Queen Melty is in a pickle at the moment. Her private train should have gone along the borders of Russia arriving back to the Balkan states of Greece, but some confusion with the signalmen and engineer, her train ended up in Vienna, in the Roman Empire. As if that wasn't bad enough, her train has stopped for maintenance.
"Mr. Karpsui" Melty calls out, "We are in the Austrian territories".
"Yes, I see that" her butler says.
"We are not suppose to be here, we should be somewhere in Russia, they are the only ones who allow us through with our open borders agreement".
"There was a problem in communication between the engineer and the signal men, and it's also the fact that our train is having technical problems. We are having it fixed as we speak".
"How long will it take to have this train up and running?" Melty asks, not wanting to stay in the Roman Empire longer than she has to.
"It'll take a few hours your majesty" Her butler says. The engineer asks to speak with the butler, and as they converse Melty just thinks to herself. Who is Malty to have in control if she does suddenly parish. With no heir apparent, she is technically next in line, she would unite the empire of Rome and Greece. But with the Three Heroes Church being prominent in Rome, ruling will be difficult with many of the aristocrats who would oppose change from Greek policies wanting her out of power. If Rome is without an heir, it is surly open to invasion and socialist uprisings. True she wants to help Egypt rise against Rome, but she only wants to seek territories independence not topple the Roman Empire. She sees Rome having potential for democratic rule. As she was thinking, her butler abruptly comes in.
"Excuse me your majesty" he says. "I'm sorry to intrude, but the engineer has told me that everyone must be off the train, including you ma'am". Melty worries more than ever. Not only is she stuck her for another couple of hours, but now she has to go into the wide open, the last thing she needed right now.
"Out in Vienna? Out in the public? Where some nationalist anti-democratic punk might come out upon me and assassinate me?" She says worryingly.
"If you wear a cloak, we should be alright" her butler responds.
"That's going to make me more suspicious" Melty replies. She controls herself. After all, they'll just be sitting at the train station. It's not like they are going into town anyway. She'll be-
*GROWL*
"Your majesty. I think we should head into town for dinner" her butler says to an embarrassed Melty. Now she HAS to go into town. Taking the advice of her butler, Melty wears the cloak and walks into town incognito. Fortunately, the people here are rather too stupid or too into their worship of the Three Heroes to even pay attention to her. She enters one of the restaurants in Vienna, the Vienna Steakhouse to be precise, hoping not to be recognized by anyone. She sits down and asks for a meal of small roast beef and salad with a glass of water. She looks around the large restaurant, hoping not to see any familiar faces.
'Ok, good' Melty thinks to herself. 'No one bad that I know, especially my sister, is here. I guess if no one could tell that I am from Greece, I think I should be-'
*BURP*
Melty hears the very rapturous belching from the other side of the restaurant. And there she sees her worst fears. The one person she didn't need to see today. It was Empress Malty, eating a large sirloin steak and behaving wildly, while Kaname just sits there and watch.
"Your Graciousness" Kaname says. "Maybe you should, I don't know? Be a bit more... calm".
"Are you kidding!?" Malty replies rudely, "I am the empress! I can do whatever I want and no one will tell me otherwise. Or else I'd-"
"lock them up in the dungeon, yeah yeah we get it" Kaname says cutting her off. Which in fact she was correct.
"Damn STRAIGHT!" Malty says continuing to chomp down on her dinner. Melty views her from her table far away from where she is seating. Right now, she is on thin ice. She can't let her sister see her. She has to leave as soon as possible.
"Excuse me ma'am" the waiter says to Melty. "Your food". The waiter presents Melty with her meal.
"Thank you, but I was wondering if you could package it up for me to go?" Melty asks, the waiter looks at her with questioning face.
"What's the rush?" he asks.
"I-I'm just in a hurry to get home is all" Melty replies hastily. The waiter decides not to inquire further and just agrees to pack her meal. Meanwhile, back at Malty's table.
"Your Graciousness. I want to speak with you about tomorrow's schedule" Kaname says.
"Fine. Go on" Malty says in an annoyed tone, as if she doesn't want to hear what her royal advisor says. Kaname continues on.
"Well, tomorrow you have a scheduled meeting with Chairwoman Sparkle of India, but first you have scheduled a visit to Salernum to visit your... summer palace in construction?"
"Ah yes, I want to see my elegant palace that I intend to use during the summers here".
'Yeah, the one you are building over a slum? That one?" Kaname asks, trying to make the empress feel bad, forgetting that is what she does best.
"Of course idiot" Malty says to her. "Oh, that reminds me. The noble of Salerum, uh... Lord Vegeta told me that one of the peasants have not paid their rent, I want to visit them in their new home and evict them and enslave their children" She continues on with a sadistic smile.
"If they have children" Kaname responds to her sadistic empress, then sighs in disbelief. Back at Melty's table, she waited patiently and nervously for her meal. The waiter comes back with the meal, all packaged up, and the bill. Melty writes up her check and gives it to the waiter. Now normally, the waiters wouldn't really look at the amount of the check, nor would they look at the bank of where the check came from, but this waiter...
"Oh my Three Heroes!" the waiter shouted, causing Melty to silently freak out. "A huge spender we have here!". Of course, this got the attention of Empress Malty. Who looked at the mysterious person in envy.
"Wait a minute" She says scornfully. "No one in this emprie should be big spender unless they are of my aristocratic friends".
"That's probably one of your friends then your Graciousness" Kaname responds trying to calm her down. "She probably just wants to cover her identity". Malty bangs the table in disagreement.
"Impossible!" Malty shouts, "No one should have to hide in the presence of this glorious empress" Malty brags. Something is not right about that woman in the clock, and what appears to be a frilly purple dress... and she seems to have light purple hair... Upon further inspection, Malty realizes who this mysterious woman is. She gets up and confronts her with Kaname trailing behind.
"Hey you!" Malty shouts at this stranger. No response. "HEY! i'm talking to you!". No response again.
"Your Graciousness, it is not wise to disturb her when she is about to leave" Kaname says trying to deescalate this whole situation. But before she can get her attention again, Malty removes the cloak to revile Melty all surprised.
"Ugh!" Malty exclaims in disgust, "What are YOU doing here Melty?"
"W-well I-I uh..." was all that Melty was able to stutter out.
"You know as well as do that you and your kind are not welcomed here".
"And you know well as I do that I don't even want to be here" Melty responds getting her act back together. "It just so happened that my train traveled by because of a communication error, and my train broke down, and it's dinner time any-"
"LIES!" Malty shouts, "You were trying to implement dissent in this part of my empire to take control and advantage of me".
"I have no intention of-"
"It doesn't matter" Malty says, "I guess the proper thing to do is do the same. After all, that is what I did with those Russians".
"Wait, you were the ones that gave this Rose person the materials to begin a communist revolution in Russia?" Melty asked, shocked and horrified that her sister would sink to such a horrific low.
"Of course!" Malty says proudly.
"But I thought you hated communists?"
"Oh, they are scumbags, but that will make invading the damn place a lot easier" Malty says, revealing her plans of Roman imperial expansion. "I plan to overthrow both Russia and India to push our imperial might, by playing cool and gracious to them and then begin butting heads. IT is the absolute best plans I've ever came up with, then I will crush you and your pathetic demi-human infested country".
"These demi-humans are under the International Senate's protection. You can't just eradicate them"
"Ugh, the International Senate" Malty says expressing disgust for such an organization. "What do they know. Democracy this and Democracy that. What happened to old-fashioned monarchism"
"You know very well that father destroyed that image of absolute-rule back in the Second International Catastrophe" Melty replied.
"You think of papa as like he was a villain in one of those disgusting German dramas".
"That's because a character in German writer Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube's drama "Girart de Vienne" WAS based off of father". That pulled a trigger in Malty and she pulls on Melty's collar.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF PAPA LIKE THAT!" Malty shouted in fierce anger. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!".
"But how can I take back what is true?" Melty questioned. Malty angrily drops Melty and takes out her sabre.
"YOU and ME, sword duel. NOW!!!" Malty shouts, hoping to take down her sister for good.
"Your Graciousness!" Kaname says putting her foot down. "Really! Please think about this. You know the international community won't take to kindly to this, even though she is your sister". Malty didn't want her loyal adviser to butt in. But she did have a point. Heaven knows what could happen if they did find out she killed Melty. She sighs disappointingly and puts back her sabre.
"I shall slap you on the wrists again for interfering with my duel". Kaname nods in agreement, for there is nothing else she can do.
"I'm leaving" Malty exclaims, and then turns to Melty. "But don't even think about stepping foot in Rome ever again!"
"I wasn't planning to" Melty replies. Malty then starts to leave, leaving Melty to sit taken back. Kaname walks up to Melty, walking out of view from Malty.
"Your majesty" Kaname says softly to Melty, "I'm truly sorry for her Graciousness's behavior".
"I kind of expected that from my sister to be honest" Melty replies. "She is hard to handle".
"It makes me feel awful to see your sister just outright try to hurt you".
"I really can't do anything about it, she insists that I am of lesser leadership because of our willingness to help out Demi-humans". While trying to continue the conversation, Melty's butler gets in touch with her, saying that the train is up and running again and ready to leave the Roman Empire. To which, Melty stands up and reaches for the letter.
"Listen, I have to leave now" Melty says, finding the letter and handing it over to Kaname. "You wouldn't mind if you could try and give this letter to Prince Edward Elric. This is from his younger brother Prince Alphonse". Kaname receives the letter from Mety.
"I'll see what can do" Kaname responds. "I have to leave too".
A few hours after the incident and Melty returns back to Greece unharmed, safe and sound. Still contemplating her little fight with her elder sister. If only she could talk to her sister when she is in a more calm and open-minded mood, an agreement can be made to save the family lineage. But Malty just won't see that monarchy can't survive without the support of the people. She sits in her private office silently thinking over until...
"HEY! Melty" shouts a man's voice. Melty breaks her train of thought with the entrance of a young man with spiky black hair. "Do you have a second".
"Sir Naofumi" Melty responds. "Really, why can't you treat me with the same amount of respect as everyone else does?"
"Your sister almost had me beheaded. I'm not going to trust you as much as that bitch sister of yours".
"You know I'm not like my sister, so why do it?".
"Look, I came here to give this for you to sign" Naofumi says annoyed giving the paper to Melty.
"Ah! The passage papers for the eilite guard to take action to help the Russian communist uprising". She immediately signs it and hands it back over to Naofumi.
"Tell General Patton to get his men ready" she says. As Naofumi was about to leave, Melty wanted to ask him a question.
"Sir Naofumi" Melty says. "I don't understand why you'd rather be a diplomat rather than a general. Your qualifications from the Roman Military Academy would make you a fine lad in the military". Naofumi doesn't like talking about his past in Rome, but he was considered a dashing young officer in Rome before being exiled by Malty. Even then, the Roman Military didn't take his defensive tactics to seriously.
"It seemed that Romans have no need for defense, and I can tell your military is the same".
"I am nothing like my sister. I run the military to protect people. I just want to save lives when Rome does attack".
"Save lives?" Naofumi scoffed at that sentence. "Wars are not meant to save lives. Wars are of means for those in power, like yourself, to maintain their superiority over others".
"But Sir Naofumi, people will die of war, I know that. But it's just that war is terrible".
"Oh" Naofumi replies, "but It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it".
-End of Chapter Eight-