“O, holy mother of earth, may your blessings reach all souls, and may harmony and tranquility triumph over chaos and evil. May your eternal peace reign from the heavens.”

  Saint Phoebe d’Lumiere, the last known Helgon, an ancient elder race known to be the masters of strength, magic, and longevity, stood up solemnly after her prayers at the altar of the goddess of life. Her beautiful, near-perfect face was mired with trouble and anxiety, but, after having spoken to the goddess who saw it fit to make Phoebe the anointed saintess, she felt a cooling sense course through her.

  It wasn’t enough to wipe the misery off her face, but it was enough to make her stand up again and continue moving forward.

  Since she woke up, her past and origin unknown to her, her life had been nothing but a strange, almost unwanted reality. She was different from everyone else, kept away and sheltered by the church, as they endlessly hammered into her head that she would be the heroine of mankind. To make things even more confusing, when she finally stepped out of society, it seemed so cold to her, the people she was supposed to ‘save’ hating or disbelieving her.

  Ever since meeting a certain woman, though, Phoebe’s life had changed so much.

  She wasn’t just a heroine or the saintess, once an empty vessel who had one role to play in the world, a role that people from the church forced upon her. Now, she was Phoebe, with many friends and acquaintances, hobbies of her own, and a life that made her feel like she belonged in this world. Yet that life was once again under threat.

  It was why she went in this chapel today to seek guidance with the goddess. As the saintess, one would imagine that the goddess of this world, who had granted Phoebe with such ridiculous strength and abilities, would be someone she could easily chat with. Unfortunately, that was untrue. Just like everyone else, Phoebe could only pray and hope that the goddess was listening to her.

  Of course, she knew the goddess was there; otherwise, her miracles wouldn’t work, but still…her life remained uncertain. She wished this wasn’t the case.

  But when she stepped out of the chapel, a familiar woman was waving at her. Dressed in clothing that made her look like an average noblelady, Alexa Theresa’s face stood out like a diamond from the crowd in Phoebe’s eyes. Another face was over there, that grumpy old Wilhelm, his arms crossed as he leaned on the side of a gorgeous carriage.

  She didn’t expect to see them again in the center of Perlenstadt, but now that she did, the color of life flooded back in the woman’s face. She immediately ran to Alexa with a bright smile on her face, as if her previous troubles were wiped out.

  “Alexa! I missed you so much!”

  “I share the same opinion, Phoebe.”

  The two women giggled at each other before they suddenly embraced each other. Wilhelm, on the side, instinctively looked away, as if he had condemned himself from seeing anything too adorable in life. Phoebe, on the other hand, simply savored the safety and relief she felt upon seeing Alexa.

  There was truly no one in her life as important as Alexa. She was her sole best friend, the sole person she could truly trust, and the one she thought was the most deserving of using Phoebe’s powers. The fact that she visited here today already made Phoebe’s day.

  “So! Why are you two here?” Phoebe asked with a smile. “I mean, I understand Sir Wilhelm being here, since he always works here, but Alexa? Are you two on official business?”

  Alexa groaned. “Unfortunately, yes. We’re here for business.”

  Phoebe looked slightly disappointed. She thought she could spend some free time with Alexa. She usually only managed to have that in her regular visits to the Monile Palace, where she, Alexa, and Adele would have tea parties and gossip for hours on end. Phoebe’s life, though, these days was mostly made up of training.

  Training with the church’s Holy Knights, training with the Imperial Army and the Defense Forces, training with Sir Alfred and the Royal Guard…that, or she was dragged day-to-day to monotonous church charity business, where she healed the sick and performed miracles for the citizenry to help them. Now, she had no problem with the latter; it was insanely fulfilling to her heart.

  But the first one, while necessary, was too much of a drag. Phoebe wasn’t a woman who found joy in fighting, and the same was true when she practiced how to do it. She knew it was so that she could vanquish the evils of this world, of course, like the demon horde, but, at the end of the day, she was still mentally a young woman.

  She would rather help the people and spend time with her good friends. That was all she desired.

  She felt a few pats on her head. “Now, now, don’t be too distraught. Even if it’s business, it can be fun.”

  “Alexa?”

  “We’re going on a tour of the world, Phoebe!” Alexa smugly smiled. “Do you want to see the world with me? Well, I’m going to need your help, the saint, so that the world will unite and choose peace!”

  Phoebe could only stare blankly at her friend. While she was used to this, Phoebe still found it kind of hard to wrap her mind around how a delicate woman who would complain about the silliest minor things in life would suddenly have moments where she would speak to herself and to people around her as if she could solve every problem of every man.

  It was like watching a harmless cat turn into a full lioness that commanded the respect of everyone momentarily. As Alexa continued her boisterous speech about ‘unity,’ 'peace,' ‘good Southern cuisine,’ and 'the best seafood,' Phoebe giggled.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  There she goes again. She’s in full empress mode.

  “I see…” Phoebe smiled. “That sounds like a good idea. Hmph, I was starting to get worried myself, actually.”

  “Worried?”

  “Yes. I read the newspaper every day. They say there’s new trouble brewing down south…”

  Then, Phoebe placed her hand on her chest.

  “I should not have doubted you. I knew you would have a solution for it soon.”

  “Ahahaha…erm, you place too much faith in me." Alexa's eyes awkwardly darted around before settling on Wilhelm. “Actually, it’s mostly this guy doing the work.”

  “Sir Wilhelm?”

  Wilhelm simply grunted with a nod.

  “...Still so busy, I guess,” Phoebe sheepishly said, feeling a bit bad about the guy. Shouldn’t she tell Alexa to maybe let him have some slack?

  “But, that will change now. Once again, you and I will take center stage." Alexa then placed her hands on her waist. “You and I are on a simple mission. We will do our best to convince everyone to join our country in a united federation!”

  Phoebe smiled. Whatever that was sounded good, and it seemed connected to whatever Alexa was talking about earlier. However, she was a bit confused. She had never heard that word before, so with a tilt of her head, she mumbled something slowly.

  “Feederashon?”

  +++

  “There’s a…considerable body of opinion amongst the government, that, if this proposal is to be seriously considered, that Lotharingia should at least be divided in four states, so that, we’ll have eight representatives in the proposed ‘Federal Council.’”

  “It simply is unacceptable that our subjects and vassals will outnumber us in this new body. Out of the question! Half of the continent’s population is in Lotharingia, two-thirds of Ouria’s economic output is in Lotharingia, and all of our major institutions are here. We must have greater sway, or this is not worth it.”

  Sir Jonathan Kepler and Sir Wenzel von Metternich IV, the prime minister and the head of the Home Office, both spoke after one another as Alexa, Wilhelm, and Phoebe met with the ministers of Jonathan’s government in a fine dinner. Everyone at the table was currently having a good time eating and drinking, but there was an undercurrent of tension around them.

  Alexa herself had not said a single word. Phoebe, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of whatever they were talking about, and she simply continued stuffing herself with food with such grace that all the other ministers adored her, which helped diffuse tension.

  Well, almost all of the tension was between Wilhelm, Jonathan, and Wenzel.

  Wilhelm was currently adamantly explaining that dividing Lotharingia between two states, western and eastern Lotharingia, was sufficient, as it was what Alexa and Wilhelm believed was acceptable to their vassals and subjects. He was reassuring them right now that the Federal Council wouldn’t be that big of a deal anyway, as the empress was still Lotharingian and they would always have a majority in the Imperial Diet.

  Now, so far, the proposal made was that there would be fourteen states within the federation, and they would each have two representatives in the Federal Council. The number of states was based on the recognized national groups and minority races, like elves and demi-humans, that had enough population to have their own state. Due to the size of Lotharingia, though, and since Lotharingians were the majority of people at this point in Ouria, naturally, people from Lotharingia wanted to be split into multiple states to reflect this. The most extreme ones for Lotharingia’s side wanted ten, while the most extreme ones outside of Lotharingia wanted to give Lotharingians only one state.

  While the government itself would be picked and chosen by the Imperial Diet, which had districts based on population, the Federal Council was going to be based on national lines. Its role was also still being determined. Largely, the current proposal was that the Federal Council would be where laws would go before they reached the empress (and, thus, the prime minister); in other words, they would be the upper house.

  It would be quite the powerful body that would decide the laws that govern the proposed federation. That, and due to the nature of the federation, the component states would have a lot of autonomy in governing themselves, as they would have their own monarchs, governments, legislatures, and judiciaries.

  In other words, it gave too much leeway on the subjects of Lotharingia. That was something that Jonathan, Wenzel, and most leaders who represented Lotharingia didn’t like. They wanted more control over their subjects, with Wenzel’s faction proposing to continue direct rule from Perlenstadt instead.

  Wilhelm took a sip of his wine before smiling.

  “As we’ve said earlier, the security of the Imperium is at stake here. We are at the crossroads right now with our campaign with the demon lord. Gentlemen, we cannot afford to lose the South in a massive revolt. This solution, to unite all of us and prevent us from fighting each other, is what’s going to save mankind. Even if we have to sacrifice some things, well, we have to do it. For mankind.”

  Jonathan sighed. “Then perhaps it is time for us to simply leave them be. I don’t like the idea of them having outsized influence in our nation. And since they don’t want us to have influence on them either, then, well, I suppose it’s time for a divorce of some sort.”

  Wenzel turned red, crossing his hand. “No, we already talked about this, Sir Jonathan. We are not to tolerate any talk about losing the South. They are ours. We conquered them. The proud soldiers who died for the empire’s expansion will have died in vain.”

  “Those soldiers died more than a century ago.”

  “And that changes nothing.”

  As Alexa finished her plate, she set her cutlery to the side, and then she began gently wiping her lips with her towel. At once, the three bickering men fell silent, while Alexa took a drink of the fruit juice in front of her. When she was done, she simply smiled.

  “I appreciate everyone’s thoughts about this." Alexa stood up. “But, it seems that we are at an impasse.”

  No taking sides, no nothing. She would allow her subordinates to eventually come to her—currently Wilhelm’s plan—side. Phoebe, who had so far ignored all the discussion, also brightened up. Alexa called onto her.

  “I would like to sightsee for a bit. I hope that you will all resolve this soon. Phoebe, can we talk for a bit?”

  “Of course." Phoebe excitedly stood up and followed Alexa out of the room. Everyone watched the two girls leave, bewildered, and at last, the respectful silence broke when she left. As if the lines of conflict ruptured, suddenly, everyone in the dinner room finally began arguing and raising their voices at each other.

  It was lucky that Wilhelm was a seasoned man when it came to battles such as this.