Royals Life (Meillur Only)

[Colfico]

Sebastian sighed as he awoke from his slumber, already exhausted before the day had begun. The war was taking up much of his attention and energy. While his military had for the moment held its own, there were diplomatic developments that had caused him great concern. He knew that some sort of deal had been worked out between the Hyrukian, and the Genois Queen, and the new alliance between Hyruke and the Celestial Empire was a serious threat, as it removed one of the big advantages he had. Hyruke had to attack from the sea, and the air, which made defending his country a much easier task. However, if the Celestial Empire joined the war on the side of the Hyrukian, he would have to shift his focus on a war on the ground, which may leave him open on the coast. The situation was hanging on a knife's edge, and he had to walk it carefully to prevent the collapse of his nation from outside force.

It did help however, that he had recently married, as it meant he was not handling the situation alone, as he would have been before he has been wed to who was now the beautiful queen of Colfico. He sat up in his bed, and for a moment, just sat there and thought, there would be no end to his busy hours the moment he walked out of the room, such was simply the nature of things for him these days. However, it did not make it any less tiring, and he was sure that it would begin to show soon, regardless of his attempts to hide it. This was all added to the tiring work that was attempting to forge a good relationship with his wife, as well as managing internal affairs at the same time.

[Royal Genes]

Queen Philippa was already awake when her husband woke. The young woman was an active person, who was not one to care for sleeping in or sitting still for too long. She craved activity and movement. At just nineteen, it had been decreed to her that she would be wed to the King of Colfico in order to secure a vital political alliance. Philippa, escorted by her parents and a fleet of warships, had transverse the Southern Sea and enemy Hyrukian waters to a land that was as strange and unknown to her as her husband. In fact, the first time she'd met Sebastian, had been at the wedding alter where they'd before the eyes of man, the law and most importantly to the devote Philippa, God, they'd sealed their union and the Geno-Colficoan Alliance.

However, Philippa, a thousand miles from her family and homeland, barely knew her husband and the stress of the outbreak of war had done little to make the honeymoon period any smoother. Philippa still found herself feeling a stranger to Sebastian and less than settled in their residence, De Leans Villa, which while no doubt respectable and grand for Colfico, was smaller and far more spartan than the young queen had been used to in the vast sprawling hals of her grandfather's century old palatial complex. But Philippa, armed with her excessive energy and her massive fortune, a dowry that had been granted to her by her wealthy mother, was determined to meet half way for a place suitable to the young royal family.

First and foremost had been giving herself something to do. She had bought a new contraption created by a Genoise businessman who'd supposedly gotten their hands on some ancient images of a device from before the collapse. It was a simple if large device, about seven feet long, like a raised walkway with two steel railings with a dashboard with flipping counter was attached to it. The walkway however was not still, but instead a conveyor belt that turned as Philippa, dressed in a modest romper ran in place, each step silently moving the belt. She had placed it next to the window of the room, and she looked away from it as she saw Sebastian sit up. She gave him a small polite smile and said, "Good morning."

[Colfico]

"Good morning my dear, has anyone come knocking?"

He stood up, and as he did so, the scars on his body became apparent, various burn marks, most notably one on the right side of his neck, covered his body. The results of near misses from deadly copper jets, produced by lethal anti tank rockets, permeant evidence that the Colficoan was no stranger to war, he had lived most of his young adult life fighting through the horrors of Colficos civil war. However with that was also the body structure created by more than a decade of military service, having forged him into the man he was now.

He walked over to his cabinet, a simple thing made of stamped sheet steel. Simple, but durable and containing more than enough space for the things that he needed. While he would normally begin exercising himself, having continued follow wing a strict schedule of physical training even after having risen to his position, these were not normal times. Instead he reached for his uniform, which had been altered with enlisted rank and insignia, to help make him harder to identify for a marksman.

He recognized the device, while he had never used on personally, he had seen images of it, a treadmill. Hetooo a moment to admire his wife, before speaking again.

"There is another strategy meeting this morning, a meeting with several company representatives of road construction crews, and at least four visits to factories , business as usual."

Those factories were especially important, with Colfico on a war footing, it was important that he ensured that his industrial facilities could keep up with the needs of the military, building the aircraft and equipment that they needed to fight the war.

"I already have a BY-3 floatplane scheduled for the trip to two of the factories which are more north."

He could only hope that the war would not last long, for a plethora of reasons, including so that he could take his wife on a proper honeymoon.

[Royal Genes]

"No one I care to answer to," Philippa said as she slowed on the treadmill, eventually coming to a stop as she leaned on one of the railings, her eyes looking shyly over his body. Unlike the princesses of Genes of the pre-collapse era raised in the prosperous reigns of her great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother, who'd lived in palaces of pleasure and sin with unfiltered actions of freedom open to them, Philippa had lived a sheltered and religious home dictated by her religious father and grandfather empowered by the ghost of her strict grandmother. She was not familiar with the man form but nonetheless found it, at least in the form of Sebastian rather fascinating. As for those who could come knocking, Philippa found herself uninterested in entertaining the guests of her husband, mainly the party of the Deritain princess that had wished to stay in Colfico.

Philippa turned her attention however to the words of her husband. While she loathed the idea of suffering through a strategy meeting, the fact that they were road constructions interested her. With her desire to make her new home more amenable to her liking, that stretched outwards to the rest of the country as well, if to a secondary degree. She further loathed the war, and wished for its swift end. Philippa stepped off of the treadmill and made her way to one of her many trunks of clothes brought with her from Genes.

"Have they constructed any roads nearby? Perhaps we can inspect their work before we visit the northern factories."

[Colfico]

He nodded, the efforts of the NEP had not been restricted to any one area, although they had been put in more of a back burner than intended, with funds originally intended for them having been redirected to the war effort. Although to a certain extent, it did not surprise him, since she did enjoy being outside, a fact that had become apparent to him not long after she had arrived. However it had been somewhat complicated by the arrival of Princes Amelie, to say that it made interactions awkward was an understatement, they had been courting for a time after all.

"Yes, we can go see them if we can find the time, although I have made roads of importance a priority, and progress has been slowed."

He walked over to his wife, and gave her a brief kiss, before speaking again.

"Before long, we will have time to ourselves, we just have to be patient."

[Royal Genes]

Philippa blushed deeply as Sebastian kissed her, however briefly. It was still a strangle experience, but not one she disliked. In fact she rather enjoyed it. Though a small part of her pondered who else Sebastian had given such kisses. She had not yet inquired about his past love life, one she was painfully aware of existed, with the Deritain princess loitering around. God was a jealous god, and Philippa was a jealous wife.

“I hate this bloody war,” complained Philippa. “It has ruined everything. But if we must, fine. But God made me with two working legs and little pools of patience.”

[Colfico]

The Colficoan king smiled as he watched his wife blush, and he knew the feeling of hating war, it was a feeling that had been ingrained into the majority of Colficoan society, the result of twenty years of war.

"No one likes war, certainly no one here, no one enjoys war that has actually experienced it. But even so."

He then kissed her again, relishing her reaction to his first kiss, and as be back off again, spoke.

"However, some things are just too important to give up so easily. Which is why you can use me to refuel your pools of patience whenever you wish."

[Royal Genes]

Philippa gulped, her face burning bright red at Sebastian’s words. She felt heat rush up through her skin and she suddenly felt as if her limps were made from noodles. There was a lewd cord to his statement that scandalized her. But she knew that as man and wife there were certain... activity that would be expected of them. Even more so as royals. The Valois Dynasty was the most prolific of royal families, and despite the many deaths of the Great Collapse, remained the largest of the ruling families.

“I’ll... I’ll have to take you up on that offer.”

[Colfico]

Sebastian could not help but smile at her reaction, however there was things to do, as much as he was enjoying teasing her, they would have to leave the room eventually.

"Of course that will have to wait for now, there is much to do. I am going to bathe, you may join me if you would like, it would be more efficient after all."

However, as sensual as the statement was, he had said it matter of fact my.

He then opened the door, having seemingly no concern for someone seeing him without a shirt, a side effect of years of military service.

[Royal Genes]

Philippa’s blushed deepen till it felt as if it touched her bones. She let her eyes linger over Sebastian’s bare exposed torso, her heart pounding in her chest. How had her forebearers dealt with such temptation. She wanted to follow him into the bath, but nerves tugged at her just as much as temptation. And there was the way he said it. He spoke of efficiency.

Philippa crossed herself with three fingers as was the custom of the Faith. Efficiency. She had had enough efficiency to last her several life times since she’s landed on the shores of her husband’s people. For however opulence the handful of wealthy families in Genes were, the king was equally as austere.

“N-no. I think I shall wait. For colder waters.”

[Colfico]

Sebastian shrugged, it didn't bother him either way, as he left to the bathroom. It was not long until he finished, and returned, now dressed fully in his uniform. Sebastian was deep in thought as he reentered the room. He was carefully thinking on the meeting to come, after all, much can happen on the battlefield in such a period of time. However, the sight of his wife helped to pull him out of his thoughts.

"It is ready for you, I will wait for you, breakfast should be ready soon."

[Royal Genes]

“Thank you.”

Philippa nodded and slipped into the bathroom, cleaning herself as she had promised with cold water as to cool her burning tempered skin. She scrubbed furiously, wiping away the sweat of her exercise and sun of her thoughts. When she finished she applied a light pair of make up and tied her thick cloud of coiled black hair up in a blue bandana so it sat high on her head. She put on a pair of white gloves, a white button up blouse and paired it with a black belt and a modest high waisted blue plaid skirt and flats made for walking.

Philippa was no stranger to efficiency of clothing, she’s become quite the expert on it since her arrival to Colfico, and while she didn’t mimic the flamboyant dresses, jewels and hair styles of her grandmother, she did draw the line at certain things. A Queen should meet her subjects, even construction workers and their representatives in a decree of decorum and feminine beauty, modestly of course. She could leave the trousers and boots to when she walked the grounds of their estate, but for meetings, she preferred skirts and dresses. She could walk in them just as easily any way.

[Colfico]

As Sebastian waited for his wife, he went through a set of papers on his desk, most notable the blueprints for a new fighter, as well as the papers for the delivery of the first example, with the word 'Stalker' printed at the top. The war effort, and the experience gained during the battle of the Southern Sea, had taught the RCAAS and RCNAS much, including the need to develop an improved fighter, the I-7 had performed admirably, however it was starting to show its age, and could not mount as many of the new VM-2s as had been needed in the battle, and while their replacement was unlikely, the aircraft being versatile and effective, it would likely see service for some time still, especially since a new craft would take time to reach the pilots on the front line. He reread over the details again, the aircraft was impressive for a post-collapse design, and outperformed every Colficoan design to date, the post-collapse ones at least, for speed, and missile carrying capability, although the craft was still completely outclassed for speed by Colficos steadily dwindling fleet of I-9 Sailfish fighters, the aircraft were supreme in that regard, but with their airframes, and more importantly, spare parts, no longer being produced, their time was rapidly coming to an end, the RCAAS was being forced to scrap aircraft to keep the ones that were operational flying, and that was becoming a more frequent necessity, before long, it would no longer be practical for the RCAAS to continue operating them, but they were not so keen to give up their advantage in speed, and so this aircraft had been the result. Its top speed was its main highlight, capable not only of reaching a blistering top speed of 1,487 miles per hour, but of managing a supersonic cruising speed, making it easily one of the most lethal aircraft that Colfico had ever produced.

He was so focused on the paper that he was somewhat oblivious to the door, o of whomever walked in.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Princess Amélie swept through the halls of De Leans Villa, hurrying quickly with her ladies Adriana, Frédérique, Yejide and Jikela behind her. The princess had been residing in Colfico for quite some time now, originally sent in hopes of a marriage forming between her and King Sebastian, but such plans had fallen threw as Colficoan-Hyrukian tensions had risen and in quick of an enemy of his enemy, he’s married a Genoise princess instead.

Amélie had been meant to be sent to Gosataborg, whose Grand Duke she’s met while he’s visited Colfico in order to look into a marriage with the Hereditary Prince there, but then war had broken out and her mother had feared the dangers of oceanic travel. Then her mother had sent her a missive imploring her to stay in Colfico where she had been promised asylum. For there had been heart breaking news. Her father the Emperor was dead, and her brother was the new emperor.

Dressed in white gowns, the traditional mourning color of the Celestial Empire, and with their hair covered in white gauze pinned in tight buns, the trailing from the back of their heads to the floor, the ladies looked like ghosts beautifully tragic figures of sorrow. Four them had their faces covered, while Lady Adriana showed over heir lovely visage, revealing tear stain cheeks and sad eyes.

The Princess made her way to the King of Colfico’s chambers and Lady Adriana rapped her knuckles on the door. A mere formality as she, as she had done before in the rooms of the villa, stepped inside. Adriana found the king looking over papers, as she had found him before, engrossed in military matters. Adriana prayed her and the princess’ own matter would not turn to such.

“Your Majesty, I know it is early, but may we speak?”

[Colfico]

Sebastian was somewhat surprised to hear the voice of the Princess Imperial, and turned to face her, gently placing the papers back on the desk before doing so. He gave a smile, while he was married, that did not mean he had to changed the way in which he spoke to other people. His smile disappeared however when he saw the tears streaming down Adrianas face, something was clearly wrong, very wrong.

"Yes, of course, it is never too early for you to speak to me, what is troubling you?"

The kings tiredness, as much as he tried his best to hide it, did peak through his eyes. However he still did what he could to try to be calming, as much as he could manage it in such a time.

[Kingdom of Derita]

“You mustn’t hand us over,” cried Adriana, the words somewhere between a demand and a desperate plea. “Please, you mustn’t, they will kill us.”

Adriana tried and failed to blink back tears, letting fresh tears rolled down her face. Princess Amélie took a step forward, her voice calmer but striking a deadly serious tone. This was why she’s been sent away in the first place she realized. Her mother had known. Her father had been growing weak and his death had been coming. So Amélie and her sisters had needed an escape, one that would keep them out of their brother’s grasp.

“My brother has ascended throne. He is not a kind man. Not a good man. But he will speak the sweet words of family and friendship whispered into his ear by his wife. You can not believe them. He intends to kill me, my sisters, my mother and our ladies.”

[Colfico]

He listened to her requested, and frowned, thinking over it carefully, the risks of such an action were real, very real, and very serious, and could lead to deaths, many, many deaths. He thought on for a moment, weighting the possibilities, however, he did recognize one thing, that if he did, he would be admitting that the new Deritan Emperor had influence and control over Colfico, something he had gone to war against Hyruke to keep from it from happening, his stance would not change now.

"You are asking me to risk war, however..."

He paused for a moment, as he considered his next response, however, he already knew what his answer had to be, and so, he made it without a second more of hesitation.

"However, this is Colfico, not the Celestial Empire, I will honor your request for Asylum, and if need be, defend it. In fact, I have something even better...as of this point forward, Princess Amelie, I crown you as the first Duchess of Hyrea, a province in the north west of Colfico."

[Royal Genes]

Philippa step out of the room and made her way over to her husband and found herself wondering if the war in the Southern Sea was doomed to consume him. She knew that in large part, the war was reason for their marriage in the first place, but now she wanted only for it to end. She prayed that the strength of Colfico and Genes would soon fall in step with one another and drown the Hyrukian Lion into the sea.

The young Queen made her way over to her husband and paused as she found that it was no longer a morning of just the two of them. She scowled as she caught sight of the women dressed in white. It only grew, her annoyance flashing across her eyes as she realized who they were, the Princess Imperial and her flock of vultures that seemed determined to stay at the villa. And here she had been thinking she was going to and cleared her throat as she spoke.

“What’s going on here?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Princess Amélie blinked and took a step back in shock. She hadn’t been sure what to expect of Sebastian. She knew him to be a man that was reasonable, and far from unnecessarily cruel like her brother, but he was also a man who would take the path towards securing his own country, as evidence by his alliance with Genes.

So never would she have imagine he grant her a Duchy. She quickly understood the implication. As a Colficoan duchess she could be, legally speaking protected by Colficoan laws. She put a hand to her chest. He would indeed be risking war with such an outright act.

The princess’ attention however was interrupted by the voice of another. She turned and was surprised to find Queen Philippa, but was left without words to speak.

[Colfico]

Sebastian watched as Philippa entered the room, and noticed the flash of annoyance across her face, and found himself at one side, confused, and at the other end concerned, this type of official business, early in the morning as it was, was nothing new, even if it were the Princess imperial.

"The Princess has asked that her leave for asylum be extended, they have expressed concern for their safety, with the current state of things, the Air Service cannot guarantee their safety. I have decided to accept that request. Im sure it wont be too much of a problem. In fact, as of this moment, she has been granted a duchy, and has been given full Colficoan citizenship. "

He gave Philippa a knowing look, he was well aware that she did not like that the princess was here, however he did have an agreement to honor, and he would honor it.

[Royal Genes]

Queen Philippa frowned, the annoyance flaring in her at the words of Sebastian, and confusion mixing in with her emotions like salt and iron through into the fire of a blacksmith’s forge. The young queen looked between the princess and her husband and back again, and then settled on Sebastian.

“You are giving her a Duchy? Here? Why does her safety mean to give her a duchy?”

[Colfico]

"It gives her the full protection of Colficoan law, and thus all of the rights and privilege's afforded to a citizen, meaning that she is no longer under the authority of the current emperor of the celestial empire, at least so long as I live."

His face remained unchanged, and seemingly not fazed by the annoyance in his wifes words. He knew that he would be hearing about it long into the day, however he did have a responsibility to up hold his agreements, and he was using means that he had available to do just that.

His next response was quick, and without hesitation.

"Put yourself in her shoes for just a moment, and think, would you like to be handed over to one of your relatives, one who is likely to have you killed the instant you get there?"

[Royal Genes]

Philippa held her head high. “My relatives are not godless heathens. They would never do such a thing. As for her, how do you know that is what will befall her? What reason would he even have to kill her?”

Philippa looked back to the princess, but her words were still directed to Sebastian. “Perhaps she has other reasons to stay in Colfico.”

[Colfico]

He narrowed his eyes slightly, he did not know where this had come from, but he had, at no point, been unfaithful to his wife, and he had no intention to be anything but faithful to her. So when she seemed to imply that was what was happening, he could not help but feel some disappointment. However, he knew that expressing it now would not help matters, so instead he decided to continue with his rationalism for the moment.

"If she does, those reasons are irrelevant to me, she has requested Asylum, and that request has been accepted, and will be honored. She will stay here, for now, until arrangements can be made for her to have her own, well secured, place of residence, which I cannot promise will be to the same standard of luxury as present in the Celestial Empire."

His last words were directed to the princess, however his eyes remained locked onto Philippa, as if his eyes were staring straight into her soul, and putting on full display his disappointment in her.

[Royal Genes]

Philippa was shocked by Sebastian’s display of disappointment and was even more so shocked to find it directed at her, as if she were wrong. She had done something wrong. Did he not understand how his actions hurt her? First he continued to have his former courtship... woman, around in their home, fed and maintained her and her household, and then went now as far to not only welcome her as her asylum and granted her estates and a Duchy.

“So she can literally do no wrong?” Philippa crossed her arms. “You don’t even care? In the face of her being a criminal you can only think to shower her with gifts and titles and lands, all to a godless heathen and her flock of vultures who would pick us apart like a carcass under the the sun of savannah?”

Philippa shook her head. “Have you even stopped to think about what will happen after the Emperor turns of this?”