Sasha carefully checked her ships in Nakhla. Her eyes were serious as Ammary soldiers carefully loaded their supplies onto them. The plan to open a third front was dangerous, and the chance of its succeeding was low, but Sasha felt it her duty to lead the mission. As an Admiral of the Ammary navy and heir to the Godwin duchy, it was her job.

"Admiral." A soldier came up to Sasha, saluting her. "We are having problems with a few nobles. They are making things... difficult for us." The soldier didn’t know how to word it, but Sasha had a rough idea and could only sigh. She had already encountered a situation like this once within the city, and she knew the reason.

’The People’s Courts.’ The idea didn’t bother her, as the Godwin land was largely unaffected by the reforms. But she knew the Safrid nobles were hit hard. The politics of everything was beyond her, and she could already hear her mother’s nagging voice telling her to pay more attention to things.

"I will deal with it. Continue loading the ship." Sasha walked off, fixing her uniform. In the distance, she saw a few nobles beratting her soldiers.

"I understand that the materials are from the Godwin duchy, but we have procedure within Nakhla. You must allow us to search them. We cannot know what you brought into the city otherwise. What if they hinder the war effort?" The noble smugly raised his nose at the soldiers as their fists tightened, already sick of the man.

"What is the issues?" Sasha came over and, seeing the noble, smirked.

"You have breached standard protocol. I’m afraid leaving the port will be a violation of Imperial law as it stands." The noble knew he had no real power over the fleet and that it would eventually leave, but his goal was simply to cause a ruckus. Delaying matters important to the crown would force take attention away from the palace.

Sasha took a couple of steps forward and looked the noble in the eyes. "You do know his Majesty has already approved everything. Do you dare say his MAjesty can break his own laws?"

"Of course not." The noble didn’t stumble and casually answered. "But as a loyal servant, I wish to ensure you properly follow orders." The noble and Sasha stared at one another.

"First, it was toll fees; next, it was registration for all my men, and now, it is an unreported good. Do you honestly believe his Majesty will praise you for delaying his ordered task?" Sasha gripped the child of her sword. "Or are you colluding with the Commonwealth to slow us down?"

The noble froze, not expecting such an accusation. Whilst he was, it wasn’t for the reason she said. His mind came up blank. He couldn’t risk being imprisoned. As soon as he was, it would be easy for someone like Esmond to find out about the bribes he had accepted from Konrad.

"Surely you jest." Sasha saw the slight fear on his face as she said that, and with his delayed answer, she couldn’t help but get suspicious. She may not have involved herself in the Empire’s politics, but she was good enough at reading people.

Drawing her sword, she rested it on his shoulder as the men around her did the same, pointing the tips of their blades at him. "Are you collouding with our enemy?" Sasha asked with a cold voice. The noble gulped and shook his head, his eyes never leaving the blade resting on his shoulder.

"Admiral. How could you accuse me of such a thing without proof?" The noble put on a confident smile as he stepped away from the blade, but Sasha didn’t hesitate and pushed it into his neck, making a small cut. The noble froze instantly and realised she wasn’t messing with him.

"Your actions have been enough proof. A loyal citizen of the Empire wouldn’t halt our mission. Instead, they would praise and wave us goodbye." Sasha took a step closer, her sword cutting along his neck even more. Feeling a drop of blood roll down his neck, the noble was afraid to even move."

"You won’t mind if we place you under house arrest for now. If you are innocent, I will see to it that the Godwin house compensates you. I swear it on my name." The noble gulped and knew he was stuck. Anyone innocent would happily agree. It was free money.

He could see it was a test. " I agree." Shasha pulled her sword away and flicked her finger at the soldier to take him away. While she didn’t wield the authority of the Godwin Duchy, her rank in the navy still provided a lot of power.

The noble felt his heart racing as he was escorted away. ’I need to cover my tracks.’ The only saving grace was being put on house arrest, not actually in prison. He still had a chance to cover up anything. ’I must warn he others.’

Esmodn had been their only concern, and everyone had failed to realise the other threats to their plans. Sasha was just one person, yet she had more power than all despite not holding a noble title yet. If someone like Adrian caught them. The man shuddered slightly. Adrian was only a mayor of Almaris, but his connections were a problem.

If he didn’t kill himself, he could easily have others do it without ever meeting face to face. ’We were reckless.’ They should have taken everything into account. Despite that, he felt slightly happy to have been caught by Sasha. I opened his eyes at the other threats around.

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Kam walked through the Palace with a cordial smile and nodded to his coworkers happily. He had worked in the palace for a few years, and while he enjoyed the pay, he was irked by how controlled everything was.

Never speak what you see. The random disappearance that happens occasionally. The scandals and lies the Emporer covered up. It had reached a breaking point, and seeing his uncle’s letter finally gave him a reason to act. He didn’t hate the Palace, but its staff irritated him. It was the main reason he happily agreed. The air of superiority that the nobles who came from the Ammary staff was obnoxious. He was a Safrid, and although they would never say it, he could tell they felt they were better than him. The conquerors and conquered.

Despite that, he had worked in the Palace for years and gained the trust of all the staff. A transfer request was quickly given to him. Knocking on the door, the Royal guard quickly checked the sheets he was carrying before opening the door.

Inside, he saw Edward being read a book by a Sister of Gaia as Daisy sat with her arms crossed, watching everything. Carefully putting the sheets down, he carried out his duties with the excellence expected of a Palace servant.

’This will be hard.’ Ignoring the Royal Guard outside, his eyes glanced at Daisy. He knew who she was. A guard hidden in plain sight. One of the few servants off the records of the Palace. ’I need a distraction. Something to take her attention before I act.’

He had slight confidence in his skills with a sword, being trained as a third son. But Daisy was an anomaly. He had no way to gauge how skilled she was. Peeking at Edward, he knew it would be easy to smuggle him out if the coast was clear.

Finishing up his task, he walked out of the room with the dirty sheets. Walking through the Palace, he slipped into a storage room where a couple of others waited for him. "You’re finally back." One of the servants said with a small smile.

"It will be hard," Kam said in slight annoyance as he carefully closed the door. Dropping the sheets, he pushed them against the bottom of the door to mask their voices as best as possible. "We need something to lure the guard away."

The servants all frowned, falling into thought. After a few seconds, one finally spoke. "A fire maybe. I studied the Ammary History a little and remember that there was a massive one before."

"How will this lead the guard away?" A maid said, rolling her eyes. "A fire will only make the guard move the price to a safer location."

"And the maid with them. She is another problem." Eveyrone collectively sighed.

"We just need a few minutes." Kam thought before smiling. "Only the Prime Minister would have the authority to move the Royal Guards right now. What if we fake a summon and cause a fire? Lead the guard away and create a distraction. I can slip out with the Prince in the chaos."

Eveyone looked at one another and, unable to think of another plan, nodded in agreement. "It should be enough. If we take enough people with us, we should be able to overpower the maid protecting the Prince."

"Can we kill her?" Someone asked the question on all their minds, and Kam frowned.

"No." It was the only problem. They weren’t murderous. But it wasn’t the main issue. Taking Edward and being caught would result in their deaths, but killing Daisy may see their families exterminated. "I’ll find a way. Sleeping medicines are not to hard to get. We should be fine if we can force her to take some."

The others nodded, deciding to trust Kam as they quietly discussed how to execute the plan.