Summoning the Union of South East Asia (USEA)

Chapter 21: A Slave to History Once More

Third Foreign Affairs Office, Esthirant, Parpaldia Empire

September 1, 1640

'It was supposed to be any other day.' Mused Kaios as he stared out of his office window observing the mob that were making their way to the diplomatic quarter of Esthirant. He takes a sip from his hot morning tea as knocks on the door leading to his office was heard. He turns around before replying.

"Enter."

The enamel white door swung open, revealing a woman with blonde hair, it was his assistant Raita.

"Director, new instructions from the House of Lords." Raita says as she puts several pieces of paper of a stack onto Kaios' desk. He looks down at the stack of papers for a minute before looking back up at Raita.

"Ms Raita, what is your personal opinion of the late Madame Remille?"

Raita looked back down to the desk as she stood there. A minute passed and only the sounds of the mob outside chanting 'death to USEA!' could be heard before Raita could formulate a response. "It was a shame as to what had happened to her. Some might argue her reforms weakened the Empire but the fact that our colonial affairs office got less complaints from the lords that oversaw those colonies would indicate that stability was achieved, and it was not the result of a crackdown by the iron fist of the military but by the careful guidance of the velvet glove of the Imperial family."

Kaios could only afford a few nods to agree with his assistant. "Indeed, we might have butted heads in the past, but credit is due where credit is due, she was able to usher in a sense of peace in the Empire's colonies, something nobody expected could be done in the next few decades or so without brutal crackdowns."

The chants of calling for death started to become softer as most of the crowd had left the government quarter where many bureaucratic offices were located in. Kaios turned around to observe the skyline. From his office on the top floor of the Third Foreign Affairs Office, he could see another one of USEA's flying machines ascending into the sky before heading towards the sea.

"Thank you, Raita."

With those words, Raita left the office, leaving Kaios all alone with the stack of documents that were brought in. As the sound of the door closing echoed his office, he could see another flying machine coming down to land at the embassy complex.

"Goodness grief, what are the House of Lords thinking with that sudden accusation first thing in the morning?" Kaios uttered as he shook his head trying to wrap around what had happened in the morning.

Earlier that day, the news broke via the magic powered displays littered around Esthirant about the assassination of Emperor Ludius and Madame Remille. The advisor to the late Emperor, Lupasa, had given at first a sombre speech about the assassination. As a wave of sadness swept most of the public, Lupasa then stated that there was substantial evidence that USEA was behind the assassination that was aimed to destabilize the Parpaldia Empire to usurp its position as the Superpower in this part of the world.

Almost instantly, the feeling of sadness was replaced by one of fire and fury in the hearts of the Parpaldian people. How could such a such a nation after being treated rather nicely by the Empire repay it in such a manner? As anger took over rational thinking, many of the common folk began marching towards the USEAN embassy. All the while chanting "death to USEA!" as their only response to the apparent assassinations.

Kaios soon turned around and faced the stack of papers before him. As he takes a seat and sets aside his cup of tea, he sifts through the papers just to get an overview on what he will be dealing with today. True to Raita's words, it was mostly just new guidelines direct from the House of Lords pertaining to a shift in Parpaldia's foreign affairs that fell under Kaios' watch.