“...Are you serious?”

“It’s all for the sake of restoring the Empire. To that end, I intend to enlist your help as well,” Ludwig said, looking straight into Balthazar’s eyes.

For a while, Balthazar held his friend’s gaze. Then he looked up at the ceiling, ran his hand through his hair, and let out a short laugh.

“The first Empress in the history of Tearmoon, huh. We’re going to have to pull strings until our arms fall off.”

Meanwhile, Mia was completely oblivious to the powerful undercurrents that were swirling beneath her. While she would eventually go on to learn of their plans and suffer a minor meltdown as a result, that is a story best saved for later.