Chapter 33: Mia and Sion... Reach the Same Conclusion!

"Let's not stand around out here. What say we head inside for this talk?"

Mia's trio followed Lambert into the manor.

"Come in, come in," he bade. "Welcome to... well, not exactly my humble home, but you get the idea."

He spoke with an air of nonchalance as he strolled with the elegant stride of a noble through the main hall.

"Let's see... I believe the office was down this way..."

He pushed open an elaborate door and led them into a stately room that definitely looked the part of a powerful person's office. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. It was of simple design, but it was still, you know, a chandelier. Well-cleaned and transparent, its crystalline radiance dazzled.

"Hah. What nerve," Lambert said, gesturing obliquely at the expensive fixture before striding brazenly toward the office's desk. "They swipe all those taxes from us, and this is what they spend it on?"

He plopped into the mayor's chair and leaned against the backrest.

"Hm. Expensive-looking," he remarked with pursed lips, "but not particularly comfortable."

"Lambert! Enough already! What's the point of all this?! What'll it accomplish?!"

"Shut it, Lynsha. This is politics, and you're a woman. I have no intention of talking about the former with the latter. It's a waste of time."

He leaned back farther into his chair so that he was looking down his nose at her.

That reminds me. Remno has a pervasive culture of male chauvinism, doesn't it?

Mia's opinion of Lambert immediately took a nosedive. Well, as much of a nosedive as it could manage, considering it hadn't been very high to begin with.

"What interests me far more... is these two." Lambert looked from Mia to Sion before his smile turned cordial. "But, ah, I seem to have forgotten my manners. Where are the tea and sweets, you must be wondering. Take a seat first, and I'll have them brought to us."

My, tea and sweets! This man knows how to welcome a guest!

Mia's opinion of Lambert swung back upward. It was only a small recovery, but it put him above the likes of Prince... whatever Abel's brother's name was. He was still below the Diamond Legionnaires though; Mia was a lover of large men, and he didn't fall under that category.

"I appreciate the cordiality, but I do believe we're all on a bit of a clock, so I think we should get straight to the point."

Sion ignored the guest couch and remained standing, never taking his eyes off Lambert. There wasn't a hint of laxity in his wary gaze. As for Mia, she was already comfortably embedded in the couch cushions. She'd even shifted her bottom around a little to find the comfiest spot possible to lean back and sink into their soft embrace. Like Sion, there wasn't a hint of laxity in her wary gaze. Except hers was directed at the door, awaiting the arrival of tea and sweets with predatory focus.

"Well, color me intimidated, Your Highness. It seems that the rumors are true; Sion Sol Sunkland can indeed strike fear into the hearts of his opponents with a single look."

Lambert clapped his hands in joking applause as he quipped. Lynsha's eyes widened at this comment, but the prince in question was unmoved.

"Still, I have to say," he continued, "for the prince of a kingdom to march unguarded into a place like this... You certainly live up to your name, Your Recklessly Bold Highness."

"You knew, then."

"Of course I did. I wouldn't have let you keep your sword otherwise," he said, still lounging in his chair.

"I see. I'd assumed you took us for mere children and deemed us harmless." Sion pointedly rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and narrowed his eyes at Lambert. "So? What's the deal here? Why did you welcome a pair of ostensible enemies, and even let us keep our weapons? Aren't we a danger to the revolution? What do you gain from this?"

"I have my reasons. To be perfectly honest with you, O Crown Prince of Sunkland, I was counting on your kingdom's help. After all, this," he gestured in the direction of the crowd outside, "is a tad insufficient for our purposes."

"What you are requesting is military intervention. I'll kindly remind you that mobilizing an army is not as simple as rallying a rabble."

"Huh. I'll be damned. Now isn't that the oddest thing to hear from the lips of His Highness Sion Sol Sunkland, upholder of justice and champion of all that is right and fair? Do you feel nothing after witnessing the state of this kingdom? A sensible politician who cares about the people is thrown in jail and heavy taxes are imposed while a tyrant of a monarch runs amok, and you're going to turn a blind eye?"

Sion hadn't actually seen the people's destitution for himself. However, if the King had indeed thrown a loyal subject in jail for having the courage to speak out against flawed policy, then it was true that he couldn't simply stand by and watch.

"All right. Suppose, then, that Sunkland promises you its support. I nonetheless fail to see how you can ensure your survival until help arrives."

That brought a smile to Lambert's lips. He tapped his head with his finger.

"Think about where we are. This place is halfway between the capital and Donovan County. Which means..."

Sion's eyes narrowed.

"...You're going after their logistics operations, aren't you? You plan to cut off the Diamond Legion's supply line and isolate them from the capital," he said as he folded his arms thoughtfully.

They were, of course, still within Remno's borders, so even if their supply station was raided they could receive provisions from elsewhere in the country. However, rerouting the logistics would take time, and the resulting confusion would surely impact the soldiers' morale. If the revolutionaries had led a revolt in this town with the specific intention of leveraging its geographic utility in this fashion...

I was under the impression that they were a disorganized rabble. Was I wrong? An alarm went off in his head. Frontman and firebrand, huh... I can't say for certain just yet, but he seems like a man who knows what he's doing. It would be unwise to underestimate him.

In his mind, he cranked the caution level for Lambert up a notch.

Meanwhile, what was going on in Mia's...

My! Cookies! With cute little designs on them to boot!

...Was mentally applauding the arrival of her long-awaited sweets. She popped one into her mouth before anyone had the chance to utter a word and immediately held her cheeks in sensuous delight as it melted into pure, sugary goodness on her tongue. Only after thoroughly savoring it did she turn to the man who'd brought her the cookies.

This man... knows what he's doing. I'd better not underestimate him.

Weirdly enough, the two of them reached the same conclusion.

"So, what do you think, Prince Sion? Are my words folly or insight?" asked Lambert, grinning smugly as he laid out a map of Remno on the desk. "Personally, I believe they're the latter."

The Remno capital lay in the kingdom's northern region. When looking at the map, the town of Senia was on the bottom left, where Mia and company currently resided. A fat line could be seen beside the town, marking a major road through the center of the kingdom that led to Donovan County in the south.

"So this is the supply route you plan to cut off," murmured Sion as he traced his finger along the line. "If this road is blocked off, is there another way to get through?"

"There is, but it won't be easy. Chances are, it'll take them a while to prepare."

Remno had one thing it should be proud of... and it wasn't its powerful army. It was actually the wide network of roads that spanned its kingdom.

What did Keithwood say again? If memory serves... That the true strength of Remno lies in its highways connecting noble domains to one another, which provides the basis for the extreme mobility of the army's rapid response force.

Even infantry, which normally had limited mobility, could be loaded onto wagons and transported at great speed, significantly expanding Remno's strategic and tactical options. Furthermore, the highways ensured supply lines could be maintained smoothly and efficiently. These qualities freed up its elite unit — the central rapid response force — to be deployed with concentrated precision. Having perfected their defensive system, if they were to then expand a little more — to continue enhancing its capabilities — then the vector of their attention could turn from inward to out, and their military apparatus would change from an aegis of order to a weapon for invasion.

So that's what this round of heavy taxes is for.

Seeing that Sion was deep in thought, Lambert gave him another little push.

"You know, talk of method and tactics is all well and good, but isn't there something more important? You're surely aware, Prince Sion, that the government of this kingdom has sent the Diamond Legion — an excessively powerful military force — to suppress its own people. Does that alone not disqualify them from serving as our leaders? We're just lucky that fighting has yet to commence, but once it does..."

Sion pressed his lips together. The implications were dire, and that alone justified the criticism being leveled against the government. A unilateral massacre was about to take place, and he'd be damned if he was going to stand by and let it happen.

The situation is doubtlessly complicated... but the fact is that they burdened their people with heavy taxes, then imprisoned their own chancellor for daring to speak on the people's behalf. Is that alone not egregious enough an act to pronounce them unfit to rule? I wasn't expecting much from this trip other than to provide Mia with some company, but... Should I actually be counting my blessings? If I didn't come, I wouldn't have learned about the reality on the ground here, and I wouldn't have personally gotten to know these revolutionaries. Maybe this is a chance to—

A clink of ceramic jerked Sion out of his thought spiral. His head snapped toward the direction of the sound, where Mia had just set her teacup down on its plate. She leaned her head back and, her eyes closed in a look of pure pleasure, let out a deep, satisfied sigh, presumably at the flavor of the tea she'd just sipped. The smile she wore formed gentle dimples on her cheeks, which were accentuated by the glow of a faint blush. There was an air of nonchalance to her that was conspicuous and... almost deliberate. And immediately, it hit him.

Scorching sun... He almost got me.

The haze of heat in his mind dissipated, and cold clarity set in. He looked at the man before him.

Frontman and firebrand, huh. I see he's particularly talented at the latter.

Lambert was a compelling speaker and a force to be reckoned with. He employed words with the skill of a conman, imbuing them with a charm that wormed its way into one's heart.

"What I want," said the firebrand, "is to change this kingdom... into one where injustice no longer reigns."

"By the way..." Sion interjected. Figuring it wasn't wise to keep listening to a swindler speak, he changed the topic. "Weren't we supposed to be obstacles to the revolution? I heard from some of your friends that a fellow who goes by the name of Jem had mentioned something to that effect."

"Ah, right. That reminds me..." Lambert grinned and looked at Mia. "I've been meaning to do something about that as well, Your Highness Mia Luna Tearmoon."

"Eh?"

She gave him a deer in the headlights look.

"It is morally imperative that our resistance movement succeeds, and I'd like for you people to avoid doing anything that would prevent that."

As Lambert continued to orate, Jem's words echoed in his mind. The man had informed him that the Prince of Sunkland and the Princess of Tearmoon were going to secretly enter the kingdom. Prince Sion should be converted into an ally, but Princess Mia was a potential threat to the revolution. Therefore, she needed to be eliminated in a manner that wouldn't seem too suspicious to Sion.

But thanks to my stupid sister, that's never going to happen now.

If he pushed ahead and tried to harm Princess Mia in plain sight, it would ruin any chance he had of getting Sion to help. That meant he had to fall back on the next best plan.

I need Princess Mia to either join our side or at least keep her mouth shut.

Fortunately, he was dealing with a little girl. He'd heard all the rumors, but at the end of the day, she was just a little kid. A little girl.

It can't be that hard to talk her into helping us.

With that thought in mind, he turned to her with a grin.

"In any case, I'm sure you're very tired from all the traveling today. If you'd like, you can feel free to stay the night in this manor. It's certainly no palace, but you'll at least enjoy a large bath and bed."

"My! A bath?!"

Seeing that Mia's eyes had doubled in size at the mention of a bath, Lambert knew he had this in the bag.

The Princess of Tearmoon is a bath fan, huh. It looks like the rumors were right on.

It seemed to him that it shouldn't be long before he had her in the palm of his hand. Feeling certain of his victory, he began planning what he should do afterward. This kind of behavior had a name: counting one's chickens before they'd hatched.