Meeting at Tekarra Mountain (Atmora and ACS only)

[Atmora]

Empress Henrietta "Rika" II
Tekarra Manor, Tekarra Mountain, Diebal Mountain Range, Astraeus
3 April 2089

Roughly a month ago after the reunification of the Atmoran Empire after a series of events on Earth had drawn the attention of Atmoran warlords and colonial offices to the negotiating table to rebuild the Atmoran Empire to form a united front against any possible foe. The day that Rika was formally recognised as the new Empress of Atmora, the Privy Council advised the newly reigning Empress that for the sake of the stability of the realm that they would heavily advise her to find a consort in order to secure her throne and produce an heir to be more accurate a new Duchess of Wolf. Rika had decided to take Emperor Connor II's word and sent orders to Ambassador Vastenholt in Lausanne to formally inform HIH Prince William of Connuriste that the Empress of Atmora wishes to seek an audience with him, as the orders were given Rika had ordered the HMS Winter of Silence an Alexandra class starship to transport Prince William to the Tekarra Manor in the pristine snow-covered Diebal Mountains just a couple hundred kilometres northwest from the metropolis of New Sierrapolis.

The twin moons of Astraeus were illuminating the night sky as a soft chilly breeze was coming down from the mountain, Rika put her hands into pockets so they'd remain warm, she looked up at the twin moons once again with Melusine's luminosity was being dimmed as HMS Winter of Silence began to land on the landing pad, as the Winter of Silence landing gear made contact with the landing pad, her wings began to fold slightly upward to take up less space when her wings were up a ramp was lowered, the ramp was being lowered a small contingent of six Holsatian Guards were standing at attention to receive the Prince, before the Winter of Silence bay door opened Rika turned to her aide Captain Boudewijn van Appello giving him instructions "When the Prince and I make our way into the main living room, do give us some privacy, I have no reason to believe that His Imperial Highness will be of any threat to me.", Captain Appello nodded to confirm the Empress' orders "It will be done milady.".

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Prince William of Connuriste was perhaps a little uneasy, even if he couldn't literally be much further away from his problems. The vast beauty of space was something unfamiliar to him, and he knew that it would take some getting used to. That, and the fact that the woman he was here to see was no longer the Princess he had kept an eye on at his oldest sister's wedding, but an Empress in her own right. It added a slight bit of more pressure to the equation, on top of his concern that his own spirit could be dampened by recent events at home. At university, William had led what many would have called a bachelor lifestyle, having been afforded such an opportunity by only being fifth in line to the throne. Being rich, young and handsome had many benefits to be reaped when he had so few serious commitments, and though he had never quite shared the narcissism of some of his siblings, he saw little reason not to indulge in the excitement that came with the attentions of various young women. At the parties he had once frequented, it often required more effort to not end up with someone to share a bed with for the night.

Will had never intended to quite live like that forever, but there had been little rush to step up from casual encounters to someone more respectable and eligible until the opportunity presented itself. It had always been something that he had never dwelled upon for too long, not worth thinking about so much or too hard whilst the opportunity had not yet arisen. The young man had always some faith that everything would work out for him eventually, and it nearly had with Princess Amalia of Polonge, his previous serious relationship. The two had initially been set up on a blind date by William's own brother, who had known Amalia for some time before she and William crossed paths. There was a lot that had been right about her, that was how they had lasted together for the time that they had of course, though ultimately what they were truly seeking didn't quite align.

He remembered that he had not quite felt himself at their first proper meeting, and yet he had done his best to relax and it had gone well. It was an approach worth remembering. Having been advised that the Manor in the mountains he had been fortunate enough to be invited to was not the warmest of places, Will had a sharp fitted outfit concealed underneath a winter overcoat. There were perks to having fashion icons for siblings, namely their advice and direct access to suppliers of such garments.

The depths of winter in Connuriste had passed a couple of months ago (even if the general mood felt like it had not) and so William, who grew his hair slightly longer at such times of the year, was back to his more signature well-groomed shorter style. His hair was the darker brown colour of his father and his sister Emily, as opposed to the blonde that his mother had been famed for, the blonde that was represented in those such as Adela, Frederick and Charlotte. In the knowledge that he was about to arrive at his destination, he quickly reviewed himself through the camera on his smartphone, applying just a squirt of fragrant cologne before the ramp was lowered.

William wanted to be able to say that he didn't really know what to expect, but that would only be half-true. The purpose of the visit was not particularly shrouded in mystery, not even any vague misdirection about what she might want with him aside from an audience. As for how it would play out, he could hardly predict.

[Atmora]

Rika was wearing a mid-length woollen parka with some fur lining for extra warmth, while arguably Rika could've chosen a location in more warmer environment may be closer to New Sierrapolis, however, any closer to the city the two would be Prince William would be swarmed instantly by the press. This is the reason why she chose to hold the little meeting of hers in the Tekarra Mountain, far from the prying eyes of the public so in some regards, Rika could drop the formalities and have some form of casual conversation with the Prince. As the ramp was being lowered and the bay doors were opening Rika took another look at her Imperial Guards in their grey greatcoats along with their sabres being presented a mere formality since Rika had ordered that they won't be allowed to carry the more standard StG-87 with affixed bayonets when the Prince arrives, of course, the Guards around the perimeter of the manor were arrowed with StG-87s and G39s but inside the manor didn't have too many armed guards for there is no security risk inside the manor that Captain Appello needs to worry about.

Ever since the sudden disappearance of the Atmoran islands in 2082, this would mark the first time in almost seven years that Rika had considered the thought of getting into a relationship. While she could've of course found someone in Polonge during her stay in Maria Christina's realm, but in Rika's opinion, the Polongian men were too Zealous for a lack of a better word for her own liking. As the ramp was finally down and she could see Prince William she made her way towards William it's been a while since she last saw him during Crown Princess Emily's wedding, from recollection Empress Anna Charlotte wasn't exactly pleased to see Rika there.

As Rika made her way towards William, her guards cleared away to allow the Empress to pass, as she reached the William she greeted him a joyous tone "William, it's so pleasant to finally meet you again, I do hope your journey was pleasant."

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Cold as it was, it was a refreshing change from the confines of the ship, the fresh air could immediately be tasted as soon as he stepped forward. The guards hardly fazed William, who was more or less pretty much accustomed to the presence of some security personnel in most of the places he spent time with those of similar social standing, and of course the time he actually spent at the family home, which though little these days, had been plentiful during his youth. It was very obvious that he had nothing to fear from them, and so he paid them little attention, and not seeing the Empress immediately, he instead was looking up to the skies, focusing on the beautiful twin moons and then the mountains themselves, before finally glancing quickly at the Manor, which was reminiscent of Alpine lodges that could be found back at home.

Naturally, Will was not looking at the manor too hard - he fully expected to have plenty of time to look at it from both inside and out later - and in the corner of his eye, could see the guards shuffling, presumably to make way for their boss, which was maybe an odd way to describe it but wasn't exactly a wrong one. And when he was proved correct, she was just as pretty as he had remembered. Himself and a few of his brothers had had a few things to discuss amongst themselves about her, although aside from himself it was mainly his younger brother Connor who was quite keen on her, but Connor had always quite fancied himself as a playboy of sorts, almost like a budget version of Enrikos who wasn't quite as good looking or important. William, on the other hand was more of a balanced character, which in truth wasn't all that common within the family, equally capable of making himself actually useful and having a good time, never going too far one way or the other.

"It was an interesting journey, I've actually never left Terra before." admitted Will, who hadn't been able to hide a little smile since standing on the surface of another planet for the first time in his life, a smile that had grown since the Empress had approached him. He had something on his mind, and he decided the best time to get it out of the way was right at the start, it would only get more awkward to bring up the longer it went unaddressed. "It was Zoe the last time we met, but it appears to be a bit more complicated now..." he chuckled, hoping for some clarification on how exactly to refer to her.

[Atmora]

Rika smiled as she gestured for him to follow him towards the manor "I do welcome you to the humble world that your father and my auntie worked together to create, the shining Crown Jewel of the Empire. But enough about that, come let's go inside it's freezing out here." As the duo began walking towards the Manor, Rika looked up towards the sky once again to take in the beautiful night sky of her realm the dancing aurora above her, despite being on Astraeus for almost half a year now she still hasn't gotten used to the aurorae according to her advisers Astraeus as such a strong aurora phenomenon, to such an extent that the entire planet is covered in an aura of aurorae due a strong magnetic field.

Will addressed the question that she was sort of waiting for the question of what he should address her as she stopped for a moment to ponder on how to respond "Ah, of course, the last time we saw each other was at your dear elder sister's wedding. I was a but a Princess when we met, but now I am the Empress of Atmora and all her colonies. During the investiture of me assuming the throne of the Atmoran Empire, I had chosen the regnal name of Henrietta II to pay homage to my great grandmother Henrietta the Great the woman who set forth the events for the eventual unification of Atmora by Alexandra the Great. To answer your question on what you can call me, my great-granduncle Prince Jayden has decided to affectionally call me Rika." as the two reached the door to the manor, one of the guardsmen opened the door for the Empress and Prince William, as they walked into one of the lounges of the manor the crackling of the fireplace could be heard.

Rika sat in a sofa armchair facing towards the fireplace, she motioned for William to sit down, crossing her legs as one of the servants filled a glass of Procyon champagne for the Empress from the distant world of Arcadia "Will, would you care for champagne any other type of refreshments?" as she took a sip of her champagne she set her glass down on an ornate wooden table between them, she shifted her body leaning closer to Will "I have a feeling you're wondering why I have called for an audience with you, I will be quite frank with you and simply state that your father has offered one of his sons to become my consort. And ever since our meeting at your sister's wedding have found a particular interest in you."

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Prince William did not protest at her suggestion to go inside, to seek shelter away from the elements outside, nodding in agreement. It had occurred to him before that the interstellar era of Connuriste would be a large part of his father's legacy (even if Atmora had shouldered much of the responsibility) but actually understanding the magnitude of that was more easily comprehended when one ventured out into the frontier of space itself. No matter what might happen today, he had already decided that he was going to see a lot more of it. A few of his siblings had made trips out to the stars and rambled on about how fascinating and incredible it was, even Charlotte who was so rarely impressed by anything at all, and William wasn't quite sure why he hadn't seen it for himself until now. He guessed that it pretty much removed you from everything you already had going on in Terra, but it was a much larger obstacle in theory than it was in reality. If he had any excuse, it was that the ocean had been what fascinated him as a child, rather than the stars.

He followed her as she explained what exactly he ought to call her, giving a polite nod to the guardsman who opened the door for them, before taking a seat in the lounge as she had silently invited him to do, deciding that if the champagne was good enough for the Empress, it would more than do for him. He had noticed that she didn't seem to be a woman of few words, if only because she took the opportunity to elaborate about how exactly she had arrived at the name Rika, rather than just telling him that it was the name she now went by - that, and the fact that her introduction was more so than just "Welcome to Astraeus." Naturally, this was only a first impression (or a second impression, after Emily's wedding) but if it was one that proved to be more accurate than not, it was no bad thing. William had known plenty of beautiful young women, and the most important thing that separated them were their minds, how exactly they chose to interact with others and the ways their thought processes worked. And often, he had found that the depth and complexity of conversation had quite the correlation with how vast and intricate their minds were. If the brain could be thought of as a galaxy in space, he liked to seek one that was filled with constellations of bright stars, swirling around in their beautiful patterns at great speed, a galaxy like ours that was teeming with life rather than the many that humankind had seen this century that were empty, desolate and lifeless. Of course, there were always outliers - to use his sister Charlotte as an example, she rarely spoke at length on any topic, but there was no doubt that she was quite talented and gifted, although easy to connect with she was not.

At heart, it was a matter of William having a mind that worked on a certain wavelength, and being eager to find those who worked on one that was similar enough. If he couldn't be quite sure of judging whether Rika was a woman of many words or few just yet, then after she had continued speaking after a sip of the champagne made him quite sure that the Atmoran reputation for being direct was not just rumour. In Connuriste, many thought they were quite the direct characters, but it was an attitude that was mainly kept to areas of life such as business or politics. And even when it was applied to relationships, it was more so about people not playing up to being coy, rather than being quite so outright from the beginning. Nevertheless, it was easier to read someone's cards and plot how you would play your own when the other person was not doing all that much to conceal them. Even when measures were taken to make signals and intentions more obvious than they would be naturally, the game of courtship was still very much a game. It certainly seemed that William should be preparing himself to play it, though it had always been in the back of his mind since he received his invitation here in the first place.

"Well, I think that's as good a time as any to take you up on your offer of champagne." said William, his voice calm and relaxed but the grin that was growing and the glint of excitement in his eyes sparkling as they widened a little betrayed that he was mildly surprised that this was the topic of conversation already. It was not wholly unexpected that this would be discussed at some point, but so soon had caught him off guard a little. Not that the games that William liked to play were ever so predictable anyway. Those eyes narrowed again as he tasted the glass that had been filled for him, it not being quite like any champagne he had tasted previously, though as he placed it down on the table that was placed in between them, it was much more to do with him trying to process the thought process that had gone through the mind of his own father - it was not particularly like him to be a matchmaker.

"You know, I must admit that before Emily's wedding, he pulled me to one side and mentioned that there was someone I should keep my eye on, but I wasn't aware that he'd had words with you, especially quite so explicitly." William leaned back a bit in the chair, getting more comfortable. "Of course, he had only good things to say about you, and what little we saw of one another on that day had me interested in more, but I knew you had a lot going on to sort out here before I tried too hard to distract from you that." he laughed, laying his own cards out in a similar fashion to how she had done, averting his gaze from her momentarily whilst he paid some attention to the details of the lounge they found themselves in ; the crackling of the fireplace as people sat around it on a cold day being a timeless scene in all of human civilisation for the past few hundred years. "My father told me that you'd spent quite a bit of time in Polonge in the past few years." he added, changing the subject slightly, with the intention of uncovering more about her. "How did you find it there?"

[Atmora]

Rika picked up her glass, cross-examining for a second until Rika's eyes met Will's. She glanced more a moment at the dancing flames in front of them, she smiled and waved the servant away "Thank you, will not be requiring your services for the moment, do go take a good rest" with her glass in hand alone in the room with the Will with the light of the fireplace illuminating their faces she responded to Will's comments "Ah, yes your father and I had a long talk after my arrival from Polonge during our negotiations of the continued special relationship between our two nations. Though I must say he did undoubtedly surprised me when he bought up the prospects of a marriage between one of his sons with I" although in truth she somewhat had expected that one day that the Wolf and Pearson dynasty would be joined together through an Imperial marriage. If she remembers correctly her auntie had humoured the idea of having of her son Prince Erik try and woo Crown Princess Emily but to the best of her knowledge, her auntie never acted upon the such an idea.

She leaned back into her chair putting her glass of champagne down onto the table once again "The week before your sister's wedding was without a doubt busy as I had returned back to Earth to further negotiate new treaties, your sister's wedding was a nice breather from my state duties." as Will let a laugh she took a sip of champagne setting back down on the table readying herself to play this game "My time in Polonge was... interesting to put it best, I will not deny the Polongians make great hosts, albeit a little too zealous for my liking, but our shared love for the classics was pleasing. I guess you can say music allowed me to process and come to terms with the reality that I was now in." Further recollection on her time Polonge was almost a blur in her memory, she could not remember clearly how she got in Polonge but she knew she was there with Ambassador Hevring ever since Atmora had disappeared in 2082. Out of Rika, and her two older siblings Fredje and Juliet, Rika thought that Fredje had handled the mental breakdown of their father and the disappearance of the Atmoran islands the best. Although in Rika's opinion she had felt that Juliet had changed ever since auntie Katie disappeared, she started to act uncharacteristically the big sister she had admired since she was a little girl had abandoned her people in dire times and married a foreign Prince, Juliet's neglect to carry out her duties as an Atmoran Princess made Rika loathe at her sister's wimpiness, yet in spite of this she was still her dear elder sister and she couldn't stop loving her no matter what she did. She just gained a greater respect for Fredje, she felt almost guilty that she was chosen to become the next Empress of Atmora knowing that she is only the third child of her father. But she understood why the Privy Council had chosen her to disinherit her siblings from taking the throne, marrying without consent from the Privy Council or Sovereign was their mistake, the same mistake that their little brother Chris had made, poor Chris he was forced out of the Imperial Household as the Lyria Ministry decided to make an example out of him, Auntie had tried to stop them but to avail and allowed them to strip him of his titles, styles, rights, privileges, and his place in the line of succession. Rika had made sure that the Privy Council didn't make such a public example of her two older siblings the same way the Lyria Ministry did to her little brother Chris.

[Les Etats Connuriste]

As the servant was dismissed, it left just the two of them in the lounge, drinking together. There had been a time last year where Will's father and Rika's mother had been doing pretty much this exact same thing on a yacht in Connuriste, although that had been taking place for entirely different reasons than what today's event was about. Of course, William knew nothing of his father's meeting with Marie. His father had always had favourites, and whilst Will had always had a reasonably good relationship with his, he was not informed of certain things that his eldest sister was privy to, although that was because political developments were quite relevant to Emily, given that she was first in line to take their father's position. Of course, if Will ended up playing the role expected of him in this arrangement made between the Empress and his father, he wondered if he might be included in such discussions concerning leadership and how certain things could be handled politically. Will doubted that his father had simply wanted to join the two dynasties for the sake of it, and that in the bigger picture, it was also about guaranteeing that they were the most solid of Atmora's allies, making sure that they were not overly influenced by others. And should that be what he desired, William imagined that another discussion would be on the horizon. It made sense that ensuring the continuation of the special relationship between Atmora and Connuriste could be secured by the creation of a special relationship on a more individual level.

"I would be surprised if I sat down with someone and they asked me to marry one of their kids." conceded William, whose father had always said to him and the rest of his siblings that they were free to choose whoever they wanted. "At least amongst me and my brothers, you still had a bit of choice." he grinned, in the knowledge that he had hardly chosen the safest topic of conversation. It seemed his father had approached it from an angle of saying he would like something such as this to happen, rather than outright forcing it, kind of like what had happened with Emily and Rafie, who had been kind of set up and engineered for one another in a fashion that was more subtle than an outright obligation. He tested more of the champagne as he tried to gauge the reaction of his comment, before continuing, holding the glass in hand as he spoke so that he could return to drinking as soon as he finished. "I found the Polongains quite similar to your description, outwardly kind and friendly, but they make everything about religion, so much so that I'm always wondering if they're judging me. I did notice their love for the classics though, ball season in Vienna I've heard is quite special indeed."

He paused, shifting forward from his seated position so he wasn't leaning back in the chair anymore, momentarily breaking eye contact as he looked down and then back up, though not quite directly at Rika. There was something he wanted to say, but wasn't sure if he should, though Will quickly decided that he ought to be as honest as he could be with her, even if it wasn't a fun thing to talk about.

"I'm glad the music scene helped you out with processing everything and coming to terms with it. I'm... still trying to overcome a few things at the minute."

[Atmora]

Rika leaned back into the chair crossing legs glaring into the flames of the fireplace, taking a sip of her champagne reminiscing about her own mother Marie vaguely remembering how disheartened she was as a child always longing for her mother wishing for her to come home back to their home in Lieseltania, yet she never did. In the absence of Marie, Rika and her sister Juliet-Alexandra had replaced Marie with Auntie Katie and Grandma Lexi as their mother figures, she still remembered her sleepovers with Cousins Autumn, Victoria and Jacqueline a simpler time.

She spoke hushed tone but still audible staring into the dancing flames "You never really get over the loss of someone you truly care about, but I think over the years I have come to terms with the loss of my loved ones in Atmora.... after all, they say time heals all wounds" she paused taking a sip of drink turning her body towards Will looking into his eyes in a solemn voice she spoke "Yet, in your presence Will I feel more at ease than I have in years." Taken back at what she said she turned her hide to break eye contact with Will to look at the painting a beautiful oil painting over a sunrise peeking through the mountains.

Still looking at the painting she began to talk [i]"I understand the pain you are going through, to lose someone..." she turned herself back to Will looking into his eyes, with the flames reflecting into hers she spoke in a passionate tone "But do fret that pain is only temporary, it will one day subside when I do not know. However, the cloud that looms over you with pass, and the warm embrace of the sun will once again fill you with great joy." she gave a soft warm smile extending her glass to Will for a toast, with the subtle clank of glass could be heard she brought the glass back towards her taking a drink. Alternating her cross legs she leaned forward with a warm smile on her face "To the health of the ones that are still with us."

[Les Etats Connuriste]

Will nodded slowly as he listened carefully, a little surprised by what she had to say about feeling at ease with him. It was not exactly as if they knew each other very well, but he would hardly complain about such a pleasant little revelation. It seemed that she was a little surprised by what she had to say as well, noticing her eyes shift away from his to a painting on the wall, his own eyes taking the opportunity to look over the rest of the Empress whilst she wasn't as likely to notice, that window of time proving itself to be short as she turned back towards him, the fire dancing in her eyes capturing his attention. Will was distracted only by her movements, like the crossing of her legs and the extension of her glass towards him.

"To the health of the ones that are still with us." said Will in return, a broad smile adorning his face. "I'm not exactly at one hundred percent, and that's important for you to know." he clarified, relaxing in the chair again and having a drink. "I thought that I should be honest with you about that." added Will, more of a half smile now. It was a topic that he felt needed to be covered and addressed, but now he was searching for a way to switch it to something a little bit less serious.

"So, this manor, these paintings." he started, his body shifting as he looked more closely at his surroundings, still occasionally glancing at Rika in the corner of his eye. "Have they been in the family for long?"

[Atmora]

Rika turned her gaze back to the painting hung up on the wall of the scenic mountains looking at the picture called her she spoke in a quiet tone "The painting is one of the many reminders of home that I have left, a painting of the scenic Cascade mountains more specifically of Mount Alexandra the Guardian of the Alexandria or so they called it" she looked around in the room with a small smile on her face "The manor itself is almost as old as the colony, modelled after one of our many Athabascan estates deep in the Cascade Mountains. My father used to take my sister and I hunting in the forest of the Slivethrone Mountain." she chuckled to herself thinking of her sister and Rika had to humour their father due to their brother's not partaking in the hunting expeditions with their father.

Taking a sip of champagne before she began to speak "I have a feeling that many people have misconceptions about my father, while currently, he is a shell of his former self that I cannot lie... she paused for a second thinking of how her father is now a permanent resident at a physiatric institute in New Sierrapolis disheartened Rika attempted to continue where she left off trying to shake off the feeling of pain in her voice
"My father was a gallant and nobleman, he did everything in his power to ensure that my siblings had our needs met and encouraged us to be the best we could be" she chuckled to herself "Not to mention the time when during the Atmoran-Vrakyan War during the Battle of Kovao, UNICOM had ordered a general retreat of ground forces on the Planet. My father being the model of a Lieseltanian officer was the first to form the rearguard along with a few brave men to stand by him to provide cover as the rest of my father's unit retreated. Foolish when you think back on it now but my father always said he'd be the first on the battlefield and he'd be damned if he wasn't the last of the battlefield. Long story short my father and his men got overrun by the Vrakyans and my father was taken hostage, my auntie was so furious when she learned her brother was taken prisoner and ordered Cousin Jennifer and her 'Night Nine' to prepare for an immediate orbital drop to rescue my father and torch the Vrakyan base of operations in retaliation for touching a hand on the Blood of Alexandra."

She back in her chair fighting back a wave of emotions, thinking back on it now she was so nervous when she had learned the news of her father's capture by the Vrakyans for days she could hear her Auntie planning with her Generals and Admirals to ensure his safe return and punishment to given to the Vrakyans for attempting to use her own kin as a bargaining chip against her.

[Les Etats Connuriste]

When you really thought about it, what had happened to Atmora had been terribly sad. The own struggles of the House of Pearson were rather diminutive in comparison, they had lost individual members of the family but the Atmorans had lost the vast majority of theirs, that and many millions more of people and an entire homeland. Will was quite sure that even though these events had put Rika where she was now, that she would trade it all to have things back as they were. It put into perspective how strong her character was to be even able to deal with it and carry on functioning, that and the national spirit of the Atmorans who were left, a proud collection of peoples who were determined to persevere in the face of obstacles that no-one even really understood, to make new homes amongst the stars and carry on the history of all those homes that were no more.

He listened intently to her story about her father, which was all new information to William, Rika's father most famous in Connuriste for what had happened in the Netherlands with him and her mother. Rika's mother was much more famous for things that had happened after that, and the Connuriste perspective on her had radically changed in the last year or so, though few had really re-evaluated their opinions on Rika's father as her mother was best known for not being with him, but the several men since.

"I never knew that your father was a soldier." admitted William, enjoying her storytelling. It did not lack in the details one was interested in, yet did not go on continuously like it was a lecture. Not that he'd have minded the Atmoran Empress lecturing him on any topic, as long as she talked about it with the same passion. Will imagined that there might be a lot of lessons he would learn about this country, this planet and the history of them, and that might mean a lot of bottles of champagne. Especially when it comes to discussing things about Connuriste - even covering the topic of just his siblings would take quite some time. "There isn't really a history of military service in my family, my younger sister Charlotte is the first to be honest. That never really surprised me to be fair, my father took a few of us shooting every now and then, but Charlotte was always very much into it. She was in New Sierrapolis last year actually to meet Lady Ravenswood, though I'm not sure you'll have seen her except for Emily's wedding."

He had a drink as he plotted his next move in this game, his father too was a man quite different to how he used to be, a man often misconceived, but he didn't want it to make it seem like it was a competition. That, and his limited knowledge about Rika's father could mean he was crossing a line into dangerous territory. There was just something slightly off that he couldn't pinpoint, the way she had said that her father was a gallant and noble man, but to William's knowledge he had not passed. As for what that meant - or whether he was reading too much in between the lines - he could not be sure.

"You know, my mother actually left me an estate." Will remembered, kind of weird that such a thing could be forgotten about and just sitting in the back of one's mind. "I've not been to see it yet and I probably should, but it is millions of miles away from here."

[Atmora]

When she thought about it, with all that her people went through in a single second in June 2082 the lives of the Atmorans were forever changed as the almost one billion Atmorans disappeared without a trace leaving the remnants in a state of limbo of not knowing what to do. But in spite of that happened their spirit was never destroyed, the proud and hardy Atmoran spirit remained they held steadfast in the face of insurmountable odds and begun to build a better future. And in 2088 when the Ravenswood Regency discovered that Rika was alive and well, her mere existence rejuvenated an entire nation within the following months she breathed new life into the Atmoran Empire sparking the embers of the proud Lieseltanian warrior spirit to reunite their realm reawakening a slumbering giant to her cause. If that told her anything, it reinforced her idea that no matter what happens no matter who the Atmorans have to face in battle they will never back down they will never surrender, and that filled her with a sense of pride.

Leaning back into her chair, taking another sip of the drink she could feel a slight buzz "Ah, yes my Great Grandfather High King William once told me the reason why so many of the Wolf dynasty was commissioned into the military was a way for the monarchy to win the hearts of the military, so they knew that the state was there with them in the battlefields, so they knew that the Wolf dynasty was not a bunch of cowards cowering behind their palace walls but instead were on the battlefield at the front leading the troops to war." as her thought process was still on the topic of the Atmoran-Vrakyan War she thought of her predecessor her auntie Katherine II whom with no prior military service didn't listen to her minister's pleas to remain at the home front in safety and choose to go to the front lines to boost morale.

She tried to think of how should respond to Will's disclosure of the estate that his mother had left in her will for him, after remaining silent for longer than she had wished she said the first thing that came to her mind "It is a wonderful thing that your mother had left something in her will for you, what do you know about?"

[Les Etats Connuriste]

"I literally know the name of the property and that's about it." laughed William, unsure as to why he had even brought it up in the first place. Looking at this place that Rika could call her own, he had grown a little curious to find out what the place he could call his own was like. In the back of his mind, he knew he was worried that the place would be a sad one for him given the circumstances of his inheritance of it, and even if he didn't have concern about that, he knew there was a chance that the place could be seized to pay off his mother's embezzlement of Geneva's tax funds, so why risk getting too attached to the property? Such thoughts called for a bit more than just a little sip.

He understood what she meant about the monarchies relationship with the military, and he agreed that it was a useful and powerful symbol. In the history of other nations, there were several cases of discontent about the ruling classes sending the rest of their countrymen to die whilst they sat back at home in comfort away from the suffering. So, for the royal family to include themselves in such a process, it did show their solidarity with their subjects, although William personally felt it best that such conflicts were avoided, better to spill no blood than spill a bit of everyone's. Of course, he knew that was an oversimplification, and though he had pacifistic sympathies, he was no pacifist or idealist. He understood very well that there were times when fighting was absolutely necessary. He also understood that another part of involving the royal family in the military was about understanding the very thing that they were expected to command, and that it was wise to make sure you kept the respect of your military forces, align yourselves with them. And with that in mind, it became obvious that royalty and the military should ultimately be aligned to begin with given that they ought to share a sense of duty to one's own country. At least, he knew that was what motivated his sister Charlotte, that and the opportunities that they offered for self improvement with all the skills one could learn. William also knew that Emily had considered a similar career, especially after her near death experience. She had been torn between what she thought would have been more useful to her or what she was really passionate about, and she had ended up choosing the latter, at the encouragement of her now husband. Will supposed that at some point she would spend the rest of her life bound to duty and could respect her decision to pursue music whilst she was still relatively free to do so, and considering that, he doubted that Rika would have the time to pursue many of her own musical pursuits anymore. The choice that Emily had made seemed relatively risk-free given that she could even get Charlotte to do all the military command for her. Charlotte was indeed closer to her oldest sister than any of her other brothers or sisters, and was better suited to that sort of thing regardless, much more passionate about it.

"Very few of my predecessors would have even had the opportunity to be on a battlefield, even if they were all enlisted at the time." explained William. "Only my father could have served in the Spanish-Dutch War, and before that there's only two civil conflicts in the history of my house. My grandmother Alice got fairly involved with the one in the 2040s, and then in the earlier war of 2022 and 2023, my grandfather wasn't a military man but he did score the first few kills of the conflict for our side." He realised that maybe there was more family history in this regard than he'd previously thought there was, though technically neither his grandmother or grandfather were commissioned into the military, only officially serving at the head of them. He looked across at Rika, who seemed curious for him to paint a more detailed picture of what he'd just referred to. She had told a tale about her father and this was kind of his opportunity to elaborate and talk about the very few instances of his families personal experiences of warfare. Traditionally, Connuriste had mostly been an isolated and self-sufficient nation, the marriage of William's parents having been what had put them on the map as far as many other countries throughout the world were concerned, so there was a lot of history that many outsiders weren't familiar with.

"Our first civil conflict of the century started with a direct attack on the Imperial Palace, they tried to cut the head off the snake right at the start, so to speak. They were half-successful in that, they killed my grandfather's first wife. My sister Emily is named in honour of her. My grandfather always carried a firearm on him, and he used it to good effect on a couple of the men who were sent to kill him." William decided that he could get further inebriated, he was after all no stranger to alcohol, though this particular concoction was still an unknown quantity in how drunk it might make him. He wondered if his father would ever remarry as his grandfather had done. "Our second civil conflict began with the murder of my grandfather. My grandmother assumed his office, and completely disbanded the Imperial Guards, because she had seen them fail to protect both him and Empress Emily with her own eyes. She created a new unit by the name of the Imperial Knights, with herself at the direct head of it. It became more of a personal army than just a personal security force, and when the time came to be striking back at the ringleaders responsible, she wanted to be there herself. Perhaps that might have been the Atmoran blood in her." he joked. "Obviously she was no soldier, let alone a special operative, but she knew at least how to shoot straight. There was this point during the raid where an injured man was doing his best to get out of there, and she kicked him with such force in the right place that she literally broke his leg, which was allegedly a source of great satisfaction for her."

[Atmora]

Rika sat and listened to the family stories of William, the tales of his grandmother Empress Alice and Emperor Connor I, during their civil conflict, intrigued to learn more about Connuriste history and Will's family history. For everything that he was telling her was new to her, it seems that the Director Mussemberg's unwarranted report on Prince William had left a key detail that his grandmother was Atmoran, the story of how Empress Alice was not contempt with sitting idly by as her men fought and died for her and decided to lead the troops herself made an impression on Rika.

Upon hearing of the tale of how William's grandmother led her Imperial Knight's into battle, almost like a fable from the fantasy stories she used to read as a kid, but that left her to wonder to herself would see if the interregnum had continued would she personally lead her fleets into battle, would she like her ancestors had done before don battle armour and go headfirst into battle, she was glad she didn't have to answer that question moreover glad she didn't have to face Grand Admiral Praas the Demon of Eirene. However, she was more interested in the fact that Will mentioned that Alice was of Atmoran blood. She decided to do quick research into Empress Alice to try and find her in the Imperial archives as begun to link directly into the archives her eyes gave off a slight blue glow as she had instructed her AI Inari to search for information for her, as the search was completed her eyes glow faded only to be replaced by the fire to the left of her.

She looked back at William "Interesting, your grandmother Empress Alice, daughter of a minor Gallian nobleman, surprising I must say to learn that your grandmother was a Gallian Jonkvrouwe, an Atmoran." still thinking of how she wasn't aware that the Connuriste Imperial family had Atmoran blood, she has forgotten she had just used her neural implant to retrieve information from her AI Inari.

[Les Etats Connuriste]

William had noticed the earlier cybernetic glow of Rika's eyes which served only to make them that much more entrancing, he had assumed to look up his grandmother as he had not told her precisely of her descent and she spoke of it as if it were new information, and though he was confident that the information he was about to pass on to her just now wouldn't be readily available in whatever she had access to in there, he also wondered what information she would have on him. Perhaps that would be his next topic of discussion, but first he had something else in mind.

"There's a lot you wouldn't know about my grandmother." said William slyly, grinning as he considered sharing some intimate knowledge with Rika, especially because it was kind of questionable as to whether he really should or not. Maybe they was something different about this Procyon champagne, or maybe it was the gassy nature of it that made one intoxicated so quickly, but the one thing Will loved more than anything about slight drunkenness was how much it encouraged you to just speak your mind passionately, which was exactly what he was about to do.

"Not to spill state secrets or anything, but illegitimate daughter of a Gallian nobleman... academic genius and deeply emotionally troubled, socially unconventional... spoke seven languages, understood politics better than my grandfather, insatiable nymphomaniac..." said William, rattling off these revelations at pace. "My grandfather was very clever as well, but he looked like an idiot next to her, she probably did more work than him and he did more work than my own father. They achieved great things together, but they would also spend six months of the year on holiday doing absolutely nothing. The press called her the Imperial Whore for years because a member of the Imperial Guard filmed them with one another from within the palace grounds. My grandfather was obsessed with her, and he'd very much became a pacifist so he never risked losing her like he did Emily, caught up in his worries more than anything. He always wore two wedding rings, one for Emily and one for Alice - traditionally in Connuriste if you were widowed and remarried you were legally married to two people - he spent years trying to be at peace with being madly in love with two completely different people, and Alice spent years worrying that she was only ever a replacement, but together in time growing closer than they already were and ending up prioritising each other at the expense of the country. they were both broken people, misfits, who fixed each other... the way they both wrote about one another in their journals is so intense, that if it had been fiction it would have sold billions of copies, of that I'm quite sure." He laughed nervously, quite aware of how he'd gotten a little carried away, but this was not exactly the stuff that made into the history books children read in school, the scale of their eccentricity barely known even if it had been their true natures that had made each of them as special as they were. There was so much more he hadn't even mentioned, such as the fact that Alice couldn't have kids and they considered continuing the line by having the Emperor have a kid with the Baroness of Castaris (who was their best friend), but they both felt like it needed to be truly theirs, with Connor I spending millions and millions over 15 years trying to find a solution, which they eventually did of course. He hadn't mentioned the fact that they had once successfully faked their own deaths to avoid a civil conflict, letting the people who had plotted against them believe that they'd won for a couple of days, and having a handful of secret service members arrest or murder all the conspirators. He hadn't mentioned the casual drug use that was typical of many of their vacations. At heart, the fondness he felt for the historical pair had to do with the unlikeliness of their successes, all the obstacles they had overcame to find it, the dysfunctions they could patch over just enough to make everything work well. It was like they were an example for their descendants that the House of Pearson could always triumph over adversity if they stuck together, and that was a message that he felt was worth paying attention to - especially now.

[Atmora]

Rika listened quitely to Will as he further talked about the expolits of his grandfather and grandmother. Her thoughts wondered back to the information that Inari had dug up for Rika, Alice van Kleine's life in the Atmoran state of Gallia, it appears according to records that she could find that Alice was neglected by her father and family, shunned Rika had to verify the intergity of the files unsure how to word the question she was about to ask she decided she would make her comment after Will had finished speaking

"So... there is something I must ask if I am correct, it appears that your grandmother was shunned and negelected by the Kleine family, driving her to start a new life in Connuriste?" Rika wasn't sure how she feel about the revelation that cause of Alice's birth as an illegimate daughter in the Kingdom of Gallia, an Atmorans state drove her away from her home, neither was she quite sure what she could do about that revelation but to listen to Will's story "I must say, the more I learn about the Pearson dynasty the more I am fascinated about your family's tenacity and it's resourcefulness."

As she took another sip of her champagne feeling the affects of the alcohol begin to take hold of her, she felt dumbfounded as she realised she had just revealed to Will her cybernetics with that little stunt of hers, she had gotten a little rosey from embarassment of that fact not knowing how he will react or say.

[Les Etats Connuriste]

William worried not that he might have said too much as he was more than contented by Rika's further curiosity on the matter, making a mental note to clarify later that though illegitimate, his grandmother was still the daughter of two nobles, which counted a little bit extra in her favour from most perspectives. If you were going to be a bastard, you might as well be the one of two aristocrats, rather than just one or none at all. Such a fate had worked out well for his half-brother Nukai, after all. His eyes, fully focused on the Empress of the Atmorans, brightened as he thought about showing her exactly how 'resourceful' he could be at some further point in their relationship, the thought being as inappropriate as it was and the act of trying not to react to it one of those things that were funny in one's own head.

"My grandmother felt like she was the outcast of the family from quite a young age, and went to great lengths to try and earn her proper place in it, if that makes sense." summarised Will. "When she got to a certain age and found out precisely why she'd been ostracised... that was when she quite openly turned her back on them. I mean, it's not like it was her fault, anything she could control. She wasn't old enough to go anywhere else at the time, but she could at least make it clear that the disdain now firmly went both ways between them. I can't recall the specific circumstances behind it, but there was a time very early on in my grandfather's reign where he crossed paths with her parents at an event. Empress Emily mentioned her total lack of court ladies, they saw an opportunity to get rid of their daughter but in a socially acceptable way, and of course Alice wasn't worried about leaving them behind. She would have only just been sixteen at the time."

There was a little laugh as he reached for his drink, at the near-absurdity of the circumstances of how it was perfectly socially acceptable to send a sixteen year old girl to live in a foreign country like that, wondering if that was something that could ever happen outside of the weird circle of aristocratic affairs.

"In fact, that would have been the only time that my grandfather would have met any of her family." he said pensively. "Her parents tried to reconnect a few years later when they saw how well she was doing for herself, engaged to an Emperor and all that. Of course, she told them to go to hell, to put it politely. And the rest, as they say, is history."

[Atmora]

Rika nodded along quietly taking mental notes to herself as she learned about new qubits of information about the Pearson dynasty she was learning about, as she was listening along to Will further talk about his grandmother. She couldn't help but think of any instances she knew were the families in the Imperial circle were known to ostracise a member of their family while couldn't of any examples in her life with people in her auntie's circle she couldn't but help think perhaps the close friends around her auntie Kat hid it better than the Van Kleine discretely sweeping it under the rug away from private eyes.

"It is terrible that one would do that to their flesh and blood, how uncharacteristic of a man of such stature." she thought more about the events that were taking place in Connuriste and tried to connect dots between Alice's life in the ACS and in the Kingdom of Gallia when connected the two years of Alice's departure coincided with the start of the Cold War between the CDV and the FDC along with FDC's war against organised crime.

"During the departure of your grandmother to be with your grandfather if my memory serves me correctly also coincides with the formation of the FDC along with Atmora's war on organised crime within its borders under the Calder government the Marechaussee and the Department of Public Safety grew immensely to crack down on crime and espionage that they began to develop artificial intelligence to rout out spies and criminals from their dens."