Sovereign

"The Mandate of Nations has once again shown us how women do not care! Our fellow brothers, poor civilians in Ginzhu, were left for dead by the Mandate of Nations - merely for the crime of being men! And now, once more, in Asturia, where righteous revolutionaries of the men's cause booted the corrupt regents of the Kingdom, the boorish matriarch up north - Queen Alois of Gaul, used our fellow brothers again to kill our fellow brothers! Are we going to stay as mere attack dogs or disposable rats of our matriarchs?"

- The Front Newspaper

"Today, it is of grim news to all women of the world as the news of the aptly named "Loviedo Massacre" perpetrated by Asturian Revolutionaries reached our airwaves. We will never forget the 600 martyrs of the Asturian nobility. Half of them were mere young girls below the age of 12, who were lined up in the walls of the Loviedo Palace and shot by these vile men before being burned with gasoline. Indeed, Her Majesty has been proven correct that these vile extremists must be stomped for the continued security of our world."

- Le féminine News, Kingdom of Gaul

---

Halia, Kingdom of Orland

Ivory Palace

May 28, 2024

Now, Alfonso Bluch was a bit of a sneaky little rat. Indeed, he loved being a sneaky little bastard. That was his job description, after all, to sneak around and find other people's secrets and stuff.

But not just that, the OIA operated under the dark. Under the cover of darkness, they would do all kinds of nasty things. Like a little assassination here, or some bribery here and there, or a little bit of a false flag operation somewhere, or practically anything that one would expect from a bunch of spooks.

But unfortunately, this cheeky fellow, as Amelie quite extensively suspected, was a traitor scum. She just couldn't do anything to him yet, as Heindhöff had his back. But, she really wanted to meet the rapscallion, so she rang him to report to her office.

He really did look like the public enemy no.1 of women. Oh, she already wanted to give him the water vortex treatment.

"Your Majesty, what do you desire from me?"

Oh, a respectful bow eh? And here, Amelie thought he would immediately lash at her. Unfortunately, his polite attitude was obviously sarcasm, and it worked wonders. Amelie, now quite in her triggered phase, had her eyes twitch involuntarily.

"I need a report from the OIA."

"A report?"

"Indeed, I need a report regarding foreign elements aiding extremism in the Kingdom." She glared at him as she tested her. "And I want a written report of the OIA's activities."

"Well, as of now, Your Majesty, the OIA ensures you that foreign elements are being tackled with."

"How can you say that?"

He promptly tossed a folder at Amelie's desk as if he were above a Queen. Oh, the rapscallion was even prepared for this occasion.

"The OIA has successfully detained, arrested, and eliminated 78 high-profile foreign agents, spies, and saboteurs from the Empire of Larissa. Alongside that, we have stopped 12 plots by the said Empress, which even included a plot to bomb one of our offshore oil rigs-"

"Wait, she tried that?"

"With deniable assets, of course, which means we cannot pin the blame on her. Plus, the said plot was stopped, which means, blame her for what?"

"Then why didn't you tell me? I am your Queen, and I know that you know that."

With an irritating smile that bordered insolence, the lanky jackass replied.

"Your Majesty, you are unfortunately sorely misinformed. The OIA only reports to the Ministry of Defense, and occasionally the Prime Minister and the Cabinet."

Amelie crossed her arms as she continued to glare at him, unamused. This Director was her enemy, through and through. She had already planned for his immediate removal should the opportunity present itself, but for now, with the specter of Heindhöff and a possible Civil War, her hands were once again tied.

Oh, she could of course order Marie to remove Heindhöff and Alfonso from their life subscription, but, as her brother wisely said, these two men were the mere faces of a movement in the shadows. Cut them, and the men under them would only find a new leader.

In fact, Marie had warned her about the possibility that the two were not actually even the leader. Even perhaps Sullivan Rimpler - the enigmatic leader of the NRF.

Marie believed that the sheer global organization of the extreme men's rights movement was too unprecedented, as it could not be a mere coincidence that most Kingdoms and Empires of Pollos were facing threats to their rule.

As if someone, or many people (Albert suggested that it could be decentralized) had planned for it.

Naturally, it sent much chill to Amelie's heart. Dreadful, that was how she felt about it. It almost sounded much like some twisted world-ending plot. Something out of horror movies. How could men even organize that way?

But it made enough sense for her. Of course…that was how men would fight the order that strangled them. For centuries, men could never even face magic - yet men somehow resisted a complete takeover of women for 3 centuries.

It was thus clear.

They schemed and acted under the cover of the shadows. Under the noses of the arrogant aristocratic women that ruled the world. Slowly manipulating the system as they sowed chaos, and decay, and then, once the foundations had collapsed - they would strike with sheer violence and surprise.

How absolutely devilish. Amelie detested such dirty tactics. Indeed, it was borderline - nay, it was terrorism. Plain and simple.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The OIA serves Orland as an independent agency under the MoD. And it will continue to do so."

With a look of utter, and scathing distrust, she terminated the appointment and sent him packing. Truthfully, she gained nothing from him. But she wanted to at least confirm. To see if there was anything amiss. Dreadfully, he was both direct and enigmatic.

But his words echoed in her mind. It lived upon it completely rent-free, and it unnerved her.

And it will continue to do so.

Almost as if he warned her, that no matter what she did, the agency was independent. That the agency would operate for one sole purpose that she had definitely never ordered.

Plain and simple, the OIA was not under her control. It would never be under her control. And she would never be able to wrestle support and even split it in half much like in the military.

No, the agency was rogue, completely. And how far its shadowy tentacles extended, sent chills in her spine.

For all she knew…she was being watched - by her own watchmen.

…

It was too sudden for her. Awoken in the middle of the night, she found herself being escorted by the Royal Guard Knights of the Palace Security detail and William's men.

"What in the heavens is happening."

"Your Majesty, please stay here." A young Royal Guard Knight requested as they sent her to a secluded room on the 2nd floor of the Palace. Inside it was Lady Lubaine, the Captain of her Security Detail, and Major William, discussing something.

I just wanted to sleep, dammit.

"Amelie, get in, quick. Men, close the doors!"

Immediately, the doors were closed, and two of William's men stood guard at both sides. They were in full tactical gear, their new dark BDUs and fully covered faces unnerving Amelie.

Especially since one of them dared to wear a skull mask. Did they not consider the poor feelings of Her Majesty?

Immediately, William laid down the situation for her.

"Someone poisoned your friends."

"What?!"

"Viscountess Rachael and Marquise Sarah, specifically."

Well, friends would be quite a stretch. More of a University acquaintance would be accurate. They were her few "friends" in the nobility. Which meant not really. More like a bunch of parasites, or greedy social climbers, whichever Amelie found as an apt description.

But still…

She was already horrified. It was still in the Palace! Her own fortress against the nasty and vile elements that sought to detach her beloved head from her body.

"They used nerve agents, sprayed it at them as they slept. We also found this message. Don't worry, we checked, it's not contaminated."

He presented a piece of bloodied paper. It was a simple letter written with bold, red ink.

To the highest matriarch of Orland - we are watching.

Her voice quivered. This felt somehow worse than the day that her mother was peppered by lead. She felt as if her soul crumpled in her stomach as it violently turned around.

"Are they trying to scare me?"

"Most likely, yes."

"I'm quite scared, actually."

"Yeah, I can see that."

How could they do this? Rachael and Sarah were merely visiting her. They had quite the "decent" conversation with tea just 4 hours ago, where they gossiped about their lives (which Amelie didn't enjoy).

Of course, the two, who had much fun, decided to take the lavish guest rooms of the Palace for the night. Now they would be sleeping eternally. Truthfully, Amelie felt bad for them.

They had their whole lives ahead of them!

She could not believe it.

The soft, reassuring voice came from Lady Lubaine. She was already in her 40s, but as a veteran Royal Guard Knight, her competence knew no bounds.

"We have it under control though. Worry not, Your Majesty, the Palace is secure."

She was definitely not reassured.

"Did you catch them?"

"No, we didn't. They are dead."

"What?"

William cracked an embarrassed smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"Unfortunately, Corporal Reginald and Private Aaron found the two masked men red-handed in their patrol. A brief firefight ensued, and they dispatched the perpetrators in panic."

She looked at the side of the room, and there, Reginald and another soldier were standing, both with apologetic expressions.

Reginald especially.

"You both didn't try to capture them?"

"We were searching for the bathroom, Your Majesty. Big Palace and all. Suddenly, we met in the darkness, things happened, and then they died."

And indeed, that was how it happened. The two really needed to pee. If you were trying to desperately pee at a massive Palace (and were lost at finding the damned comfort room) and found two ruffians that tried to shoot at you - you would shoot to kill too.

It was why no one could really blame the two.

Still, Lady Lubaine sighed, and it was clear that her thick dissatisfaction was apparent. The Lady almost seemed to look down at William and his two men. The Royal Guard would have successfully caught them with magic if it was them.

"Unfortunately, what happened already happened. Still, it would be imperative to tighten security once more. Your Majesty, I request another round of comprehensive screening of Palace staff."

"Please do." Anything! Anything that would extend her precious life expectancy! "And William, thanks to you and your men...uh...Lady Lubaine, how fast did they respond?"

She almost hesitated due to their screwup.

Indeed, they did screw up at catching the enemy part, but still, they eliminated the plotters. And, as William mentioned, it was a chemical attack - and the 16th had CBRN expertise. It seemed that they had handled the attack rather well.

So much so, that even the proud Lady Lubaine gave a salty praise to them.

"While they utterly failed at catching them…I am impressed. Your Majesty, in the first minute of the event, the 16th had mobilized in mechanical haste to check each room of the Palace for contamination…"

Oh, so that's why many of them were wearing gas masks…

"And more importantly, they turned the Palace into a fortress quite effectively in a mere five minutes. As we speak, William's battalion is currently fortifying and locking down the Palace and the roads leading here. I doubt that my Knights could do that."

What?

She turned to William, who seemed slightly proud of himself and his men (even with their recent screw-up).

"You did hire us to stop any coup attempt. Rest assured, even if they storm us with tanks, they would be met by our heavy firepower."

Her heart was still having palpitations, but that reassured her a little.

Still…I'm in danger…goddess…I'm in danger…