"I hope this letter bid you well, I am Christopher Stanier a guard of the inn where you were attacked, I was one of the guards who tried to fend off those bandits, when my captain knew that we were going to be defeated he sent me to defend the guests, I also saw your servants fight, however I wasn't able to do anything all I could do was hide.
But today, I want to bring you the news, your prime minister Prolazar was the one who ordered your capture…"
...
Michaela read the letter delivered to her early the morning when she was about to have breakfast, the letter seemed to be from one of the guards who tried to defend the inn but failed. As she read the letter it had content on how Prolazar - Ethareri's prime minister betrayed and tried to kill and capture her.
"Huh?!" she put his tea on the table and finished the letter all the way through.
"... so to atone for these sins and to do away with this guilt I tried to gather as many information as I could so I could send it to you, I could never thank Olin Shields enough for saving my life.
I signed up as the prime ministers entourage, as one of the guards they happily accepted me in, this is what I gathered so far; according to the maids, your prime minister seems to be always talking to his familiar, or sometimes he talked alone, this was one of the sentences that I got from the maid who happened to have listened to the conversation.
"That girl is just a side dish, I will plunge this continent with darkness-and soon the world! This world will also be ours to keep!"
To be honest it was nerve wracking to hear something like this, that the maid was very scared to share it to me, I think your prime minister has just become crazy, but please do be more careful.
I will send you another update soon through your spy."
And the letter was signed with the sender's name.
"Famillar? No, Lazar didn't know magic, I'm sure of it… dark forces? Did he just become crazy? Or…" Michaela got more bad feelings compared to the previous letters the her spies have sent her. The letters contents connects the dots between the incident on how did the bandits knew where she was staying, and how did the food got lazed with the sleeping tonic. "Inside job... that's it" Michaela muttered.
"I need to talk to the ministers" she stood up and ordered her maids, "Tell the messenger to inform the ministers to gather at the planning chamber, as soon as possible" the maids bowed and disappeared to the halls.
"If that Lazar was really taken over by the forces in Rara's story then…" her head suddenly with everything going on, "Surely we are next… and with that ministers knowledge, it's a nightmare for us"
Prolazar Morbide was the prime minister and was in charge with the country's army, in his absence Erneis the chief knight was the one who commanded the army, but the old man's war strategies was the one that kept Ethareri unconquered until now.
"That strategist… to use that knowledge against his homeland, it will probably just be a child's play for him"
She was already surprised enough, but when she thought more of it, everything seemed to be out of place as the old man was his father's best friend, and was the person who taught her how to become an outstanding queen.
"It doesn't make sense, how could someone like that do something cowardly like this? It isn't his style"
…
At the planning chamber, three old men stood side by side and bowed when the queen entered, their names are Trefor Walters, the old man had long white hair and eyebrows, he has a staff on his hand that he uses as a cane, at the middle was Prys Probert who was bald and the shortest among the three, the last one was Bradwen Gurganus who seemed to be a middle aged man with black hair and a face beard, among the three he was the youngest.
She threw the letter to the table, Bradwen who was the youngest of the three picked up the letter, opened it and showed it to the three while leaning.
As they read the contents their eyes widened, Prys was the one who was able to talk first, "Y-Y-Y-Your majesty! This means!"
"Yes, we will be probably be their next target, the Prime Minister is being mind controlled, based on our spies he have changed drastically and the contents of that letter coincides with what the spies have seen" Michaela responded with a nod.
"Still for a force this strong, a force that takes over the human mind just as the princess of Kydus have said, do we even stand a chance?" Garganus said with a pained expression on his face.
"If we don't stand here we will all be obliterated! Not just this kingdom, but the whole continent- no, the whole world will be under the rule of these vile creatures the scriptures have told us about" Michaela exclaimed
"I think we do…" Trefor the oldest one who looked liked a hermit from fairy tales interrupted, everyone got silent, and the three ministers looked at Michaela, and he continued, "... this is the reason why you gathered us right?" he looked thoughtfully at Michaela.
"I see… so that is the case" Garganus sighed.
"Yes it's surely that we are going to war with them, and as you've heard, my fiance is a man from a country who excelled in those weaponry, and he possess the knowledge regarding that which makes it amazing, and I really do… love him, but I think I would need your blessing for this, I want to have the marriage and make him the King" the serious Michaela got embarrassed but she remained the serious look on her face.
"King?!" Garganus exclaimed, "Please think this through, the man didn't even tell you of his origins right? Where does he even come from? Can we really trust him?"
"If the queen and him gets married maybe we can form an alliance with his country" Prys muttered as he stroke his beard, "Giving him power would definitely increase our chances of survival, if hes the man as you've described him he would probably bring lots of fortune and potential to this kingdom"
"Hmmm hmmm… that's right, if that princess from Kydus gets to him first, it would really be bad for the future, I will allow it" this time it was Trefor.
Prys was the first one to give his permission, and the other followed shortly.
…
Michaela walked to the hall with a smile on her face and at the same time felt embarrassed,
"It's not that I am hurrying up things so that no one would be able to take him away…" she remembered what Trefor said about the Rara,
"But if I want him to protect the nation with me, I need to have a place here for him, and he seemed to be working hard these days. I can't just ignore that, he's doing too much for another nation… I need him, the kingdom needs someone like him on the throne, hes the key to our survival"
But still she couldn't stop thinking about the wedding while walking to the palace to visit Claire who seemed to have locked herself inside her room.
"Claire, I've got something to tell you…" she knocked at the door, but no one answered, she sighed and pushed it open.
She was taken aback by what she saw, the room was filled with metal shapes that she haven't seen before, there were small, long and rounded parts, some of it was set aside in the room and a set have seemed to be placed on a table with a card written. "It's the parts you wanted for the day idiot"
"Have she forgotten that Andrei didn't know how to read our letters?" Michaela had a wry smile on her face but looked happily as her sister was sound asleep on the table. "I guess it would have to wait until tomorrow huh?" she opened the curtains and it was already sunset.