Meanwhile, at the Nirewin City, which is the capital city of Kingdom of Nirewin, today was a great day for the City of the Half-Elves, not only the forest were calm and tranquil, Today is also the day, when Aeternum large convoy were also scheduled to arrived. Right after the International Alliance Conference ended, on that day, the Aeternum Airship comes to their city, which shocked everyone because here in the Nirewin City or even the entire of the Kingdom of Nirewin, they have never saw an Airship before they might heard about it, but never witnessed it before. The People of Nirewin were now in their better days after their Royals decided to be allied with Aeternum a year ago.Since then, their Entire Kingdom has stopped getting harassed by the Alemia Nation forces. They also saw a significant reduced of slave hunters in their territory, being a Kingdom filled with Half-Elves and Wood Elves, they are constantly being harassed by the Slaves Hunters that after the populations of the
The Arrival of Aeternum Airship fleet, weren’t just attracted many attentions from the Allies citizens but it also attracted the attention of all sides, especially those that were clearly already starting go against Aeternum motives and also the Alliance. In the Angel City, the Capital City to Dukedom of Angela, ever since the Queen Duchess and Crown Princess has come back from the Alliance Conference, there has been a lot of murmur going on inside of the Dukedom Royal Court. Which is something that the Queen Duchess has already expected already, because thanks to the Dukedom of Angela which is now official entered the International Alliance Conference, thing are about to get very serious in the Dukedom of Angela.“YOUR HIGHNESS QUEEN DUCHESS!!…look, we don’t mind that you have decided to sided and joined the Alliance…but to joint and also permitted their shaky associations to be able to established their power here…that is something that is unacceptable to many of us!…”.(Baron Reinol
Guild Master Niva were in glee as he were able to always squirm his words and made it looks like the Queen Duchess were someone who is replying a good deeds with poison in front of the whole court. The Guilds actually has received a reminder from the Triangle Guilds to make them prepared for these days, after all, the Broadcast of the Conference were free for anyone to see them live. Thus they knew that Aeternum Association would come after all of them at some point, for the Free Nation of Triangle Guild, they didn’t care about the minor kingdom. But losing the support and ground in the Big 3, that is something that they can’t afford to lose at all.Especially for the Dukedom of Angela and also the Institute of Artemesia, because these 2 country not only one of their biggest market, it was also bordering with the Free Nation of Triangle Guilds. No matter what, they must not lose these grounds to the Association at all, thus before coming here, all 3 of the guilds who sense the impendi
The looks of confidence on the faces of all the Guild masters that were smug all these times crumbles in an instant. So does the entire Court were shocked by these kind of development, they have never thought such things can happen at all. But as anyone wanted to speaks about it, the Royal Court massive doors were opened as several footsteps echoes through out the area. And the most striking amongst the people that were walking in, were a female, for those that didn’t know who she is, they would called her a little girl immediately. But no one in the Court dared to called her as such or they were even capable to do so. Because with her arrival, the entire hall were instantly filled with a deadly and ghastly killing Aura, to the point, even the strongest person in the Court felt as if there were a scythe of the reaper were inches away from their throats.The footsteps of these 4 person reverberated throughout the entire court, and their overbearing aura glued everyone on where they sto
The Queen Duchess Angela Weinstein moves to let the Aeternum or in these case, the International Alliance Conference and also the Aeternum Associations, to be the one that were investigating the whole thing, and also providing the solid case against not only the Guilds but also the opposing nobles, is actually a plans that were suggested to her by The Aeternum President right after the Conference ended. Actually at the meeting when the motion regarding spreading the Associations to all the allied nation were made, the reason as to why the Queen Duchess immediately agreed to the motion and also seems to be visibly angered at that time, is because Aeternum has provided her with the situations that is concerning the safety on the entire Dukedom.On that files that she received in that meeting, the content of it were shown all the Guilds secrets operations these entire time, and just how the guilds has been secretly helping and the nobles are also paying the same help to the guilds to ens
Despite the sudden changed of the 3 Guild master expression to the doomed of their fates as Aeternum top figures walks into the Court and just ruined their plans, without them able to say a single words of retort. At the same time, the entire court were also took by the storms as Director Mot went ahead and also unmasked all the opposing nobles factions it her findings. Which undeniably enable the Queen Duchess and also Crown Princess Angela to instantly took the opportunity to punished them as well. Everything just happened so fast, for all the members of the court to keep tracked of what is currently transpiring before their eyes.But ultimately they all knows that The cases that Director Mot and Aeternums Justice Department made against the Guilds and also the opposing nobles were all true, and it was all backed with irrefutable evidence and solid cases. So instead they were taken aback by Director Mot affluent words and presentation through out the cases, and find themselves to ju
Whilst all over the Alliance nation is undergoing a huge waves of changes, now that they have all agreed to apply and wanted to live following the progress tracks that Aeternum has let them all to use. At the Great Southern Wasteland, the situations were a little bit difference because on the contrary expectation that the wasteland will be more manageable for the Aeternum forces, surprisingly it was a little bit to chaotic at the moment. Because currently, the Expedition Division is still in the midst of an intense war against the hordes of Wild Monsters that lived in the Wasteland.Currently, the only person incharge of the entire operation on the scene is Colonel Alessia Di Gianna, as she were with the first of the 2 batch groups that were supposed to be here. Her task is to lead the the Eternal Nights Divisions of her’s to secure the site that were given to the Aeternum by the 4 Representative and set up the perimeter to established the forward operation base. Before the second ba
Ever since the Aeternum Expedition Division touched down at the Wasteland, The 4 young representatives were able to get back to their territories for a few hours, enough for them to go back and report the results of their negotiations to their settlements. Naturally it was great and happy occasion for them, because not only the negotiations were positives but Aeternum forces is already with them. All 4 of them didn’t let the Aeternum forces alone for too long as they all come back to the base after a few hours, with a team of 5 for each of them.But before anything can be discussed or they can even make a welcoming gestures for the Aeternum people that come to these Wasteland with them. The Wild Monster Stampede happened, leaving them stuck without any chances to go away to safety or even doing anything. Naturally, they didn’t want to abandoned the Aeternum forces, as doing so, will reflected negatively on them, so instead they joined Aeternum soldiers on defending the base. All 4 of
“But that’s not all,” he said. “We’re not just building stores. We’re buying land.”Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “Land?”Andrea arched a brow. “Personal Aeternum-controlled territory?”“Exactly,” Mies said. “We’ll negotiate the purchase and designation of sovereign Aeternum land within Hallerus. Locations where we will build permanent structures—embassies, farms, factories. Property they can’t touch. Not legally. Not politically.”Andrea crossed her arms. “You want to turn this alliance into territorial leverage.”“I want security,” Mies said. “We trusted them once. And they betrayed us. This time, we own the pieces on the board. If they want access to food and prosperity, they give us something real in return. Soil.”Elijah nodded. “No oversight from their monarchy. No interference. Full extraterritorial jurisdiction.”Mies smiled. “Exactly. We build an Aeternum that lives inside their walls. One they can’t tear down without declaring war.”Andrea added, “And when we build those farms and
“We’re proud Aeternians now,” said one local organizer. “But we remember where we came from. If we can help fix the old home while serving the new one, why not?”In university lecture halls, students debated passionately.“Strategically, re-integrating Hallerus into Aeternum’s economic sphere is a no-brainer,” one economics major argued. “We’ll be able to shape their policies from within.”“But trust is a currency too,” another replied. “If we spend it on the wrong partner again, we might pay more than we think.”In a small park in the east district, a group of Aeternum veterans sat on a bench, medals on their coats, eyes on the screens showing news footage of Andrea’s visit.“You remember that street?” one said, pointing.“I remember clearing it house by house,” another replied. “They cheered us one day. Chased us out the next.”The youngest of them, silent until now, finally spoke.“We gave them peace once. Maybe it’s time to give them a future.”Silence followed. No one disagreed.
“Accepted,” Helen said firmly.Andrea paused. “You are aware that this pricing is higher than what our allied nations pay?”“I am.”“And that it reflects the cost of your past decisions.”“I am aware.”Andrea’s expression didn’t soften. But there was a shift. A sliver of respect, perhaps.“We also request that Queen Helen and her full court travel to New Concordia,” Andrea said. “To sign the official alliance treaty in Aeternum, under President Mies' direct oversight.”That stung.A silent reminder: You no longer stand as an equal.But Helen did not flinch. “We will come.”Merrica remained quiet beside her, eyes locked forward, proud but weathered. He knew this was necessary. He knew, like her, that survival always demanded a cost.And this was the only path forward.Andrea stood, signaling the end of the meeting. “Then prepare your delegation. You have one week.”As Andrea and her entourage exited, Helen remained still, her hand brushing the edge of the map of Hallerus that lay on th
“I can prep the full economic framework in three days. I’ll soften it slightly—give them just enough dignity to sign without choking.”“Good,” I said. “Let them keep their crown and their pride, as long as we own their economy.”Andrea gave a subtle nod. “Then I’ll schedule the official visit. They’ll come to us.”“And when they do,” I said, voice cold and precise, “we’ll welcome them with smiles. And let them know who holds the scales now.”Andrea paused. “Anything else you want me to add in the background?”“Yes,” I said after a moment. “Tell them we’ll open an Aeternum Super Store in the capital as a gesture of goodwill. Make it sound benevolent.”Andrea smirked. “And on the inside?”“It’s a spearhead,” I said. “Once we’re in, we don’t leave.”“Understood, Mr. President.”The screen blinked as the call ended. I turned to Elijah, who was already compiling the summary.“Draft the formal invitation,” I ordered. “Summon Queen Helen and her full court to New City. They’ll arrive as sove
“This city is broken,” she said at last.“Which means it’s ripe,” Jessica added with a glint in her eye. “Imagine if we opened Aeternum Super Store branches here. Not just in the capital—but in every major city.”Robert nodded. “We’d dominate the market before they even knew what hit them. Food, tech, textiles. We could monopolize the entire consumer chain.”Andrew chuckled, finally seeing the silver lining. “We’d be heroes to the people. And villains to the nobles—well, if any are still left standing.”“People like what fills their stomachs,” Jessica said. “Right now, they’re starving for quality. They’ll welcome us like saviors.”Andrea folded her arms, surveying the square again. She could already envision the clean, modern storefronts replacing the crumbling stalls. Self-sanitizing kiosks. Subsidized food packs. Nutritional water stations. Supply chains optimized by Aeternum AI logistics.“This city’s a blank slate now,” she said softly. “Their failure is our opportunity. And this
“Minister Andrea, Her Majesty sends word. She invites you to join her in the council chamber once your tour is complete.”Andrea nodded without looking at him. “Tell her I’ll return shortly. Let her know the city has spoken louder than any court could.”The young man paled but bowed again and hurried off.Andrea resumed walking. “They’re ashamed. Helen saw the city, I’m sure. She knew I’d see this mess.”“She should be ashamed,” Jessica said. “But she’s trying. And she listened to her uncle, at least.”“Yes,” Andrea admitted. “That’s the only reason we’re even here.”They continued walking in silence until they reached the edge of the once-thriving industrial sector. The machinery was still, some pieces looted, others rusting like ancient bones. Andrea crouched beside a discarded engine part, running her fingers over the insignia stamped on the metal.“Aeternum-built,” she whispered. “We left it here. And they left it to rot.”She stood, her voice tightening. “No more gifts. No more r
“I come bearing news from President Mies,” Andrea said. “He has authorized me to reestablish economic relations between Aeternum and Hallerus.”The words fell like rain on droughted soil. Gasps. Whispers. And then—cheers stifled by etiquette.Helen blinked. “You’re serious?”Andrea raised a brow. “I don’t waste time, Your Majesty. Our logistics and trade units will begin routing initial shipments within two weeks. In exchange, we’d like preferred trading status for key Hallerian exports. Wheat. Marble. Blackvine spices.”Helen nodded rapidly. “Of course. Anything.”Andrea turned her gaze slightly. “Be aware: the initial tariffs will reflect… the past breakdown in our diplomatic relations.”A slight smile touched her lips. Not warm. Calculated.Helen bowed her head, just enough. “A fair penalty. One we accept.”Andrea’s expression softened—barely. “Good. Then consider today the first page in a new chapter.”Helen stepped forward. “Minister Andrea, may I speak plainly?”Andrea nodded on
“We’re sending an envoy,” I said. “I want a diplomatic team ready to leave within the week. Formal clothes, soft language, but firm posture. They’ll deliver the proposal to reopen channels with Hallerus.”Andrea raised an eyebrow. “And if they hesitate?”“They won’t,” I said. “Helen’s smarter than she was. She knows what Aeternum means now—not just power. Stability. Progress. A future. Her people know it too. They’re already lining up to buy our products again. Her economy needs us more than she’d ever admit.”Andrea took notes. “Do we offer full partnership or just trade?”“Start with trade. Let her work for the rest.”Elijah crossed his arms. “You’re playing the long game.”“Always,” I said. “She showed backbone. Now she has to show consistency. If Hallerus stays clean, stays reformed, we talk alliance in two years. Maybe joint ventures. Maybe intelligence sharing.”Andrea looked up. “And if they regress?”“Then the gloves come off,” I said. “I owe Merrica nothing now. The ledger is
“Shadow diplomacy?”“Shared progress,” I corrected. “No puppet states. No conquest. We build allies, not subjects.”“And if she fails?”“She won’t.”“You trust her?”“I trust momentum.”Silence settled between us. Weighty. Calculated.“She came to the edge,” I said. “She looked down. She chose to climb.”I placed my palm on the table. Pulled up the interlink data from the last ACIA relay. A still frame of Helen and Merrica, standing beside a new council—half of them former commoners. Not a single noble.“She’s rewriting the code of kingship,” Elijah said.“She’s writing history.”Elijah nodded. “I’ll alert the Council of Governors. Phase One integration can begin. Cultural exchange programs. Civil training volunteers.”“Quiet. Measured.”“As always.”I watched the horizon past the glass. My reflection stared back. Older now. Sharper.“Hallerus lives,” I said.Elijah placed the closed folder back into his case. “And Aeternum listens.”I sat behind the presidential desk, sunlight spilli