When Lyra emerged into the Royal Dining Hall, there was only the Emperor and Empress still present by the table, chatting idly, having tea and holding hands. There were of course plenty of servants stood along edges of the room, silent and unmoving, but they were for all intents and purposes only meant to exist when something was needed of them. Silent unless spoken to, eyes cast down, ready to step in to assist with anything at a moments notice. Coming from a more modern Earth, this did make Lyra somewhat uncomfortable, but then again if what she had learned from Sofie was true, and she had no reason to suspect it wasn't, then working at the Royal Palace was actually quite nice. You get to live in the palace, free food, and a very generous salary. Sure, there is a lot of pressure on you and rules to learn and follow, but that was nothing compared to the benefits. According to Sofie, everyone wanted to work in the palace. So it couldn't be a bad place.
As soon as the Emperor and Empress spotted her, they lightened up and sent her a smile. Yes, even the Empress, which caught Lyra somewhat off-guard. As Lyra approached the end of the table where they were sat, she realized the Empress looked younger, actually. It was like an impossible pressure which had previously weighed down on her was now gone entirely, or at the very least lessened significantly. All that stress, anxiety and worry seemed to be gone, and while Lyra and the Empress weren't exactly friends, she was still happy for her.
"Good day, Lyra. Or should I say good morning?" The Emperor said, tongue in cheek, smirking as Lyra sat down to the right of the Emperor. As per usual, the Emperor held the single seat at the end of the table. Then on the left long-side sat the Empress, and the right long-side seat meant for the guests of honor was Lyra's.
-"Good morning seems accurate. I have not slept like this in many years, and morning bath was absolutely divine." Lyra responded, as she settled properly into the chair. She eyed the table, which still held plenty of foods. Bread, butter, cheese, many kinds of ham, but also bacon, fried and scrambled eggs, sausages of different kinds, blood-pudding, potato hash-browns, pancakes, anything you might need for a healthy brunch really. To drink were milk, tea, and three different kinds of fruit-juice.
"Good morning, Lyra." the Empress then said, seemingly quite a bit friendlier than Lyra was used to. But she was not opposed to this change, so Lyra offered a bright smile in return, as she began putting scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and a pancake on her plate.
-"Good morning, Empress. You look... different, in a good way." Lyra remarked, as she poured a glass of milk for herself. She had not drank milk in this world yet, so she was curious if it tasted any different. Come to think it... there were minotaurs, right? And maybe beast folk similar to cows? Could she even be certain this milk actually came from cows? Then again, did it matter? Her attention was shifted away from the milk however, when the Empress responded:
"Oh, thank you, Lyra. Frankly, now that my husband is back in action, all my worries seem to have just faded away. And I have you to thank for all of that, Lyra. I realize I wasn't exactly kind to you, during our first few meetings, for which I wish to apologize."
Lyra shrugged her shoulder somewhat, as she tried to sip from the milk. Yep, the milk was milk. Didn't taste any different from the one back on Earth, except it was perhaps a bit more fatty. Then Lyra said:
-"It is water under the bridge. I realize now what immense pressure you must have been under, so your reaction at the time was far from unreasonable."
"I thank you for your understanding and forgiveness." The Empress said, taking a sip of tea with her left hand, as her right hand remained held by the Emperor.
-"No Princes or Princess today?" Lyra then remarked, as she put the glass of milk down. The pair of royalty shook their heads, and this time it was the Emperor who answered:
"No. Especially the two Princes realized they had a lot to catch up on, and a relationship to mend. They had a shared statecraft lesson this morning, and then went on to spar and train with swords together, under supervision of the Knight-Captain, and the Princess." he said.
-"Oh, that's good. Would be great if they can be friends and assets to each other, no matter who ends up on the throne in the end." Lyra said, as she scooped up a bit of scrambled eggs and bacon on her fork and brought it to her mouth, chewing happily.
"That would indeed be ideal. It seems the Royal Advisor had told them both, in private, that the other was selfish and cruel and unfit to rule, for years. And with the relation being frosty as it was, there was never any chance to disprove these rumors since they barely ever met, and when they did, they were constantly on guard against one another." The Emperor responded, giving the Empress's hand a squeeze.
"I think they both have regrets. As do I." The Empress said quietly, squeezing the Emperor's hand back tightly. Lyra in turn only nodded, before she tried the pancake, pouring a bit of syrup from a jar over it. It tasted much like your regular American style pancake you could get in cafes back on Earth.
"On that note, Lyra, my family owes you a great debt, and we'd wish to repay you somehow, anyhow." The Emperor continued, his gaze now shifting to settle fully on Lyra. Lyra met his gaze, unflinching. The Emperor did not wait for a response, but continued: "The offer of marriage still remains, naturally. Both the Empress and I would love to have you as our daughter-in-law. However, in the meantime as you consider and digest this matter, another reward would be suitable."
Lyra raised an eyebrow, before she sliced a piece of sausage and brought it to her mouth. She chewed, then spoke after having swallowed:
-"Oh? That is very generous of you." she said simply. The Emperor smiled and shook his head. He responded:
"You have not even heard what the reward is yet." he said with a chuckle. Then he got more serious again, and continued: "Recently, the mansion of a certain duke has been left ownerless. It is large, in the best part of town, and equipped with all of the most modern amenities. We'd like to gift it to you."
Lyra considered this for a moment. So the Royal Advisor had had all his wealth stripped from him? Makes sense. And they wanted to give her his house? Most kind of them.
-"Does it come with a hot-water bath?" Lyra asked, curiously. She could make do without a lot of things, but now that she had finally had hot water bath, she did not want to be without it in any residence of hers.
"It does, indeed. And you do not have to worry about managing the place. I will personally arrange for trustworthy staff to be sent over from the Royal Palace, to staff your new mansion. They will handle everything, from cleaning to cooking to looking after the gardens." The Empress responded, looking rather pleased she had a moment to shine as well.
-"Oh, that is extremely convenient. May I have Sofie, as well?" Lyra said, knowing she may be pushing her luck.
"I'll make it so." The Empress said, nodding before taking a sip of tea.
-"Thank you, truly." Lyra said, having another bit of egg and bacon. Then the Emperor leaned forward, lowering his voice ever so slightly.
"On the topic of the Royal Advisor, or I should say former... he shared some concerning information late last night. To think all the interrogator had to do was pull out a few teeth and rip a few nails from his fin-" the Emperor was interrupted, as Lyra put down her knife and fork rather hard against the porcelain plate, causing a loud "Clank". She shot the Emperor a long look, and it was the Empress who came to his rescue, as she said: "Darling, she is eating... you'll ruin her appetite with such details..."
"Oh right, forgive me, it seems I overshared on matters I ought to have left unsaid." The Emperor said, clearing his throat awkwardly, tugging at his collar with two fingers. When Lyra finally resumed eating, he began again, choosing to forgo the topic of the torture altogether.
"In essence, he was working under orders from the Kingdom Alliance, as one might have suspect already. Which means, they are making moves, and may try something soon. If I may be frank, The Revean Empire is not keen to resume warring, Lyra. We've never had any intentions to expand East, and currently the situation in the Empire is a bit unstable due to me having essentially been gone from the throne the last few years." he said. The Empress then jumped in:
"The Kingdom Alliance, on the other hand, have only water behind them. To increase their lands, they are forced to push West, into our lands. They fear we will expand further east, grow even more powerful, and eventually absorb even them into the Empire. Thus, if they want to avoid this perceived threat, they must act now, before it is too late." she said. Lyra sat in silence for a moment, considering the implications. Then, she offered her response:
-"Their worries are not entirely without merit." she said gently.
"But we have told them, and promised, that we have no plan or reason to expand East." The Empress answered. Lyra however was quick to retort:
-"But that is right now. The stance of the Empire could change. Maybe not when Thomas or Henry sits on the throne, but perhaps their children will. And by then, if the Empire changes it mind, the Kingdom Alliance would be far weaker than the Empire, and unable to resist. We must think long term, isn't that right, Emperor?"
"You are right. Our promise now, may not be valid in fifty years, or a hundred. And right now, they have an opportune chance to strike. We are weakened and still disorganized, and they have the summoned heroes on their side. Have you heard of the heroes, Lyra?" The Emperor responded. Lyra could not help but chuckle as she said:
-"I have heard of them, yes."
"Good, saves me a lot of explaining. One summoned hero is easily worth at least 10 of my best and most well-trained knights. However, the Hero summoning can only be done once every 100 years, and they will age just like any mortal man. So while they still have young and healthy heroes, they will want to act, and be bold." The Emperor said.
-"I understand the implication, but how does this relate to me?" Lyra asked, taking another bit of pancake and sausage into her mouth, chewing.
"Essentially, Lyra, I would like to hire you to go to the Kingdom Alliance, and if not outright stop them from declaring war, at least delay them." The Emperor said, and Lyra nearly choked on her sausage, which all things considered would probably be one of the worst ways to go. Thankfully, she managed to get it down by striking her chest with her first a few times. Teary-eyed, she looked at the Emperor, and wheezed out: "What?"
"I understand you reaction, even if a bit overly dramatic... but I digress. You are ideal for this, Lyra, because you very obviously do not belong to the Revean Empire. You are an elf. Any human diplomat I could possibly send, could always be accused of, justly so, acting in our best interests. You however would be a neutral force, and thus more trustworthy." The Emperor said, and his logic seemed sound. However, there was an elephant in the room, which Lyra had to point out.
-"I understand your reasoning, but fact remains I would still be acting in your best interest. Your Empire does not want war now, but the Kingdom Alliance's only hope to not potentially fall under the heels of the Empire lie in striking now." Lyra said. The Empress nodded, and spoke up:
"That is right, but a war would mean the deaths of thousands, if not tens of thousands. And many more would be affected negatively, their quality of life going down. Surely avoiding and delaying that is a good thing." she said, and the Emperor then jumped in.
"We are even prepared to let our dear First Princess marry the Prince of Ytrand. That ought to serve as guarantee that we would not then expand East in the future, since we'd have family ties with the Kingdom directly to our east." he said. Lyra raised an eyebrow here, and interjected.
-"And Princess Amanda has agreed to this?" Lyra asked.
"She has." The Empress said. The Emperor then continued: "She is a filial child, Amanda. If her marriage can help avoid a war, that means her brothers won't have to be sent to war, and the suffering of her people can be avoided."
Lyra finished her breakfast, and downed the last of the milk. Using a napkin, she wiped her mouth.
-"Very well, I understand. I'll help." Lyra then said simply.
"Oh, that's marvelous. You'll be handsomely rewarded for this as well. Ten large gold coins, for accepting the mission. And another twenty, if you succeed." The Emperor said. Now Lyra wasn't all that interested in money currently, but having some funds for herself was not that bad of an idea, especially not when she'd now have her own mansion. Naturally she had played with the idea of using her unique skill to just "Create: Gold" and thus have unlimited funds, but realized that that would just crash the economy entirely. Just like back on Earth, printing more money would actually not add any real value, but rather just make all existing money less valuable and increase inflation. So if she could earn a bit of money herself, that would be good. And ten large gold coins, that was 100 gold. You could buy ten small apartments in the capital with that. Or maybe 2-3 villas.
"Now then, only thing left to do, is have you register as an adventurer!" The Emperor said. Lyra had no idea how one related to the other, so the only thing she could respond with was simply:
-"Come again?"