Sovereign

"Larissan Nuclear Reactor meltdown at Lavoslaw due to a suspected terrorist attack. Authorities evacuated the nearby cities, and no statements were given by Empress Katerina."

- Geopol Press

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The receptionist didn't make much of a fuss when Amelie entered Alexa's office. She merely bowed at Amelie's presence, and Amelie acknowledged her.

Calmly, she approached the door to her office, and with a deep breath, she opened it slowly.

"Come in." Alexa's voice was fatigued, yet when she saw the Queen, she immediately perked up and stood from her seat. "Oh, welcome. Take a seat."

"Alexa…are you alright? Not even your makeup could hide those eyebags anymore."

"I could say the same to you."

She looked sheepish. She couldn't refute it. Amelie had barely been sleeping for weeks, wait, perhaps even a month, she told herself. She mostly hid it with slight makeup, but well…it seemed to have stopped working.

"Fair."

Amelie took a seat in front of Alexa, as she shuffled some documents away from her desk. When Alexa was done, she took her seat too.

"So." Alexa initiated. "I suppose my re-elections really are over?"

With an apologetic smile, Amelie nodded.

"Yeah…the crisis has gone beyond your control. No one's voting for you."

"I know that. I'm probably the most hated woman these days in the country."

There was a bit of quietness in the room. Amelie's eyes glanced at Alexa's brown eyes with pity. The Prime Minister was perhaps the greatest target of every side of the political spectrum, and not even the UOP endorsed her anymore. The only thing that prevented a no-confidence vote was that the elections were too close to boot her from office.

Now, Amelie knew that Alexa toiled hard to address the crisis that Orland faced. But there was simply no way to remedy the situation in Orland. All she could do was to stem it from becoming worse.

Alexa gave a bleak smile as she looked away from Amelie.

"I just…I just can't." She did everything…but none of it…

Alexa was elected 4 years ago to stabilize the Kingdom. She promised not to rock the boat, and protect the status quo and Orlish stability. Yet…under her tenure, a war began, which she supervised dutifully. Yet even when it ended, political division, violence, and the assassination of the Queen happened. Then the collapse of the economy, then the final nail to her political career - the General Strike. None of her promises came to fruition. What only happened was crisis after crisis. Naturally, everyone pinned the blame on her.

"Perhaps, I'm just not fit for the job. I suppose this is the end of the line for me. I'd just see things through until I'm out."

Amelie didn't answer back, as a tiny amount of tears built up in Alexa's eyes. Alexa snorted and quickly wiped it off.

"I apologize for the display, Your Majesty. That was so pathetic."

"It's alright." Amelie soothed. "I can…understand."

It had only been months since Amelie took the throne. So much had transpired under her watch too. She took so many risky decisions, gambles, and political plays. She even did the mundane day-to-day administration of Orland at times. Everything that a responsible monarch should do.

All of it was just worsened by the crisis. It placed so much burden on her inexperienced hands.

It took a toll on her. Many nights and moments, she would question herself too if she was fit for the job.

She didn't understand much about what to do. She was sightless about many things. She made blunders and mistakes that destroyed lives. Sometimes she was too complacent…sometimes, too aggressive.

As a result, periodically, she would ponder how much blood was already on her hands. There were thousands of dead already from the General Strike alone. What more of the other issues.

Were those deaths her fault?

"I know. I'm sorry that the Kingdom you inherited is like this." Alexa smiled with some expectancy in her eyes. "But I hope you and Jacqueline can work well. There's a lot on your plates."

Amelie nodded.

"The election is only 3 weeks away." Alexa almost smiled, before she recalled what was happening once more. "But, then again the streets are yet to be cleared of protesters. I just…you know what." Alexa slightly shook her head as she shuffled a few papers. She handed it to Amelie. "Take this."

"What is that?"

"Latest poll projections."

Amelie took it and examined the report. The latest poll indicated how much the UOP fell in favor in the wake of the General Strike and the split.

The UOP was projected to receive 43% of the votes.

The ORP was now down to 27%.

The NRF had expanded to 15%.

And lastly, the new addition to the race. The UOP splinter - the Arcanist Party (AP) was already projected to receive 15% of the votes.

This meant that the two moderate parties, the UOP and the ORP had bled their voters to the two extremist parties of Orland. While they would still receive 70% of the seats (most likely) if the UOP and the ORP teamed up in a coalition, there was still 30% that would completely oppose the new government.

And even then, the alliance between the UOP and the ORP was delicate and fragile. The coalition had not even formed, and even then there was still the question of maintaining such an alliance afterward.

With all that in mind, Orland indeed was at its most disunited point since the first civil war, 300 years ago.

"Even with all that we did, it still got worse." Amelie frustratedly touched her forehead as she read the poll results before she returned it to Alexa's desk.

"The recession did a number on us."

"We still haven't recovered either," Amelie added with a frown.

"I'll be blunt with you, Your Majesty." Amelie glanced at Alexa as she furrowed her brows. "At this rate, I doubt Orland would recover for years. Our economy is already in freefall, and we have no means to stop it."

"Yes, but perhaps after the elections…we could-"

"We could do what?" Alexa looked gravely at her. "The Army is plotting, and they are not stopping. Any calmness at the end of this election would just be a lull in the storm. Mark my words."

Amelie told herself that she had long accepted that a Civil War was inevitable. But every fiber of her being wished to deny it. To bury it deeply.

It was a scenario of her nightmares. Her people…her Kingdom. Soldiers and Knights, who would wage war and spill blood on good Orlish soil.

On Orlish homes, towns, and cities.

With families divided by different sides. Brothers against sisters. Sisters against sisters. Brothers against brothers. It was…

"So, you ought to prepare yourself. You have no other choice."

"But what can I do, Alexa? What? The military is still not on my side. I failed, dammit, I failed. And I lost the damned conservatives too."

Alexa didn't give an answer. She didn't have one.

Amelie racked her mind to figure out a way to salvage it all instead. The bill passed but there was still no coalition. The square was cleared but the streets of Orland were still burning. The appeasements were given to the military, but their loyalty was still in question.

She had always looked up to her mother as a powerful figure. Someone who had the Kingdom under her control. She was the Queen for goodness sake. Yet now that her mother was assassinated, and that she was now on a throne that was crumbling, she wondered what even the idea of a Queen meant anymore.

What was her significance as the monarch, if she couldn't do anything?

She looked down.

"...Your Majesty, you should take a rest."

"I know."

"You look so pale and weak."

"I know."

"The people would look down on you if they saw you like that."

"I know."

"Albert is calling you."

She looked at her phone, which she placed earlier on Alexa's desk. Albert was ringing her.

"I know."

Tiredly, Amelie took her phone and stood from her seat. She went near the balcony as she accepted her call. In moments, she changed her tone entirely to a brighter one. She shook her head and smiled as she placed it close to her ear.

"Albert. How are you doing?"

"I'm quite alright. Alice's just been bugging me here for hours when I only went here for the food. That absolute brat. She really wants me to watch her perform magic, huh?"

"Yep, she does."

Alice bugged Albert off from his job for days. She was having a school competition at the Halian Royal Academy, and she really wanted to show off to her older brother. Naturally, Albert tried to escape it, but he didn't last from her tactics of persuasion.

"She's a bit tired already though. I'm driving her back to the Palace. She's sleeping."

Tired? Perhaps Alice had too much fun in the competition and exerted herself too much. Again, magic was usually tiring, so it didn't exactly surprise her.

"Mana exhaustion?" She asked, sure that that was the reason.

"Nah, the brat was fooling around when we stopped by the mall after we left her school. Thank god no one noticed. It's a pain to run around in public with a princess."

Well, at least her little sister wasn't tired because of that.

Amelie smiled as she listened to him. It was worse for her. Nowadays she couldn't even leave the Palace or her estates without heavy security. Even just a stroll in the nearby parks was now impossible for her.

She felt caged.

But at least, Alice still had her minuscule amount of freedom to live life. That was a sliver of good news that she liked. Alice was dear to her in so many ways, that even just the fact that she merely heard of her having fun warmed her heart.

"Don't blame her." She chuckled. "She barely gets out."

"Yeah, yeah. What about you, are you back at the Palace yet?"

"Nope, I'm still at the Prime Minister's office. Just business as usual, you know how it is."

"Yeah, I'd probably return back to Rebenslof after this. I heard they would have my ship ready soon."

She cracked up a bit. That ship was his life, she supposed. Albert, regardless of where he was, would virtually invariably find a way to include the topic of his ship in every conversation that he had.

"Sure you do, navy boy."

The voice that replied was slightly raised, which made her laugh a bit more.

"Call me that again and see how fast I show you why I am the older one."

"If you get past my spells, that is."

"You know what, I'm out."

"Yeah, shoo, shoo. Goodbye."

The call ended. She turned back to Alexa, who looked at her curiously.

"You and your brother are now getting along?"

Ever since that day, both she and Albert had been chatting more and more. Especially Alice. It mattered a lot to her. Their parents and older brother were dead, and as the last three of the Royal Family, they had to band together in unity.

Still, progress with her brother wasn't at the pace that she liked…but as these moments showed, she was reaching it. That was all that mattered.

"A bit." Amelie slowly paced toward the door before she looked back at Alexa. She needed to return to the Palace. Alexa stared at her for a while, before she nodded at Amelie.

"Have a good night, Alexa."

"You too, Your Majesty."