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Karin was conflicted. She was getting old. A land near the border to take care of, with conflicts and commoners to micro manage. three daughters, one sick, one far too obsessed for her own good, and one a mixed bag of dedication and failure. A painfully grieving friend, an idiot niece, the Heavy Wind had a lot to deal with. Karin wasn't bothered much by these things, until recently. Things were different now, here she was on her way to Albion, while Henrietta and Wardes planned to spit in the face of what it meant to be a noble, all for her little Louise.
Karin could have pushed harder. Demanded that all reasonable focus be put on finding Louise. However, Henrietta made a fair point. If this love letter to her cousin got out, the alliance with Germania was shot anyway. And the sooner the letter was destroyed, the better.
A small part of Karin hoped it was too late, that she would arrive and not be able to find the letter, that a spy had stolen it from the careless Prince Wales, and the alliance with Germania would be lost regardless of what happened with Louise. The more rational part of her knew that even then, Louise deserved to face punishment for her failures. Failure to turn herself in. Failure to convince her familiar with words. Failure to force obedience onto the supposedly cursed boy. Failure to protect her classmates.
It wasn't completely fair to Louise. Karin had no way of knowing if Sasuke was aware that at least two of the girls were ready to kill him. And even Karin wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was pragmatic, but callous. If he was simply a human familiar she would absolutely be considering if Tabitha and Kirche were actually the ones in the wrong. But he was cursed, or maybe even not human, he apparently had attacked with intention to kill before leaving the academy, is it callous to hunt a wild animal that has already showed the ability and willingness to kill over minor offenses? Did that wild animal being a sentient creature actually change anything?
If he knew that they were going to kill him for refusing to be a bound, sentient, humanoid familiar, basically a slave, well, it almost changed things, almost. Even in that scenario, Louise would need to turn herself in for a proper report and investigation. By running and hiding, by fighting bounty hunters and not showing up after definitely knowing she was wanted, Louise had shut down any and all paths of this being excused or handled with more leniency.
That, above all else, enraged Karin. She could not even begin to defend her daughter, because the idiot of a girl failed to uphold the Rule of Steel and think rationally. The idea that this wasn't Louise's fault couldn't even be hinted at, and everyone at the meeting in Germania knew it. It put Tristain in a worse position. Karin always hated Sophia, but the woman showed the Valliere family a mercy she didn't have to. If the Zerbsts had rejected her compromise of giving them the dead familiar, Louise would die or suffer untold horrors by Germanian hands.
If Karin was being honest with herself, letting Louise go free, wasn't an option. Not even just because it would be an abuse of nobility, but because it wouldn't help. If this letter isn't found, and Tristain is seen as being dismissive of the crimes of its nobility, a cancelled alliance would be the least of their worries, Germania could very well end up a subtle second enemy in the likely war.
Where would Louise even go if a war broke out? Hide in the outskirts? Go to Gallia? With a cursed familiar that would likely act up wherever she went? Racking up more crimes as she desperately fought for a futile escape into freedom? No, there was no out for Louise, it was best if she was caught soon. Germania would be deciding how long she was imprisoned, but currently, they had to be reasonable, no longer than 30 years. Tabitha's own familiar makes it clear that the girls chose to interfere with Louise's test, Sasuke was not the aggressor, simply the killer in a clash that wasn't implied to be a deathwatch, according to the dragon. And the dragon girl's word was law, for now. Too many crimes in the attempt to evade justice, and Louise would lose the last bits of mercy left in this situation.
Tristain was preparing for war. Reconquista was making progress in Albion. Germania was about to join in alliance with Tristan. Things were moving. And Siesta realized that a great many of her family's sealed nobles would be involved in any war that broke out, they might die, wiping away years of hard work. She had contacted her uncle, using a coded message, and he re-confirmed that things were going to get dicey. Her family realized it was now or never.
Reconquista wanted to invade the Holy Land, the home of the elves. This was a horrifying thought for Siesta, and apparently for most nobles too. Which Siesta found strange. Here was a group that was seemingly intent on doing what all nobles who worship Brimir should want. Yet the cowardly nobles wanted nothing to do with it.
They would have to activate their seals as subtly as they could, just before Reconquista made it to Tristain land, or before Tristain nobles were deployed to Albion. Though, Siesta had a few students already, and well, if she was going to be activating all the seals soon any way...
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