Steel and Mana

Chapter 161 – Southern Rulers

At the point where the three powerful Empires' borders met, a strong military presence could be observed on all sides for the past two weeks, causing great concern for the civilians living in the region. In the north, the Ishillian army that pushed the invaders out has built multiple camps as if they were preparing for a long sortie. They were housing more than 100,000 soldiers in the area, establishing supply lines, and everything pointing towards an imminent invasion. On the southwest, within the borders of the Sar Empire, their Emperor, Ahnud V, and his personal army of 40,000 soldiers, along with his guest, the Emperor of the Geth Empire and his own 20,000 soldiers, were waiting patiently, not falling for the Ishillian intimidation tactics. The only country that looked relaxed and without mobilizing its armies was the Kingdom of Roblesia. They simply cleared out the city of Palanel, shipping away all the local nobles and peasants and redecorating the castle where the meeting would happen the following day.

The current leader of Roblesia, Queen Nuen Roblesia IX, entertained her guests in the previous two weeks, essentially placing them under house arrest within the city. They were the three leaders of the previously allied powers of three kingdoms, who broke into Ishillia alongside the Kingdom of Scorc. One was Shi Belse, a beautiful brunette woman who was a strong-handed leader despite her soft features, holding power firmly within her arms for more than a decade now, ruling within the Grand Duchy of Belse. Even if they lost the war, she wasn't showing any worry, standing stoically, looking out from their temporary lodging in Palanel's old castle.

"You do realize this will be the end of our freedom? Our countries?" A voice asked, belonging to the old king of the Principality of Sprinland, Huren, sitting in a leather chair and looking to be on the verge of death since their defeat. He was sickly looking even before everything started, but right now, looking at him made anyone feel he would collapse and die the moment another bad news arrived.

"Stop it." Shi snapped at him, rolling her black eyes in annoyance, glancing at the other man in the room, "Slap him if he repeats it again!"

"Slap him yourself." Yvar, the king of Irgath, answered her, his muscled arms crossed before his chest, his black, shiny, and bald head almost sparkling in the morning sun's light. "We lost, simple as that. We now must accept the consequences; we already knew this could happen!"

"We were promised help! Old King Yano told us that we would for sure win when every other major power jumped in! We would have recovered all of our lost territories! Don't you all forget... We all were one country once, but look at us now! We are going to lose everything..." Huren moaned, almost as if he was crying. "Yet they just let us be destroyed, and now they come to sweep us up for themselves! They are not better than Ishillia, not a bit!"

This time, the other two didn't say anything, only looking away from him, remembering the old history that they never experienced but still knew about. Huren wasn't lying; more than a thousand years ago, there was an empire called the Zanaron Republic. Well, it was not a real republic as power was within the hands of their nobles, and their king was being rotated every ten years, letting all the noble families have their time leading the Republic.

Of course, this system only worked as long as someone didn't think about grabbing power for themselves... and that is precisely what happened to them. King Zhukar of Nostra, in his third year of being the king, provoked a battle against one of the nobles of Ishillia. Of course, when conflicts arose that endangered them, the currently ruling king was given a chance to lock down the throne and lead until the danger was averted. In those days, Zhukar used this rule to extend his authority indefinitely. At least, that was his plan. Instead, it prompted Ishillia to smash through their borders, kill the king, occupy more than half of the country, behead all the noble families, and exterminate their households down to the last chicken, leaving only three wholly shattered counties behind, allowing them to remain independent.

"Ishillia is Ishillia." Yvar shrugged, breaking the silence. "Since the fall of the Republic, we knew it was only the question of when they would come for us and not if they would. We never officially brokered peace; there were only cease-fire agreements. We got played. Again... But at least, this time, we took the risk knowingly."

"We will remain somewhat independent," Shi agreed, making Huren pull at his hair and groan. "Stop it... You look ancient already, yet you are the same age as me!"

"I was born with this face and with a weak heart!"

"Keep telling it! You turned out like this because you are a wreck." Shi countered, having none of it, and would have spat on him if she hadn't respected their guarantor's hospitality. "Roblesia will annex us, but we will lose our freedom to interact internationally only. Within our borders, we will still be in power. If you think about it, it is the same as when we were the Republic."

"And then we will be dragged into another war and used as fodder." Huren mumbled, biting on his nails.

"Isn't it what we wanted?" Yvar asked, as serious as one could be, "We wanted the big players to bring down Ishillia. Did any of you two think we could then stand as equal to them? In this world, the strong fucks, and we would be the ones to be fucked in every scenario. We can only choose the position we want, not the hole to be penetrated."

"Sometimes, I do wish you would not be so blunt." Shi groaned, shaking her head, "But you are right, and you also should know that Huren loves whining, so keep ignoring him."

Huren was about to state something when their door opened, and the Queen of Roblesia, Nuen, entered the room. Looking at her, nobody could tell she was already in her forties. She still looked young, fresh, and just as fertile as blooming flowers. The way she let her hips sway, wearing her green robes, tightly holding her motherly body, her lengthy, black hair braided into one long whip, the sparkle in her green eyes, everything was as captivating as a beautiful painting.

"I hope everything is to your satisfaction, my friends!" She smiled amicably, her voice managing to relax even Huren's panicking mind.

"Yes." Yvar nodded, his eyes burning with passion as he tried wooing her once, of course, without any success. Not that he was angry; he grew to respect the Queen even more because she told him plainly that her then-husband had already conquered her heart forever.

"We are yours to command." Shi bowed because no matter how strong-willed one was, they have to face reality or be destroyed.

"Please, relax!" Nuen giggled, covering her glossy lips, "You are going to be alright! I already promised you that we would protect you and won't let Ishillia do to you what they are doing to poor Yano's kingdom."

"They have a Master-level spell..." Huren moaned, making Nuen widen her smile.

"And? If we learned something throughout our world's long history, it is that using something like that requires great sacrifice! It shows because now they have a new Empress. Hah! Don't worry; even if they have one, they won't use it so soon. Give it a few decades first, if not centuries."

"What about the other two empires?" Shi asked, looking at Nuen, waiting for her answer, licking her lips as she scanned her porcelain skin, feeling envious of its smoothness.

"They will lead the charge in the meeting, putting pressure on the new Empress. Let them soften the playing field before I make my move. Don't worry; a game of politics is not a horse race. I have everything planned out, and we will end it on terms that benefit us and Ishillia."

"Benefitting them?!" The trio yelled, making Yvar and Huren stand up as if their butts were lit on fire.

"It may have been Emperor Kadosa who sent word you will be protected, but we are your neighbors, not him. Ishillia knows this, and they also understand that the Sar Empire and we have been at odds for more than a millennium. They will support us because it would secure their own borders. Everything is on the table; everybody knows this; we are just here to try and squeeze as much out of it for ourselves as possible!"

"Squeeze out of us..." Huren sighed, making the other two look at him, but Nuen didn't take it to heart.

"Look at it this way, my friends. We now have a shared mug. We must squeeze as much juice into it for all of us to drink! If we don't, then it will be the other two who take home the most. Now... which country is most likely to protect you? Those two, at the other end of the continent or us, right next to you?"

"..."

"Exactly." Nuen chuckled, making her breasts jiggle happily, "Now... just relax. I will summon you when the meeting starts, but please..." She looked directly at Huren, "When it does begin, keep your thoughts within your mouths."

"Y-yes." He gulped, not daring to look into her eyes.

"Thank you~!" With another giggle, she left the room, happily humming, walking through the castle, heading to her own room, guarded by two soldiers dressed in plate armor, completely hiding their identities. Although they were as big as Oleg, it was primarily thanks to their magically reinforced armor and not because of the soldiers hiding within.

"How was it?" a curious voice asked after she entered. Its owner was an ordinary-looking man who had walked back from the balcony wearing a simple shirt and trousers.

"All good; they are already broken mentally; I don't need to do anything!" Nuen giggled, leaning forward as she was a head taller than her husband, King Oparon, kissing his lips. "Much better! Your kiss is what makes every day shine!"

"You never change!" he answered, looking up at her before hugging his wife, pressing his face between her breasts, and enjoying her sweet scent. "While you entertain the rulers, I will mingle with their nobles. As usual, they won't even recognize me as king, so I will be able to listen to many juicy rumors, my dear!"

"They are rotten inside," She nodded, rubbing his already graying hair, looking at him with tremendous affection in her gaze, "their eyes immediately identify a commoner. That is why you are my perfect other half!"

It wasn't just a play on words; Oparon indeed was a commoner, a young stable guy in the court, stealing the young princess's heart who later on not only broke all the rules but smashed three other royal families, eradicating them to the last member to make sure, she could marry her true love. Of course, this event didn't help her reputation within the Sar Empire, branding her as a Mad Queen and calling her the same as Kathrien Ishillia. What they didn't know was that the resemblance maybe was a bit more accurate with the Empress they were about to meet.

...
....
......

"Pam-param-pamparam-pamparaaaa~"

"You are in a good mood, eh?" Sasha giggled, watching me sing, letting my daughter sit in my lap, clapping along, trying to mimic me while I was working within my office.

"Yep! I am! I finally have some free time, so I am jotting down music for Mikan to try and replicate! Some old classics I like, ready to steal some thunder!"

"Thunder!" Arthur repeated loudly while drawing, sitting on the floor. He immediately began drawing lightning bolts around the image of the mech he was making. It was then that a knock interrupted my humming, and Merlin walked in.

"You called for me?"

"Yes! Come, come, I have been thinking about making a radio station."

"Oooooh?!" He perked up immediately, hurrying over, taking a handful of notes I had compiled in the past few days. "With what we made for the Lion, all the systems in use could be transformed, and we could establish a radio system within Avalon."

"What about the newspapers?" Sasha asked, making me smile.

"I am not going to shoot myself in the foot, of course; I want both to be... profitable. I need constant circulation of money, so the radio won't replace it. We will make it into an occasional entertainment! When I have to announce something important, we will do it via the radio on pre-announced dates. Also, it will be for providing music and entertainment at set intervals. Merlin."

"Yes, My Sovereign?"

"While designing it, keep in mind that it will be state-owned. Although it is a device to entertain my people, it is still a propaganda tool. Use it to develop methods we can implement and later on build a system that allows our soldiers to communicate via long distances. Got it?"

"Yes! I will do!" He nodded his head rapidly, looking ecstatic to start working, leaving after I waved my hand.

"He finally seems relaxed." Sasha mumbled.

"Yeah." I smiled, looking at where he had disappeared. "After admonishing him for what happened, I told Elena to keep him under check and don't let him start experimenting. Now, he knows I lifted the embargo, and his punishment is over."

"And who will punish you for letting him do it in the first place?" She asked, sticking her tongue out, making me rub my neck.

"You have something in mind?"

"I do~!"

"Please!" I added at once, feeling a cold sweat roll down my back, "Just don't say something like Yuri, okay? If I wasn't so quick, I would not be able to sit straight today!"

"You made the toys; she just wanted to use them!" She began laughing, making our kids look at us, wondering what type of toys they were talking about and why their father was suddenly looking distraught.