Armand and Eris were in the former's bedroom in his estate, far away from the feasting table. They wanted to make sure they weren't heard by anyone. And especially not their guests.

"Eris," Armand spoke first. "Who are the people you brought here?"

"They're members of that idiotic peasant revolt," Eris said.

Armand grimaced. His inner mind turned.

"I should have figured that Eris would attempt to crush Robespierre's cause now that she isn't trying to destroy me. But why is she letting them live? Even I would have had them executed on the spot. This must be part of some larger plan," he thought.

"They don't look like peasants to me. They're too well-dressed," the boy stated.

Eris nodded.

"From what I've found out, there aren't many actual peasants in Robespierre's cause," she said. "Most of them are townsfolk, tradesmen, merchants, that sort of subhuman."

The girl then shrugged.

"Most peasant revolts weren't trying to overthrow the whole system, just make changes to it. Or stop something the nobles were doing. I guess that the subhuman peasants know their places, and it's the uppity middle class that's the real problem," Eris' voice filled with vitriol as she talked more.

Armand let out a slight sigh.

"She really needs to stop thinking of commoners as subhumans," he thought before speaking. "And why are they still alive? The penalty for treason is death. By the gods, I'm surprised you left them in one piece."

A slight flicker of annoyance flashed through Eris.

"Who does Armand think I am? Has he forgotten what I'm like?" she pondered.

Then, a grim thought flickered through her.

"Or maybe I have changed and changed enough that even Armand doesn't know me as well? At one point, I'd be happy if Armand couldn't predict me. But I'm not sure now," the girl contemplated.

"I'm going to kill them eventually, but not yet," Eris explained. "If I kill a few underlings, Robespierre and the Revolutionary Council will just recruit more. I want to wipe out this revolt in one swift blow."

Armand's body suddenly stood at full attention. His eyes focused on Eris' face. Reaching to his chin, the boy scratched it.

"Revolutionary Council? I've never heard of that before," new interest filled his voice.

Eris gave her fiance a warm smile.

"Yes! I have Armand's attention! He'll help me for sure now!" she thought.

The girl stroked her hair.

"They're the leaders of the revolution. Robespierre is a member, and he's the face, but I am certain the commoners are inhibited by their internal politics," Eris said.

Armand groaned and shook his head.

"Just like us nobles, then?" he stated.

A flicker of rage passed through Eris. She folded her arms and scoffed.

"Our politics do not harm our causes. They make us stronger," the Hapsburg argued.

"Then, why didn't you wipe out Robespierre's revolution the last time around?" Armand questioned.

"Because I was too busy trying to kill you," Eris replied.

He nodded.

"Yes, you were. Because of politics," the Concord pointed out.

Eris opened her mouth to object, but no arguments came to mind.

"And remind me why I was the only survivor when the army of monsters invaded us?" Armand continued. "Because our army was so busy with political infighting, even when Foldzar was on the verge of extinction, that we were more unprepared than we would have been otherwise."

"I mean, I didn't even send men to help you, so I wouldn't know..." the Hapsburg started.

Eris averted her eyes, shame flowing through her. She clenched her hands, but they loosened. Her arms dropped to the side.

"Armand could have died there. By the gods, everyone in Foldzar could have. Including me. Why didn't I help? I hated Armand, but did I really hate him so much that I'd have given up my life just to take his? Or did I have that much confidence in our army? What was I thinking? Was I even thinking, or was I acting on impulse?"

Armand crossed his arms.

"The only reason why Foldzar hasn't been conquered by some foreign power is because we're surrounded by mountains. The only people with an easy land route to us are divided city-states. It would be easy for anyone to exploit our divisions," he said.

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Eris decided to not dispute what she knew to be true.

"Is it...really that bad?" she questioned.

"I'm surprised she cares," Armand thought before speaking. "A third of the nobles in Foldzar would kill the other two-thirds because they looked at them the wrong way. Another third would do it just for the pleasure of killing them."

The Concord threw his arms into the air in exasperation.

"For the gods' sake, Eris, commoners live twenty years longer than nobles on average. As far as I know, we are the ONLY kingdom on the entire planet where commoners outlive nobles. Even in Republics, the nobles outlive commoners. Our politics are so damn dangerous that it's genuinely safer to be a peasant living in a wood and straw hut than a noble in a castle. You died at the age of 25 the last time around, and if I wasn't a moroi, I'd probably have died in my 30s."

He shook his head.

"How can you possibly think Foldzar's literally cutthroat politics benefit anyone? All they do is get people needlessly killed."

Silence overtook the room. Eris didn't bother arguing. How could someone argue in favor of what got them killed? Of what turned them into a monster? After a few minutes, Eris spoke.

"What do you want to do about it?" she asked.

"What I want is irrelevant. There's nothing I can do. I'd have been killed already if I wasn't Marshal Staufer's adjutant for years," Armand answered. "Changing Foldzar's culture would take hundreds of years. And until I become a strigoi, I won't have that time."

A pang of sympathy flowed through Eris.

"Armand must have felt hopeless for a very long time. I must break him out of this, but how? I...will figure it out later," she thought before speaking. "Let's focus on crushing the revolution for now."

Armand nodded.

"Yes. Why exactly did you bring these people here?" he questioned.

Eris gave him a slightly smug smirk.

"I infiltrated the revolution, and they gave me a mission to get material to blackmail you into joining them. Those people are part of the mission," she said.

Armand scoffed.

"Do they really think I keep things around that someone could use against me? Anything like that goes into the fireplace as soon as possible," he stated.

"They underestimated your paranoia," Eris replied. "And they're probably looking around the manor right now."

Armand let out a slight sigh.

"The revolutionaries are welcome to try. I instructed my guards to not let them in certain rooms," the Concord said.

"What rooms? I thought you said you did not have anything incriminating," Eris questioned.

Armand nodded.

"I don't," he replied. "So, I picked out some random rooms with nothing important in them. They will be sorely disappointed if they make it past my guards in there."

Eris chuckled, holding in even greater laughter.

"Well, I never thought Armand would do something funny like that," she thought before speaking. "That is a great plan, Armand, but I think you can see the problem. If I don't come back with something, it will hurt my infiltration efforts. And I don't want to bring back anything that they could actually use to manipulate you."

The Hapsburg sighed.

"Worse still, some of the members of the Revolutionary Council are being cautious. They might all be commoners, but at least a few of them are smart. We can't underestimate them," she stated.

Armand blinked in sudden shock.

"Eris said that about commoners? I never thought I would see the day. She's still a monster, but it looks like my efforts to redeem her are slowly working," he thought.

The Concord hid his surprise as swiftly as it came. He gave Eris a nod before stroking his chin.

"A lot of people already think I'm insane because of my book about monsters. And if we fake something that could be used to blackmail me but could be easily debunked, the Revolutionary Council might figure it out. So, perhaps we could give them something they think they could use to bribe me?" Armand suggested.

Eris raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

"I know where Brutus Medici is," Armand answered.

The Hapsburg folded her arms.

"Why is he still alive?" she wondered.

"His family gave him a lot of guards," the Concord replied. "And he's in some foreign kingdom's overseas colonies. Getting an assassin over there capable of killing him isn't easy. It's also very expensive."

Eris grimaced.

"I've never had to kill someone overseas before. Maybe I can think of something?" she wondered.

"The point is that no one knows that I know where Brutus Medici is. Even you didn't know before today. But a lot of people know that I'm the reason why he had to leave Foldzar," I said.

A wicked grin crossed Eris' face.

"So, if you give me Brutus Medici's location, I can tell the revolutionaries that we could bribe you with it. They wouldn't like it as much as blackmail, but it's better than nothing and can't be used against you."

However, a thought twisted the smile out of Eris' expression.

"But does the Revolutionary Council even know about our animosity with Brutus? Nobles fight all the time. They might not pay much attention to it," she stated.

Armand stopped a moment in contemplation.

"If they did their research, they should know. But we can't guarantee that they have," he said.

"Perhaps we could fake some papers? Make it look like you've been recently looking into Brutus' movements? And then, I can bring those back along with Brutus' location?" Eris suggested.

Armand stood up and walked to a desk on the side of the room. He pulled out some papers along with a quill pen as well as an inkwell. Then, the boy started writing.

"I'll get on it right away. With some of the papers, I can make them look old. But I doubt I can make them convincingly older than a few months," the Concord stated.

"That should be good enough. How long do you think your guards can keep the revolutionaries from going into one of the forbidden rooms?" Eris asked.

Armand shrugged.

"I have no idea how good these rebels are," he answered. "I suspect my men can keep them at bay for a day or two at bare minimum. I have until then to finish these letters."

Eris nodded.

"I'll do what I can to distract the revolutionaries. We should also return to the feast together so no one will suspect anything," the Hapsburg stated.

Armand nodded, putting down his pen.

"Yes. I have guest rooms ready for them. We shall finish the feast, I will bring them to their rooms, and then I will start on the letters," he said.

He stood up and held out his arm. Eris grabbed onto it.

"Let's get back to the feast, my dearest Armand," the Hapsburg's voice was as playful as she could make it.

Internally, she was almost over the moon.

"I'll get to do things like this with Armand all the time when we're married. I'm so happy. I can't wait for it. Maybe I can make a wedding goblet out of Robespierre's skull? Or is that too barbaric for the modern era?"

Armand was filled with a sense of nervousness.

"By the gods, Eris. I hope no one figures out what you're doing. This could be the end for both of us if you make a mistake. The revolutionaries are one thing, but if a noble finds out...no, what am I thinking. Of course, you have a backup plan, Eris. I must be letting the stress get to me."

And with that, the two of them left the room together.

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