The next day.
Trojan woke up from the room he was sleeping in.
He left the room soon after waking up, Domino waiting outside for Trojan. Trojan asked him while still walking, Domino following after him, "Tell me the status of the rebellion. Where is it the most obvious?"
"It appears to be more on the Southern side of Inner City, my lord," Domino replied.
The Southern side of Inner City was probably one of the weakest parts of Inner City after preparations for defending against a monster invasion began. Earl Sichal was from the South, with his involvement in the defence of Ether, his troops had moved to the borders, leaving the South of Inner City depleted.
Trojan knew the dire situation he was in. He only had one plan, and he needed that plan to work at all costs.
"Where is... Letha?" Trojan asked Domino.
"It appears she is at the dining hall, having breakfast," Domino replied.
Trojan changed the direction he was walking in and started walking towards the dining hall instead. He was in a rush and had not slept well in the slightest the previous night. A rebellion that was left to worsen over a month was at his tail. The moment he was seen, Trojan could very well end up dead.
"Good morning," Emilia greeted casually when she saw Trojan.
"Morning." Trojan nodded back.
Emilia took a bite of her crumpet. Trojan sat down across from her.
"You seem rushed this morning, what happened?" Emilia asked, casually spreading jam across the crumpet she had just taken a bite out of.
"Well, with the state of the world right now, I would be lying if I said that I was not at least slightly concerned," Trojan said back, picking up a crumpet of his own.
"Well, I reckon you are about to ask me when you could meet up with Duke Phoenix?" Emilia said.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Trojan agreed.
"I have tried contacting him yesterday using the magic item he gave me the last time we met. According to the Duke, you will be able to meet him rather soon, actually," Emilia told Trojan.
Trojan needed an audience with Duke Phoenix as fast as possible. His plan required speed, he needed to go through with the plan before the Royal Family decided to do anything that could potentially disrupt his plans.
"How soon?" Trojan asked.
"According to the Duke, he will be free tomorrow and will be meeting up at one of the Duke's villas," Emilia said to Trojan. "Though those villas can be a little... drab."
"That is rather quick of an arrangement," Trojan commented.
"Duke Phoenix is likely interested in what you have to say, coming from the man which caused the entirety of Ether to start rebelling against him," Emilia said jokingly.
Trojan nodded, starting to eat.
"Well, I do have some questions of my own though," Emilia tapped her chin. "My biggest concern currently is to ask what you have prepared to stop Duke Phoenix from killing you right away?"
Trojan had to agree that no matter what his plan was, being killed by Duke Phoenix was definitely a possibility. Duke Phoenix was a mysterious figure, not just for him, but likely for Emilia too. Even though Trojan did not plan to frame Duke Phoenix, but to have Duke Phoenix work with him instead, the very fact that Trojan had a hypothesis and the potential to frame the event on him was still there. Trojan could be seen as someone too dangerous to leave alive, therefore getting himself killed.
Worse yet, for Duke Phoenix, killing Trojan would not bring about any drawbacks. Instead, it would likely boost his status amongst the people if he decided to do a public execution instead. Trojan was just too hated by the people for his death to bring about negatives for Duke Phoenix.
So Trojan needed to make his death bring about something negative to Duke Phoenix. Something so devastating for Duke Phoenix that the Duke would not even consider betraying Trojan in any future events.
"I'm working on it," Trojan told her.
In truth, he had a rough idea of what he wanted to do, but it was risky still. A plan to somehow impact Duke Phoenix enough to protect Trojan from anything. Or, at least, an offer Duke Phoenix could not resist.
Trojan had already set his plan in motion.
"Actually, I think I have a pretty good plan," Trojan told Emilia.
"Really? Mind if you let me know?" Emilia asked him.
"I would rather not say it out loud, so I would much prefer if you trust me," Trojan told Emilia, looking her directly in the eyes.
Emilia shrugged.
"I will have to leave the estate for a while later today though," Trojan told Emilia. "I shall leave Domino with you while I am gone."
"I won't question your actions. If it gets rid of this hateful rebellion, go ahead," Emilia told him.
Trojan nodded, and the two of them continued having breakfast in silence.
Eventually, Emilia broke the silence.
"Speaking of which, I believe we have yet to have our wedding?" Emilia said, smiling, obviously trying to tease Trojan.
"Oh, right, the wedding," Trojan said before letting out a long sigh.
With the development of the world, the wedding almost seemed impossible.
"Would you like to have a private wedding then? Just you and I, we don't need an audience, do we?" Emilia suggested. "After all, it would be much better for you to meet Duke Phoenix as my husband instead of us just being engaged, no?"
Trojan could tell that she was going to be insistent on it.
"Right, so when will it be?" Trojan asked.
"Tonight seems like a good time, how about it?" Emilia suggested.
Trojan had no idea why she wanted to have a wedding in the first place, but he needed to make Emilia happy. She likely knew that Trojan was reliant on her for the whole Duke Phoenix issue, so she was taking advantage of him.
"Sounds good," Trojan replied, nodding his head. "I'll try to be back before the sun sets."