The crisp, unmistakable clack of heels against polished marble resonated through the expansive and ornately adorned royal chambers. The guards of Fukviyu snapped to attention, weapons poised, as a woman glided past, leaving in her wake the faint, lingering fragrance of roses.
Days prior, her brother Viego had apprised her of the Wien campaign and the resistance they now faced. Upon hearing that her brother struggled against commoners, people devoid of any innate abilities, she could not suppress a scoff.
Viego cast her a sharp glance, his lips curling in disdain. "And do you think you could quell the populace yourself?" he asked.
The princess lifted a single, slender finger, her eyes alight with a dangerous excitement.
"Of course," she replied, a thrill in her voice. "Feign generosity, grant them their desires just long enough to coax them into surrender, then, once their defenses are down… lock them away and execute without hesitation."
Viego exhaled a weary sigh and buried his face in his hand. "Surely, you can see the advantage of utilizing them as labor before… permanent measures."
Eterna sank into her custom-designed sofa, cheeks puffed in defiance, her lips forming a delicate pout.
"I want nothing crafted by their hands," she declared. "The mere thought of their touch upon my possessions is… intolerable."
Her brother, seated opposite, lifted a porcelain cup of tea, inhaling its fragrant steam with deliberate calm.
"This," he said, voice edged with quiet exasperation, "is why Father forbids you from matters of war. You consider only your whims, not what is prudent for the future."
Eterna's eyebrow arched, a shadow crossing her eyes.
"One certainty I hold," she intoned, "is that the future would be infinitely brighter without those Wienians. The Kawlites allied with them once, and even after we freed them from the Luvian empire's oppression, they refused trade, refused alliance, refused diplomacy. We spilt blood for their land yet opposed us still. They are the reason so many perished in the first war, the reason we were forced to negotiate peace."
"You possess a surprising depth of political thought for a girl, Princess Eterna," Viego remarked, his laughter strained.
"The provisional government in Wien may have seized the capital," he continued, his tone sharpening, "but resistance rages fiercely. It is thanks to the Fivindus family's cooperation that we managed to assassinate Wien's prime minister. Extremists were promised all the power they desired if they aided in toppling the democratic order."
Her expression softened, betraying a grim satisfaction. "Just as I expected, they behave as animals. The mere whisper of power, and they throw caution aside without hesitation."
"Once the resistance is crushed," she advised her brother, "simply execute them."
Viego's gaze darkened. "Remember, the peace treaty with the Luvian Empire lasts mere months. Who knows how far they have mechanized and industrialized in that time? Our economy has been stagnant, our forces depleted from the Great War and the reinforcement of Wien."
"It is always the Wienians, dragging Fukviyu down. Had they not betrayed us in the Great War, we could have crushed the Kawlites entirely."
Rising with a fluid motion, Eterna brushed a cascade of orange hair from her face and leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. "Allow me to partake in this operation," she implored.
Viego's expression hardened, a solemn warning in his tone. "Should you slay a single soul of Wien without my command, I will see to it that you face discipline… personally."
Far below, in the shadowed recesses of Nautilus, Zyo perused the morning news at a dimly lit café, eyes scanning reports of the siege upon Wien. The Umstürzlers had captured strategic cities like Eishenberg and now lay siege to the capital.
Setting the paper aside, she wandered the winding streets of the Underground, reflecting upon the world's dramatic metamorphosis in just a single year. How fervently people now strived for freedom, as if some divine hand had stirred them, igniting a collective yearning for justice. Until now, desires had been personal, fleeting; now, the world rose united in pursuit of what was right.
A small, knowing smile curved her lips. Change was inevitable and it was coming.
Within the walls of Wien a woman sitting all alone put down her feathered pen leaving an ink trail on the paper. It was a letter to her brother Erich von Stapel, she sealed the letter with hot wax from a candle and stepped outside of her dark wooden room. Her mother who was sitting on a wheelchair mumbled incoherently before waving her hand up and down in a rigid motion.
"Mom, Erich is coming home soon. I promise he will."
Erika held her mom's warm hand and gently caressed her wrinkled skin. Her mom continued to mumble unintelligible gibberish before wailing.
"Let's go for a walk shall we?"
She pushed her mom outside because it was only when going for walks that her mom would calm down and not make noise. She grew up in this city after all. Perhaps seeing the infrastructure and feeling the wind of Wien made something inside of her calm down.
As Erika escorted her mom down the stone pavement she saw kids on the streets using their fingers to shoot each other like soldiers.
"Hahah! Sterben!" A kid screamed before aiming his finger at one of his friends.
Erika continued onwards until she made it to the mailing agency. She was told to just put her letters inside a box and once she did she left feeling a bit more hopeful. She had been writing to her brother every month asking him about the situation of the country and how he was. But no letters had been returned which made her a bit uneasy.
A black smoke billowed out from behind the mailing agency. Erika hummed a song to her mom to try to make her relax a bit but that's when at lunch time the sound of multiple alarms started blaring, from every district in the city the horns blasted a sound so loud that it made every citizen of Wien stand up on their toes.
Soldiers scrambled through the streets towards the city walls. Erika barely made it out of the oncoming rampage of soldiers but her mom had fallen onto the ground and scratched her knee.
Then the announcement from the minister of Wien came out.
"Wienians our fatherland is being invaded by terrorists and betrayers. We have long fought for the independence of a free Wien we managed to escape the grips of the Luvian Empire, THE STRONGEST COUNTRY on the continent. We are not to be trifled with, as our who have spilled their blood to let us live on these grounds. We shall do the same for next generation. We shall defend WIEN from the grasps of these criminals."
Erika shook her head and took her mom home. She remembered that one time her brother had warned her about the government. That the royals were plotting something towards the country. And after that she never saw her brother again.
Outside communications rarely came and was only reported through the news that the government printed. It was mostly about the Umstürzlers and their betrayal against the country. It also underlined the importance of the royal family that has been helping Wien fight back against the rebels.
It was too often she had seen non-sympathizers of the royal faction and the Königsteuer being harassed on the streets before disappearing for good. Those who showed the slightest bit of treachery were never seen again.