Summoning Italy

Chapter 10: The Road to Rome

Galleria Degli Uffizi, Florence, Day 2 of Delegation - 9:49 AM

Remille had always been a self-proclaimed connoisseur of art. Mostly because her status as a Parpaldian royal meant her opinion was higher above others. Regardless, she enjoyed the craft like any other person would. But her mind wasn't able to bask in the details of the sculptures in the hall due to her nightmare last night.

Jana, being her lifetime maid, knew what was going on. Being hired in her 20s when Remille was only a child, she's come to raise the young imperial woman as her own. Even if she wasn't allowed to display anything beyond professional behavior with her. But she still had immense concern for Remille. With that, she spoke. "Miss Remille, are you alright?"

Remille returned to reality, realising she's only been staring at a simple bust of some unknown man before she sighed. "Yes, I'm okay...."

Jana knew what this mean. "Did you have... that nightmare again?" She asked with concern as she kept her concerned look to Remille.

Jana knew, Remille knew. Aside from Ludius, the only person she's been comfortable with was her maid. Which was ironic. Jana at some points knew Remille better than she knew herself. With that the young woman confessed. "Okay, yes... Indeed I have.... Nothing too serious, I fell asleep watching those magical moving displays." She said with a little sigh.

"Hmm.... Did it happen the same way?" Jana gently asked as she kept her hands clasped in front of her.

Remille gulped as she shook her head. "No, not at all... It ended differently this time.... Everything started exploding near the end... turns out when I woke up, that magical display was showing off Italian cannons..."

The maid then frowned a bit. "Oh.... I'm sorry you dreamt of that, miss Remille..."

"I...." Remille gulped once more as she huffed. "I'm... afraid. I'm afraid of their power... Because what if Parpaldia..." She hesitated further before she scoffed. "I'm worrying over nothing... but thank you for calming me, Jana."

"Well, umm..." Jana could do lots of things. But being able to let Remille open up has been challenging. She nodded. "You're welcome, miss Remille. Now we better get going, the rest of the delegation is quite ahead."

Remille nodded as she sighed and eyed the statue. It was only now did she appreciate the details of the sculpture.

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Train to Rome, 1:15 PM

Antonio gripped his suitcase as he looked out the window of the train, watching the passing buildings as they were nearing the central station of Rome. While the Parpaldians had a look of wonder and curiosity, Antonio was more on contemplation. So far he's been successful in making sure to let the Parpaldians know that they were a cultured, developed nation not to be messed with. But what bothered him was his conversation with one of the aides.

"Emperor Ludius has built his entire life on making sure the glorious Parpaldian Empire will expand... With our superior magic, I reckon that they're quite the force against your machinery. Well, at least I think so, so far."

That was the reason why he gave them videos displaying Italian military power. But Antonio damn well knew that an actual show is better than a couple pixels on a screen. He needed to convince them that Parpaldia wasn't powerful. That even so called 'barbarians' can topple a great empire.

As Antonio sat there, he gripped the handle of the suitcase. Oddly enough, he was most excited for tomorrow. It was a day of exploring Rome and showing off their military equipment.