"Very good.", Captain Cid responded with a firm nod of his head. He saw how Ace, or now Hearts, changed his demeanor completely. It caught Captain Cid by surprise, and I could see a hint of surprise. I didn't say anything though. All I saw Captain Cid do was look back my way. What he said next drew my interest. "By the way, I was looking for a chance to have Second Lieutenant Schwarz bring you here, but you skipped that step and came here directly, Your Highness. With that being said, I can now pass this to you."
Captain Cid has something for me?
I saw Captain Cid reach into his desk drawer. He pulled out a large, closed file from within. It had top secret written in bold red all over it. Oi. You're handing me something like this out of the blue!?
My face turned serious once my eyes fell upon it.
"Not too long ago, we received a rather interesting personnel report. We've been keeping them as a guest here in Liberl, but apparently, this person wants to apply for a lead position at Grancel Castle. Your secretary, to be exact.", Captain Cid, explained. As he said that, he moved the file my way. Taking it into my hand, I opened it, and began to read its contents.
After Captain Cid explained the situation, General Morgan nodded his head in agreement. Overall, it was pretty simple to read. I saw the person of interest labeled on the file. The same person who Captain Cid was referring to. My eyes turned wide in surprise the moment I saw her. It was a beautiful, pale-white skinned woman. The most striking thing about her appearance was her pearly-white hair, which had violet specks streaking down the sides of it. She was also donned in a particular set of armor that I had gotten acquainted with this last couple of years.
A very familiar set of purple-clad armor. You guessed right.
This woman was part of the Northern Jaegers! What in Aidios's name is she doing by trying to request and become my personal secretary!?
Either way, I began to read what was written on the classified file.
"Jayna Storm, former Vice-Commander of the Northern Jaegers. The last, surviving heir to the fallen Balmund Family. Current Age: 29. Gender: Female. Requested to work at Grancel Castle for the position of Secretary. Holds several years of combat tactics and has a wide net of connections. Well versed in strategy planning. Recommended...", I uttered, seeing the information present before me. Even the Royal Army is recommending Jayna's expertise?
And here's a twist. Turns out one of the Vice-Commanders was a secret bastard child of the fallen Balmund Family. Bet you didn't know that North Ambria used to be run by nobles? (A/N: This is not canon, but my twist).
North Ambria gained its independence as a result of the salt pale tragedy that struck North Ambria. Its ruling prince, Prince Balmund, fled the country outright, which enraged its people. In return, the country would get overturned, and the Northern Jaegers were born. From there the Northern Jaegers would work alongside its remaining government to fix the chaos that was made by the salt pale. Prince Balmund did attempt to take North Ambria over once the dust settled, but spectacularly failed. The result forfeited his life. It looks like Jayna Storm had zero interest in continuing Balmud's legacy, and even became "Jayna Storm". Her previous name was likely Jayna Balmund.
Jayna really is leaving such a chaotic country behind to become a citizen of Liberl, and work as my Secretary no less? I know there was an anime too for the Northern War. A war that would result in North Ambria getting annexed into Erebonia. Father would be behind it all, and it would paint Rean as a villain. Temporarily, anyway.
"The hell?", I continued, placing the file back onto the desk. Shock was written all over my face.
"We were pretty surprised too. But you should know as well as we do the current state of affairs within North Ambria, Your Highness. Its government is in shambles. Its workers are taking bribes left and right, and they've let Jaegers run it into the ground. It likely won't be long until North Ambria ceases to exist. It would take a goddamn miracle for it to recover with it being in such a state.", Captain Cid cursed back, and sighed. "And I'm guessing Her Highness likely fled, being able to piece things together."
"And I'm under the same impression. I'd rather not get into the current matters of North Ambria. Its neighbor, Erebonia, already has it in sight. I know the person we're speaking of used to be a Jaeger, but I won't be one to turn down someone who is highly capable at what they do. I would have suggested Her Highness to join the Royal Army if she didn't express her interest to work at Grancel Castle beforehand.", General Morgan said.
"Either way, we're letting you make the final decision, Your Highness. Matters of the Royal Army will be passed to you in the coming future once Her Majesty steps down from the throne. This is a good chance to see how things work here.", Captain Cid continued, which threw me for another loop. These guys really are leaving it up to me to decide?
But before I could even say anything else, I saw Captain Cid suddenly call out a name.
"Your Highness, you can come in now.", Captain Cid said, his tone polite. As for Hearts, he was still with us, but remained quiet. He was now a Private of the Royal Army. Any action he does from here on runs the risk of overstepping his boundaries. He could only wait for him to be dismissed. I became shocked once again the moment I heard an alluring voice answer Captain Cid's call.
"With pleasure.", The woman said, reaching my ears. Turning around, I saw the closed door open. The very same woman who I had just seen on the file appeared before me. She was even more beautiful in person. It didn't help that she had a fitting perfume for this occasion. I could only blink my eyes once I saw Jayna Storm. All she did was smile at me. "It really is an honor to meet the Crown Prince of Liberl. And you don't need to use pleasantries with me, Captain. I had long since tossed away the Balmund name. Right now, I am merely a simple woman without a home."
A simple woman without a home, you say...
"Very well.", Captain Cid replied with a nod. "It is true you have disposed of your previous title. We will call you Miss Jayna.", Captain Cid said.
"I'd like that.", Jayna replied, smiling at us.
Still, things were getting pretty interesting now, weren't they? My very own Secretary, eh?
I won't lie. This woman before me is breathtaking. That much I will say. Jayna here is on par with the likes of Aurelia, and that's saying something. Seriously, did the game devs hold a candle to all silver-haired women they brought into this place? Haha! At least, Jayna's hair is much more white than it is silver. You rarely come across a shade of white like this.
With Jayna being here now, how is North Ambria faring? Will the Northern Jaegers collapse quicker than usual? Will the Northern War even take place at this point? I'm not sure. I doubt Jayna pulling this will stop Father from annexing the damn country. He already has sights on it.
And if I do agree, how will Grancel Castle react? It isn't just me there. There's Kloe. There's Angelica. There's Ennea. Grandmother. All the maids and service workers within Grancel Castle. If they see me with a new woman, let alone it being Jayna, they might assume she will be part of the Royal Harem. To say the least, it will require some explanation. I don't want to drop this on them out of the blue.
As I thought that, I smiled back at Jayna.
"A pleasure nonetheless, Miss Jayna. It is a shame with what's been happening with North Ambria. Still, seeing you here, it means you put that behind you. Both Captain Cid and General Morgan here have recognized your worth. It's really giving me a hard time trying to turn you down, haha.", I said with a laugh. I wholeheartedly welcomed Jayna into Leiston.
"All you need to do is name the job, and I'll get started right away, Your Highness. It does not matter to me one bit what happens to the place where I came from.", Jayna said, still smiling. "To put it bluntly, I am starting a new chapter. Not one that will be on a sinking ship."
Starting a new chapter...Jayna really is trying to turn over a new leaf, even though the leaf was shredded at this point. Her intent is clear as day. She doesn't want anything to do with North Ambria. And I don't blame her. Here's to hoping Sara also leaves that rotting country. Colonel Valestein is still alive now since I saved him, hopefully he'll see what's happening. Hell, he might even come along with Sara. And that famous line of Jaegers who worked alongside him. What was that girl called again? Lavian Winslet, as I recall?
Either way, I laughed again. Even if Jayna was plotting something, it still means something when she's working for me.
"Haha.", I laughed. I then turned around, and looked at Captain Cid again. "Nonetheless, I still have one more matter to attend to while I'm here, Captain."
"Is that right?", Captain Cid asked, gaining interest. "Please tell me you're not going to sneak out again, Your Highness."
"Nah. Nothing of the sort. It's just that I'm currently planning to receive my late mother's legacy in the next couple years. It won't be long now until I'm ready for it.", I said, telling another white lie. "That is why I am informing you first."
In reality, I'm going to use these next couple of years to plan for the Vermillion Trials. I am now Level 81. I need 19 more levels to meet its requirement. Unfortunately, leaving Ace alive instead of killing him outright forfeited any experience from the battle. I received nothing from it, apart from the five levels granted to me from completing the Emergency Quest.
"Your late mother's legacy...It wasn't just the weapon you hold at your waist, Your Highness?", Captain Cid asked, looking at the weapon I had equipped.
"Not exactly.", I replied, keeping it vague.
"The legacy of your late mother...", General Morgan uttered, which shifted my eyes to him.
"Oh yeah. You knew Mother, didn't you, General?", I asked.
"Indeed I have. I have served her on occasion before. It is a shame how her life went to waste like that. I do not know the exact details of what you plan to do, but we will make sure to remain on high alert once you specify the time frame, Your Highness.", General Morgan assured.
"It is as the General says, Your Highness.", Captain Cid said, also nodding. "Will you make your way back to Grancel Castle now? I did see an airship drop you in, but it vanished afterward. Shall I lend you one of ours?"
"That won't be necessary.", I said, and grinned at the two.
"I...do not like where this is going...", General Morgan responded, and frowned. As for Jayna, she raised her eyes at me with interest. I looked at her.
"If you really are intent on working for me Miss Jayna, you will have to get used to what I can and cannot do. And let me tell you, I can do a lot of things that you wouldn't come across normally.", I started to explain. "And what's a better way to explain it than to show you myself?"
All I did was reach my hand outward. Not toward Jayna or Captain Cid or General Morgan. But to an empty space in front of me. Wooosh!
This was just out of formality but I wouldn't exactly equip it. I had more than enough EP to use. All I did was take out the trainee staff Rose lent me. It was akin to how hers looked, just on a smaller scale.
Just seeing my hand disappear into the void was enough of an alarm to them, though.
"The hell?", General Morgan cursed, only to see me retrieve the staff. I disregarded their reaction, and smiled at them.
"I will be moving along now, you two. Always a pleasure to have a chat like this. And once again, I leave Hearts in your care, Captain.", I said, and did a movement of my staff.
"Right...", Captain Cid responded. He could only nod while he saw a large blue circle appear beneath my feet. It covered Jayna's as well.
"Now this is taking an interesting turn, isn't it?", Jayna uttered, seeing something she had never seen before. She was back inside North Ambria's capital during that warfront I participated in a while back. She doesn't know about Emma, or what I could do then. This is her first time experiencing this.
"Don't fall behind, Miss Jayna.", I said, and looked back at Jayna. She could see my intent, and nodded.
"Of course, Your Highness.", Jayna replied. To my surprise, she approached me, and placed her arms around my chest. Oi! That is not necessary you know!
But I'll welcome it. I mean, who would turn down such a beautiful woman like Jayna? All Jayna did after that was wave her hand at Captain Cid and General Morgan.
Just like that, I did a quick chant. In response, I heard a Gamer Notification sound off inside my head, leaving me satisfied.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has successfully cast Teleportation for the first time.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has added a new Spell to the Spellbook.]
Woooosh!
Before the two could react, they just saw Jayna and I vanish from sight, leaving Hearts alone in the room.
All this did was earn out a drawn sigh after Captain Cid recovered from his shock. General Morgan just had a blank stare in his eyes, seeing me no longer there.
"...Do you think we did the right thing, General?", Captain Cid asked with a loud gulp. He could feel the weight of paperwork piling on his desk.
"...I'm beginning to understand why I could never find His Highness after Her Majesty tasked me with that particular mission...", General Morgan uttered, disregarding Captain Cid's remark.
As for Hearts, he just stood there motionlessly in the room, undisturbed at the events that just took place. Realizing he was still there, Captain Cid sighed, and spoke out to him.
"You are dismissed, Private. Go report to your Staff Sergeant for room assignment.", Captain Cid commanded.
"Yes, Captain!", Hearts saluted, and promptly dismissed himself from the room.