The Martial Unity

For a moment, he thought he was standing before his old friend.

Then, reality hit him.

She was not the Emperor of Harmony.

But she was so identical to him that she could cosplay as a young Rael, before he had ascended the throne. Her rich, golden irises bore deep into his dark gray eyes knowingly.

Her long hair was neatly combed to resemble a sheet of fine strands of gold, while her clothes were royal but not ostentatious. The soft smile on her face was welcoming, attracting others to her magnetically.

“Prime Minister Edward,” she performed a little curtsy, humbling herself before one of the most powerful leaders of Panamic Civilization. “It is an honor to finally meet you. I have heard much about you from my father and had looked forward to speaking with you today on this occasion.”

“I was not aware that I would have the honor of being graced by your presence, Your Highness,” Prime Minister Edward spoke with a measured tone. “What a pleasant surprise.”

An apologetic glint tinted her soft smile. “Unfortunately, I was not able to plan this banquet ahead of time. My esteemed older brother’s impromptu changes to the guest list and scope of the royal funeral have thrown us all into an uncharacteristic disarray.”

She implicitly threw blame on Rui for his abrupt decision to suddenly invite all important leaders from across the Panama Continent. In this particular case, he had to admit that Rui had made an unreasonable move with such a fancy royal funeral.

He wondered if this was an attempt to try and potentially pull him away from Rui.

“Yes, well, His Highness’s decision has caught us all off guard,” Prime Minister Edward replied. “I believe that he has something very important to inform all of us off that is likely highly impactful to all of us. As many people have suspected, he is likely to endorse a prince or princess, and have them present a vision for the future. And…

His gaze bore deep into her golden eyes. “…that princess likely is not going to be you.”

He threw a little jab, testing her reactions. A lesser diplomat could be caught off-guard and grow a little flustered. How would she react?

Yet, she merely smile softly with a knowing expression. “Is that what you believe, Your Excellency?”

He raised an eyebrow at her response. “Would I have uttered it if I did not believe it?”

She shook her head lightly. “Then it appears that you have… made an error in judgment.”

His eyes sharpened at those words.

“I believe that everybody is going to be quite surprised by what my esteemed older brother plans to inform all of you of.” She smiled mysteriously. “I would encourage you to throw aside your preconceived notions of what my brother would or wouldn’t do.”

“That’s a rather roundabout way of saying things,” Prime Minister Edward huffed.

“I have said enough on the matter,” she remarked. “The Royal Funeral is later today at dusk, so you will find out very soon. More importantly…”

She directed a knowing gaze. “I wondered if there was a prince or princess that caught your eye.”

“Not yet, I’m afraid.” He never broke eye contact.

She smiled at the implicit meaning in his words. “Good, then there’s nothing stopping you from joining my faction, then.”

He snorted at her words. “A snot-nosed brat like you is not worthy of my support.”

She giggled softly. “My father did say that you had a bad habit of losing patience when engaging in diplomatic dialogue.”

Those words made the prime minister soften in his expression as he thought back to the many times he had spoken to the Emperor of Harmony; they had come to learn each other’s patterns quite well over the years and decades.

That was why he could tell just how similar to her father she was.

“The greatest fear in the hearts of everybody who has accepted the Royal invitation is the fear of change,” she spoke with a more serious tone. “Our entire political landscape has been upended by the death of the Emperor of Harmony, and everybody rightfully fears the changes it will bring.”

Her golden eyes bore deep into the prime minister’s. “My siblings are… well-meaning. But their visions for the future merely exacerbate the uncertainty for the changes they seek to bring. I offer the exact opposite.”

She raised a hand to him in a beckoning gesture. “I offer inertia. I offer the way of doing things of my father. I offer a harmonious approach to prosperity, security, and survival. I offer predictability, security, and stability in these uncertain times. That does not mean that we will not change, the Kandrian Empire and the Panama Continent changed a lot under my father, but those changes occurred with harmony, and they have served us well.”

She directed a deep gaze at the Britannian Prime Minister.

“If you wish that my father had not died, then you may find your wish in my regime as Empress of Kandria.”

His eyes widened at those words.

She understood what moved him. She also understood her advantages and strength and made the maximum use of them to achieve the highest impact. As someone who worked under her father and was trained in foreign affairs as he was, she had absorbed his modus operandi, even if she lacked his extensive experience and wisdom.

On top of that, the fact that she was a spitting image of the Emperor of Harmony subconsciously helped her a lot. It was very difficult to bring himself to refuse her words because he saw Rael every time he looked at her.

“You’re good.”

A simple compliment escaped him.

“But…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if I support you or not. The fact is that Rui has chosen to support Princess Ranea. Which means her ascension as Empress is guaranteed.”

She simply smiled mysteriously at him. “I told you, Your Excellency. You have made an error in judgment. My brother… is more ambitious than you might imagine.”

Prime Minister Edward sharpened his eyes at the words as a faint possibility entered his mind.

Then, he shook his head.

“No way. But… if you so insist, then very well, I will endorse you anyway, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency.” She smiled meaningfully. “You will not regret this.”