Meeting the Queen

A few day later, Percy was walking through the streets of the capital city. He was observing the happy vendors as they tried to sell their wares. He was surprised that despite the fact that they were in the middle of a civil war, the people could be so happy.

[I thought that the king was struggling to pay his tributes] thought Percy as he was observing the citizens, [perhaps the king is not overtaxing his subjects, nah that's no it. No way].

He smiled as a child as he saw a child running through the streets with a bunch of her friends. Her mother was a small distance away laughing as she strolled behind her daughter.

[How is the capital not affected by the war?] Percy wondered as he continued along.

He was walking towards a restaurant when two guards in uniforms approached him.

"Vice admiral Percy?" one of them asked as he peered at the tall young man.

"Yes that's me" replied Percy as he looked at the two men.

"We are here to pass a message from the queen-" the other man started before he was cut off by Percy,

"which queen?"

"the first queen of course! The other woman doesn't matter" the guard scoffed.

Percy paused before saying, "I see. Does she want to see me now?"

"Yes if possible."

"Lead the way."

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"Welcome to my personal garden vice admiral" the queen smiled as Percy entered the garden.

"Thank you, your majesty."

"Please, just Hilda is fine. Take a seat" the queen gestured to an empty chair in front of her.

Percy sat down and look around, the garden was beautiful, obviously maintained well, and had a pleasant smell permeating where they were sitting.

"Would you like some coffee? Or perhaps tea?" Hilda said as the servant was pouring a cup for the queen.

"Coffee would be great" Percy said as he activated his observation haki. He remembered that there 5 individuals who were stronger than the rest and wondered if they were around, they were not.

After taking a few sips, Percy put down his cup and asked the queen,

"so what do I owe the pleasure to for the queen of Zandia to invite me to her garden."

Hilda smiled and put down her tea,

"Oh you know, just making a friend. It's always good to have friends in high places after all."

Percy nodded,

"true, but I assume that being friends with a queen comes with a price."

"Not really, after all, we are only a small island kingdom in the South Blue. However, I do have a proposal for you."

"Really, I've been getting a lot of those recently."

The queen chuckled, "it's comes with being a vice admiral after all. You do hold a great amount of power, especially concerning the marines."

Percy was silent as he waited for the queen to make her proposal. When she did not, Percy asked again,

"and what do you want me to do, Hilda."

"I would just like your support, vice admiral."

"My support, on what? I'm only here to end the civil war that is plaguing your kingdom, what else do you want me to do."

The queen looked into Percy's eyes and said with a straight face,

"I want you to publicly support my son, Damma to be the next king."

Percy expected as much,

[it's always the same thing with these royals, succession and finding an heir].

"Who is the current crown prince?"

"Fern, the third son. He's not my son, but queen Bria's."

"Ahh...I thought usually the crown prince is the first born son?"

"That may be the case in other kingdoms, but my husband thinks that the most worthy gets to rule. Apparently, he decided that my son or his sister is not fit to run this country."

Percy rubbed his chin, true he can support the first prince, having a vice admiral's support goes a long way to swaying the king; but there must be something else.

"Is your son sick or something? Surely you don't want my support without knowing the full situation right?"

"No, my son is perfectly healthy" Hilda said as she contemplated her next words. "It's just that he is... how do I put this, he doesn't have a specialty."

"I'm confused." Percy said as his brows creased together.

"It's like this vice admiral, my daughter, Kira has a knack for military strategy. She is so gifted that she was asked to go to a naval academy for strategic lessons before they discovered she was a princess. The third son, Aric, is good at finances. He is currently in charge of the economy in Zandia and the treasury. And finally is the fourth son Balm, he is the charismatic of the four and became our foreign ambassador. Unlike his siblings, Danna doesn't do any one thing well. He is adequate at everything, but, cannot escape the shadows of his siblings."

"Even so" Percy said as he analyzed the situation, "a king doesn't need to be good at anything, just be a competent ruler."

Hilda sighed as she heard Percy's response, "that's what I'm trying to tell my husband, but he refuses to acknowledge Danna's efforts. Therefore, I need to seek outside assistance for my baby boy to sit on the throne."

"I don't mind putting a word in to the king, but what do I get? I hate to tell you, but there is very little that can move me."

"You're right, there's nothing I have that can motivate you, but perhaps someone else can."

"What do you mean?"

"As you might have guessed already, you are not the first person I approached with my problem. If you help me, I can introduce you to them and we can find something together that can benefit all of us."

"And who is this other party?" Percy asked suspiciously.

"Cipher pol" the queen said decisively, "as a vice admiral, I know that you need connections, and I can help you bridge them and you together."

Percy was shocked for a moment,

[F*ck, here too! These two families are involved with not only the civil war outside, but the succession battle inside. Is there anything in this kingdom that is not controlled by those assholes.]

*sigh* "Is it cp-2?" Percy asked as he stared at the queen.

She was shocked for a moment before replying, "yes, you know them?"

"Kinda. Which family approached you?"

Now the queen's expression turned from shock to confusion,

"the Trimm family."

Percy was quiet for a moment trying to figure everything out in his head

[so the Trimm family runs the civil war, they are basically in control of the first queen; does that mean the Pakattiks are in favor of the second queen. And what about the 3 ministers and 2 guards, who do they work for? I need to rethink my involvement in this situation or this can all blow up in my face.]

"The Trimm family ehh... I need to think this offer over"

"Of course, it's not like I'm going to force you to make your decision now" the queen said with a smile on her face. "Take your time and think about what you can get from simply speaking a few words to my husband."

Percy nodded his head and started to stand up

"One other thing, vice admiral."

Percy turned around and looked at Hilda,

"the civil war, please end it quickly. If not, then I'm afraid that the people supporting Bria from the shadows are going to steal your glory."

Percy was quiet as he left the garden, this meeting with Hilda made him rethink his decision on taking this mission.

[Everything is so convoluted] Percy said to himself as he left the royal castle, [I think it's time to end this farce once and for all].