imperious | dark is the new black

[If Peony is dragging him along, then he can't be feeling that off.] If you like, Your Majesty. I had intended on going to a meeting with Chief of Staff Sesemann. He may be unhappy if I don't show up. Why, he might even fire me.

Oh, I've been meaning to talk to him, too. I'll come to the meeting with you. I've been thinking about our military policy lately. Maybe those critics were right about us cutting the military budgets too much.

Perhaps if a war with Kimlasca seemed more likely, but it's peacetime. Our resources are better spent on researching the energy problem.

Seriously? When the hell hasn't a war with Kimlasca been likely, even if it is peacetime?

That is what the peace treaty was for, Your Majesty. [Jade smiles a little too pleasantly.] But if Your Majesty still doubts it, I'm sure we could strengthen Natalia's claim to the throne before taking Ingobert out of the way. The Princess could never be compelled to put her precious citizens at unnecessary risk. [Despite the nastiness of his implication, it's just a joke. And as much as he thinks Natalia will one day be an excellent ruler, Ingobert seems to have heeled enough to make war highly improbable.]

[Peony's tone is joking, although his words are not]

Oh yeah? And what would you suggest?

It's not a particularly difficult to play. Convince Ingobert that her position is undermined, have him pass laws that put it in stone, then have Natalia marry the new tertiary heir. With Asch and Luke dead, it's likely a cousin. Once she herself produces an heir, the succession is practically written in the Score.

It's as easy as that, huh?

[Peony considers this]

Then again, if we didn't do anything like that and just took out Ingobert it could be to our benefit, too. With a succession crisis and idiots battling it out, Kimlasca would be even weaker than they are all ready. They wouldn't have the strength or the centralized power needed to even think about Malkuth, let alone start anything.

[Jade doesn't acknowledge how strange that is. No part of him wants to accept this as anything more than a joke.] More likely, the circle of advisors that played Ingobert so easily would take control. It would easily lead to war.

What a drag. And I thought it would be easy. Unless we took out Ingobert and his advisors, too. Or just the advisors, and leave Ingobert in a weak position where he self destructs.

[Ingobert is an idiot, obviously]

As long as he has Natalia, he'll be fine. [Can you tell Jade loves his adopted family of party members? Because he does. RPG BUDDIES FOR EVER.]

You think so? I mean, she's great, but she's pretty naive about this kind of thing, too. She would've apologized for Kimlasca and admitted responsibility if I hadn't stopped her.

We can loan her Guy to help her if you're that concerned. As it is, I don't doubt that Duke Fabre would be a strong support for them both under those circumstances.

Fair point. We'll just have to take out the entire royal family if we wanted to do anything.

Either that, or we can increase our defense budget in case Kimlasca decides to break the peace treaty. It wouldn't be the first time they've done something like that.

If we don't put enough of our budget into solving this energy crisis, Kimlasca may have no choice but to attack to conserve resources.

We don't need to cut the budget dedicated to the energy crisis. I'm sure we can cut funds elsewhere.

[Wait. Even Jade's faith in Peony can't argue with facts.] I truly don't believe increasing our standing forces would be the wisest move, Your Majesty. We don't want to cause any tension between our nations so soon after the signing of the peace treaty.

Then how would you suggest increasing our defenses? Even with the energy crisis, I can't ignore the security and safety of my people. Even if we ignored Kimlasca, there are still those opposed to abolishing the Score. Not to mention the people who are still openly hostile towards Replicas.

If you're concerned with dangers within the nation, I'd suggest that a group dedicated to keeping the peace be created. Currently, the army holds that function as well, but if you developed a branch of guards into something akin to a city watch, you would be able to create an organization that would protect our citizens from each other without posing any threat to Kimlasca.

[Peony thinks this over for a minute and then smiles]

I knew I kept you around for some reason. Who knew you had it in you to be clever?

Why, it must be all those years in your company, Your Majesty. Some of your intelligence has rubbed off.

I guess I'll just have to spend more time with you if that's the case. Maybe we can get all that stupidity out of you.

If Your Majesty doesn't mind too much, I think I'd prefer to keep it as it is.

He does mind very much, so there's no way around it.

I'm sure that's why you have rappigs.

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