Trojan sat down in the room he was allowed to stay in by the Royal Family. He felt trapped, restricted, constantly under watch, which he most likely was. New ideas started forming in his mind, but he had no one to consult the plans with, no one to think on the same level as he was. Normally, speaking with his staff proved sufficient, but in the Palace, no one was an ally. Trojan would speak with Domino, who was relatively smart in his own rights, but he doubted Domino was too concerned about what Trojan did.
Without any to speak with, Trojan needed to find that person instead. The first person he would try talking to was Emilia, his wife-to-be. She was intelligent, much more intelligent than quite a few people Trojan knew. Surely, if he were to discuss things with her, they would be able to find a way out of the situation Trojan was in.
So he sent out Domino to contact Emilia.
Meanwhile, in his room, Trojan thought about the offer from the Princess. Perhaps it was his talk with Eve that had forced him to take action. She may be willing to marry Trojan, but Trojan's uncertainty as to her true intent was worrying him, and he would preferably not marry into the Royal Family. Trojan had a new plan, one that was much more...
How should he put this...
Murderous.
It involved a lot more bloodshed, and it also involved pushing the blame for the fire onto someone else, even if it meant making an enemy of that person or party. From Trojan's perspective, it seemed to be the only way to save himself. Speaking to the peasants would not work, he knew how they were.
Self-righteous, selfish beings. Humans were honestly disgusting creatures. To counter violence towards them, they commit violence towards those they opposed, which eventually made those they opposed commit more violence towards them. It was an unending cycle that required only a spark to start, and in Trojan's scenario, a burnt-down town.
He needed to take action before more people related to Trojan died, and before any of his staff ended up dying as well. In order to do that, he needed to take drastic actions.
Eventually, Domino appeared in the room with a gust of wind again.
"My lord, Marchioness Emilia has agreed to speak with you," Domino told Trojan.
Trojan, in all honesty, found it surprising that Emilia was still willing to speak with him. However, it made him think. Since she was still willing to work with him, that would mean that she still stood to gain something from working with him. If given the time, Trojan would have been able to figure it out, but he was fatigued and wanted to hurry up with the discussion.
"Take me to Emilia now," Trojan ordered Domino.
Domino stood beside Trojan, and with one wave of his staff, they were gone, disappearing into the wind. The next thing Trojan realised, he was in a familiar room. It was the room in which he had spoken to Emilia regarding the defence of Ether and the room in which he had first considered marriage with her.
Sitting on one of the couches, Emilia sat there, smiling pleasantly. Domino took his leave, leaving the room before he was told to do so. Trojan brushed up his attire before walking towards Emilia, sitting across from her.
"Nice of you to visit me again, Koda," Emilia said to him.
It was odd to hear his given name spoken by someone else. He was much too accustomed to hearing himself be addressed as 'Duke Trojan'. He smiled apologetically, replying, "Well, it has been quite some time, hasn't it? I would visit more often should the situation outside not be so... problematic, to say the least."
Emilia shrugged and leaned back on the couch she sat on, looking at Trojan. She let out a long sigh before giving him a frustrated look. "Explain how you allowed all this to happen. Surely, you would have expected something on this scale to happen."
"Unfortunately, I did not see this coming," Trojan said. "I was rather busy trying to avoid any assassination attempts by the Royal Family."
Emilia rubbed her temple. She told him, "Ever since that rumour has started spreading, things have been a nightmare! Peasants are going on more strikes than previously, even those that work in the bread factories are going on strike. Now they're complaining about there not being enough food, too! And who are they blaming? Of course, the nobility, because everything that goes wrong is because of the nobles."
Trojan could not say that he had heard Emilia rant before.
"The peasants have been going around capturing and killing guards in the Middle Cities, and a whole bunch of them are headed towards Inner City too," Emilia continued. "The situation in Inner City isn't one I would be considered good either. They are rebelling, and none of the nobles are willing to suppress the rebellion."
Trojan nodded, listening to her carefully to make sure that he picked up on every bit of important information.
"Surely, you have a plan," Emilia said to Trojan. "It has been a month since you disappeared from the public eye and the rebellion has only gotten worse."
"I do have a plan, if you can even call it a plan," Trojan replied, rubbing his chin. "Even I am unsure of whether it will actually be effective in quelling the rebellion."
"So you do have a plan," Emilia let out a sigh of relief.
Trojan could somewhat get why Emilia was willing to speak with him. With the rebellion, her businesses were being affected, mainly the farmers and bread factories. She was unable to solve it, and if Trojan was able to solve the crisis, he would be able to restore her business as well. But he could tell that the actions of the peasants were going bring negative effects to the entirety of humanity.
The economy was going to crash. Peasants that sought justice would have become nothing more than criminals in their attempt to find food. The biggest crisis yet was going to hit Ether, and the only one that was actively thinking about how to solve the situation was Trojan.
"Do you trust me?" Trojan asked Emilia.