Sovereign

“Princess Louise Alois ascends to the Gallian throne! Without much pomp or celebrations, the apparently confused Princess of Gallia received both the titles and crown of her mother in a rushed ceremony in Toldoi. So far, most nobles of the Gallian Kingdom have not yet confirmed nor recognized her crowning, but the current sitting emergency government headed by Prime Minister Clovis Doval, the head of the Gallian Army, has now approved of the crowning. Queen Clericia Alois however remains to be seen in public, and she has not yet confirmed that she has abdicated personally. Observers note that the GAF ‘power grab’ is clearly a rushed affair, with the coup appearing to be disorganized on the political front.”

- Geopol Press

+++

West Orland

November Palace

June 15, 2025

The situation room was darkly lit. The screens showed the maps of the ongoing conflict in Gallia. The northeastern part of the country was already heavily occupied by the Poznekis and Larissans. Down southeast, the Lombardians had already advanced close to the coastal city of Boulon, past through the mountainous defense lines of the Kingdom.

Down south on the Asturian border, the map showed that both sides had fully settled into the national borders, with the Gallian military withdrawing even from the few forward defense lines into the mountains, practically freezing the conflict. But the red-colored territories held by the CFN weren’t where the members of the Heiss Government were focusing on.

Their eyes were looking at the yellow-colored territories that denoted areas controlled by the ongoing Royalist “uprisings”. Where protestors and nobles seized many Gallian cities and regions. Areas which were not under the control of the Gallian Junta.

The rest of the screens showed the scenes in the country.

One showed soldiers clad in riot gear, holding shields as they watched thousands of young women create fires and displays of explosive magic in front of them. Other screens showed Gallian troopers straight up opening fire with their machine guns in the skies to scare off protestors. Others showed armored vehicles speeding through magically reinforced wooden barriers—smashing through them as civilians scattered, with tear gas and other crowd control weapons popping off left and right.

Amelie tried her best to keep herself together, as she clenched her fist. This wasn’t how she planned it to go. This wasn’t the best result she was aiming for.

“Is there still no update from the Gallians?” Allison asked. “This is getting out of hand. We’re already seeing so many women condemning the Gallian government for this. Some are already pointing at us.”

“Us?” Alfred almost spat the coffee he had just sipped. “The hell is our involvement in this? It’s not our fault the last Queen was a massive idiot who destroyed her country. They better shut the hell up before they point at us.”

“Well, we are involved in it,” Jan said, leaning back on his chair as he watched the footage in front of them. “I mean, we did decide to back the coupists. That’s about the epitome of involvement to me. Not that they have much of a point either. Queen Clericia ruined her country by treating her military like shit. I think all the fingers should be pointed at her for her incompetence.”

“Regardless, our actions still led to this,” Pristina said, slightly eyeing Amelie. “These consequences are something we should have taken into account. Now, we are facing it, and we have no proper response. We just assumed that the Gallian military can easily subjugate a country of tens of millions. That they can simply restore order when they have neither the popularity to rule nor the legitimacy to rule.”

“I doubt there’s much I can input into this problem,” Anne sighed to herself. “Maybe we should just cut our losses and try to distance ourselves from the problem. Not like we can act and do the job of their new government anyway. At least we can protect ourselves from the fingers trying to point at us. Of course, we’d still have to deal with the problem of fighting in the land of an unstable ally, but…well…”

“If that was an easy plan we’d have done that already,” Jacqueline said. “We’re Orland. They’re all going to be pointing at us whether we do anything or not. That’s why we acted. Just…well, I’m not sure if the choice we made was the right one.”

They’re all questioning my decision. Amelie thought. That’s what you all think, no? Every woman in this room, they’re all wondering if I made the right decision. Why wouldn’t they, I caused this. I chose the Gallian military over that damned Queen…I just…I didn’t expect all this to happen out of nowhere.

She watched as the ranks of the Gallian soldiers, standing side-by-side with their riot shields, were suddenly struck by a colorful explosion that knocked many down. Amelie winced, recognizing those spells being thrown at them. It wasn’t exactly lethal explosions, but the energy from those could knock down a grown man, throw heavy equipment around, and potentially cause hearing loss to those struck.

The soldiers, unable to exactly simply return fire at a crowd of young women only using nonlethal spells, backed down as their ranks disintegrated.

But I cannot give in to their demands. If I let the Gallian military on the loose and lift the restrictions I gave them, this can escalate worse. But if I don’t, their military has no experience in properly dispersing civilian protestors with anti-riot tactics. Not especially those with magic.

That would be an even worse outcome!

“I say we let them go loose,” Walter suggested. “I mean, accidents with the military opening fire are already happening. It’s kinda a thing that’s going to keep happening until the fatalities stack up. Why not back the Martial Law with teeth? Tell them anyone who continues to resist the national government will be treated as traitors collaborating with the CFN that will be shot.”

Goddess…there it goes again. He’s suggesting another set of his psychotic plans. We got into this entire mess because I mainly followed his suggestions. I get that he had a point earlier, but why is every response from Walter’s mouth becoming more and more psychotic?

“Walter,” Amelie warned. “I know I listened to you a lot but you’re treading a thin line here.”

“Y-your Majesty,” Allison pointed her finger at Walter in an accusatory way. “Did he just suggest that we try brutalizing innocent civilians? That’s unacceptable! Utterly unacceptable! That’s psychotic and disgusting!”

“Yeah? It’s psychotic and disgusting now, eh?” Walter asked. “But we have the same set of laws here. Anyone close to the frontlines suspected of harboring sympathies with the Federalists is to be arrested, and if they ever attempt to fight back in any way—lethal force is applicable to capture or eliminate them as a threat to Her Majesty’s Government. Isn’t that how Martial Law is supposed to work? Then why the hell is Amelie allowing the Gallian military to enact it but remove its teeth? Maybe that’s why it isn’t working.”

“Walter, you have to understand that we already have hundreds of thousands of young women from many major Gallian cities protesting right now against the new government,” Amelie tried to hold her anger. “I don’t think I need to explain to you what kind of a bloodbath will ensue if I let them do whatever they want. No. We’ll find another way.”

“We chose this way already,” Walter said. “We have to go all in or it might fail.”

“What are you even trying to do?” Jacqueline narrowed her eyes as she looked at Walter. “At this point, you’re just being needlessly cruel for what? Improving the odds of our plan? God. You even wanted the Queen assassinated just to remove her from the equation. Now you want to have the protestors, civilians, shot, just to remove them from the equation by force?”

“I don’t really expect much else from him,” Pristina crossed her arms as she glared at Walter. “At this point, I’m not surprised that the highest-ranking man in the Kingdom knows nothing but violence as his response to every problem we face. And all the other men in this room seem to be with him. I’m quite frankly disappointed.”

“What, you expect us to respond softly to aggression?” Walter asked. “That’s not what works. Not in our experience. The only thing that works against aggression is aggression. These protests are being aggressive to Gallian uniformed personnel, disrupting the ongoing war to defend their country. I believe that the only way for them to be convinced to stand back is by a show of force. They think that just because they’re women the military would never open fire with them. Give them a few accidents. See how fast they disperse from the streets.”

“And if the roles were reversed?!” Allison asked with outrage.

“The reverse has always been true,” Jan said. “We’re never going to forget how you all cracked down on the early male rights movement when it was still peaceful four decades ago.”

“Yeah, at least this time around we have a good justification to be violent,” Alfred laughed. “Unlike beating down protestors asking for rights, we’re beating down over-pampered dipshits who don’t wanna do their part in the war while sabotaging it. I’ll even call them traitors.”

“You three are now just pushing it,” Jacqueline snarled. “What the hell has gotten into all of you? Don’t give the Queen these damned ideas. Walter, for the love of the goddess, please snap out of it! I hate hearing you suggest these bloodthirsty ideas. You were never like this!”

“Who told you that? I’ve always been an advocate for bloody ideas, granted that they are done in a reasonable manner. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re going to be cracking on the bastards quick and easily by removing the leash we placed on the Gallian military. Why? Because we’re in a goddamned war.”

“Alright, enough!” Amelie punched down her fists on the table, gaining the attention of her ministers. “Walter, Jan, Alfred, you three have to cool down and suggest a more reasonable solution. I will not allow the Gallian Junta to have a bloody reputation right in the middle of the war. And I am not allowing Gallian women’s blood to spill on their Kingdom’s streets just to get what I want.”

“Come on, Adelaide can salvage it,” Walter tried.

“No. No one can salvage it if they actually act brutally,” Amelie shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m not allowing it. I know neither would Jacqueline, so that’s the two leaders of the Kingdom already voting no. No. It’s not happening. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”

“Well, we were just suggesting our solutions,” Walter shrugged. “I would like to see you ladies come up with a solution if you’re all so better. Up to you. You’re the Queen,” he then looked at Jacqueline. “And you’re the Prime Minister. That’s why you two are in charge.”

“Have respect and don’t be sarcastic to the Queen,” Pristina warned. “You really are pushing it.”

“Well, sorry, not sorry, but I was just saying my part,” Walter smiled mockingly. “You were all just watching the footage go down like you’re all seeing a horror movie, so I just stepped up to the rescue. Again, up to all of you to accept our solution or not. Our only interest here is protecting OAF soldiers. We can only do that by ending these protests. That’s what my solution intends to do.”

“And I don’t like the side effects of your remedy,” Amelie shot him down. “Look, I respect you, but this is not one of your advice that I won’t be accepting. Nope. Never. That’s final.”

“I see,” Walter sighed. “I guess my plan is just too bloodthirsty for your liking then.”