More Cornelia and Edelgard politics. This stuff is very tricky, so take appropriate salt.
Chapter 32 – Visions of Empire (Pegasus Moon)
Edelgard's soft steps dimly echoed through the halls of the palace, with nary a soul to hear it. The emperor should have been asleep, but restlessness had barred her from a good night's rest once more, and so she opted to wander through the cold halls alone. She stepped quietly, knowing Hubert would never let her hear the end of it if he learned she was alone while Cornelia and Valeska were in the palace.
The emperor kept thinking about everything Cornelia had told her back at the opera house. The duchess wanted her help to dispose of Thales, the leader of Those Who Slither In The Dark, so she could take power. While Edelgard had nothing but hate for the man posing as her deceased uncle for ruining her life and the deaths of her siblings, she had trouble imagining Cornelia could be much better. For all her flowery words and seeming congeniality, she was still the woman who manipulated her mother into the Tragedy of Duscur. Edelgard hadn't heard a word of her mother since then; she assumed Anselma had to be dead. And Cornelia, whether she had been a friend to her mother or not, was still culpable for what happened.
However, though Edelgard did not want to admit it, Cornelia was very different from Thales. The Agastya was always forcing her hand with his threats, which Edelgard knew were anything but idle. These threats always forced Edelgard to comply with Thales's demands, as she could not yet strike back at him without being certain she could defeat him and his ilk. Even if she thought he was bluffing, she couldn't take that risk, knowing just what he and his minions were capable of.
Cornelia, on the other hand, was far more tactful than Thales. She spun her words as easily as she weaved her magic, masterfully convincing others into her schemes without needing to force the issue. Edelgard wanted to believe that the duchess was simply using her Dark Gift, as she called it, to control others into doing what she wanted, but then why would she keep up appearances?
It made Edelgard worry. If she helped Cornelia get what she wanted, could she be even worse than Thales? Where Thales had power, Cornelia had guile. Where Thales commanded fear, Cornelia had her wiles and allure. Where Thales relied on force, Cornelia had precision.
They were so very different. And it left Edelgard at a loss as to who she considered more dangerous…
Edelgard stopped as she suddenly heard someone singing nearby.
Нет тебя.
The emperor had no idea what the words were, but she recognized the voice behind them.
Я осталась совсем одна.
Curiosity got the better of the emperor as she crept toward Cornelia's chamber.
В ответ только эхо подхватит слова,
Edelgard, not wanting to let Cornelia know she was around, bent over to look through the keyhole to her room. Surprisingly, Cornelia hadn't put anything over it to block someone from spying on her.
Да ветер развеет над озером прах.
The Duchess of Faerghus was sitting against the balcony of her room, looking toward the night sky as she sang. The words, of a language Edelgard could not understand, seemed almost sad and filled with loss.
Cornelia raised her voice as she sang the next verse, as though calling out forlornly to someone, somewhere.
Подарок прощальный я твой сохраню.
Слезами на камень стекает луна.
Edelgard was stunned at how powerful the woman's words were. She knew Cornelia was a reputed singer, but never had she heard the woman singing so… passionately. Was it because she thought she had no audience?
Колокол в небо ночное уносит безмолвный крик,
Да птица над ущельем холодным печально парит.
Cornelia now shut her eyes as she continued her somber elegy.
Бесконечен твой путь, шаг уже не колышет траву.
The duchess opened her eyes as she began the final verses of her song.
Я всегда буду ждать, буду верить и любить, и молиться по ночам, что это сон;
Я всегда буду ждать, буду верить и любить, и молиться по ночам, что это сон, что все это сон.
As Cornelia finished her somber melody, Edelgard realized she had almost been on the verge of tears. The song had been so haunting that it chilled her very soul.
Cornelia then said, "Tell me, was that to your liking, Edelgard?"
Edelgard jolted back from the door and almost yelped in surprise. Cornelia knew she had been listening.
"My dear, you needn't be ashamed," said Cornelia. "Please, come in."
Knowing she was caught, Edelgard thought to leave, but her pride demanded that she not show weakness when confronted, especially by Those Who Slither In The Dark.
The emperor opened the door to the duchess's chamber and slid silently inside as Cornelia strode toward the luxurious guest room bed.
"Having trouble sleeping, my dear?" asked Cornelia.
"How did you notice me?" asked Edelgard.
With a smile, Cornelia answered, "You don't live for as long as I have if you can't tell when someone's eavesdropping. My people's society revolves around secrets and whispers, after all."
"What was that song? I have never heard a dialect like that before."
"That's not surprising. That song was in the old tongue, and I am one of the very few who still knows it. Almost everyone else in our society has forgotten it or refrains from speaking it. It is… an elegy to all we lost in The Silence, or what many of my kind call The Great Flood."
"What is this 'Silence'?"
"A catastrophe that predates Fódlan's recorded history. It was the destruction of our ancient empire at the hands of the Progenitor God, Sothis."
"The Goddess?"
"Yes, but to us, she is called the Fell Star, or the False God. A being of great power, who destroyed nearly all we had and called it justice."
Edelgard was silent. It was hard to believe Cornelia's claim, but it did not sound like a lie.
"Tell me more of this ancient empire of yours," said Edelgard.
Cornelia gestured for the emperor to sit next to her as she sat upon her bed.
As Edelgard took her place next to her, Cornelia said, "My people are the descendants of the golden empire of Agartha. A nation the likes of which has not been seen in several millennia. They were originally like the rest of this world, primitive and ignorant. Then, the Fell Star came, and bestowed the people of Fódlan with gifts of knowledge and technology. It is what you know as Magitek. With her gifts, they built shining cities, with buildings that rose toward the heavens, and ships that sailed the skies. Great temples were built in dedication to the goddess and her children, and so they were further blessed by the Fell Star and her progeny. However, as man has always been, my ancestors were never satisfied. The ancient king, Ptolemeios, sought to expand Agartha's borders, and used the Fell Star's gifts for the purpose of conquest. No kingdom of man could withstand his onslaught, lacking the armies or the technology Agartha wielded. Agartha soon covered much of the ancient world, becoming the largest empire ever to exist. But in doing so, the Fell Star's wrath was stirred."
"Sothis attacked them?"
"Her, and her children. Sothis began to fear the Agarthan Empire, and so she destroyed it. She started with the capital city, Thinis, by submerging it beneath the Great Sea. When Thinis sank, Ptolemeios and some one million lives were ended in an instant."
Edelgard was shocked to hear of the goddess committing such an atrocity.
"She did not stop with Thinis. Malum, Septen, Llium, and so many other great cities were utterly destroyed, swallowed by the Great Sea. Whether they were of Agarthan blood or not, she spared no one. Our ancestors tried everything to stop her, but it was in vain. To survive, the last of the Agarthans hid themselves away within the cold, dark depths of the earth, away from the Fell Star's sight and beyond the reach of the Great Sea… yet bereft of the blessing of the sun. As they did, they sang this dirge, meant as a eulogy to all they had lost, and as a curse against the False God."
Edelgard stared intently as Cornelia spoke, looking for any sign of the duchess's usual flippancy. There was none to be seen in Cornelia's countenance. It was so unlike the sorceress to be so serious that Edelgard was hanging on her every word.
The duchess continued, "In time, the Fell Star's wrath subsided, and she turned her power to restoring what remained of Fódlan, entering a deep slumber. Mankind would survive, but without the gifts of Magitek, or the aid of the children of the goddess, they would be forced to survive through blood and toil. And as she slept, my ancestors, those who fled into the earth, swore a fervent and eternal oath of revenge against the False God, her children, and upon all those of the surface world." Cornelia then turned to Edelgard and said, "You see, that is what Thales wants most of all: to fulfill that eternal oath. But he takes it far beyond just vengeance. He would see all of Fódlan swallowed by death. Those of the surface, those born of the goddess… even those who escaped her wrath. He would see them all reduced to dust and echoes."
"That's his goal?" asked Edelgard. "To kill… all of us?!"
"The Empire, the Kingdom, the Alliance, the Church… everyone. He has been sending our agents out over the last five years to prolong the war, trying to bleed Fódlan to its last drop of blood. I have been forced to play along with this sadistic game of his in the hope of sparing my people from extinction. But time is running out for all of us. If I cannot take Thales's throne soon, he will succeed in our people's eternal oath, and Fódlan will be reduced to the world's largest graveyard, both above… and below the surface."
"Why would he try to get his own people wiped out?"
"Thales has never cared for the lives of others, not even those of his subjects. To him, we are but supplicants – tools of his hatred. And though I am no stranger to using others to achieve my goals, I am not so blinded by the oath of our ancestors. I seek something other than vengeance."
Edelgard paused before asking, "And what would that be?"
"I seek the return of Agartha, as it was in the days of old. Our once great empire, with its shining cities as the envy of all who gaze upon them."
This made Edelgard frown as she asked, "And if I were to help you realize this goal of yours, how long would it be before I had to worry about you?"
Cornelia shut her eyes and said, "Edelgard, I already told you I wanted us to be friends. I am not a conqueror like Ptolemeios was. Merely the restoration of what once was would satisfy me. It is not so unlike your own desire to return Adrestia to its former glory, is it? And would it not benefit us both if our two empires could coexist with one another?"
Edelgard was surprised by this answer. She had thought Cornelia, someone so obsessed with control, would want the Adrestian Empire under her thumb.
But with everything the duchess had said, the emperor began to wonder if she had misjudged her.
…
The following morning saw Edelgard and Hubert preparing to leave for Fort Merceus. A heavily armed escort of two hundred men and women mounted on horses, Wyverns and Pegasi stood ready to guard the emperor with their lives.
Standing before them as they were about to enter the royal carriage, Cornelia asked Edelgard, "Off so soon, El?"
"There are some final preparations for the spring offensive that I need to see to personally," said Edelgard. "Soon, the Empire will begin its push into the Leicester Alliance, and I'll need to be ready for anything that Claude has in store for me."
"Then I wish you good luck on your campaign, Your Majesty. In the meantime, I'll deal with the Loyalists and the boar prince."
Edelgard paused for a moment and then said, "Cornelia, once I am finished with Claude and the Alliance, I want to speak with you again. We'll have much to discuss."
"If that's what you wish." Then, as Edelgard was just about to step into the carriage, Cornelia said, "Edelgard, I take a calculated risk telling you this, but I suggest you do not commit your entire force to the invasion once it has begun. It is just the opportunity 'he' is waiting for. Also, do whatever you can to keep your distance from him. Should he be near, there will be nothing you can hide from him."
Edelgard turned to Cornelia in muted surprise, despite how cryptic her words had been. She then said, "I'll keep that in mind, Cornelia." Then, after a long pause, she added, "Thank you."
"Safe journey to you, El."
For once, Edelgard did not show ire at Cornelia using her parents' pet name. The emperor stepped into the carriage with Hubert in tow, the majordomo giving the duchess one last glare as he did. Once they were inside and the carriage began rolling, Cornelia waved her hand at Edelgard as Hubert frowned at her.
Knowing they could no longer be heard over the clatter of hooves and the beating of wings, Valeska whispered to Cornelia, "How much of your drivel did she believe?"
"Drivel?" Cornelia asked in muted shock. "Valeska, dear, you say that as though I lied to her. Surely you know better."
Scoffing, Valeska added, "Coexistence with these fools? Do you really think she believed that?"
"I may have… embellished that one a little, and I may have left out a few details, but that doesn't mean I seek to come to blows with her. Quite the opposite… I rather have El eating out of the palm of my hand."
"Whatever. It doesn't matter to me how you want to deal with her, so long as she doesn't become a problem."
Cornelia said nothing to this remark, watching as Edelgard and her procession left the palace grounds to a crowd of cheering Imperial citizens wishing them luck on their campaign.
As the procession continued on its way, Cornelia and Valeska turned back to their own carriage. There was much for them to do and little time in which to do it.
Cornelia's motives go pretty far, don't they?
It's very difficult to try and make Cornelia act like people in-universe should sympathize with her when, in reality, she should be considered the lesser of two evils (between her and Thales). But is she really? Would our heroes really be better off if Cornelia was the one in charge rather than Thales? That's a tricky one. Thales is just trying to take his ancestors' blood oath to its logical extreme, while Cornelia wants her own empire that's sure to be bad news for everyone else. Hard to say which is worse, right? I also wonder if I was heavy-handed in what Cornelia told Edelgard. She wasn't lying, but she left out some crucial details that I won't spoil for now.
As for Cornelia's song, it's in Russian. This makes sense because some players noted that various Agarthan runes in-game are Russian characters, so it fits as the Agarthans' forgotten language. The song itself, titled "Mrs. Krista Yoslav", comes from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon and plays during the final boss battle (which some have said has questionable mechanics, but good tension and atmosphere). Some of the lyrics may be off, but I just copied what I found online since I have no fluency in Russian, so I apologize if some of it is wrong.
We'll be getting back to our heroes in the next chapter, with something I've been meaning to do for Dorothea. Stay tuned.