An interstellar traveler and nobles

A small alien spacecraft with a sleek human design could be seen traveling one of the many star systems within the Orion Arm, its single inhabitant speaking to some device in front of him.

The creature is three meters tall, bulky, and strong-looking, armor covered every inch of its body, leaving it unknown if the creature has fur or not.

Its head could be seen as very similar to that of an ape, hairy, with two tusks coming out of its mouth.

It spoke in a gruff, heavy voice.

"Uh, captains log number three hundred, just got his ship from the humans and left their territory, pretty happy so far, those crazy bastards make some good stuff." He hit the desk for dramatic effect, surprisingly not damaging it.

"Usually I break the fragile things made by aliens without even meaning to, but this shit holds up! the guns should also hold their ground against other vessels, which is pretty damn good!"

"Planning on exploring some tomb worlds. Those are known to have relics on them sometimes, and since I have nothing better to do, might kill some pirates on the way to earn favor with the local powers."

Engaging the hyperdrives, the vessel launched off to somewhere unknown, but this remarkable adventurer would no doubt earn himself a name, for most aren't crazy enough to travel in this volatile period.

To someone as powerful as Adam however, this was just another energy signature on a sensor, and it wouldn't affect him for a while.

His mind had far more important things to deal with, and that was the war, his relationships, and the internal affairs of the Empire.

You see, none of the nobles are disobedient now, because they know better, but Adam is already making contingency plans for some who will no doubt grow lazy and complacent after a while living in opulence.

The commoners are paradoxically more inclined for this since they suddenly get treated with so much respect and have so many riches flooding in, it tends to blind them, and only a very direct and sometimes metaphorically violent approach would snap them back in place.

So, to fulfill his wife's request to stay away from war for a while, he would do this instead, and since he wanted to do this anyways eventually, it was a win-win.

And his soldiers aren't some toddlers, they can do their job without him.

His son also stayed after Lea learned how royalty should be spoken to, which was good.

It was about time his son joined him in the over-complicated hell of politics.

And also Lea, she has to integrate herself into high society eventually, and this is the best opportunity she could wish for.

Well, they would have it easy, since everyone feared and respected him so much, his son and future wife just had to not colossally fuck up and they would get a lot of practical experience for free! Adam was honestly jealous.

He still remembered the first few times he had to navigate the noble hierarchy and was so happy he just stopped caring and simply executed the ones who made his head hurt with their bullshit.

Ah, the good ol' days...

But seriously, the Empire is in a bit of a bad spot right now, with the 'Great Shield' alliance successfully stopping them from expanding in a meaningful way, the Empire is stuck in a war it won't win in a while. A really long while.

Their only hope is to reach some kind of agreement and act depending on how things go after that.

Now that Adam thought about it, this is the second time the Empire has been forced to negotiate, and it made him a bit angry, but such petty emotions won't get the better of him.

For now, such matters could wait, and he already itched for the debate that would happen when negotiating.

His wife is right, that is his zone, his domain, and he has fun when leading and manipulating, speaking with honeyed words while threatening others subtly and not so subtly.

He kept an eye on his behavior when around his family, he didn't want to make them fear him too much, only a healthy level of fear.

Such meetings were far off still, so Adam prepared himself for the easier version, which is the nobles.

Now now. The nobles are not truly easy to deal with, they do hold some power that they clawed to with all their might, and now that they are proving themselves useful for the Empire, Adam plans to give them the slightest bit of respect.

His sister and uncle will also be attending the gathering, which will be the first time Adam has seen them in a while since he's been so busy fighting and working.

The two have done remarkable work with charity work, which has brought many talents and funds under the royal family, greatly bolstering their forces in the long run.

The organization has spread across the entire Empire, helping humans and Xenos get out of poverty, bringing even the Xeno to admire the human royals.

With these loyalists offering to give data on their country of origin and even helping infiltrate them, the Empire's intelligence network surged in power and influence, reaching much deeper than it could have before.

Most humans across the stars returned to their Azburgian origins, with very few staying in their new homes elsewhere, which was no surprise, since their reputation as excellent troops spread, and not many wanted to fight for a foreign power.

They would only fight for one nation, the human nation.

Adam snapped himself out of thinking about such random things and saw the noble's castle before him, looking medieval, with sturdy-looking walls mixed with modern technology, it looked very cool.

This meeting or ball would take place in the home of one of the oldest noble families, their lineage stretching back to the middle ages.

They are about as old as the Azburgian royal family itself, serving them for a very, very, long time now.

They are also one of the noble families capable of calling a great meeting to vote if the Emperor should be removed, but they have proven remarkably loyal, not doing such a thing only when truly necessary, never daring to fight for power with the royalty.

Adam simply looked for a few seconds at the castle's spires and entered through a gate present in the wall.

He walked through unimpeded, a robotic voice greeting him with his title, recognizing him, and giving him a virtual mark that marked him as a guest to all machines present.