Chapter 50: Damage Control
"Hyaaahhh!" Shouted Iris as she swings her sword. A shockwave follow afterwards. The training ground she's practicing in looked like it had been hit by a natural disaster with how ruined it is.
"That's enough." Said Beatrix while looking at her with pity.
"No… it's not enough… If I stop… I'll…" Muttered Iris in between heavy breaths. Distracting herself with training is the only thing that allowed her to forget about her guilt of slaying her own people. Whether she actually did it or not is irrelevant in her mind.
"You should rest, Princess Iris. At this rate..." Beatrix said before being interrupted.
"No! I must… I… Ahh…" She muttered as she collapsed to her knees, leaning on her sword which is planted on the ground.
"You should listen to your instructor, Iris. Aren't you the one who asked her to train you?" A new voice said as he entered the training ground.
"Good evening, Mr. Claude." Beatrix greeted.
"How long has she been at this?" Claude asked.
"Since this morning. She barely stop even for a meal."
"Haaahh… Iris! Stop that! You need stop before you kill yourself!"
"But… If I stop…" She muttered while looking like she's about to cry.
I know this symptom. Sherry also couldn't sleep after she killed for the first time. Thought Claude.
"Iris. No one has been able to prove that you killed people that time. You can't blame yourself for what you didn't do." Claude said.
"But what if I did…?" She said as tears finally fell on her cheeks. Claude walked towards her and gave her a hug.
"You didn't. It was all a lie meant to damage your reputation."
"My people… they didn't trust me anymore…"
"You can still regain their trust. But you shouldn't let the words of evil men to affect you. Your kingdom still needs you. Your family needs you."
"Claude… do you still have faith in me? Even after all my constant failures?"
"Yes. Absolutely."
"You think that I… can do better?"
"Absolutely. Your sister too."
…. A moment of silence passed before Iris hugged him back.
"Thank you…" She whispered.
"You're welcome." Claude said as he lifted her on a princess carry and turned to face Beatrix.
"Thank you for your assistance today, Lady Beatrix. Please get some rest too." Claude said while bowing his head towards Beatrix.
"Very well. I shall." Beatrix replied as Claude carried Iris back to the castle.
After Iris took a bath with the help of the maids and had a warm soup, Claude sat beside Iris in her bedroom as she laid on her bed which is filled with cute animal plushies. She held his hand as her tired mind drifted closer and closer to sleep, though her fears made her resist sleep.
"Claude… Please don't leave me…" She whispered weakly.
"I won't, Iris. Not when you and the kingdom needs me." He whispered back. That seemed to calm her down as she allowed sleep to take her.
He waited until she fell asleep before he left the room, though not before putting one of her teddy bears beside her, which she proceed to hug as if her life depends on it.
Now Iris is emotionally dependent on me… on Claude. Heh heh heh. Though I suppose I have to help her with sleep every night until she gets better… just like with Sherry. Haahh… What a pain. Please switch with me, main body.
"How did it go?" I asked Claude on my sister's condition a day after he started taking care of her while having lunch. The food is luxurious and plentiful as usual that I almost want to eat a burger from McRonald instead.
"I managed to calm her down and get her to rest and eat properly, though she still had nightmares last night so I had to return to her room a few times to calm her down." He said.
"Why are you so afraid of sleeping with her? Didn't you sleep with your sister already?" I teased.
"A-Ahem! I'll have you know that I slept with my sister on different beds! You can ask our old dorm manager! But anyway, you know how risky it is to start more rumors while her reputation is still rock bottom. We don't want to make things worse when not everyone has accepted me as future king yet." Claude said whilst being flustered. How cute.
"Hee hee hee. I know. Come to think of it, where's your sister?" I asked.
"She's… probably avoiding me. She has been since the tournament. Last I heard she was holding some private meetings and or parties with her inner circle of nobles." He replied with a neutral face. That's strange. That clingy sister of his… avoiding him?
"Well… She's probably mad because of your engagement with Iris. She never liked that arrangement although she probably hates me more. She'll probably get over it and start clinging to you again. Let's just hope that whatever she's discussing with her inner circle wouldn't ruin my sister's reputation like she did last time."
"I doubt she'll do that this time though." He replied while eating his food.
"I'll trust you on that then." I said while also eating my food.
"How's the meeting?" He asked after sipping on his wine.
"It went well. I succeeded in proving Rose's innocence with Glen's help. She's now free to leave her residence. Also, I got some help from Natsume in gathering information about the witness testimonies and evidences of Iris' "murder" case and found all of them to be forged by unknown parties. I'll at least use them to clear out Iris' name in the next meeting." I replied.
"Good. Though I doubt the Thirteen Night Blades will let this case be cleared even after that." He replied.
"True… But we have our hands tied with so many cases already though. We can't do damage control forever. In the end, my sister has to pick herself up on her own. Haaahh…" I sighed as I continue eating.
"Say… Claude. Has anyone approached you to… curry favors with you?" I asked him something that has been bothering me since I read my father's journal.
"No. Why?"
"… It's nothing. Just be careful. You're the future king and many people would want to manipulate you in these troubled times." I answered with a warning.
"Okay. I will." He reassured me with a smile.
Claude Normann. He has proven himself to be trustworthy and reliable over time… and yet I can't help but agree with my father that his rise to power has been too fast and too convenient. My father wrote in his journal that many state officials, high nobles and even the Prime Minister praised Claude a lot before the incident.
Their praises almost sounded like they're pressuring him to arrange Iris' engagement with Claude in order to fix her dwindling reputation, which he complied with because he trusted the Normann family despite his suspicions.
And after father died, it was them who recommended him to become king whilst doing nothing to defend Iris. No matter how I see it, that's suspicious.
Is someone manipulating things from the shadows? Is someone pulling Claude's strings? Or perhaps… is Claude himself the one who manipulates things from the shadows into giving himself the throne? I shudder at the thought. I hope I was just being paranoid.
In a meeting room inside the Midgar Royal Capital branch of Mitsugoshi building, 3 of the Seven Shades are having a meeting.
"I've given Princess Alexia everything she needs to run damage control for Princess Iris. It wasn't that hard considering I was there when she went berserk and I did minimize the damages she caused." Said Beta.
"Good work, Beta. You should continue assisting Princess Alexia. Since Princess Rose has been released from house arrest today, I shall approach her and recruit her to our cause." Said Alpha.
"Princess Rose too?" Exclaimed Beta.
"Shadow personally cured her of Possession and gave her his power. He must have plans for her, especially with her father being manipulated by Necromancer. She shall be the 666th recruit." Replied Alpha.
"I see. Very well." Said Beta.
"666th recruit? I thought Mr. Claude's sister holds that number!" Exclaimed Gamma.
"She didn't join as a formal member of Shadow Garden because she does not operate in the shadows like the rest of us. Instead, her political influence will be a great asset to our cause. In fact, she is currently helping with clearing Princess Iris' reputation though her connections among the nobility. Hopefully it will allow Mr. Claude's faction to gather as much allies for the inevitable civil war and the upcoming war against Oriana." Explained Alpha.
"I see. That's reassuring." Said Gamma.
"Now then. Onto the next agenda. The vampires from Lawless City. They've infiltrated various kingdoms, including Midgar. Such movements are highly unusual." Alpha said as he handed over some reports to both Beta and Gamma.
"With the capital's security still in shambles after Lord Shadow's battle, the vampires were able to enter the capital pretty easily. Is this one of Necromancer's schemes?" Said Beta.
"Probably not. The Lawless City is under the jurisdiction of a man called Don Jon, who rose to power after defeating the three rulers of Lawless City single handedly few years ago. He now rules the Lawless City and has set up several illegal businesses, including drugs and illegal goods distribution, slave trafficking and more. As far as we know the Cult has no influence there." Said Gamma.
"We should at least consider the possibility that this Don Jon person is one of Necromancer's minion though." Alpha said.
"Ughh… I hope not. The things he already did were crazy enough!" Said Beta.
"No… It's not crazy enough… not yet. We mustn't underestimate the capabilities of Shadow's archenemy. He is a greater threat than the Cult." Warned Alpha, making both Beta and Gamma nodded in agreement.
"Then we must consider the possibility of him being the one sending those vampires out for another nefarious scheme of his. We should probably contact Mary the vampire hunter." Said Beta.
"Indeed." Replied Alpha in agreement.
"Speaking of Lawless City, the Snow Fox Corporation which is owned by Yukime, one of the three rulers of Lawless City, has expanded their business again. This time they even sold chocolates!" Exclaimed Gamma.
"What!? But no one besides us knows the ingredients!" Exclaimed Beta.
"Was there a breach in our security that they were able to steal the information?" Alpha asked.
"No, I don't think so. The security of Mitsugoshi was top notch and none of our members would betray us." Gamma answered.
"Then… I suspect that this is the work of Necromancer. He also have access to the Shadow Wisdom." Alpha said.
"What!? The Shadow Wisdom!?" Exclaimed Gamma.
"Yes. He knows the meaning of our names." Explained Alpha.
"That Necromancer…" Beta muttered while gritting her teeth.
"We can't let him have the advantage forever. For Shadow's sake as well as ours… Has Eta made any progress on that Artifact that Epsilon found from the underground maze beneath the capital?" Alpha asked whilst being relieved that Eta was busy with the Artifact when Shadow was injured and vulnerable after his last battle against the Necromancer or else she would've attempted to dissect Shadow's weakened body.
"Yes. And she said the result is better than expected." Gamma said.
"Oh? What kind of Artifact was it?" Alpha said with interest.
"The Artifact was…"
Author's Note:
Cliffhanger! Haven't actually decided what Artifact it will be but it should be a 5 star item now. I'm open to suggestion.
Also, another chapter dedicated for the aftermath of the Bushin Festival arc but we're starting to enter the Red Moon arc. Also, can't help but add another Seven Shades meeting scene but it's been awhile since the last time and there's important info dump here so it's fine I guess.
Also Alexia being Alexia, started suspecting something about Claude's rise to power. I almost forgot that him being named future king had been too fast (like, it escalated too quickly) so I had to have someone suspecting it (Also to give credit to him for being involved in it instead of just having everything handed to him on a silver platter). Alexia and King Klaus are the perfect characters for it. Shadow Garden didn't suspect a thing because they were biased towards Shadow's "friend".
King0fP0wers: Man, Iris' reputation must be so bad if they're already treating her fiance as the new king without them even tying the knot. I do hope that Claude will be able to cheer her up instead of leaving her like that. So Arda was an actual nice guy instead of a cocky show-off. Shame that he'll most likely die targeting Delta.
It's pretty amazing that Claude became both the kingdom's ruler and it's greatest threat at the same time without anyone knowing. Dude isn't just playing one side of the chess board anymore, he owns it! Cid is the guy who would happily flip over the table instead. I just wonder, will he be able to maintain his popularity as King Claude and his infamy as the Necromancer at the same time? Usually, one of the two's reputation would suffer as a result because of the other.
Answer: It's part of the Thirteen Night Blades' plan to remove her from power and Claude's plan to make her dependent on him. It's all dirty politics! Iris will recover after a few sessions with Claude… but she will recover in the way Claude wanted.
Yeah, for once a good brother for Delta because most of them were assholes. I hope to make a mini arc for the two of them. We'll see how that goes.
Yes, he now controls the whole board of Midgar. We shall see how he juggled both sides.
Stylish: Can we get the pov of the 7 shades after the battle
Answer: Here it is, just not all of them.
Bolvar57: Cuando claude-clon vuelva al cuerpo original. ¿El absorbera sus conocimientos o tendrá un aumento de poder?. ¿Ya nombraste al dragón? Puedes llamarlo Seraphon o Indraugnir. Son recomendaciones de los 2 mejores dragones que he tenido el gusto de leer.
Answer: The clone is similar to Nelson's clone but he put artificial intelligence in it so it can operate independently so he needs to absorb the knowledge.
The dragon is canon actually so it already has a canon name.
Wholesome07: Thanks for the fanfic and about the Blood Moon arc, is Mary and Elizabeth gonna die or Shadow doin the shenanigans?
Answer: We shall see how it goes. I haven't actually decided that part.
