to Ileana, they were able to contain it but the revolt snowballed into something out of their local control, and they ended up shooting the peasants. She said in the letter that she was crying a bit as they shot the protestors with plastic pellets, and they should consider listening to the people instead of shooting them. Mahou eventually listened to her and corrected the problem before any more protests happened." Tatiana [R] explained the situation and how it went down. "Alexei felt bad for Ileana as she said she was watching them bury some of the ash from what they burned from some of the protests and how some of the stuff was destroyed. Alexei even wanted to donate some of his own personal savings to help the school out."
"I guess it shows that he really likes her. Plus, he feels the sorrow of those people. I've talked to him before; Alexei is a very nice person." Megumi explained to Tatiana about it. "He even let me sleep in his room when I came to visit you."
"I agree. Sweet kid he is, he even tried to console some of the servants while they were going through hard times." Tatiana [R] told Megumi. Alexei came walking over as he had some news for them.
"Papa says that the statue unveiling is going to happen in a few minutes, I hope you're ready with that short speech Megumi." Alexei gave the news that the statue was going to be revealed. Megumi looked at him before she nodded.
"Thanks for telling us." Megumi told Alexei, the three of them walked off to go see the statue unveiling.
They arrived as the crowd of Kazakis, guards and some of the respected audience members had arrived. Nicholas arranged for Alix and the ladies to sit. Lola was sitting next to Alix as Kay was near the edge, Pyotr was standing near the statue as he and a couple others were going to pull the tarp off. Nicholas was standing with Megumi and Alexei. He patted the microphone, and he began to speak.
"Thank you all for coming here to see the beauty that is the statue unveiling. The reason I bring you all here is that a very special lady at Saunders has helped lead the two schools together and strengthened the alliance at the beginning of the year. We have helped Saunders recover their misfortunes from the end of Nicole's Black Sea War and turn the tables against Kebab High School in the war that ended up liberating four smaller schools along the way. The Serbian and Montenegrin gangs have been given a temporary school to settle down while we try figuring out what to do with them but even if we had some rocky relations, I sensed that the beginning of the year was the best time we had between the two schools." Nicholas told the group of the speech while he made no mention of Megumi. Alexei stepped up next and he began to speak.
"With the whole heart and the gold of someone's kindness as full as a field of wheat, she has been the best friend of me and my sisters. Tatiana talks fondly about her, and I often spend my time with her. When her legs were shattered by a bomb, I stayed by her side until she recovered, she was the friend we all looked up to. She came to my house seeking shelter and I was more than welcome to let her stay with me. I promised her for months on end that she will get to see my bedroom and when she did, I decided to let her stay until the situation at the school recovered. When she left, we all said a very sad goodbye, but she promised that she would come back. Megumi, you're my best friend and you look out for me and my family. I pray for your kindness and the prosperity of the future. Thank you." Alexei made his speech before stepping down. Megumi took over.
"Nicholas and Alexei, when I first came to Saunders, I wasn't expecting to take over the reign of being the tsarina of the school. When we first met, you were very kind and gentle people. Alexei, your older sisters adore you and for good reason. Nicholas, A man who seemed to be a loving father to his family and a loving husband to Alix, when we met, you were more than helpful in reversing our fortunes that we ended up losing over. While time seems to go by quickly for us. It goes slowly over with you. I hope we can make the rest of this year last between us and if there is any future conflict where we need the help from the other. We shall respond to each other's calls." Megumi would finish the speech she had said off of the top of her mind. She stepped down as Nicholas decided to take over for her.
"In honor of our friend Megumi, we have made this statue monument in dedication to her." Nicholas began. He turned to Pyotr, and he began to speak to him. "Would you please do the honors and take the tarp off?"
"Yes Nicholas." Pyotr told Nicholas. He pulled the tarp off of the statue as the statue was revealed to be Megumi with the uniform of the principal as if she was leading the school with grace.
"Give Megumi a round of applause!" Nicholas called out. Everyone began to clap for her except for Kay who thought that this was completely pointless. Anastasia walked up as she was carrying a box for her father. When she stopped. Nicholas walked over and opened the box. "This is for you. May St. George be with you." Nicholas told her while he carefully scooped the medal out of the box. He then undid the safety pin and found a safe spot to put the medal in as it was placed on her uniform. The pin was then closed up as Megumi looked down with confidence that she had gotten herself a medal. Kay looked on as she was jealous. Where was her medal? She looked to the side as if she was being left out. The clapping had stopped as Megumi turned to the crowd to show off the medal, she had got herself. Everyone looked at her as they began walking off of the stage. Everyone got up and began snapping pictures of the statue as if it was their reason they came here.
"Nice statue you got there." Anastasia [R] began.
"I'm surprised that none of you decided to pull a prank, I thought I was going to get a worm instead of a medal." Megumi began.
"I would have given you the worm too." Anastasia [R] replied in a joking manner. Megumi giggled a bit.
"I bet you would do too." Megumi responded. Kay was looking on as she was jealous about the entire thing. How come Megumi was being rewarded and not her. She thought it wasn't fair. Alexei walked over to Megumi next. He had some news for her.
"Father is taking Olga and Tatiana to see the opera tonight. I was wondering what you wanted to do?" Alexei asked if he wanted to hang out with her and they wanted to spend some time.
"Who else is going?" Megumi asked if they could have a one-night date together. Alexei began to think.
"Pyotr your accountant is also going as he and Nicholas are becoming fast friends. I asked Nicholas if I could come, and he said that he wanted me to go with someone else." Alexei began. Megumi was curious to see what this opera was going to be, and she wanted to see what it was.
"What's the opera called; you got me curious about it." Megumi asked. Alexei began to think about it before he responded about it with the name.
"The Tale of Czar Saltan." Alexei told Megumi what the opera was called. "I need one more person to take with me to see the opera as my father has the best seats, but I want to go in as a regular theater goer." Alexei explained that he needed one more person to go with him to the opera if he was going to have a good night. Kay was still lurking about feeling left out. Alexei walked over to Kay as he felt like she was left out. "Hey… you want to go to the opera with us to see the Tale of Czar Saltan?" Alexei asked Kay if she wanted to go out with them.
"Is this a pity party that I didn't receive any rewards for when the statue was unveiled?" Kay asked if they were going to pity her for that reason. Alexei began to think before he came up with his answer.
"It's kind of is but you felt you were left out in a lot of things so I wanted to take the opportunity and take you out to the opera house where we can watch the opera that papa was also watching." Alexei began as he admitted that the invitation was the fact that he felt bad that Kay didn't get anything of any significance. "Do you want to come out with us?" Alexei asked Kay if she was more than inclined to go out to the opera. Kay decided to think about it as it was an invitation to spend the evening out. She had snubbed Alexei some time before, but he was making it up to her by taking her and Megumi out.
"Okay. I'll come out with you." Kay told them as she was going to go to the opera with them. Megumi's face had lit up and Alexei was more than astounded by the fact that Kay had said yes. Alexei nodded before he decided to walk off with Kay.
"Great. Me and Megumi will get you prepared to look clean and beautiful for the event." Alexei told Kay that she was going to have to change out into something more formal as this was a special event. Kay nodded a bit before she began walking along with them.
They were just a short while away from the opera house in a salon where Alexei was doing Kay's hair.
"Tell me if this is too hot." Alexei began. He turned on the hair dryer and he began to blow the hot air into Kay's hair. Kay felt the hot air blow her blonde hair all over as Alexei was doing his best to gently brush it. He was trying his best not to hurt Kay in any way.
"I know you're trying to be gentle, but a few loose hairs aren't going to hurt you." Kay told Alexei to brush harder if he had to. Alexei continued to brush Kay as the two of them continued to chat.
"Have you ever gone to a theater to see a play or an opera in your life?" Alexei asked Kay.
"Not really. I never really cared for either one. Plus, I was the child that never really played with dolls." Kay explained that she was the weird one and that she never had any intention in being a girly girl or that was how Alexandra would put it. "I mainly stuck around with my younger brother and sister and watched TV with them. Do you have a TV?"
"We don't. None of us do. Lessons for us began at nine and would resume until one when there is lunch. Lunch will continue until two where we go out into the park no matter the weather and we often have a couple hours of relaxation, games and exercise. Lessons would resume at five and continue until eight or nine when we have dinner. Then it was lights out at ten. Only exception to this rule was Saturday when lessons ended at one. Papa didn't allow any electronics from the outside world into our lives as we were happy with the lives we have. The closest thing to an electronic was Papa's camera which he uses to snap photos or record short videos of us having fun." Alexei explained that they never had television. Not even anything related to what the schools had. They were under strict supervision.
"Then what do you do for entertainment?" Kay asked Alexei.
"Either read books or we play games among ourselves. We also write letters and lots of them." Alexei told Kay what their entertainment was. They seem to be a very bizarre family that Kay was so removed from. Alexei grabbed the hair band and a good chunk of Kay's hair. He then proceeded to tie it up into a ponytail before he grabbed a mirror. "How does it look?" Alexei asked as the two mirrors were reflecting the image of the ponytail back to Kay's eyes.
"It looks nice. Thanks." Kay kind of blushed as she was being somewhat nice to Alexei. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Alexei turned her to him, and he began to clean up her face a bit. Putting on some face powder to get her face to be even toned to look like she was one of his sisters.
"We should be all good. Your face is like an ever-changing canvas of color, emotions and messages. Or that's what Olga told me." Alexei complimented before he helped Kay out of her chair and began to walk with her. Megumi joined up with them as she had been dolled up in a similar way to Kay.
"We should be ready to go. I bet you have the money to purchase the tickets?" Megumi asked Alexei if they were ready to go see the opera.
"I have them and I made sure we got some good seats." Alexei promised them that he got as good of a view as he was going to allow them to be. They exited the building and made their way to the opera house where tonight's event was going to take place. Alexei walked up to the ticket booth. "Three tickets please." Alexei calmly told the ticket master. The ticket master nodded as three tickets were printed out. Alexei paid for the tickets before taking them. He gently tore the tickets along the strip before handing the full tickets to Megumi and Kay.
"Have fun." The ticket master told them. They walked into the opera house as everyone had come to see the opera for tonight. Nicholas was with Olga, Tatiana and Pyotr. He turned to see Alexei with a couple of his girls.
"Ah Alexei, I didn't know you were coming tonight." Nicholas began. He was surprised that his son had decided to take his friends out on a date.
"I promised the girl who we made the statue that I was going to take her to see the opera." Alexei explained to his father that Megumi needed to see the opera with him. "Don't worry, the private seats are for you. I purchased the seats where the rest of the people would sit." Alexei added. Nicholas nodded.
"Thanks, my son. Enjoy yourselves." Nicholas kindly told Alexei. He nodded before he walked off with Kay and Megumi.
"Nice father I will say again. He lets you do these things." Megumi began speaking to Alexei.
"He allows it if I'm in the same place as he is, and I rarely go out. This is one of those few exceptions as I have you two out with me and since we are here. I wanted to make it up to you." Alexei explained to them what exactly he was doing with them. He walked over and held the door for them, and they walked through.
"I sense you have some sense of balance even in times of turbulence. I think your humility would make you an excellent principal one day." Megumi told Alexei that he would make a good leader one day and if that day came, he would have been humbling enough to help others out.
"Well, I'm still untested and I'm still not ready. I'm learning but not ready." Alexei bluntly. He then went into the row where the seats were going to be, and they sat down.
"When do you think you will be ready?" Megumi asked Alexei.
"Not for another ten to fifteen years." Alexei replied.
"Jesus, that's a long time. I might have already started a family when you become principal." Megumi sighed. She was surprised that to become principal, it took a long time.
"Okay let's turn our eyes to the stage. It's about to start." Alexei advised them. The lights dimmed before the stage lights turned on, the velvet red curtains opened up as the orchestra began playing. Several actors walked out onto the stage, and they began to wander around on stage and began doing there was excited, Megumi was curious, and Kay seemed to be bored by this. It was strangely fascinating to her, so she decided to watch.
Act three had come around and Alexei was still enjoying this with Megumi as they were whispering to each other if they had questions and if Megumi didn't understand something and needed some clarification. Kay on the other hand was bored yet fascinated, at the same time.
"What's this piece titled?" Kay whispered to Alexei who was watching the opera.
"Flight of the Bumblebee, I heard it a couple times before, but I don't know too much about this piece of music." Alexei answered Kay's question. They continued to watch as he didn't want to say a word, he just wanted Kay to be absorbed into the opera. Kay continued to watch as the act was done. Only one act remained. The actors were going to take ten minutes to cool down before beginning the last part of the opera. Megumi knew this was a long opera.
"How many acts do we have left?" Megumi asked Alexei if this opera was going to have an end in sight.
"One more act after this. We can all go home after this. I bet you're all having a good time." Alexei told them that this was the last act that was coming up.
"Okay. It's getting late and we should be back at our school tomorrow." Megumi looked at the phone to get the time as it was already nine in the evening. Up near where Alexei's father and sisters were sitting, their friend Pyotr was watching in a booth completely by himself. Nicholas had left to get some tea to drink. Olga and Tatiana were sitting in their booths while being closely guarded. Pyotr's personal guard got up and headed off.
"Я иду покурить." Pyotr's guard told him where he was going. Pyotr nodded as the guard went onto the balcony and lit up a cigar. He began to take some puffs while staring at the nighttime sky in the cold expanse of the school ship. Pyotr was left unguarded, but this was going to come at a high price. A stranger had walked in while Pyotr was enjoying a moment to himself. He knew his reforms for Saunders were going to take a couple of years to bear fruit. It was time that Saunders and Pyotr did not have. The stranger got out his Browning pistol and fired it. The first bullet entered Pyotr's shoulder. Pyotr cried out as the man shot Pyotr two more times in the chest. Pyotr cried out as the guards came running up to him to tend to his injuries. Olga and Tatiana were watching this as the guards arrested the man.
"Неужели будка рухнула и из-за этого он кричит в агонии?" Olga [R] asked if this was the reason why Pyotr was crying out in pain. Tatiana asked a second, more worrying question.
"Почему премьер-министр Столыпин весь в крови?" Tatiana [R] asked Olga. The guards were escorting them away as the orchestra began playing God Save the Czar. Then the speakers gave the news that the rest of the opera was being canceled due to the attempted assassination attempt. Alexei, Megumi and Kay got up and began to exit the opera house.
"They've canceled the opera. The musicians are playing the national anthem. Something is clearly wrong." Alexei began.
"What do we do?" Kay asked.
"I think we should just go home." Megumi somberly told Kay. The three of them exited the opera house with Megumi standing with Alexei. "Too bad we couldn't see the full opera, but we did manage to spend the day with you. Hopefully we can spend more time with you. Just have your father tell us how Pyotr is doing." Megumi then hugged Alexei as if she was saying goodbye to him.
"I promise you about it." Alexei told Megumi. He then turned to Kay. "I hope we can be friends." Kay felt like Alexei was trying his best to rub off on her, but she didn't know what to say next. She turned and began walking away with Megumi following her. Megumi turned her head back to the tsarevich.
"Take care." Megumi continued to walk away as Alexei waved goodbye.
The next morning, Megumi, Kay and Lola had managed to get back as they were still waiting for news about Pyotr as he was shot last night. The phone began to ring as someone was trying to get to them. Megumi picked it up.
"Hello?" Megumi asked whoever it was that was on the other side of the phone.
"Hey Megumi, I got some bad news about Pyotr." Nicholas began the conversation "I was praying for god to forgive me and spare him but sadly, Pyotr is dead."
"I guess Pyotr bled out from his wounds?" Megumi asked.
"Yeah. From what we could gather, his assassin was a socialist revolutionary who shot him three times with a browning pistol. His punishment is being decided but I wanted to tell you that." Nicholas told Megumi that their accountant was no longer with them. Megumi bowed her head with somber as he wasn't with them.
"God has forgiven us all. We pay our respects to the man." Megumi told Nicholas that they would attend the wake and pay their respects to the man.
This was another stone throw in the bucket as things were starting to accelerate.
[A/N]: A long chapter for you as there was a monument unveiling, some speeches and an opera that ended horribly. Could Kay begin having a friendship with the student whom she doesn't like, only time will talk about it as there will be events all interlinked together that will be leading up to something big in the next few chapters to come.
First chapter after vacation and this took longer to complete as I mostly type at night and spend the rest of the day enjoying and relaxing to myself. The brain has to have some rest after all. See you in the next chapter, goodbye.