Britannia and Null rushed into their room, monkey on shoulder, snickering as Britannia formed a bubble of soft light that pulsed with the voices of lady El and her guest. They sat on Null's bed and put an ear close.
"Turn it up! I can barely hear it!" Null whispered.
"We can't!" Britannia glanced on the other side of the room, hoping it wasn't loud enough for the others to make out the voices.
Their room was made for four, the other two knights, Ledra and Kris, were weaving and reading respectively. Kris was especially annoyed. They took her out of her daydreaming. She wanted quiet, not those two idiots making dumbass reaction noises again. From the bubble, Lady El's voice sounded… concerned.
"What? That test I took in April was my last chance? But, I'm about to complete my grimoire! Surely I can get a waiver or something! I am making the grimoire tonight! Please, Lady Geneva, we have to think. I've been waiting for this my entire life!"
Geneva Inhaled. "I'm terribly sorry, Lady Eleanora. The policy had just changed four days ago, right after you scheduled."
"But the god of Rapids joined two days ago!"
"Yes. But, gods are different. Any god, no matter who, is an extremely valuable asset to our cause."
"I can be valuable! Very valuable! The coalition needs someone who-"
"This is not up for me to debate."
"... Then get me management."
"Very well." A sound, like a droplet of water hitting a still pond's surface echoed through the room, and another voice could be heard.
"...What is it, Geneva?" The confident voice sounded with bored annoyance. "I'm in the middle of something."
"The lady that lives off to the side of Angel's Crown, Lady Eleanora, would like you to clear some things up for her. She wants to hear it from the source."
"Make it quick, Lady Eleanora. I don't have the time."
Lady Eleanora's confidence cracked, and she choked.
"Y-Yes, well, you see… I was wondering if any new positions for grimoire users of the fifth division could be opened under any circumstance. I am very flexible, and-"
"Absolutely not. What about the ninth?"
Lady Eleanora recoiled. Anything but the ninth.
"P-perhaps if doing so will allow me to switch divisions if I exceed in that position?"
"The fifth is reserved for the best. It is reserved for candidates of royalty! Do you really believe you have what it takes to be a queen or one of the Four Warlocks? Because I, personally, don't."
"I-I believe- I have a lot of passion- If you see what I can do, I believe you will have a change of heart-"
"You are just getting your grimoire now! You have a lot of passion, Lady Eleanora. But you should use that passion elsewhere. Your testing score wasn't that high, and you have a tendency to jump into things before trying out the water."
"Please let me talk-"
"This conversation is over. Geneva, wrap things up."
The droplet sounded again as a nervous grunt could be heard from Lady El. The sound of a hand gently going down on the table signaled to Null Lady El's distressful habit of pounding on it when she was pissed.
"..."
"...I'm sorry, Lady Eleanora. I wish I could do more about it. But I don't make or influence these rules, no matter how ridiculous they may be. However, you know as well as I. There are other paths to becoming queen."
"This path was not the easiest nor is it the most difficult, but it was supposed to be my path. Mine. The others will make me lose sight of who I am and what I want to do with this country. A queen without her own power and policies behind her is no queen at all. If you cannot help me, then leave."
"Then I will. Good luck."
The footsteps Lady Geneva sent by the coalition clicked as the creaking of the door followed by a gentle close echoed through the bubble.
"..."
"I know you brats are listening in" Lady El said as rested her face in the crook of her arm on the surface of the table.
Britannia's bubble popped. Tears streamed down Britannia's face, and Null had a somewhat guilty look in those green eyes of hers.
"Britannia."
"Whaahat." she said sniffling.
Null motioned her head to the door. Lady El could use their presence right now. The doors to the dining room opened and the two came to her side. Nothing should be said. They both wrapped their arms around the glass-haired woman, whose tears landed as tiny mirrors on the woods coated surface. She was at the mercy of others' aspirations. But whether they liked it or not, she would get her grimoire. And it will be the best there ever was. It's got to be, it has to be. She studied so hard, but she's not that smart. She worked so much, but she's not that strong. If one thing in this world were to just go right for her, it had to be the grimoire. Her grimoire.
That night, as the knights and housekeepers slept, movement stirred in the slave house. Ten torches, one hundred men, and one thousand grave aspirations. As the walls ran red with the fire of hell, Lady Eleanora stood on the altar. One hundred alchemists, hide of dragon, pages of diamond oak, the shine of a single family emblem medallion. Throw the angel's crown into purgatory's fire, and the souls of the alchemists will become gems to admire. The gems will bond firmly to dragonhide tough, and through it, writing will engrave itself on the pages of diamond oak rough. This book born new is masterless, it needs its first user. As the bodies drop dead to the floor, the book only heeds one call. The owner of this family's emblem. It could be a crest, it could be a medallion, it could be a keepsake. The book cared not. Once chosen, the item and the book were one, at the beck and call of its inherited keeper. Lady El summoned the book to her hand, feeling the warmth of power surge through her veins. At its touch, she began to smell the essence of a god she might just detain. Who was this victim? Who was this prey? Lady El did not care, she would have her way. The book spoke back, it whispered in her mind's ear. Kill the new god of life, then it will be you who they fear.