The Viceroy Revealing

“No offence, Your Excellency, but you look terrible,” Soren tells her the first thing in the morning. He’s sitting in the living room, peacefully sipping coffee.

And whose fault is that?! Liana thinks bitterly. She somehow managed to fall asleep after midnight, but she had strange dreams and was waking up often. As a result, she looks like a zombie now. Of course, Soren of all people is the one to see her with bed hair and bags under her eyes.

“We can cover it with make-up, Lady Viceroy, don’t worry,” Ithariel, the maid, assures her, holding Liana’s robe.

Liana yawns and lets herself be pulled back to the bedroom, away from Soren’s prying eyes. Ithariel is a middle-aged Estonian woman with hazel wings and blond hair who applied for the position of the Viceroy’s head maid as soon as the position was announced. Having a keen interest in fashion and make-up, it made sense that she would serve the Viceroy and not their Emperor, who doesn’t need such things.

“Now, nobody can tell you had a bad night, Your Excellency” Ithariel smiles when she’s done styling her.

After that, she helps Liana put on her today’s robe. Celestial fashion doesn’t distinguish genders much, but robes for ladies are usually more tightly fitted to flatter the female figure and have various ornaments on them. Liana might not be into fashion that much, but she can’t help admiring the details and the layering for a few moments.

“Just for the record,” Soren says, waiting for her in the lobby when she emerges again in her full glory, “I didn’t mean to offend you by that remark. I was just concerned because you haven’t slept well.”

AND WHOSE FAULT IS IT?! Liana shouts in her head. She wonders if Aefener heard it. Well, probably not. This early in the morning, he must still be sleeping.

“Your Excellency, I’m afraid I had to cancel today’s programme with the Japanese ambassador,” Luviael storms in, already in working mode. She’s always been an early bird. “Prime Minister Bauerova called an hour ago; they’ve finally made progress with investigating the murder of His Majesty’s grandmother.”

“Oh?” Liana raises her eyebrow, her drowsiness gone. Truth be told, she’s half-forgotten about it, and she’s not proud of the fact. Aefener’s grandmother might not have been the grandma of the year, but she didn’t deserve to be murdered, and their Emperor needs a proper closure.

“Should I tell His Majesty when he wakes up?” Luviael asks.

“Not yet, we should learn more first,” Liana shakes her head. “His Majesty collapsed yesterday, so we shouldn’t overwhelm him unnecessarily until we know something solid. What’s the time in Prague now?”

“A few minutes before midnight, but the Prime Minister is still awake,” Luvi says, handing her a tablet. “She’s waiting for you.”

“I’ll talk to her right away,” Liana sits down on the sofa. The Prime Minister picks up immediately.

“Liana, we have suspects,” Bauerova blurts out, too excited to start with a proper greeting. “The police arrested them just two hours ago.”

“Who is it?” Liana clutches the tablet firmly, trying to stop her Celestial wrath from manifesting.

“It’s complicated,” the Prime Minister bites her lip. “Li, I know you’re in Japan now, but I think you should return to Prague asap. It seems… well… I guess there’s no good way to put it, so I’ll just say it—we’ve uncovered a religious cult that reveres Celestials as harbingers of the apocalypse.”

“They… what?!” Liana is dumbfounded. She expected something crazy, but this is off the charts for craziness.

“We caught three of their members, but they most probably aren’t the people who committed the murder, and we have difficulty tracking the rest,” Bauerova explains wearily. “We’ve got some leads, but we need your help.”

“His Majesty can’t come, Katerina, it’s too painful for him and he’s too busy anyway,” Liana shakes her head.

“I do realise that, so I’m asking you,” Bauerova sets the record straight.

“Let me discuss it with my people,” Liana says, asking for time and ends the phone call. She looks at Soren, who’s frowning.

“You want to go,” he concludes from her determined expression.

“His Majesty needs closure and I can’t leave such an important task to anyone else,” she says. “I’ll put Gavreel, Luviael and Taranah temporarily in charge; they are more than capable.”

“Are we taking the governmental jet or…?” Soren doesn’t finish the sentence because it’s obvious what he’s hinting at.

“Let’s ask Nyx for a Divementis shuttle,” Liana sighs resignedly.

*****

“Sure, we have no problem lending you a shuttle,” Nyx assures her. “How are you going to explain to the Czech Prime Minister that you managed to cross the globe in just one night and avoid air control, though?”

“Simple, I’ll tell her the truth,” Liana shrugs. “I want Bohemia to be the second nation we will reveal the whole story to. I know it might be too early, but I trust Katerina Bauerova.”

“It’s not early, it’s perfect,” Nyx surprisingly agrees without protest. “When the Czech government comes to terms with the truth, we can then smoothly continue with the EU representatives. It would be beneficial to have Bohemia backing us.”

“Are you going to come with us?” Liana tilts her head.

“I’m afraid I have to attend to Ambassador Nakamura and continue working on organising our combined forces,” she shakes her head. “I’ll assign you Solarae.”

“Ehm…,” Liana tries hard to recall, because the name certainly sounds familiar, and Nyx is saying it as if Liana should know who that is.

“Solarae is the Chancellor of Trade and Resources, you met briefly during our first meeting at the Osaka Embassy,” Nyx reminds her. “She was assigned Europe anyway, so she might as well accompany you.”

“I’d better tell His Majesty and start packing then,” Liana nods. This is going to be a long day.

*****

“You’re going back to Europe?” His Majesty is shocked when she tells him. She caught him eating breakfast and enjoying a few rare minutes with Erik before his husband gets plugged into VR for the whole day. He looks well-rested, which is a good sign considering he fainted yesterday.

“The Czech police made progress on the investigation of your grandmother’s murder,” Liana doesn’t dare to hide anything. “They haven’t caught the culprits yet, but they have leads. I know that Your Majesty would probably want to come yourself, but we don’t want to arouse suspicion. Your Majesty returning to Bohemia prematurely would make news.”

Aefener looks conflicted about it, but Erik clutches his hand and tells him something through their telepathic bond.

“I understand, you’re right,” His Majesty concedes. “Be careful, okay? Take Soren with you.”

“I will,” she assures him and eyes her wellbeing supervisor, who’s standing a few metres away, discussing something with Vermiel.

“You haven’t slept well,” Aefener notices, because feelings of others never elude him. He stands up and before anyone can guess his intention, he kisses Liana on her forehead and gives her his blessing. Liana wobbles, so His Majesty gently pushes her onto the sofa.

“Not even we are this lucky the first thing in the morning,” Gotrid comments, but there’s no real envy in the tone of his voice.

“You too, Soren,” His Majesty says.

Soren widens his eyes in disbelief, because he’s yet to receive the honour. Of course, His Majesty doesn’t go for a kiss with him, but he conveys his blessing via spreading his wings and touching Soren’s. Now, it’s both Liana and Soren sitting overwhelmed on the sofa.

“I think you overdid it, hon,” Erik observes. “Let’s leave them here until they come to their senses.”

It takes Liana and Soren several long minutes until they can think straight again, and their limbs stop shaking. His Majesty indeed overdid it and not just a little. Only now does Liana realise that her wings have been touching Soren’s the whole time. That’s why sitting on a sofa is only for lovers when it comes to Celestial customs. Normally, Celestials prefer armchairs exactly because of this reason.

“L-let’s pack our things,” Liana stands up quickly, trying to save her dignity. Aefener must have done it on purpose, she’s sure. Soren looks more than pleased.

“Oh, His Majesty has charged my bracelet,” Soren notices, rolling up his left sleeve. He reveals a sleek bracelet with tiny gems.

“Where did you get that?” Liana frowns.

“From Rina’s research division, it’s a prototype I’m supposed to test,” he explains. “Hasn’t His Majesty charged yours?”

Liana slaps her forehead because she completely forgot about it. Last Christmas, she got a beautiful silver gemstone bracelet from His Majesty, which he imbued with all sorts of protective spells. She’s been wearing it nonstop ever since, not taking it off even for sleep, so it’s no wonder she started taking it for granted.

“It’s warm,” she realises. “Fully charged. Our embodiment of magic is just impossible. It usually takes a caster at least an hour.”

“And that’s why he’s our embodiment of magic,” Soren chuckles.

*****

Liana gets uneasy when she boards the Divementis shuttle. It’s big enough for Celestials, so that’s not the issue. The problem is that they are at the mercy of the Divementis here and Liana is bringing only Soren, her maid Ithariel and two guards. Chancellor Solarae boards just a few moments after them and, noticing Liana’s obvious distress, she tries to smile.

“Your Excellency, we haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet. I’m Solarae, the Chancellor of Trade and Resources,” she introduces herself. “I hope to establish a friendly relationship with the Czech government and soon, hopefully, the whole EU.”

“Is there an official title for Chancellors?” Liana asks politely. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know how your hierarchy works.”

“In your language, I would probably use the same title as you, but feel free to call me by my name,” Solarae offers. “Chancellors are handpicked by our Emperor, as is the custom also among Celestials, so I guess we’re roughly the same rank.”

“Then feel free to call me Liana,” she offers in return and relaxes a bit. It seems Solarae is trying hard to establish a friendly atmosphere.

The shuttle takes off. The flight is very smooth with only slight turbulence once in a while. Liana packed her laptop so that she could work, but she infers it’s probably a good opportunity to get to know Solarae a bit.

“Ask away,” the Divementis Chancellor challenges her. “Don’t worry, I’m not reading your mind, but I can tell you have questions for me.”

“Were you born on Earth, Solarae?” Liana decides to let her curiosity win.

“No, I’m the same age as His Majesty, which is true for half of our current population,” Solarae sets the record straight. “It was mostly the young ones who were evacuated when we fled Draconia. You would maybe expect high politicians to be chosen, but our government knew it would ultimately lead to our doom. For what was left of our civilisation, they strategically evacuated only those before or in the reproductive age.”

“I can’t imagine humans making such a rational decision,” Liana can’t help admiring the Divementis.

“As a race, we’ve always valued the collective welfare before individual profit,” Solarae says. “I guess that’s the main reason why we decided to settle in Japan. Japanese mentality is quite similar to ours.”

“How was it?” Soren asks eagerly, not holding back. “It must have been tough settling in a different dimension while most of the population was children or young adults.”

“Extremely difficult,” Solarae admits. “We managed to sustain our technological level only thanks to the shared telepathic archive that contains all our knowledge. The extinct Draconian races entrusted us with their genetic code, and we took it as our responsibility to revive them. We might have had our differences, but at the very end, they sacrificed themselves to buy us time to escape.”

“To help you fight the Enemy?” Liana narrows her eyes because she isn’t convinced their reasons are all noble.

“Not only that, Viceroy,” Solarae shakes her head. “The truth is that we can’t survive on Draconia even if we reclaimed the planet by ourselves.”

“Can’t?” That information is new to both Liana and Soren. “What do you mean? I thought the reason why you lost the war was because you couldn’t unite in time.”

“Yes, that is true,” Solarae confirms. “However, I’m afraid our cohabitation is more complicated than that. Tell me, Liana, how did races cooperate in the game? I don’t mean going to dungeons because that was the only thing which we fabricated, but on the economic level.”

“Well…,” Liana thinks hard about it for a moment. “Clawfangs were providing various organic materials, the Dragonkin did the heavy crafting and mining, the Earthborn took care of growing crops and healing, while Celestials were enchanting weapons and protective gear.”

“And on the level of security?” Solarae leads her on.

“Oh!” Soren gets it before Liana. “We don’t tend to think about it that way because it used to be just a game, so dying didn’t mean anything, but now that I think about it… Draconia was a pretty dangerous place, even if we don’t count unnatural monsters that came with the Enemy.”

“Actually, only half of the monsters were brought by the Enemy,” Solarae reveals. “The rest is native to Draconia, and the Enemy took over their minds. Just as our bountiful planet gave rise to five sentient races, it also gave life to some extremely ferocious animals. We might not have needed to cooperate to defeat them before, but we needed to share resources to survive. And I’m not even mentioning things like distinct habitats.”

“Despite our special abilities, humans are much better equipped to survive extreme conditions than we are, aren’t they?” Liana ponders.

“Yes,” Solarae nods. “Draconian races pretty much have to live in the specific environment they evolved in. Clawfangs thrive in mild forests and savannah, the Earthborn need jungles with rich biological life, the Dragonkin settle in mountains and marshes, and Celestials evolved to be fully air-borne. As for the Divementis, we require the most moderate habitat of all races and fortified ourselves in cities.”

“All food had to be imported to Assiath,” Soren points out. He thought that gimmick was there just for the sake of forced realism, but now it turns out that it was based on reality.

“The Earthborn mostly took care of growing crops and making medicine for all races while Clawfangs and the Dragonkin supplied meat and monster parts,” Solarae reveals. “And since Clawfangs and the Dragonkin needed protection while hunting and mining, they needed enchanted weapons and armour from Celestials. As for advanced technology, that fell to the Divementis.”

“What about extreme weather?” Liana recalls. “I remember many cases of flying into crazy storms. I also heard that Dragonkin forts suffered from earthquakes and there were frequent floods in the Earthborn and Clawfang territories.”

“Yes, unfortunately, that actually happens on Draconia quite often,” Solarae sighs. “While we were pretty isolated when it came to our settlements and we rarely mingled on social and cultural levels, we had to keep fragile peace. We couldn’t afford to wage a war on a neighbour we depended on with either food or materials.”

They stay engaged in an enlightening conversation, and those thirty minutes pass quickly. Talking with Solarae helped both Liana and Soren dissolve some tension they were still feeling towards the Divementis. They might be very different, but they have the same goal. Survival.

*****

It feels strange to be back at the Draconian Embassy, but everything seems to be exactly as Liana left it. A few night guards who were notified in advance greet them, but everyone else is still sleeping because it’s only four o’clock in the morning. Soren shows Solarae around, using the fact that the halls are deserted.

Feeling full of energy from the Emperor’s blessing, Liana gets to work and checks everything that piled up in her absence. Fortunately, it looks like her subordinates have been doing a good job and she has hardly anything to adjust or correct. She finishes when the skyscraper starts to wake up.

“Your Excellency!” Ingri is overjoyed to see her mentor and goes for a hug the moment she sees her. Liana hugs her back, enveloping Ingri in her wings.

“How have you been, Ingri?” Liana ruffles her hair.

“Lonely without you and His Majesty! You should have taken me with you,” she pouts. “What are you doing here?”

“You know visiting Japan was strictly Celestial business,” Liana reminds her. “As for why I’m here, I was asked by the Prime Minister to help with the investigation. It seems they’ve made significant progress, but you must have already been asleep when the news came.”

Suddenly, Soren opens the door, engaged in a lively conversation with Solarae.

“So, as you can see, this is hardly our preferred habitat, but at least it’s high up,” Soren says.

Ingri freezes when she sees the Divementis chancellor. Being part of the inner circle, she must have heard everything about the current development in Japan, but this is her first time actually seeing a Divementis.

“Ingri, this is Chancellor Solarae,” Liana introduces the guest. “Solarae, this is Ingri. I’m training her as my assistant. Despite being an Earthborn, she swore allegiance to Celestials.”

“Nice to meet you, Ingri,” Solarae smiles and bows symbolically in a very Japanese way. Ingri stiffly bows as well.

“I’ll call Katerina, I mean the Prime Minister,” Liana adds quickly, because she’s the only one on a first-name basis with the Czech Prime Minister. “I hope the revelation won’t overwhelm her too much. I’ll just hint at it now and invite her to the embassy.”

Liana looks for an empty conference room so that she won’t be disturbed. She has to handle this with care, because a lot depends on it. Bauerova might be just one leader of a small European country, but she will either amicably introduce and support them in the European Parliament, or there’s no way of making a favourable first impression.

“Hi, Liana, are you calling to arrange the flight? Are you coming tomorrow?” Bauerova asks, sipping coffee. Considering she called quite late last night, she couldn’t have got enough hours of sleep.

“I’m calling to invite you to the Draconian Embassy today, I’m here already,” Liana informs her slowly.

“I beg your pardon?” the Prime Minister blinks, confused.

“I’ll explain everything to you when you get here, Kat,” Liana promises. “I know that our relationship could be described as frenemies at best, but… do you trust me?”

“However unbelievable it might sound, I do,” Bauerova narrows her eyes. “From your mysterious behaviour, I take it you want to keep our meeting a secret?”

“If possible,” Liana implores her. “Can you get here unnoticed?”

“With the Celestial Emperor in Japan, the press stopped caring about the Draconian Embassy for the time being,” Katerina states. “It’s better if I present it as a routine visit instead of trying to get there in secret. Nobody cares about routine diplomatic visits, so I won’t arouse suspicion.”

“Okay, I trust your judgment,” Liana agrees. “Any chance you could come alone?”

“To the Draconian Embassy? No chance,” Bauerova must disappoint her. “However, I can leave my bodyguards standing in front of the door and not take any assistants.”

“I’ll take that,” Liana appreciates.

“Seriously, Li, what is this about? How did you even get to Europe so fast?” Bauerova doesn’t understand.

“I’ll tell you everything when you get here,” Liana promises her.

*****

“Is this your human appearance?” Liana is lost for words when Solarae activates her perception shield. Suddenly, there’s a business-looking Japanese woman in her 30s standing in front of her.

“Not bad, huh?” Solarae boasts. “However, it doesn’t work as well on people who know what to see instead. Try to look away and then again at me while recalling my original looks.”

Liana does exactly that and Solarae is back to her Divementis appearance.

“Would His Majesty be able to do it after proper training?” Liana asks, quite afraid of that prospect.

“Not a chance, he’s too Celestial,” Solarae waves her hand. “Humans look similar to the Divementis, so it’s easy for us. Even if His Majesty somehow managed to hide his huge wings with a perception shield, they would still be there. One wrong move and the wings would reveal themselves. Besides, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do it anyway. He has the capacity, but he doesn’t have the will to do so.”

“What do you mean?” Liana doesn’t understand.

“Many Divementis powers depend on the will of a caster,” Solarae tries to explain. “His Majesty might be theoretically capable of it, but Celestials have always been too proud of what they are. My Emperor told me that the Prince refused to change his appearance even in the dream state. There’s no way he would ever choose to hide his wings, so there’s no way he would succeed in creating the perception shield.”

“Of course, why wouldn’t His Majesty be proud of what he is?” Liana is content that this is the case, but then she realises that even if Aefener managed to change his appearance, he wouldn’t be able to mask his mana emanation anyway.

“Your Excellency, the Prime Minister is here,” Soren appears in the door, bringing Katerina Bauerova with him. The Prime Minister orders her bodyguards to stay outside and Soren closes the soundproof door.

“So,” Katerina purses her lips. “Can you explain to me how you managed to get to Prague so fast, and how is it possible that my private jet is still in Osaka?”

“We didn’t use your private jet, we used a space shuttle,” Liana says openly because there’s no sugarcoating it.

“You did… what… now? Are you joking?” Bauerova is dumbfounded and narrows her eyes at Solarae, confused why an unknown human is by Liana’s side. “And who is this person? Did you bring a Japanese ambassador with you?”

“Please, sit down, Prime Minister,” Soren points towards one of the chairs. “Our Viceroy will explain everything to you.”

“This better be good, Li,” she sits down, frowning.

“Katerina, this is Solarae,” Liana introduces the newcomer. “I know that she looks human, but she’s a Draconian. And not just any, she’s the fifth Draconian race.”

The Prime Minister keeps frowning and is studying Solarae intently. She drums her fingers against the table, probably thinking Liana has gone completely mad.

“The last time I checked, there were four Draconian races,” she objects.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs Bauerova,” Solarae speaks up. “We call ourselves the Divementis. You don’t know about us, because we aren’t a product of the Great Evolution. We are the ones who made it happen. We are the creators of Draconia Online.”

Katerina widens her eyes and it takes her a while to digest that sudden revelation. She still doesn’t look fully convinced, though. After all, Solarae looks completely human.

“I don’t look like this, it’s only a mimicry,” Solarae explains slowly. “If you’re ready, I can show you my real appearance.”

“W-well… seeing is believing,” Bauerova gulps. “Show me then.”

Solarae nods and deactivates her perception shield. The Prime Minister gasps and is unable to utter a single word for several long moments. The Divementis aren’t necessarily more alien than other Draconian races, but Solarae’s masking came off in a split second. Suddenly, there’s a black-eyed alien with androgynous features sitting in front of the Prime Minister.

“I belong to the race called the Divementis,” Solarae repeats. “We’re also Draconians and we come from another dimension—the dimension those monsters are invading from. We’re not your enemies; we want to protect the Earth so that you won’t meet the same fate as us.”

“Katerina, are you okay? Tell me if you’re dizzy,” Liana is worried because the Prime Minister turned very pale.

“I… I’m okay… I hope,” she finally takes a deep breath. “Solarae, was it? How do I properly address you?”

“I’m female,” the Chancellor smiles. “You can use just my name, it’s fine. I assure you that we mean humanity no harm. I’m here to establish friendly relations first with the Czech government and then, hopefully, the EU as a whole.”

“All Draconians have special powers,” Katerina bites her lip. “What are Divementis powers if I may ask?”

“Telepathy,” Solarae doesn’t beat around the bush.

The Prime Minister flinches. In a sense, telepathy is potentially even more menacing than flashy magical spells or super strength.

“I can’t read everything and I also can’t bend your will,” Solarae assures her. “Think of it rather as an extra sense. I know that it scares you, but we mainly use it only among ourselves.”

Liana hopes that, for now, Katerina won’t make a connection between the Divementis and their embodiment of magic. The Prime Minister needs some time to digest the existence of the fifth Draconian race. She will tell her a bit later after she gets His Majesty’s approval.

Solarae then explains what happened to their homeland and openly talks about the Enemy that invaded planet Draconia. She doesn’t go into too much detail, but she doesn’t hide anything except for Aefener’s Divementis origin.

“So, we’re at war,” Bauerova is devastated when she gets the whole picture. “This so-called Enemy is sending monsters to the Earth and is planning to invade us.”

“If you need some time to come to terms with it, Katerina, we understand,” Liana says.

“No, I’m fine,” the Prime Minister shakes her head. “If what you’re saying is true, and I have no reason to doubt you with monsters already upon us, we have to start preparing for the upcoming war immediately. I’ll try to think of a way to introduce Solarae as the Divementis representative to the EU Parliament. Admittedly, it will take some time, so let’s focus on what you came here for in the first place.”

“The murder of His Majesty’s grandmother,” Liana mutters darkly, barely suppressing her Celestial wrath.