Sovereign

“The Orlish Prime Minister, Jacqueline Heiss, alongside the members of the Heiss Cabinet, has once again urged the Orlish Parliament to ‘act at once’ and finish the now revised and renamed Women Mobilization Bill. The revised bill now demands the immediate conscription of all eligible young women aged eighteen to twenty-six to all branches of the Orlish Armed Forces, especially in the Royal Orlish Army. The Army expects at least four hundred thousand young women to join all-women infantry brigades for combat deployments within a year, with plans for the Royal Guard to transfer female officers in the OAF to lead these formations. Alongside this, the bill will mobilize any young woman not conscripted into the Orlish War Industry, which is expected to expand war production considerably. More concerns have been raised by Arcanist Party MPs, with Duchess Flandere stating that the Arcanist Party will vote no as a bloc, reiterating their position that women should only join the fight as volunteers in the Royal Guard. The Orlish Republican Party however showed, as usual, a resounding landslide in support of the bill. All that’s left now is the still fence-sitting UOP, the same party holding most seats in the Parliament. Current polls for young women have also been mixed, with thirty-two percent showing support for the bill, forty-three percent undecided, and twenty-five percent being against it.”

- ROCN News

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West Orland

November Palace

Amelie was fixing herself up for her next speech. With the Parliament soon voting for the Women Mobilization Bill, Amelie needed to once again show the UOP where the Queen stands. It certainly irked her. The sheer obstructionism and ‘undecidedness’ on the issue of the bill had been a great propaganda victory for the CFN. Pro-revolutionary media had always been hyperfocused on the developments of Royalist Orland, as her nation, right now, had earned the complete mark of being the top figure of the counter-revolution, with her, Prime Minister Jacqueline, and all the UOP and Arcanist Party members as the main face.

Well, reading all those headlines and the sheer overwhelming collapse of the internet into anti-UOP and anti-women sentiments had scared Amelie greatly. The consecutive failures of the Parliament to pass the previous bills were such massive ammunition for the revolutionaries that they now began spray-painting her regime as two-faced, hypocritical, and worse of all—people were now thinking that women really wouldn’t fight for anything.

That was bad. Very bad. This was the reputation of her own gender on the stakes here. While she hated gendered politics, she knew the sheer long-term consequences of them all being painted as spineless cowards that would echo for decades. That would mean support from men to fight for them would completely evaporate. That could even mean that the revolutionaries would be emboldened to act against women, not just those safe under the MN’s wing, but those under the CFN’s wing.

The Lieplatzans propagandized and painted us, women as defenseless cowards first before they did all that. Amelie sat down on a chair as her staff began fixing her face. All while she strategized further upon this thing. Damn it…now, the CFN is using that same line of propaganda. That we won’t shoot back. That our wands mean nothing. That we’re easy targets to poke.

And thus…easy targets to kill.

The failures of the Orlish Parliament to repair the reputation of women were helping to breed propaganda that would make it easier to militarily target and brutalize civilian women in CFN-occupied nations and territories. Amelie rarely really cared about the reputation of women as a whole. She already knew that like all humans, they were absolutely morally bankrupt, just in a different way.

But after learning about how the Lieplatzan State virulently propagandized every infraction that women committed against men all while sprinkling their arguments of “women are strong with their magic and evil because of it” all while saying “they’re cowards and they won’t fight back” and how it turned a significant segment of the Lieplatzan Army from apathetic young men into radicalized monsters lining up every woman they could see for firing squad under the banner of the Protection Corps made Amelie realize that giving up on fighting for women’s reputation would only give these men more ammunition to turn undecided and apathetic men into blood lusted hatred.

That’s why I need to pass this bill. Again, it was strategic and symbolic and every way. Not only would it be something that Amelie needed for her plans to fight the FOAF and defeat them at last, but it was something that she needed to drum up support for her reformist ideals.

To repair the burned bridges with men, Amelie needed to convince them that women weren’t some bloodsucking, arrogant, hypocritical, yet at the same time, cowadish creatures that had the audacity to wield magic while being that kind of people. That was what got them here in the first place. No, she needed to turn that negative reputation into something positive. To tell them that she and every woman were human beings who, yes, made a massive mistake spanning centuries, but still, people who were ready to fight side-by-side with them, aid them, and fix their wrongs.

And the only way to do that was through her promises of reforms (many of which she couldn’t achieve right now due to the war), and by action. She could act now with the Women Mobilization Bill. Of course, it wasn’t like it would be a great argument to say that women cared for men because they finally turned less arrogant enough to fight for their own skin, no, but it would be a start that would pull them out of their rock bottom reputation.

“Your Majesty, is it alright?” Her makeup artist asked, showing her face with a mirror. Amelie didn’t really care much to perfect things, she was just going to give a damned speech. Well…of course, a speech that would literally change a century of Orlish policy on how they would fight their wars, but she had more important things to think about than dolling herself up.

“Thanks, it’s okay.” She said, giving her staff a smile as she stood up and left for the press conference.

By the time she reached it, the Ministers of the Heiss Government were already shambling around, waiting for her like confused children. They were all arguing with each other left and right on what they would be doing. Hell, Amelie could even notice some dissent in the ranks of the Heiss Government, with Minister Thell talking to Jacqueline about the “possible casualties” it would inflict on “innocent young women”, but, Amelie’s presence stopped them.

“Everyone, how are we doing?”

“Good, Your Majesty,” Jacqueline said. “I have been getting more signatures from my party for the bill. I…well, it’s not yet a clear majority.”

“But close.”

Jacqueline nodded, showing her usual nervousness. “Yes…close. Something like that. Yes.”

“Mhm…”

“She’s saying more than half of her party is still sitting their arse out,” Deputy Prime Minister Walter Plock said with his arms crossed. “The UOP’s still barely conscious to decide whether or not a war about their very survival is a question or not. Absolute morons…”

“Walter, can you please not speak of us that way,” Jacqueline hissed. “Look, I’m trying, but my peers are just—”

“Yes, misguided, led into false assumptions, nervous, bla bla bla bla. What, are they children who can’t discern right from wrong or ostriches who buried their heads in the sand? Jacqueline, even though you sound so unconvinced about protecting the daycare center you call your party out here. Maybe it’s time we give up on these delusional fools masquerading as ‘totally not members of the AP’.”

“Oh, goddess damn it, I thought we already agreed that we’re united in policy here,” Amelie frowned. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Oh, you know what’s going on,” Minister Hegel said. “Damned women’s block out here still has some ‘concerns’.”

“Damn it, you three are just mocking our concerns aren’t you?” Minister Thell seemed red-faced. “I’m tired of this. You can’t consider the fact that this will have a massive public backlash. And will be a danger for people not supposed to be in—”

“Not supposed to be in war?” Minister Sobiesky laughed. “Allison, I thought all of you were superior with your magic. What the heavens are we even doing around here acting like chickens? You draft young men without democratic approval from young men, but you all can’t stomach forcing unwilling young women to go to the pigsty without gently asking them ‘Are you in favor or not’. What a goddamned circus that we have here.”

“Oh please for the love of…not now…” Amelie muttered as she lost control of her Ministers again.

“Yeah, yeah,” another Minister chimed in. It was Minister Albin Bott of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Quite frankly, Amelie was surprised the normally silent engineer was now speaking. “At this point, what’s the Ministry of Arcane bullshittery for if you women aren’t going to use your damned magicks in the fight?”

“Okay, can we all please stop being a bunch of schoolchildren here,” Pristina suddenly said. “Her Majesty already said we’re trying to do something. Well, we’re trying to do something.”

“Hard to do unity with these kinds of crap in this ‘reformist cabinet’, Pristina,” Walter scoffed. “We’re going to waste the OAF’s time by bending to their stall tactics.”

“Then what, are we supposed to do what you’re all suggesting?! Walter, is that it?” Minister Thell asked.

“Allison, you’re still going on and on about that crap?”

“Oh, so now, the democratic process is crap?” Minister Thell retorted. “Damn it, you three, and you too Albin, you’re all plotting to…to sabotage the democratic framework that this nation is founded upon. We disagree, but one thing we shouldn’t disagree about is letting the Parliament decide instead of the Queen.”

“What, and all of you are tiring her out by dragging this entire crap for too long. You and I know this, Pristina. That KDUs of yours ain’t going to be enough. Amelie, I know you have a working brain. I know you know that we ain’t winning this without you putting your foot down. Isn’t that right, Pristina? Or do you want to lose to Rimpler’s ghouls?”

“I know it’s not enough Walter! But Amelie already decided that she’ll let the Parliament do the thing first. I thought we all agreed on that?”

“We had damned reports from the OAF that the Confederacy is about to blitz through goddamned Gallia,” Walter said. “And we’re pulling out more and more of our cream of the crop brigades that aren’t being replaced by enough combat strength. Do any of you have any idea how much an armored brigade is worth? It’s the equivalent of losing twenty-thousand-foot soldiers in the goddamned field.”

“Bit of an exaggeration, but he’s got a point,” Sobieski said. “We have open lines on the field. If the enemy makes a breakthrough, we can’t plug it well enough with the gaps on our available QRF units. If we can’t have more armor, then we need more meat to stop any breakthrough in the first place.”

“We know that,” Pristina said. “That’s why I’m trying to expand the KDUs. That’s why I’m cooperating with the OAF in advance to make sure those newly mobilized units of women will have officers ready to lead them.”

“Yeah, but you’re all still stalling,” Walter countered again. “We’re going to supremely embarrass ourselves if the vote fails. You women will embarrass yourselves in front of the fucking nation and in front of history itself.”

“As if you men are no different,” Minister Thell said defensively. “Your brothers literally rebelled and burned half the country!”

“Okay, can we please stop with the finger-waddling?!” Amelie shouted. “Goddess…you’re all…okay, so what’s my government now? Is it just finger-pointing now, or are we going to deal with this crisis unitedly?”

No responses from them, but the Ministers fell silent, with Walter and Allison both breathing out to put off their fuse. Amelie watched as Pristina consoled Allison, meanwhile, Sobieski chuckled on the side with a hint of frustration.

“Everyone…” Amelie’s voice turned softer. “I know you’re all in a tense situation right now because I get it, we’re divided on this thing. But let’s not fight amongst ourselves. Not in this situation. Miss Prime Minister, please…talk to them. Get the house in order. Walter…”

The Deputy Prime Minister raised his head to meet Amelie’s eyes. “Yes?”

“Please just trust me,” Amelie reassured. “I’ll figure out a way to get the bill passed in Parliament. We’re a democratic nation. Flawed yes. Goddess…we’re literally half burning in flames, and we’re only flying half of what Orland was…

“But trust. Please. Walter, Jan, Alfred, and Albin, we know you four have enough grievances on us, but we’ll do what we can to address them. It will be addressed. That’s what Jacqueline and I promised you all when we asked you to join this government. I assure you four…that promise still stands.”

Amelie sighed. “I’ll be making the speech now. You guys cool down for a moment. Walter, Pristina, talk it out, please. Allison, I get you’re afraid, but you need to listen to them. Lady Wittfield…”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Thanks for remaining cool-headed through all this.”

The old woman merely laughed. “Oh, I don’t participate in pointless blabbering. Quite frankly I was simply amusing myself on the side watching our friends bicker. Though, it is also quite a painful sight.”

Amelie nodded.

“Alright, alright,” Walter sighed. “We guys just got riled up today. We’re sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about, you four have a right to be furious. Still, remember, all of us, the Heiss Cabinet and I, are in this together. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good,” the Ministers then gave her a respectful slight bow, and Amelie turned back to the Press Conference.

Goddess that was a close one. The rifts in her government were surely getting bigger. I hope passing this thing will heal that, even temporarily.

Because if there was anything she didn’t want, it was a disunited Royalist Orland.