38: Current Condition

Upon the arrival of the help from Arcadia, Zairo arrived as well. He had briefed his men of the decoy purpose, not informing his knights of the true intent of the war they'll be taking part in may be unfair in their part but it is merely a precautionary measures to ensure that the information about our true agenda will not leak outside, rather more, will not reach Ezra and Katrina's ears. I had informed Zairo about the revision I made as well, at first he had qualms about the sudden revision but I assured him that it will not change our plan entirely.

He understood what I meant as the revision I made would likely push Ezra and Katrina on the edge of desperation, it might also trigger them to do something that would put more fuel to the fire we are about to ignite when time comes.

"Would you like some more tea, my lady?" the maid asked and I shook my head

"Please call a knight, I'd like to relay a message to the king." I said and they seem contemplating whether to follow my orders or not

"It is regarding a task he had given me." I said and one of them left

She came back a little late with a knight in tow, I recognized him as one of the knights who directly guards the king of Holland, King Skylark, and was also present in the lunch meeting where I disclosed my identity and where we introduced the people who are taking part in our game.

"You wish to relay a message to his majesty?" he asked and bowed

"Yes, and I'd like to ask something." I said and he stood up

"What is it, your majesty?" he asked and I stopped myself from letting a smirk form on my lips

"Did the Baron Tariq report to his majesty already?" I asked

"He had just arrived this morning, your majesty, he is still resting from his long journey." He said and I nodded

"Then tell the king Skylark that the pieces are ready, the pawns had taken their place." I said and he nodded

"You may leave," I said and he bowed down before me

"Yes, your majesty," he said and left

I continued to read, pretending to be oblivious of the questioning stares that the servants who had witnessed the knight's respect, respect that is comparable to the respect that they give to the ruling monarch, to me.

"What date is it today?" I asked without glancing at them

"The 29th of Virgo, my lady," one of them answered

The autumn equinox was at the twenty-first of Virgo, it marks the first day of fall and it's already the twenty-ninth of Virgo, in about two months the first fall of snow will begin.

"My lady," a maid arrived followed by two knights

"What is it?" I asked and turned my attention back to the book I'm reading

"His majesty has requested your presence in his palace." One of them said

I stood up and placed the book on the table before following them out of the room. We headed to the king's palace, the Linen Palace of Holland Kingdom.

"Greetings, respected kings," I said as I arrived at the meeting room

"Greetings, queen of Astrae," they both said and Sir Charles pulled a seat for me

I sat on the chair and the three of us are now seated in a circular table.

"How is the process of blending the Arcadian knights with that of Holland's?" I asked

"The knights are blending easily however the knights of Holland are having a hard time adjusting to the presence of knights from the other kingdom." The King of Holland said and I nodded

I've expected that, after all, even in Astrae, the knights, before earning their title as knights, they must've have trained together for more than three years at the very least, the sudden presence of knights from another kingdom must've brought quite the surprise for them.

"They must be ready in at least two weeks, we cannot waste more time." I said seriously

"Also, the one leading them… he won't be taking part in the actual battlefield, is he?" Zairo asked and I nodded

"Of course not, he merely will play as the general to trigger the opponents. Isn't that the purpose of his assignment?" King Skylark said and I nodded

"Yes, indeed, he will serve as a trigger to push the opposition to the edge." I said

"A trigger that will drive them to the edge of desperation," Zairo nodded his head

"However, do you think he is capable of such complicated task? Assuming that he for a fact had not undergone any training for a knight, this must be quite a task for him." King Skylark asked

"Sir Charles," I called my knight

"Yes, your majesty?" he asked

"See to it that our acting general is able to perform his duties well." Zairo said

"And Sir Monte," Zairo called one of his knights

"See to it that the knights would act according to the orders he relays." He said and our knights bowed their heads before leaving

"This plan may backfire to us one day," Zairo voiced out his thoughts after the knights left to carry out our orders

"Yes, that's quite true, using him may backfire on us however, that is a chance I'm willing to take." I said seriously

"The first step will be made in three weeks, it may or may not take a week before we complete drive off the knights of Astrae from the territory we wish to reclaim." King Skylark said and I nodded

"Their complacency will bring them the greatest surprise of their lives." Zairo said and I nodded

"That's for sure," King Skylark agreed

"Now, we must first know the current condition of Astrae to formulate a strategy that would be, at the very least, in favor for us." I said

"Baron Tariq had just arrived and is currently resting." King Skylark said

"Dame Maia had left yesterday to get the report from my knights whom I assigned to observe and look into Astrae." I said

"Then we do not have any concrete update for now?" Zairo asked and I nodded

"For now, yes, but by tomorrow we can continue the meeting with the update from them." I said and they nodded

After the meeting, King Skylark excused himself to fulfill his duties to his kingdom. I somehow feel a bit bad for him as we're taking the time he's supposed to be spending on taking care of his kingdom, but he'll be benefitting in this as well anyways so I guess a little sacrifice wouldn't be too much.

Zairo headed to talk with the knights and monitor their trainings, just to make sure that they will follow the general's words, not that I expected the knights to follow a person who's not even a knight's words in training. The person we assigned to lead the knights, to be the acting general, is not someone with any combat expertise, any of the knights can beat him in a few minutes depending on how much determination he'd put up in fighting against them and that is also the reason why we chose him.

He will serve as a trigger, a warning that will give the underlying threat to the person who will decide to dig up on the identity of the person leading the war next to the King of Holland, in this case, a threat to Katrina and Ezra.

I went back to the receiving area, the servants bowed when they saw me entering and I decided to sit where I was seated earlier.

"Do you wish to eat lunch, my lady?" one of them asked

"Yes, however, can you just bring the meal here?" I said

"As you wish, my lady," two of them replied and left, leaving the other servants behind

I continued reading the book I was reading earlier and I felt something soft on my shoulder when the wind blew from the open doors leading to the balcony of the receiving area.

"Are you cold, my lady?" one of the servants asked and started putting more firewood in the fireplace

"I am alright." I answered

I am not bothered by the cold, as my gift gets stronger during the cold weather; it had given me the immunity to the low temperature that continues to decrease as the day of the first fall of snow approaches.

When the maids arrived, they carefully made space on the table to be able to put the tray of food in front of me. I gently sliced the steak and placed a bite-size part of it in my mouth. I carefully ate, taking my time in chewing each piece, I am cautiously examining the taste. I am not thinking that the king might order someone to poison me but I would not like to regret putting my guard down, it's better to always keep it up.

"Your majesty," I looked at Dame Maia who had just arrived and bowed down

"Dame Maia," I acknowledged and she stood up and handed me a scroll

"A letter from the knights guarding the place," she said and I accepted it

"How is it going there?" I asked

"It's doing well but the corruption is rising, your majesty." She answered

"I see, and the knights?" I asked

"Dame Therese and Knight Stephen are doing well as well, your majesty, his majesty, the king of Arcadia had made sure that they are not to run out of stocks, they have managed to blend in and act as one of the citizens without complications." She said

"I see, report your arrival to the kings before resuming to your tasks. You may leave, thank you for your hard work, Dame Maia." I said and she bowed down

"Yes, your majesty, it's my honor to serve you." She said and stood up

After she left, I continued eating, not minding that the servants with me in the room are giving me confused glances, I guess they are confused of who I really am, however, as they do not play any importance in the plan, they won't be knowing the answers anytime soon.

"I'll be heading to rest," I said and stood up after I ate

"If anyone asks for me, just inform me." I said and left

Three servants followed after me but most they didn't follow me inside the room so I was able to open the scroll.

Dame Therese and Knight Stephen gave me the complete situation in Astrae. The corruption indeed has rose in the past five months of my absence, the kingdom's project regarding the school built for the commoners had been put into halt and was then changed into another school for the nobility, the workers were paid correctly however they are now unable to find another job to earn money. The common people are suffering while the people belonging to the nobility, if not getting richer as days pass by, are doing just fine, continuing to indulge into their wealth.

The Duchess, my father's older sister, Duchess Elizabeth Madeline Astrae, had died two months ago, making Ezra the remaining, as of the moment, the remaining Astrae family member alive. The Queen Katrina had taken the title of Queen Mother, as she was known to be my 'mother' and now, she's also Ezra's biological mother.

Trinity Ezra's existence as the dowager Queen Katrina's illegitimate daughter alone is enough to make her illegible to the throne however, as Duchess Elizabeth, the oldest daughter of the late King Zephyrus and older sister of the late King Aristotle, adopted Ezra as her child, she became a legal member of the royal family of Astrae.

I still regret trusting Ezra and Katrina.