The Mechanical Era

As the sun rose in the city of Villana, Rose, wearing a white nightgown, woke up in her comfortable royal bed. The first thing she ever saw, when she woke up every day in the morning, was the cathedral dome blocking the sunlight in her room.

She wasn't sure whether it was intentional or not, but personally, it annoyed her. It blocked a nice view of the sunrise, one she used to enjoy in her youth bedroom. Rose hops out of bed and does to take her morning bath, using a scented soap that smelled of roses.

After Rose is done taking a bath, she wears her usual white royal dress, with short sleeves and blue diamond shape patterns etched into it. Along with her dress, she wears long white gloves that stretched past her elbow.

Her hair had been thoroughly combed down, and her face fully washed. Her teeth gave a white shine, and her body gave a rose flower scent for everyone to pick up. Once Rose was prepared, she headed over to the dining room, to have her breakfast.

She sat on the last chair, eating her meal all alone. She looks from side to side, at where the empty redwood chairs sat. Her heart felt a sense of emptiness, that something was missing from her life. Just then, she clenched her fist, when she remembered why.

She soon finished up her breakfast and went over to her office to work. There were a bunch of disputes she had to solve today. As she came over to her office and picked up the papers, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." The door opened revealing Nathan, who was wearing a white cloak with black threads and cross-stitches, and holding a letter."

"What caused you to come here so early minister?" she asked Nathan as she continued to solve the disputes.

"Your majesty, I have news regarding your plans," he said. Rose set the dispute aside and

"Sit down." Nathan happily complied. Rose herself went over to her chair and sat down.

"Now tell me. What news do you bring?" she asks Nathan.

"Your majesty, the first is regarding the assassination attempt on King Danial Maybale," he responded. She sat straighter, wanting to know the results.

"That is?" Before she can have an answer, there was a knock on her door. It turned out to be a maid, who came to give her queen a glass of water she requested earlier to be brought to her table. After the maid left, the two continued their conversation.

"What was your question, your majesty?"

"I am asking what is the state of King Danial's... condition?" she asked.

"Alas your majesty, he survived the attempt once again." Nathan's reply disappointed her. She slides back into a more relaxed position on the chair.

"Well damn it. What happened?" she asked

"My sources tell me that the king threw a mug of hot chocolate at the assassin. It burned his face, causing him to scream. This went on to alert the guards who caught him. Though he did manage to injure them with the poison by throwing the knife.

It had managed to hit his arm. Not the area we wanted, but still a seat. The results remain to be seen."

"Did the assassin squeal?" Rose asked.

"No. He blamed our collaborators, just like he promised." Nathan replied. Rose sighed a breath of relief.

"Oh good. Is there anything else I should learn about?" she asked the minister. He takes a deep breath, getting himself ready for what he is about to say.

"Our spies over at Albersterg noticed a product called 'Cement' being used," he said.

"Cement?" she asked Nathan, a bit confused.

"Yes. It appears that Hoverdam has shipped this product called 'Cement Powder' to Albersterg. Most likely due to an upcoming demonic wave." he replied.

"Do you know what it is?"

"Apparently it is like that weak limestone mortar, but vastly stronger and more convenient to use. It has been used to build the wall over at Albersterg."

"Why have I not heard of this before?"

"Well, the risk was too high as they expected it to not work. Their hand was forced by the demons so Heinrich had to take a risk and buy their product."

"Was it successful?"

"Very. King Heinrich seems to be interested in buying more from Hoverdam."

"Any idea invented it?" Rose asks Nathan.

"We are not sure. We are currently investigating that matter." Nathan replied to her question. Rose leans back on her chair in a more comfortable position, to think it through. Feeling a bit thirsty, she takes a glass of water from the table while at it and starts to drink it.

Then, all of a sudden, it clicked in her head. Rose immediately stops drinking her glass of water and places it down on the table.

"It must be that boy then..." Rose muttered. Nathan became confused.

"What was that majesty?" he asked.

"I was talking about Malinda's little boy."

"Kant Maybale?" he asked.

"Yes. That one. I am positive it was his bidding."

"What makes you say that, your majesty?"

"I have interacted with him a couple of times before. He was the one who made the principal his umbrella," she replied.

"I see your majesty," he asked.

"We might have to send some spies to Hoverdam, to check back up on him."

"Why so, your majesty?"

"I have plans for him. Though I think they might need a little rework." Rose said. Nathan became ever more confused at what she said.

"I don't understand, your majesty..."

"Do you remember that I asked you to mutter rumors about him? Get the other kids to reject him?"

"Yes, I do. Why so?"

"Well, I was hoping that once I defeat the Maybale family, I intend to keep him as a submissive puppet on Hoverdam's throne."

"Didn't you promise Edward Hoverdam's throne your majesty?" he asked.

"Although I did indeed, he is far more powerful and much harder to control. My best option was and still is his mana-less brother.

Besides, he would be smart enough not to pick a fight with us AND be able to run the city well, considering the fact that he is currently helping his parents gain more power, intentionally or not, it remains true." she said. Rose was visibly frustrated over the situation.

"However, if he regains his confidence, he might try to take revenge one way or the other," she said.

"What should we do then your majesty?"

"That's what I am thinking..." the room entered into silence as Rose thought of a new plan to counter Kant's potential recovery while Nathan sat there, waiting.

"I think I have an idea," Rose said.

"Well, what is it, your majesty?"

"From what I know, the things Kant has now are his parents and his siblings. The only reason I can think of him making the cement is to impress his parents and everyone around him, as expected from someone who craves attention.

If I manage to split him apart from his parents to resent them and make them think they look down on him, he might be more compliant with us. All while serving justice." Rose said.

"But how should we do that, your majesty?" he asked.

"We can get our collaborators in on it. They seem to despise the current northern monarchs. Plant fake evidence, and have a consistent story, then we can break them apart." she said. Nathan pretended to think about it.

"But why him specifically? I mean... I understand that he doesn't have magic but... your majesty is going through so much trouble when you can easily just use force?" Nathan asked. Rose stayed silent and looked straight at him in his brown eyes.

"Did you forget already? Because he has to," she replied.

"He just... has to."

...

Kant Maybale, wearing his usual royal attire, sat on his desk reading a book. Just then, Cora, the fair blond maid with a ponytail, came into the room holding a silver tray with a ceramic tea pot letting out hot steam and an empty white ceramic cup.

Cora places the tray on the desktop and pours some black coffee into the cup from the tea pot.

"Your coffee Kant," she said.

"Thank you," he replied.

"What are you reading?" she asks.

"A book."

"What is it about?" she asked.

"Just an old history book. That's all" he said.

"I thought you didn't like reading... those history books. Didn't you say that they were hard to read?"

"Yes, but I have taken an interest regardless."

"What is it about?"

"I will tell you later. I am currently focused on this," he said while pointing at the book.

"I see... well, I should be going now," Cora replied. She walked up to the door, but just as she was about to open it, she heard a voice from behind.

"Wait."

"Yes, Kant?"

"Can you come back for a second?" he asked.

"Sure thing." she came back up to Kant He pointed at the pages of the book, where a blank note seemed to have been placed.

With the quill, Kant writes 'Intel?'. Realizing what he was talking about, she hands him the note he wanted.

As soon as she was about to leave, Kant said something before she did.

"It's master, by the way," he said.

"Alright Ka- Master. Alright." With that, she left the room. Kant opened the note and started reading it. What it contained was the culprit of Danial's assassin; another branch of the people he was working with.

'Hmm...' he thought to himself.