The Marquis nodded. "Well then, we're all in agreeance to this alliance."

"We still don't know what to do first," Kantos stated.

Delia took out a holographic pad from her pocket, flicking it onto the table. It activated, sprouting information.

Varying pieces of evidence... It was a lawsuit in the making. "Our plan of attack will be through the courts... He may have a stranglehold, and he can beat any of us divided - but our connections united can overpower him. We can force him to compromise, of course, we're not actually going nuclear with this, but just enough to reap in what we need - including the information Eliza seeks."

Her usage of Elizabeth's short-hand name was noted.

The twins agreed, nodding. There was nothing for Kazuki to object to. It was a sound plan. The Marquis seemed to be on the same track, nodding. Glancing around the room, Kazuki noted the few Imperial Knights and the twin's own security.

They covered the corners and along the wooden walls.

Cyrus and Nihara were standing by the doorway. The tough half-giant had his sword sheathed along his back. The brawler had electric gloves on, crossing her arms. Pi was sleeping on Nihara's shoulder, wrapped around her neck like a scarf. "Well... seems like we have a deal," said the Marquis.

Kazuki gave the Knights another side glance. "How loyal are your men?" He asked.

The Marquis glanced around, skimming a look at each of the guards. "Question as that would be a disgrace to their ears..."

No reason to disagree, yet. Delia seemed to be happy with how things were going along. A piece of parchment paper was brought in by a drone, Delia's.

Another much smaller, drone came up, drawing everything up. A lawsuit from the combined efforts of the Marquis, the Jara-Jin twins, Delia, the Contract-Breaker - and by extension: Eliza.

Everyone signed it, even Eliza. Though she seemed somewhat hesitant to go for this approach. She gave Kazuki a glance, puppy-dog red eyes to ask whether this was necessary.

'Eliza,' Synthia whispered to her. 'This is probably the most mundane, yes, but logical approach. Let's put emotions and optimism aside for a moment, shall we?'

"It is..." Kazuki whispered to her. "Just go along with it."

"I know," she said. "It's the most logical approach." Her eyes thinned and her face narrowed into a cool stare. "It's just... wait. If we're doing this through a legal route, surely the criminal courts would be much better?"

All eyes turned to Eliza. She noted them down, sweating slightly as she chuckled. "Uh..."

Fer-Charelota cleared his throat, but it was Delia who spoke first: "It's not ideal, Obadiah has connections, after all, and you are proposing mutually assured destruction."

"But wouldn't it be cleaner? A quick strike to him? Wouldn't that be the most just way of ensuring his downfall?" Eliza asked, kicking the plans off course.

The Jara-Jin twins nodded. Kantos spoke for the two, "It wouldn't work... trust me, we've thought about it, but some people are simply above the law."

"Above the law?!" Eliza exclaimed in an outburst. She didn't take the news very well. Kazuki merely stayed motionless to Eliza's naivety. He wanted no part in it. "I'm sorry, but isn't the phrase: let justice be done—"

"Though the Eclipse falls," the Marquis continued. He nodded to her. "I truly understand why you seek that approach, after all, he has, allegedly, caused you two grief. But the lack of concrete evidence is not why I am telling you to vanquish the idea."

Kazuki's lips moved on their own. "It's because he's untouchable. Enough connections and Standardis make a very good metaphorical suit of armour. Won't stop me, though."

Delia continued on immediately, as Eliza's face fell to shame at her own pretty good idea. "We simply cannot, he has too many connections, potentially with many in the courts and the Mischief Board – and they are ferocious in protecting their own..."

Kazuki nodded. Eliza looked as if she was on the verge of tears at this... mass refusal. But she calmed herself.

"But..." Eliza's eyes glanced at Kazuki. She looked as if he had betrayed him. Then, she gulped her feelings down. Her hands on her lap were shaking slightly as she took in a deep breath. It looked unnatural. "I get it..."

"Naïve or not, it is an objectively good idea," Fer-Charelota commented. "But for our, subjective, and incredibly tight tight-rope, we cannot resort to the criminal justice system to provide justice for us, I apologise, Elizabeth, but we must do things our way."

"I just wanted to do this the right way," Eliza murmured. "Blackmailing him? I think I can stomach it, but..." She trailed off.

Kazuki gently leaned in. "It's not blackmail. It's negotiations. If you want to do this cleanly, this is our best shot. Not a shot needs to be fired by me. Is that not clean enough?"

"It is," Eliza started. "But—"

"Whatever options we have, there is no objectively clean way to depose him and do justice," Kazuki cut her off. The interjection caused Eliza's face to sour, and then droop into a frown. "It's wrong. Unjust. But that's the way things are."

Cold reality washed over the conversation, as Kazuki saw Eliza's eyes glisten with a dying flame, withering down in those crimson orbs. Kazuki stopped instantly, his tongue instantly twisting and retorting at the sight of his reflection.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It reminded Kazuki of what he was. A failure. A Contract-Breaker… But far before that, someone who, like Eliza, wished for justice.

There was no justice to be had.

Justice? In this galaxy?

Kazuki concluded one thing: wrong place, wrong time, wrong people. Eliza's eyes were only a stark reminder of what Kazuki had to lose, and everything Eliza held dear onto – he couldn't shoot that down.

But Kaz knew Eliza couldn't accept this. Maybe… in due time, he thought, she'll learn, not like Kazuki, however. I never like Kazuki. Never through fire and blood and steel alone.

"That it is," Fer-Charelota added. "Only a Charelota can support the reformers. It is a saying as ancient as the Terran states, but even that has its limits."

"You're First Consul and the Marquis of the Ball Palace!" Eliza exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table. The cups wavered as she gently lifted her hands. "Sorry... sorry..."

Fer-Charelota shook his head. "All thrones have chains, even mine."

Kazuki placed a hand on Eliza's arm, patting her slightly. "Out of the box, but it doesn't work." Kazuki spared all sympathies he could. Eliza nodded. There was no more talk of it. She was learning, slowly, but still learning – better to let her down slowly than to throw her into the deep end.

Snapping his fingers, Kazuki awoke Pi from all the way across the room. The Phoenix flew over, landing on Kazuki's shoulder.

Both twins shuddered at the sight, ducking down as the wind blew up past them all. Gently grabbing Pi's foot, Kazuki applied a small burn to the paper.

"Kazuki, why don't you just wear your brooch," Eliza asked awkwardly, trying to shift the conversation to another topic. Even Kazuki, in his infinite black hole of social knowledge, could tell. "Actually... I just realised that I've never seen you with your brooch! Even back in high school, did you always use Pi to sign things?"

Synthia spoke up again, 'Eliza… I don't think this is the time to bring it up.'

It absolutely was not.

The implication of such an act was clear to EVERYONE present. Kazuki nodded, lying. "Yes, Pi's a good companion.."

'I'm still surprised your family were able to tame such a beast,' Synthia said. Fer-Charelota nodded. Kazuki could tell that the Marquis was somewhat disturbed by Pi's mere presence. 'Must have taken them quite the effort.'

"It did," Kazuki said.

Normally he never had to sign anything to begin with. He spoke, and things were done. That's just the way life is. Silence permeated the room, as Kazuki rested Pi on his shoulders.

"Fer-Charelota," Kazuki started. The Marquis sat upwards, mildly perturbed that the Contract-Breaker would say his name directly. "Another thing. I want my guns."

The Marquis stared at Kazuki, before gently nodding. He was asking a lot, but this was the perfect opportunity to arm himself. "I will have them transferred to yours and Eliza's suite."

Irya smirked. Kazuki's golden eyes latched onto his expression before Kantos kicked his brother beneath the table.

Placing his hands flat down on the table, Kazuki demanded, "Here."

"Here?" the Marquis inquired into his request. "Uh... why?"

"This plan will take a while to finish. If we are to maintain our six-way alliance, we'll need to maintain good relations with one another."

Delia agreed, saying, "Yes! But I hardly see what this has to do with your weapons, Kazuki."

He glanced over at the twin, startling the two for a moment. Despite being one of the youngest people in the room, Kazuki held a sense of stiff air around him. He used this to his advantage.

Kantos cleared his throat. "Given what happened, I think it's warranted."

Eliza nodded. "I'd honestly feel much safer if Kazuki had his gear with him."

"You already have Lady Antiar." The Marquis and Consul raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you," Kazuki sneered. "But I can keep myself safe. Without your guard sullying her hands with a Contract-Breaker."

The Marquis sighed, scratching his ear for a moment. "Fine. No Lady Antiar, you'll have your weapons, but make sure to never brandish them so openly, understood?"

"Done," Kazuki said.

The Marquis quickly nodded, tilting his head to the side. He flicked his uplink on for a moment, then turned back to Kazuki. "It's done, your weapons will be here shortly."

"Kazuki..." Standing up, Eliza walked around to Kazuki, with her chair with her, before sitting down between him and Iana. Eliza trailed off, lowering her voice. "Can you really not train me?"

Delia drank her cup of tea swiftly, before having the drone serve her another one. Kazuki nodded.

"You asked me to teach you how to defend yourself against the people that I would be up against. You saw my duel with Lady Antiar. It was bloody, brutal, nothing like the movies. I will not teach you even a fraction of that," Kazuki said.

He stood up, as a Knight walked into the room, carrying a luggage case. It was Lady Antiar. Eliza grumbled to herself, unhappy, but somewhat understanding the situation.

"Ah… Lady Antiar, please explain to Miss Celeste-Delmara why learning under Kazuki would be fruitless," the Marquis said out of turn.

Lady Antiar placed the luggage down on the floor beside them. She then glanced at Eliza from Kazuki. "She can learn a thing or two."

"SEE!" Eliza shouted.

"But… not everything can be taught easily," Lady Antiar continued. "There's a level of expertise and willpower needed to train under people like us. Training under Kazuki would probably be hell for you, Miss Celeste-Delmara. You were trained under Hartius, right?""

Her gaze swapped back to Kazuki.

"Hartius and Freyja. Cruel but effectively." Kazuki hid the fact that the mention of their names sent a mild shiver through his exospine.

Eliza's argument was completely quashed. Lady Antiar did a much better job of explaining things to Eliza than Kazuki ever could. She slowly nodded. "I can't argue against that, can I?"

"Ah, and Lady Antiar, you will no longer be heeded to protect these two," said Fer-Charelota, to Lady Antiar's annoyance.

She shot a look to the case of weapons and gear, then simply nodded. "As you wish, Marquis." Turning, Lady Antiar left.

"Irya. Kantos. Pick up your blades. We'll begin training. One hour every day," Kazuki said. He downed a cup of tea before walking out to the middle of the training hall. "Remember, this is only ceremonial."

"Only ceremonial," Kantos repeated whilst nodding his head.

Kantos glanced at his brother, slowly standing up. Irya stomped upwards, alight with energy. "I thought you'd never ask! We'll beat your scabbard into your back!"

"Uh... not exactly what I had in mind, but I get the energy," Kantos said. All were in agreeance it seems. Kazuki took hold of his Trasian Black blade, unsheathing it.

Kazuki gave them a confident nod. The very edges of his lips curled slightly.

Both of them froze at the sight of the wolfram-black steel. "Challengers to your position will not fight with sheathed blades," Kazuki said.

They won't truly need this, but it was expected of them. Kazuki training them will also help bridge the gap between their two families. Such a ceremonial role brings the twins into the fold, ever so slightly.

Somewhere within Kazuki, he somewhat liked their company. Business partners sure, but outcasts… Two from home, the other from without. For that: Kazuki will see that justice is done, though the Eclipse cracks at its seams.

He'll make them into Lords of Trasia yet.

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